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Cold Harbor Historical Information
Josiah Coleman Kent reports
a traditional account of this brook's appellation in his 1921
Northborough History:
"Cold Harbour Meadow,
in the western part of the town, so called from the circumstance
of a traveler, having lost his way, being compelled to remain
through a cold winter's night in a stack of hay in that place,
and on the following morning, having made his way through
the wilderness to the habitations of man, and being asked
where he lodged during the night, replied, 'In Cold Harbour!'"
Rocky Pond in Boylston
 Rocky
Pond, where Cold Harbor Brook begins, is the largest of five
naturally occurring ponds in Boylston, occupying an area of
45 acres according to a survey done in 1830. Its name is derived
from the many boulders in and around the pond, and it appears
to have been known as Rocky Pond for over 300 years. Rocky
Pond is home to a curious "runaway island." In 1870,
the Atlas of Worcester shows a large island in the lake near
its western side about halfway down its length, but by 1890,
its position had shifted to the southeast corner of the pond.
In the great hurricane of 1938, the island again shifted so
that it was now attached to the western shore, destroying
the waterfront of many of the cottages there. From a current
map of Rocky Pond, it looks as though the island hasn't moved
again from that position.
Rocky Pond Grant
In 1677 the General Court granted 200 acres of land on the
northern side of Rocky Pond to Thomas Eames of Framingham.
This grant was at least in part given as remuneration for
the suffering and losses he had sustained during King Philip's
War, when his wife and five of his children were slain and
five more of his children were taken captive, his house and
other buildings were burned, and his crops and livestock were
destroyed. Neither Thomas Eames nor his son John, to whom
the grant was passed, ever even had the land located, but
in 1686, John Brigham purchased the land from John Eames and
had it located and laid out.
Rocky Pond Farm
Rocky Pond Farm is situated to the west of Rocky Pond. The
land appears to have first been granted for the benefit of
the schools in Shrewsbury in 1718, but it later came into
the possession of Charles Bigelow. Bigelow farmed the land
until he died at the age of 52 in 1782, and his widow sold
the property to Captain James Longley. Capt. Longley acquired
more land for the farm until it occupied nearly 300 acres,
and he also constructed new buildings and increased its productivity.
Although the soil there was naturally rough and stony, Longley
worked hard to improve it and eventually had one of the largest
and best farms in the town. He was one of the first Boylston
farmers to plant orchards and to introduce improved and grafted
fall and winter fruit, and he was also the first Boylston
farmer to use a steel plow instead of the old wooden model.
The neighboring farmers apparently scoffed at Longley's experiment
until they witnessed the amazing results. Longley lived out
his long life on the farm and passed it on to his son Otis,
but after Otis's death in 1848, much of the farm was sold.
The property eventually passed out of the Longley family and
has since had several other owners.
Cold Harbor Brook
in Northborough
William
Holloway and the division of Westborough
In the first half of the 18th century, Lt.
William Holloway built a corn-mill and a gristmill on the
upper waters of Cold Harbor Brook, located in what was then
the northern part of Westborough. Holloway was the largest
property owner in this area and was also one of the biggest
advocates for the separation of the north section of town
from the south section. He and other "north siders,"
as they were known, felt that they were not getting fair treatment
from officials elected by the more numerous "south siders,"
and also complained that the meeting house was too far a walk
for them. Holloway
was especially displeased with the town's minister, Reverend
Ebenezer Parkman, because Parkman did
not visit the north
side often enough and, more egregiously, had
not attended the funeral of his son or that of another north-sider's
child. Since town  votes
were dominated by the south siders, the north siders
had no luck getting the town meeting to approve the separation
of
the two sections.
Finally
they took a petition to the General Court, and on October
20, 1744, Governor Shirley
"concented two" a bill that divided the town of
Westborough into two precincts. The organizational
meeting of the new precinct took place the next month in Holloway's
house, which, dating from 1711, is probably the oldest house
still standing
in the town today. The north precinct was officially incorporated
as the town of Northborough in 1766.
Mills
on Cold Harbor Brook
In 1799, after William Holloway's death, Stephen Williams
purchased his mills on Cold Harbor Brook from Holloway's mill
operator, Nathan Rice. Williams built a new gristmill in 1808,
just a few dozen yards upstream from the old mills. This mill
was known as "Tub Mill" because of its unusual water
wheel, a crude water turbine that ran in a tub-like case.
Tub Mill operated for many years, and it appears that it was
later owned by Joseph Ball, as it became known as the Joseph
Ball gristmill. Ball added a sawmill to this site, creating
two complete sets of mills within a quarter mile of each other.
Luckily Cold Harbor Brook had enough water to power them all.
In the 1820's, Jacob Pierce manufactured scythes, hoes, and
other tools in a small shop with a trip-hammer located where
Howard Brook joins Cold Harbor Brook. (A trip hammer is a
large, power-operated hammer that is lifted by a cam or a
lever until it is released and dropped.) The shop burnt in
1828, and Pierce rebuilt on a smaller scale without the trip-hammer.
This mill became known as "Toad Mill" for unknown
reasons, but one theory has it that the building looked like
a toad. Today a candle factory operates on this site.
Another mill on Cold Harbor Brook, located near where the
present day Crawford St. crosses the stream, was the Toren
cider mill. This mill was owned by a Russian immigrant originally
named Benzoin Tartakovsky, but his wife, Leah, simplified
the surname to Toren when they were married. The couple settled
in Northborough around 1920 and for the next 40 years they
produced cider that was prized for its quality.
Comb Manufacturing
Comb manufacturing was by far the largest industry in
Northborough by the middle of the 19th century. Although there
may have been a small comb manufacturer earlier, the first
major comb factory was established in 1839 by Bush & Haynes
of Feltonville (now Hudson). They built their main factory
on Howard Brook, just upstream of where it joins Cold Harbor
Brook, but one branch of their operation occupied Toad Mill.
They mainly manufactured dress or ornamental combs, which
were in high demand as they were very much in style. Soon
other comb factories sprang up, mostly small businesses in
buildings that could easily be adapted, since combs were only
profitable so long as the fashion remained. One of these comb
factories was located just below the Cold Harbor Bridge, which
is on the current Church St. In 1850, six of the town's fifteen
"industrial establishments" were comb factories,
manufacturing an enormous combined production of well over
2.6 million combs in a variety of sizes and styles. There
was also variety in the quality and prices--one factory's
combs were worth only three quarters of a cent per dozen,
while another's cost seventy-five cents a dozen. Comb manufacturing
dropped off dramatically after 1870 as combs began to go out
of style.
References:
Kent, Josiah Coleman. Northborough History.
Newton, MA: Garden City Press, Inc. 1921.
Mulligan, William H. Jr. Northborough: A Town
and its People, 1638-1975. Northborough American Revolution
Bicentennial Commission, 1977.
Northborough Historical Society. Images of
America: Northborough. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing,
2000.
Wright, George L. "Historical Notes on the
Town of Boylston Massachusetts, Prepared for use in the Public
Schools." Available at http://users.rcn.com/boyhisoc/wright-histnotes.htm
Researched and written by Joanna Solins for OAR.
If you have comments or corrections please email Sue
Flint.
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