Spencer State Forest is a
state forest
A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by some agency of a sovereign or federated state, or territory.
Background
The precise application of the terms vary by jurisdiction. For example:
* In Australia, a ...
and recreation reserve located in the
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
of
Spencer, managed by the
Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, situated in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It is best known for its parks and parkways. The DCR's mission is ...
.
[ The 92 mile (148 km) Midstate Trail passes through the state forest.][ The also conducts logging in some parts of the property.
]
Geography
Spencer State Forest is divided among three non-contiguous parcels. The most notable of these, located in south Spencer, is the Howe Pond parcel, an estate formerly belonging to Elias Howe
Elias Howe Jr. (; July 9, 1819October 3, 1867) was an American inventor best known for his creation of the modern lockstitch sewing machine.
Early life
Elias Howe Jr. was born on July 9, 1819, to Dr. Elias Howe Sr. and Polly (Bemis) Howe in S ...
, the inventor of the sewing machine
A sewing machine is a machine used to sew fabric and materials together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies. Since the inv ...
.
The Howe family of Spencer did much to make the town famous in the annals of ingenious Americans. William Howe of Spencer developed a wooden truss bridge named for him, his brother, Tyler Howe, patented a spring bed. Their nephew, Elias Howe, Jr., may well have eclipsed them when he invented the lockstitch sewing machine. The Howe Pond parcel (historically referred to as Howe State Park) includes a mill pond and dam constructed by the inventor. Swimming, once permitted is not currently permitted in the pond; lifeguards are no longer present in season due to State DCR cutbacks. The Howe Pond parcel also includes picnic tables and outdoor grills. The public restrooms have been shuttered for a decade. It is located off Massachusetts Route 31
Route 31 is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It runs from Dudley on the Connecticut border to Ashby on the New Hampshire border.
Route description
Route 31 begins in Dudley at the Connecticut border, where it is ...
via Howe Pond Road.
Spencer State Forest Trails
The 92 mile Mid-State Trail is the longest trail marked by yellow triangles and extends from Douglas State Forest at the Massachusetts/Rhode Island border in the south to New Hampshire. In Spencer, it enters from Charlton via Four Chimneys Wildlife Area on Borkum Road traversing Spencer State Forest sections on East Charlton Road, Ash Street, then leads off-street through both private lands and the forest to R Jones Road where it crosses a primitive parking lot continuing on through Spencer's newly designated Sibley/Warner Farm conservation lands through to Route 9 near the Spencer/Leicester Line.
The Mid-State Trail ties Spencer State Forest parcels, Moose Hill and Buck Hill Wildlife Management areas, Sugden Reservoir, Thompson and Browning Ponds, Camp Marshall 4H Camp, Treasure Valley Boy Scout reservation, Sampson's Pebble geological feature and leads into the town of Oakham. In Spencer, Mid-State trail parking is roadside at East Charlton and I Capen Roads and in the Buck Hill areas.
The trail north of Route 9 through Moose Hill Wildlife Management Area crosses picturesque Moose Hill levy pond created in the 1960s for flood control. Ski enthusiast/historians will note the former 1960s era Moose Hill Ski area referenced which ferried skiers on a hay wagon, truck bed and primitive rope tow up to the top of Moose Hill above the levy area.[
The upper section of Spencer State Forest is in northern Spencer, in the area of Turkey Hill Brook.
A primitive ]lean-to
A lean-to is a type of simple structure originally added to an existing building with the rafters "leaning" against another wall. Free-standing lean-to structures are generally used as shelters. One traditional type of lean-to is known by its Finn ...
for overnight campers is located on the property atop the 1,014 foot (309 m) drumlin
A drumlin, from the Irish word ''droimnín'' ("littlest ridge"), first recorded in 1833, in the classical sense is an elongated hill in the shape of an inverted spoon or half-buried egg formed by glacial ice acting on underlying unconsolidated ...
Buck Hill. A parking lot is located off McCormick Road in Spencer.
Areas comprising the Spencer State Forest and adjacent Wildlife Management Areas (WMA), Howe and Browning Ponds, Sugden Reservoir and the following entwined brooks present an outstanding array of water resources for serene intimate aquatic aficionado's enjoyment.
Turkey Hill Brook flows from Paxton to Spencer in the northeast corner of town. "Dams were erected along the brook to power the wire mills that dotted this area, but the only remaining dam is the one that forms Thompson Pond. The brook joins the Seven Mile River northeast of Pine Grove Cemetery.
The Seven Mile River originates in Rutland and was dammed to form Browning Pond. It merges with Turkey Hill Brook and connects to the Quaboag River in East Brookfield. Seven miles from Brookfield, the river served as a landmark when Brookfield was the only settlement between Worcester and the Connecticut Valley.
Cranberry River flows from Charlton and was dammed to form Cranberry Meadow Pond in the southeast corner of town and dammed again to form Howe Pond at Howe State Park, joining the Seven Mile River near Route 9.
The overall geography includes hilly terrain, creeks, wetlands, and transitional oak-hickory to northern hardwood
The northern hardwood forest is a general type of North American forest ecosystem found over much of southeastern and south-central Canada, Ontario, and Quebec, extending south into the United States in northern New England, New York, and Pennsy ...
forest types.
The Depot Trail, Spencer's rail trail is a 2 ½‐mile walking trail along an abandoned railroad bed running from South Spencer Road to Chestnut Street, and connects into Spencer State Forest trails. There is lower section of Howe Pond with benches, fishing and portaged watercraft launching. Trail parking is adjacent to the railroad overpass parking on South Spencer Road.
The Spencer Snowbirds Snowmobile Club, a private organization formed in 1972, maintains a network of snowmobile trails throughout the town, crossing both public and private property. Trail riding permits, membership and landowner memberships are detailed at http://www.spencersnowbirds.com
Howe State Park originated as part of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) legacy formed in 1933's height of the Great Depression, when newly inaugurated President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first New Deal initiatives established the Emergency Conservation Work Act (ECW), popularly known as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and/or "Roosevelt's Tree Army."
Both an economic relief and conservation program, CCC provided jobs for unemployed young men and veterans to support their families, while focusing on improving the nation’s open space and recreational resources. The CCC program in Massachusetts (1933-1942), was concerned with improvement and development of state park resources. Approximately 68 camps enrolled nearly 100,000 men. The CCC touched both the lives of these enrollees and their families and left a lasting legacy of state forest improvements and recreational resources still evident today.
Massachusetts State Parks system was in its infancy when the CCC was established in 1933. Now, more than seventy-five years later, the work of the CCC still forms the cornerstones of the system as we know it today.
Spencer State Forest, as many others, emerged from cut-over lands acquired for less than $5 per acre and largely inaccessible areas due to lack of roads and recreational facilities into being Spencer's community resource with beach, roads, trails, ponds, forest plantations and recreational facilities built by the CCC, and found in every region of the state. Currently the Howe Park area is mothballed.
References
External links
Spencer State Forest
Department of Conservation and Recreation
Spencer State Forest Trail Map
Department of Conservation and Recreation
{{authority control
State parks of Massachusetts
Massachusetts natural resources
Massachusetts state forests
Parks in Worcester County, Massachusetts
Spencer, Massachusetts
Protected areas established in 1922
1922 establishments in Massachusetts