Goodnow Farm Cow Barn // 1925

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Located in the bucolic town of Princeton, Massachusetts, Goodnow Farm sits at the heart of a landscape that has been farmed for more than two and a half centuries. The farm and road take their name from the Goodnow family who owned the land here for well over 100 years. The farmhouse, which dates to around 1786, was built for Edward Goodnow (1742-1798) and his wife Lois, who married in 1770. Edward was a corporal during the Revolution, serving both at the Lexington alarm on April 19, 1775, and at Dorchester Heights in 1776, before settling in Princeton to spend his remaining years on the farm. The property was inherited by his son, Edward and later by his son, William B. Goodnow (1815-1904), the brother of Edward Augustus Goodnow, a merchant who made his fortune in Worcester and donated the Town Hall and Library to his birthplace. After nearly 150 years of Goodnow family ownership, in 1917 the old farm was sold to industrialist, Charles T. Crocker, Jr. of Fitchburg and became a gentleman’s farm. Crocker used the farm as a summer retreat from the city and hired staff to maintain the working farm aesthetic, though Charles Crocker did not actually do much or any of the agricultural laboring himself. Investing in the old farm to maintain the rural charm, Crocker added this large cow barn and attached dairy house. The shingled barn is roughtly 80 by 36 feet, with its long, west side built into the slope of the hillside. The barn was a state-of-the-art farm building for its day, with its high gambrel roof supported on closely spaced rafters of dimensioned lumber sheltering a single soaring space
built for the moving and storage of massive amounts of hay. After the death of his father, in 1956, Mr. Crocker’s son, Charles T. Crocker, III, gave the main part of the farm, in two parcels totaling 636 acres, to the Massachusetts Audubon Society, to be preserved in perpetuity as a wildlife sanctuary. He made an additional gift of 118 acres in 1963. Over the subsequent decades, other parcels were acquired and the site has been operated as the Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary, covering roughly 1,100 acres of the oldest farmland in Princeton, with twelve miles of public walking trails and historic stone walls. In the 1960s, the barn interior was altered to provide classroom, storage and exhibition space for Mass Audubon, with housing for the working farm’s sheep in the barn next door.

Goodnow Farmhouse // c.1786

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Located in the bucolic town of Princeton, Massachusetts, Goodnow Farm sits at the heart of a landscape that has been farmed for more than two and a half centuries. The farm and road take their name from the Goodnow family who owned the land here for well over 100 years. The farmhouse, which dates to around 1786, was built for Edward Goodnow (1742-1798) and his wife Lois, who married in 1770. Edward was a corporal during the Revolution, serving both at the Lexington alarm on April 19, 1775, and at Dorchester Heights in 1776, before settling in Princeton to spend his remaining years on the farm. The property was inherited by his son, Edward and later by his son, William B. Goodnow (1815-1904), the brother of Edward Augustus Goodnow, a merchant who made his fortune in Worcester and donated the Town Hall and Library to his birthplace. After nearly 150 years of Goodnow family ownership, in 1917 the old farm was sold to industrialist, Charles T. Crocker, Jr. of Fitchburg and became a gentleman’s farm. Crocker used the farm as a summer retreat from the city and hired staff to maintain the working farm aesthetic, though Charles Crocker did not actually do much or any of the agricultural laboring himself. Investing in the old farm to maintain the rural charm, Crocker added a large cow barn and attached dairy and the estate managed livestock and orchards. After the death of his father, in 1956, Mr. Crocker’s son, Charles T. Crocker, III, gave the main part of the farm, in two parcels totaling 636 acres, to the Massachusetts Audubon Society, to be preserved in perpetuity as a wildlife sanctuary. He made an additional gift of 118 acres in 1963. Over the subsequent decades, other parcels were acquired and the site has been operated as the Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary, covering roughly 1,100 acres of the oldest farmland in Princeton, with twelve miles of public walking trails and historic stone walls. The site preserves what early Princeton was known for, at a simpler time when families depended on their own gardens, orchards, livestock and labor.

