Stories of the Land

The stories are rooted in the lands all around us. Many stories are lost forever when natural lands are converted to other uses while some stories are preserved by virtue of permanently protecting the landscapes within which human history resides. Enjoy these stories of the land made possible by your land-saving support of Harwich Conservation Trust.

River herring swim upstream by Gerry Beetham

Tuttle Family Protects Local Land, Water & River Herring

May 23, 2020

To protect windswept wetland, tall oaks, and an active herring run, Doug and Carol Tuttle donated their 7-acre Oak Island Bog to HCT this May after their family stewarded the land for 132 years. The land is comprised of mostly salt marsh with some bordering upland in the Red River estuary. This particular salt marsh…

Lavender Farm by Stephanie Foster

History of the Island Pond Conservation Lands

July 7, 2018

Island Pond Conservation Lands: Created Through Partnership, Patience & Persistence Story by Lee Roscoe Vision, luck, persistence, compassion, patience, flexibility, fate—just some of the elements that form the origin of the more than 80 rolling acres of forest and wetland that beckon within the Island Pond Conservation Lands. This conservation assemblage with walking trails traversing…

East Harwich from the original George H Walker Company 1880 map

Pleasant Bay Woodlands: Unearthing the Story Beneath Our Feet

October 4, 2017

By Scott Ridley As we come to understand the history of a place, driving along a road, or walking a trail becomes a very different experience. We get to see another dimension in a landscape or neighborhood. Sometimes if we are lucky, we find that buried beneath our feet is a fascinating story about someone…

Jake and Barbara Brown by Lee Roscoe

Brown Family Donates 7.2 acres on Hinckleys Pond

October 3, 2017

Story by Lee Roscoe & Michael Lach “It’s a magic place,” says Sophie Eldredge about Sophie’s Corner. “When we were little we had a garden down there. It’s a special feeling there. It’s beautiful; it’s quiet. It’s a corner nook in the middle of the woods. You can’t see any houses around. It’s peaceful.” When…

This Generation’s Caretaker

June 25, 2012

by Mary J. Metzger “We came only in the summers, as there was no heat or electricity in our camp. Long Pond Drive was just a dirt cart path then (the late 1930’s), wide enough for a horse and cart or an old beat-up car. The first thing we would do on arrival would be…