Summer Hill (Maynard, Massachusetts)
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Summer Hill (also known as Pompasitticut or Pomciticut) is a hill overlooking the
Assabet River The Assabet River is a small, long river located about west of Boston, Massachusetts, United States.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed October 3, 2011 The Assabet rises ...
in
Maynard, Massachusetts Maynard is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is located 22 miles west of Boston, in the MetroWest and Greater Boston region of Massachusetts and borders Acton, Concord, Stow and Sudbury. The town's populatio ...
"with a gradual slope to the north and west". Today the hill is largely
conservation land Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manage ...
with 24 acres of public hiking trails, and the summit of the hill also contains a radio tower and the town's steel and concrete water tanks. It is the highest point in Maynard.


History

Native Americans referred to both the hill and region as "Pompasitticut" (land of many hills). In the 1660s early settler
John Kettell John Kettell (c.1639-c.1676 or 1685 or c.1690) (also known as John Kettle) was an early settler, cooper (profession), cooper, and explorer in what is Maynard, Massachusetts and Stow, Massachusetts. Kettell's family was taken captive by Native Ame ...
likely lived "in the vicinity of Pompassiticutt Hill, on land now included in Maynard" before the warfare of
King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1678 between a group of indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodland ...
caused him to flee at the time of the Lancaster raid. In 1676 during
King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1678 between a group of indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodland ...
, Native Americans purportedly gathered on Pompasitticut Hill "near the spot where the remains of the foundation are" to plan their attack on Sudbury. From 1683 to 1871 the hill was part of Stow before Maynard was incorporated and "was the town's common land" and a pasture for many years. The Gibson family owned a large farm on the hill from the 1720s to 1823, and in 1826 the Maynards, distant cousins of Amory Maynard, purchased the farm which was "known as the Summer hill farm on the south side of Pomposetticutt hill" where many "Indian relics adbeen picked up," and Lucius H. Maynard acquired "a large collection." On April 18, 1859
Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau; July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading Transcendentalism, transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon sim ...
surveyed a woodlot near the hill for a sale to Sumner Blood," and in his treatise about wild blueberries Thoreau wrote about how "Mr. Blood cut off his woodlot on Pomciticut Hill winter before last" which "deforms a hillside" but "all the villagers obtain compensation in the crop of berries that it yields." In 1871 Maynard became an independent town, and hosted a celebration where several citizens "raise a flag staff on Pompsiticut hill." By at least 1891 the north and west sides of the hill contained "excellent orchard and plow-lands"and the south side contained "a fertile valley and many broad acres of fine pasturage," and on the summit there was at that time a reservoir (built in 1888) and an unobstructed view to
Mount Wachusett Mount Wachusett is a mountain in Massachusetts. It straddles towns of Princeton and Westminster, in Worcester County. It is the highest point in Massachusetts east of the Connecticut River. The mountain is named after a Native American term m ...
and
Mount Monadnock Mount Monadnock, or Grand Monadnock, is a mountain in the town of Jaffrey, New Hampshire. It is the most prominent mountain peak in southern New Hampshire and is the highest point in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, Cheshire County. It lies sou ...
in New Hampshire. Erickson's Dairy (1937) originally used milk from their cows which grazed on Summer Hill behind the dairy building and ice cream stand. In the early twentieth century, developers planned several subdivisions for the undeveloped land on Summer Hill, which never came to fruition, and in 1979 the Conservation Commission purchased a large portion of the land on Summer Hill to preserve as open space. Summer Hill now has public hiking trails with
trailhead A trailhead is the point where a trail begins or is accessed, where the trail is often intended for hiking, biking, horseback riding, or off-road vehicles. Modern trailheads often contain restrooms, maps, signposts, and distribution centers for ...
s on both Summer Street and Summer Hill Road near the Conservation Land signs. File:Summer Hill water supply tower tank and radio antenna in Maynard MA off conservation land Summer Hill Road.jpg, Concrete water tank and radio antenna at summit File:Radio antenna on Summer Hill peak in Maynard MA off conservation land Summer Hill Road.jpg, Radio antenna at summit File:Water tower supply tank for Maynard Water Supply on the top of Summer Hill in Maynard Massachusetts MA USA.jpg, Steel water tower supply tank at summit File:Summer Hill conservation land in Maynard Massachusetts USA.jpg, Summer Hill conservation land looking toward downtown Maynard File:Mill Pond in Maynard Massachusetts MA USA with Summer Hill in background.jpg, Mill Pond with Summer Hill in background File:Lucius H. Maynard House in Maynard MA Massachusetts USA near Summer Hill.png, Lucius H. Maynard House, circa 1921, on Summer Street File:Pompasitticutt Hill aka Summer Hill view toward Maynard MA mills in 1921.png, View from Pompasitticutt Hill toward Maynard's mills in 1921


References

{{reflist Maynard, Massachusetts Hills of Massachusetts Protected areas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts Landforms of Middlesex County, Massachusetts