Susan Minns House // 1912

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Susan Minns (1839-1938), one of the first women to graduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a trained biologist and collector, and benefactor to many scientific and environmental causes in her home state, purchased four acres of farmland in Princeton, Massachusetts in 1910 to build her country house. Ms. Minns lived on Louisburg Square in Beacon Hill, but would ultimately fall in love with living near nature in Central Massachusetts and established Princeton as her year-round residence. Built in 1912, Minns’ house is said to have been inspired by her many travels to England and was designed after an old publishing house she saw there. The long and low “cottage” of stone and wood has always been covered at its roof with red asphalt shingles. While in Princeton, Susan spend much of her inheritance to acquire large amounts of land in town, including two farms and 140 acres around Little Wachusett Mountain, a picturesque drumlin covered in forest. In 1926, Miss Minns donated the entirety of Little Wachusett to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a wildlife sanctuary, which for 100 years, has been managed by the State as the Minns Wildlife Sanctuary. Susan Minns’ legacy lives on, not only in the form of her rustic Princeton home, but for her generosity and foresight to preserve important open space for the benefit of all.

Osgood Farmhouse // c.1794

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When the town of Princeton was incorporated, vast land holdings were acquired, sold, and subdivided into large farmsteads for families moving westward from Boston. Part of the land in present-day Princeton was owned by William Brattle of Cambridge, but was undeveloped and confiscated by the Government as Brattle was a Loyalist, and sold in 1781. The property was purchased by David Osgood and later inherited by his son, Houghton Osgood (1768-1844), who built this farmhouse around 1794. The farmhouse and surrounding property with small pond, remained in the Osgood family until the mid 20th century.

Captain David Rice Farmhouse // 1785 & 1905

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Captain David Rice (1757-1825) was a resident of Rutland, Massachusetts, upon the outbreak of the American Revolution, where he served as fought in the local militia. After the war, David Rice married Abigail Newton in 1785 and purchased farmland in the western portion of Princeton, Massachusetts. With a property of over 100 acres, David and Abigail Rice had this farmhouse built, which is believed to be the main block of the present house on Old Colony Road. The Rice family farm was impacted in 1825 by the deaths of both Capt. David Rice and his eldest son, David Rice Jr., within four months of each other. The Rice farmland, which at the time of the patriarch’s death, included 121 acres and it underwent a complex division among the heirs, who included the two Rice widows. In 1852, area resident, Simeon Clark, purchased the Rice farmstead and modernized the house in the Greek Revival style, adding a side ell and corner pilasters which remain today. The property was again enlarged and “modernized” in the early 20th century with the present Queen Anne Victorian modifications which include the the paired ridge chimneys, projecting cornice, side ell, bay windows at the facade, pedimented dormers with patterned shingles, and the full-length front porch. The house was renovated from a farmhouse to a country estate, similar to many other area farmhouses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Princeton.

Mount Pleasant House – Edward Whitney House // 1875

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After the Civil War, summer tourism boomed in New England towns, where city residents flocked to the coasts or mountain towns as a respite from the hot and polluted city. Princeton, Massachusetts, became a favorite location for Boston and Worcester families, due to the extensive farmland, forests, and hilly terrain which provided cool summer breezes of fresh air. Due to this, a number of summer hotels were built in Princeton, including the Mount Pleasant House in 1868. Owner, Charles Augustus Whittaker, opened the main block of the house to summer boarders in 1868, which would see immediate success. The three-bay mansard-roofed Second Empire style residence was outgrown in the first couple summers and in 1875, Whittaker would expand the building with two side wings of the same style, to accommodate up to 60 guests. Moses Goodnow (1846-1934), the nephew of Edward A. Goodnow, a wealthy benefactor to the town, would acquire the hotel in 1879 and operated the facility until 1908, when the summer hotels began to see less visitors. In 1912, wealthy Worcester-based manufacturers, Edward C. and Harry S. Whitney, purchased the Mount Pleasant House, subdivided its lot, and divided the house in two, each taking one half as their private summer residence. The original section was occupied by Harry and remained on its site and the wing, this house, was moved down the street for his brother, Edward. The building has remained a single family residence and is a stellar example of its style.

Original Mount Pleasant House before split.

Mount Pleasant House – Harry Whitney House // 1868

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After the Civil War, summer tourism boomed in New England towns, where city residents flocked to the coasts or mountain towns as a respite from the hot and polluted city. Princeton, Massachusetts, became a favorite location for Boston and Worcester families, due to the extensive farmland, forests, and hilly terrain which provided cool summer breezes of fresh air. Due to this, a number of summer hotels were built in Princeton, including the Mount Pleasant House in 1868. Owner, Charles Augustus Whittaker, opened the main block of the house to summer boarders in 1868, which would see immediate success. The three-bay mansard-roofed Second Empire style residence was outgrown in the first couple summers and in 1875, Whittaker would expand the building with two side wings of the same style, to accommodate up to 60 guests. Moses Goodnow (1846-1934), the nephew of Edward A. Goodnow, a wealthy benefactor to the town, would acquire the hotel in 1879 and operated the facility until 1908, when the summer hotels began to see less visitors. In 1912, wealthy Worcester-based manufacturers, Edward C. and Harry S. Whitney, purchased the Mount Pleasant House, subdivided its lot, and divided the house in two, each taking one half as their private summer residence. The original section, this building, was occupied by Harry and remained on its site and the wing was moved down the street for his brother, Edward. The building remained a single family residence until the 1980s when it was converted to five condominium units, retaining its architectural integrity.

