North Common Meadow is a open space preserve in the town of

Petersham, Massachusetts Petersham is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,194 at the 2020 census. Petersham is home to a considerable amount of conservation land, including the Quabbin Reservation, Harvard Forest, the Swift R ...

. The property, part of a larger, contiguous area of protected open space including

Harvard Forest Harvard Forest is an ecological research area of owned and managed by Harvard University and located in Petersham, Massachusetts. The property, in operation since 1907, includes one of North America's oldest managed forests, educational and resea ...

and The Trustees of Reservations'

Brooks Woodland Preserve The Brooks Woodland Preserve is a open space preserve located in Petersham, Massachusetts. The property, named after industrialist and diplomat James Wilson Brooks, is managed by the land conservation non-profit organization The Trustees of Reserv ...

, is maintained as grassland in keeping with the town's rural character. The preserve, acquired in 1975 by the land conservation non-profit organization

The Trustees of Reservations The Trustees of Reservations is a non-profit land conservation and historic preservation organization dedicated to preserving natural and historical places in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is the oldest land conservation nonprofit orga ...

, is suitable for hiking, horseback riding, picnicking, and cross country skiing; it is also maintained as habitat for ground nesting birds such as the

bobolink The bobolink (''Dolichonyx oryzivorus'') is a small New World blackbird and the only member of the genus ''Dolichonyx''. An old name for this species is the "rice bird", from its tendency to feed on cultivated grains during winter and migration. ...

red-winged blackbird The red-winged blackbird (''Agelaius phoeniceus'') is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae found in most of North America and much of Central America. It breeds from Alaska and Newfoundland south to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, and ...

, and

eastern meadowlark The eastern meadowlark (''Sturnella magna'') is a medium-sized blackbird (family: Icteridae), very similar in appearance to sister species western meadowlark. It occurs from eastern North America to northern South America, where it is also most w ...

. Access to North Common Meadow is located off

Massachusetts Route 32 Massachusetts Route 32 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The highway runs from the Connecticut state line in Monson, where the highway continues as Connecticut Route 32, north to the New Hampshire state line in Royalston, w ...

and East Street in Petersham center.

History

The property was formerly pasture land; later, it was part of the golf course of the

Nichewaug Inn The Petersham Common Historic District encompasses the historic town center of Petersham, Massachusetts. Laid out in 1733 and centered on the town common bounded by Main and Common Streets, it retains most of its 19th-century character, with o ...

. It was given to the Trustees of Reservations by an anonymous donor. North Common Meadow is part of the

Petersham Common Historic District The Petersham Common Historic District encompasses the historic town center of Petersham, Massachusetts. Laid out in 1733 and centered on the town common bounded by Main and Common Streets, it retains most of its 19th-century character, with o ...

, placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1982.

References

External links

North Common Meadow
The Trustees of Reservations
Brooks Woodland Preserve
The Trustees of Reservations
Map of Brooks Woodland Preserve and North Common MeadowHarvard Forest
The Trustees of Reservations Protected areas of Worcester County, Massachusetts Open space reserves of Massachusetts Meadows in the United States Protected areas established in 1975 1975 establishments in Massachusetts {{WorcesterCountyMA-geo-stub