Alison Simcox & Douglas Heath
Transformation of the Charlestown Territory in the Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1629 to 1800
In 1629, Puritans arrived in the Mishawum Peninsula, named it Charlestown, and declared it the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. By 1640, they claimed 78 square miles of territory beyond the peninsula (now 11 towns west and north of Boston), which had been home to Indigenous Peoples for thousands of years. Puritans transformed the territory into a cultivated landscape that mirrored English society. They privatized land and marked woodlots with stone walls, giving the largest lots to wealthy men. They used timber from the woodlots to fuel the brickmaking, shipbuilding, and rum-distilling industries, and used local quarried stone for building foundations, walls, and roadbeds. Enslaved labor, acquired through transatlantic trade, supported these activities and markets. Today the Charlestown woodlots are preserved in the Middlesex Fells Reservation just north of Boston, but beyond the park’s trails and wooded vistas lie deeper stories of Indigenous communities and colonial transformation.
Alison Simcox, BA, BS, MS, PhD, is an Environmental Scientist and Writer. She worked at the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for more than 30 years protecting water and air resources. In 1998, she was the second woman to receive a doctorate in Engineering from Tufts University. She is on the Board of Directors of the Saugus River Watershed Council and is a member of Friends of the Middlesex Fells. She is the co-author with Douglas Heath of six books and two trail guides of local history in the Boston area.
Douglas Heath, BS, MS, is a Hydrogeologist and History Researcher. A U.S. Navy veteran, he worked for 30 years at the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency protecting water supplies in New England. He is a Certified Interpretive Guide for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and leads history walks for Friends of the Middlesex Fells. He is also Vice President of the Saugus River Watershed Council. He is the co-author with Alison Simcox of six books and two trail guides of local history in the Boston area.
