Walls, Rock, and Rum - History & Guide by Alison C Simcox & Douglas Heath Paperback

Book Synopsis

The Complex History of One of Our Great State Parks.

Middlesex Fells, located north of Boston, is one of the most storied state parks in the United States.

Home to Indigenous Peoples for thousands of years, this land became part of Charlestown, the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Puritans transformed the landscape, marked woodlots with stone walls, and gave the largest lots to wealthy men. They harvested timber and quarried stone from the Fells to build houses, ships, and walls and to fuel brickmaking and rum distilling. Enslaved labor, acquired through the transatlantic trade, supported these markets.

Today the Fells is preserved, but beyond its trails and wooded vistas lie deeper stories of Indigenous communities and colonial transformation. Alison C. Simcox and Douglas L. Heath trace this history with new research published for the first time.

About the Author

Alison Simcox was born near London, England, and grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts. In 1998, she was the second woman to earn a doctorate in engineering from Tufts University. She formerly worked as a hydrologist and air-quality scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In her free time, she enjoys hiking, biking, kayaking, and learning about history, geology, and native plants. Douglas Heath was born in New Jersey and grew up in Taos, New Mexico, and New York City. After serving in the U.S. Navy, he worked as a hydrogeologist at the U.S. Geological Survey and EPA, where he specialized in protecting drinking-water supplies in New England. As well as his work as a scientist, he is a genealogist, local historian, and photographer. Alison and Doug have written five previous books: Lake Quannapowitt, Breakheart Reservation, Middlesex Fells, The Lost Mill Village of Middlesex Fells, and Murder at Breakheart Hill Farm. They also have written two trail guides: A Trail Guide for Virginia Wood and Haywardville in Middlesex Fells and A Trail Guide for Bellevue Pond, Pine Hill, and the Quarries of Middlesex Fells. Alison and Doug received the 2018 Preservation Award from the New England Chapter of the Victorian Society in America for The Lost Mill Village. In 2022, they won the Gertrude Spaulding Award from the Friends of Lake Quannapowitt for outstanding contributions to the protection and enhancement of the waters of the lake and its surrounding lands.