Original Mount Pleasant House before split.

Mount Wachusett Summit House // 1870-1970

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Third Summit House, courtesy of Princeton Historical Society.

Built as three buildings over a span of one hundred years, Mount Wachusett’s Summit House stood over the town of Princeton, Massachusetts, and epitomized the rise of tourism in the community in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In as early as 1866, William Morse began selling candy and cigars to summer tourists at the summit of Mount Wachusett, later building the first Summit House in 1870. The small stone building was a respite for visitors who walked or took horses up the mountain until 1874, when the Wachusett Mountain Company built a road to the top drawing even more visitors from the summer-resort boom in Princeton. As the mountain saw increased visitors, a second hotel, built in 1884 by Phineas A. Beaman, was constructed and nicknamed the “Tip Top,” with lodging in 30 rooms, with water supplied by a windmill on the shore of Summit Pond. Stagecoaches carried guests up from the Princeton train depot, and the season is estimated to have drawn around 30,000 visitors a year at its peak. The third Summit House, built in 1907, is known from postcards as a hotel that treated the summit as a parlor. The building was slated for demolition in 1970 to make way for a new recreational facility, but burned to the ground later in the year. Today the hotels are gone, but the summit still draws visitors by foot, car, or ski gondola, who take in the views of Massachusetts.

Beaman Homestead // c.1780

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Soon after the town of Princeton, Massachusetts, incorporated in 1759, residents of other towns in the central part of the state flocked to the area to establish homesteads and farm the land. One of the new residents of Princeton at this period was Jonas Beaman (1750-1804) who settled here from Lancaster and built one of the most significant and unique farmhouses in town. Jonas built the stone house around 1780 from stones harvested near Mount Wachusett, and his family maintained the farm here. The basement of the house for a time served as a district school, following a fire that destroyed the previous school building. The Late-Georgian style residence features a hipped roof with center chimney, a center entry with transom, six-over-nine sash windows, and stunning site at the edge of a small pond.

Goodnow Memorial Library, Princeton // 1883

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Perched on a hill at the northern boundary of its town common, the Goodnow Memorial Library in Princeton, Massachusetts, is one of the state’s finest and best-preserved libraries. The building was largely funded by wealthy businessman and benefactor, Edward Augustus Goodnow (1810-1905), who deeded the land and building to the town for use as a public library and schoolhouse. The building was constructed in memory of his two of his four wives and only son. The building was completed in 1883 and designed by Worcester architect, Stephen C. Earle (who would also design the Princeton Town Hall/Bagg Hall, funded by Goodnow a year later). The terms of the gift by Goodnow stipulated that the building would serve jointly as library and public school until the library required additional space. The school remained here until the Princeton Center School opened in 1906, since that time, the Goodnow Memorial building has been used exclusively as a public library. The handsome Richardsonian Romanesque style building has walls of of pink Milford granite with rough-faced Longmeadow brownstone trim. The building features a prominent clocktower with its face in polychromatic masonry. The building is one of the finest of its type in New England, and has been lovingly preserved by the community for well over a century.

Abijah Moore Tavern – Locust Lawn // c.1750 & 1890

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A Colonial-era tavern that was Victorianized in the 19th century as a summer residence, only in New England! This stately mansion sits on Merriam Road in the charming town of Princeton, Massachusetts and was originally built by 1750 as a tavern/inn. Owner Abijah Moore (1724-1792) built the residence here as the road in front of his property was the main east-west highway between Lancaster and Barre, part of the Old Bay Path in the Commonwealth. When Princeton was first incorporated in 1759, it was in this house that the newly formed community held their first meetings. In 1765, Moore sold the property and moved to Vermont, and the Tavern became a farmhouse, renovated in the early 19th century with twin chimneys and barns behind. As Princeton shifted from agricultural to a summer colony, the property was purchased by Thomas Hastings Russell, who spent summers in his modified family homestead across the street. The traditional New England farmhouse was “modernized” in around 1890 with a full-length porch with corner gazebo and renamed Locust Lawn. The property was gifted to Thomas’ daughter, Mary, and her husband, Edward, as their own summer home.

