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North Brook Historical Information
North Brook provided power for a number
of small mills in the town of Berlin. One of the earliest
mills was built in the mid-18th century in south Berlin, and
the long earth-and-stone dam that was constructed there created
what is now called Wheeler Pond. This dam powered a sawmill
until fairly recently and was also used to power a gristmill.
Another early saw- and gristmill was located in West Berlin
where Rt. 62 crosses North Brook just east of the railroad
tracks. The road passes over the old dam. At least seven other
sites on North Brook powered mills, but these have long-since
been abandoned.
The Railroad
At one time there were two railroads running
through the town of Berlin. Each was a line of one of the
two main systems of New England, the Boston & Maine and
the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroads, and so Berlin
was connected to a vast range of places. The earlier of the
two lines to be built was part of the New York, New Haven
and Hartford system and ran through the western part of Berlin
from north to south, following the course of North Brook.
This line, chartered on April 26, 1847, was called the Agricultural
Branch Railroad and in 1866, the time at which it began to
run regular passenger cars, it extended from Northborough
to Pratt's Junction in Sterling. The Berlin Station was located
at the junction of South Street and Jones Road in the south
part of town, and a second station was located in West Berlin
across from the village store on West St. This station was
originally just called the West Berlin Station; however, as
there was some confusion between the enunciation of "West
Berlin" and "Westboro," the station became
"Carters" in 1922, named after Silas R. Carter,
the man who had charge of the depot when it was established.
In 1867, only a year after this line came to Berlin, its name
was changed to the Boston, Clinton and Fitchburg Railroad
Company, and it consolidated with the Fitchburg and Worcester
line in 1869, also leasing the New Bedford Railroad Company
in 1874. In 1882 this company united with the Old Colony Road,
resulting in the corporation known as the Old Colony Railroad
Company. Shortly thereafter in 1893, the New York, New Haven
and Hartford Railroad Company took a ninety-nine-year lease
on the Old Colony, which meant that Berlin was directly connected
to Boston, Fall River, New Bedford, and Fitchburg for the
next forty years. [alternately: The Agricultural Branch Railroad
passed through a series of owners, becoming a part of various
different rail systems in the latter half of the 19th century.]
With the advent of trolley cars and automobiles, though, demand
for the passenger service of the railroad gradually decreased
until it was discontinued in 1933. However, these tracks are
still used for heavy freight service and are now operated
by Conrail.
Conservation Areas
North Brook currently runs through two significant
conservation areas, the Fyfeshire Conservation Area in Bolton,
and Garfield Woods in Berlin, owned by the Sudbury Valley
Trustees. An interesting history of the Fyfeshire Conservation
land can be found at http://www.townofbolton.com/hist/survey/fyfeshire.htm,
about two-thirds of the way down the page, and some historical
information about the Garfield Woods is available at http://www.sudburyvalleytrustees.org/Visit/Sites/Garfield.htm
References:
Houghton, William A. History of the Town of Berlin,
1784-1895. Worcester, MA: F.S. Blanchard & Co. Printers;
1895.
Krackhardt, Frederick A. History of the Town
of Berlin, 1784-1959. Town of Berlin, 1959.
Towns of the Nashaway Plantation. Lancaster
League of Historical Societies, 1976.
Researched and written for OAR by Joanna Solins. Email comments
or corrections to Sue
Flint.
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