Redwing Farm Multi-Cache

This cache has been archived.

SearchNSeekNEnjoy: I am archiving this cache since there's been no response from nor action by the cache owner within the time frame requested in the last reviewer note. The cache owner should retrieve any remaining cache contents at their earliest convenience.

Thanks,
SearchNSeekNEnjoy
Volunteer geocaching.com reviewer

More
Hidden : 7/13/2008
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works
Looking for a different adventure?

Related Web Page

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:

An easy 5-stage multi-cache that will give you a tour of Redwing Farm. The total hiking distance is about 1 mile. As you hike around the property you can try to imagine what this farm might have been like back in the 18th century.

Parking is available off of Maple Road at N42 34.296 W71 22.752. The posted coordinates are for Waypoint 1, a short walk from the parking area. Each of the four intermediate waypoints is in plain sight. Please search with your eyes only. All four intermediate waypoints are similar in appearance, so once you find Waypoint 1 you'll know what to look for at Waypoints 2, 3, and 4. All four intermediate waypoints include a rot-13 encrypted hint for the next stage (so you may want to bring along your secret rot-13 decoder gadget). The final is a camo-taped 9"x6"x3" lock-n-lock style container.

The Bruce Freeman Rail Trail abuts Redwing farm on the west side of the property. Phase I (Lowell, Chelmsford, Westford) of the BFRT began in the fall of 2007 and is still under construction at present (July 2008).



*About the farm and the adjacent farmhouse:
The farmhouse next to the Redwing property is known as the Hildreth-Robbins House. Architectural evidence indicates that the house was built in the 1730s or 1740s. The earliest reference of a house on the property comes from a deed of 1742 in which Richard Hildreth sold his 50-acre homestead, "with orcharding and a dwelling house, barn, and cornhouse thereon," along with several parcels of land, to Jonas Hildreth, who was apparently his son.

When Jonas Hildreth died, his daughter Sarah inherited a large portion of the property. Sarah married John Robbins and together they managed the farm from 1771 to 1776. They sold the property to Phineas Chamberlain. Phineas was a blacksmith as well as a farmer, and it was probably he who built the blacksmith shop which stood for many decades near the road a short distance southeast of the house. The Chamberlain family owned and ran the property from 1776 to 1839. Many changes/additions were made to the property during these years as the Chamberlain family grew.

The property changed hands several times over the next hundred years or so. Jefferson Loring owned it from 1839-1843, Thomas M. Adams from 1843-1847, and the Byam family from 1847-1933.

In the mid-19th century, Solomon Byam and Thomas Adams worked together to make the old farm one of the more productive agricultural operations in the south part of Chelmsford. In 1850 they were managing a total of about 75 acres in mixed agricultural use. The land supported 10 cows and other cattle, and fields of hay, Indian corn, potatoes, and vegetables. Over the third quarter of the century, like many farms in the Chelmsford area, Solomon Byam's farm developed more of a specialty in dairying. By 1870 he was selling milk to regional markets, and in that year produced the largest amount of butter of any farmer in town - 820 pounds. In 1871 the Framingham and Lowell Railroad was built through the farm, passing north just west of the house on its way to Lowell. The South Chelmsford railroad depot was erected directly across the road, and Solomon Byam became the first stationmaster, a job he held until his death a few years later.

In 1933 the Byam family sold 20 acres of the farm, with the farmstead, to Glenn R. and Abbie M. Blaisdell. The Blaisdells owned the property until 1946. George W. Nold Jr. owned the property from 1946 to 1953 when he sold it to Richard and Constance Porter. The Porters gave the name "Redwing Farm" to the property. The Porters owned the property for less that 6 years. During that time they reduced the property to 13.9 acres, and did considerable restoration work on the house, including stripping woodwork, replicating paneling, and removing the partition that formed a passage across the rear kitchen.

In 1959 the Porters sold the property to G. Gordon Olson, M.D. of Carlisle. He and his wife continued the restoration of the house. The Olsons had bought back a piece of land across the road in 1964, part of which was subdivided into two house lots, and which ran with the title to the farmstead until at least the mid-1980s.

Subsequent owners of the Hildreth-Robbins property were Thomas A. Maloney (1971-1973), Leo Bourgeault (1973-1976), and Dr. Michael Bartleson who owned the house until his death in 2002. In the fall of 2002 the Town of Chelmsford purchased the house and remaining farmstead from Nancy Bartleson. At the time of the purchase the property was divided into two lots, 1.32 acres with the house and the small pond to the rear, and 12.6 acres to the east and north. The house portion was recently sold to a private party who is in the process of restoring the home. The 12.6 acre portion is known today as Redwing farm.

*The above information was provided courtesy of the Chelmsford Historical Commission's website. For more information on the Hildreth-Robbins homestead see this link. For more information on other historical Chelmsford homes see this link.


Happy Caching!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

[Waypoint 1:] ba ovequbhfr [Waypoint 3:] abegu sbegl-gjb guvegl-sbhe cbvag sbhe mreb frira; jrfg friragl-bar gjragl-gjb cbvag fvk svir avar. [Waypoint 3:] ba zncyr gerr

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


Advertising with Us