Russell Mansion House // 1823 & 1874

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Located in the Russell Corner section of Princeton, Massachusetts, this handsome brick mansion had its start as a smaller commercial building before becoming one of the grandest residences in town. In 1823, Charles Russell (1793-1882) built this square brick building to house his store, a post office, and second floor meeting hall for public gatherings and the local Masonic Lodge and local anti-slavery society. By the mid-nineteenth century, Charles Russell was a well-known figure in Boston. He was elected first as representative to the State Legislature and later as representative of the County of Worcester to the State Senate. He and his wife, Persis, had two sons, Charles Theodore Russell (1815-1896) and Thomas Hastings Russell (1820-1911), who both became prominent lawyers and politicians. In about 1874, Thomas Russell enlarged the family’s commercial block in Princeton, adding a third floor in the form of a mansard roof, a wrap-around porch, and belvedere at the roof. The old store became known as the Mansion House and served as Thomas’ summer residence outside of the city. The Mansion House has been lovingly preserved and is a lasting landmark that tells the story of Princeton from its beginnings as a rural community to an exclusive summer colony in the 19th century.

Dr. Charles E. Parker House // 1894

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A stunning example of the Queen Anne style, the Dr. Charles E. Parker House on Worcester Road in Princeton, Massachusetts, showcases the unique forms and architectural details that can make these homes so enchanting. The residence was built for its namesake, Dr. Charles Parker (1864-1905), a local physician who was educated in Vermont and settled in Princeton where he found ample work. For their residence, the large Victorian house features an asymmetrical form with prominent corner tower with recessed porch inside which provides sweeping views of the rolling hills in all directions.

Elisha Allen Farm – Nehemiah Parker Farmhouse // 1794

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In the summer of 1793, the quiet hill town of Princeton, Massachusetts, was shaken by a brutal murder that people were still discussing long afterward. Samuel Frost (1765-1793) was born in Princeton as one of three children. At 14, Samuel’s mother died after reportedly falling ill, but he blamed his father, who reportedly abused his mother for his entire childhood. On September 23, 1783, at the age of 18, Frost murdered his father while they were digging a ditch. Frost knocked his father over, and repeatedly stabbed him in the head with a handspike until his brains were exposed. Samuel Frost was tried in court for murdering his father but was acquitted on the grounds of insanity. Years later, Captain Elisha Allen (1744-1793), a Revolutionary War Veteran and farmer in Princeton, became the guardian of Samuel Frost, providing him housing and a job on his property. On July 16, 1793, during an argument in a field on his employer’s farm, Samuel Frost killed Captain Elisha Allen. In the trial, it was discovered that Frost struck Mr. Allen more than fifteen times with the blade of a hoe and left his body lying on the ground. This time there was no acquittal. At the trial, he was found sane and sentenced to death. He was executed on a hill in Worcester on October 31, 1793. Executions then drew huge crowds and a carnival-like atmosphere. Allen’s grave in Princeton’s old burying ground records that he was “foully murdered by Samuel Frost.” The old farm in Princeton was purchased a year after Elisha’s death by Nehemiah Parker, who built this brick Federal-era farmhouse in 1794. While the home is not tied directly to Captain Elisha Allen, it was upon the fields that he brutally lost his life and is forever tied to the property here.

Boylston Farmhouse // 1830

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Built on the once 3,000-acre estate of Ward Nicholas Boylston’s country house in Princeton, Massachusetts, this historic farmhouse was built as the old Villa became a year-round residence. When Ward Nicholas Boylston (1747-1828) died in 1828, his Princeton estate was inherited by his grandson, Dr. Ward Nicholas Boylston (1816-1870), who further developed the property. By 1830, Ward Boylston built this Greek Revival style farmhouse where he operated the property as a gentleman’s farm, with agricultural fields, dairy cows, and out-buildings. The farm was one of the largest in central Massachusetts and was known around the state. When Dr. Boylston died in 1870, his son, Ward Nicholas III, inherited the property but eventually sold it out of the family in 1918. Boylston Villa and the adjacent Boylston Farmhouse are separately owned, but retain their architectural and historical significance thanks to great stewards to maintain the properties.