"My dear Blue Hills, ye are the most sublime object of my imagination. At your revered foot, will I spend my old age, if any, in a calm philosophical retrospect upon the turbulent scenes of politics and war." John Adams, March 22, 1782
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts derives its name from Moswatusik, the Native American word for 'land by the great hill'. The archeological evidence is well established showing the importance of the Blue Hill area, which includes Great Blue and Little Blue Hills, Prowse Farm, Houghton's Pond, and the Ponkapoag Plantation area, to the Native Americans. Some of the earliest examples of farming were discovered in the area along with other clues showing a long sequence of residency by Natives prior to colonization.
The History of Prowse Farm
By Peter B. Pineo
Founded in 1975 to preserve an historically important and environmentally sensitive parcel of land, the Friends of Prowse Farm is a group dedicated to educating the public and assuring its access to Prowse Farm.
During the Colonial period, Prowse Farm became important as the site of the Doty Tavern. Being a safe distance from Boston and because public meetings were banned, Doty Tavern was chosen as the appropriate venue to draft the Suffolk Resolves. Later signed down the road in Milton, the Resolves were taken to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia and adopted in a single day to become the basis of the Declaration of Independence. Paul Revere, who took the Resolves to Philadelphia, established the first copper rolling mill in America in Canton, a few miles away from the Farm. It was there that the copper for the U.S.S. Constitution was produced. Revere maintained a summer residence in his beloved Canton-while he is buried in Boston, all of his children are buried in the Canton Corner Cemetery.
More than a hundred years later, in 1890, J. Malcolm Forbes of Milton purchased the Davenport, Hunt and Farrington farms and combined them to create the 120-acre world-famous Forbes Stock Farm. At its peak, the farm stabled 75 horses, including a three-quarter-mile training track, the largest of its kind in Massachusetts. In an effort to improve the standardbred horse at his farm, Forbes brought together some of the greatest horses of his time, including "Peter the Great," "Nancy Hanks," "Bingen" and "Arion." In 1891 Forbes purchased "Arion" from California senator Leland Stamford, who had boasted that no amount of money could buy his horse. That all changed when Forbes offered $125,000, the largest amount paid for any horse at that time.
Only a mile from the Readville raceway in Hyde Park (currently the Stop & Shop warehouse), the farm was ideally situated, since the standardbred, a light driving horse, was in great demand both on the road prior to the automobile and for racing. Forbes's main objective was to improve the quality of the standardbred through "selective breeding." He wished to breed the fastest trotters. Forbes was also a great Yachtsman, financing two successful defenses of the America Cups races, twice besting Sir Thomas Lipton of England.
Upon Forbes's death in 1904, the farm was sold to Mr. Johnson of Maine, who owned it for 10 years and then sold it in 1914 to General Francis Peabody of Milton. General Peabody, a member of the prominent family after which the city of Peabody is named, was an equestrian who loved the hunter jumper, and he imported some of the finest horses from Europe. He was one of the founders of the prestigious Norfolk Hunt Club (in the Dover/Medfield area) in 1895 and was the club's first president, a position he held for 34 years. General Peabody replaced the Farrington farmhouse and built the house you see today. In the 1920s General Peabody gave the property to his daughter Martha as a wedding present. The farm was reduced in size when 60 acres of land was taken by the state by eminent domain for the expansion of the Ponkapoag Golf Course and the construction of the new Route 128 in the late 1950s. Up until then, Blue Hill River Road, where the farm is located, was Rte. 128.
This major highway bisected the farm, still the scene of trotters on the only three-quarter-mile training track in the state. Martha Peabody Prowse continued the farm's equine heritage and maintained its picturesque and unspoiled landscape that served as a transition between the Blue Hills Reservation, the nation's oldest urban park system, and the modern development springing up around it. J. Malcolm Forbes's original barns continue to stable area horses; the Ponkapoag Pony Club has held many large shows and the track was used for horse training throughout Mrs. Prowse's tenure on the property. At one time, before New York City was chosen, the farm was being considered as the site for the United Nations building.
Upon Mrs. Prowse's passing in 1975, the farm's future was uncertain. Faced with the prospect of development, the citizen group calling themselves the Friends of Prowse Farm organized to advocate preservation of the historically significant and environmentally sensitive land at the gateway of the public parkland of the Blue Hills Reservation. In the years that followed, the group defeated several attempts to rezone the property. But despite the Friends' best efforts, Codex Corporation, a Motorola Inc. subsidiary, purchased the land in 1978 with the intent to develop it commercially. A ten-year battle was waged on many fronts and the effort to save the Farm became national news, symbolic of the dwindling amount of farmland near metropolitan areas. Boston Celtics star Dave Cowens, film legend Robert Redford and golf great Arnold Palmer joined the effort. In the end, the office building Codex constructed was never fully occupied and the company put the property up for sale in the early 1990's.
In 1993 the Friends of Prowse Farm signed a management agreement with Meditech, the new owners of Prowse Farm. Along with maintaining an office and establishing a museum in the original residence, the Friends are dedicated to promoting public access through its diverse schedule of events.
For more than a decade the Friends they have hosted The Order of the Preservation of Indian Culture, a Native American Pow Wow, while horse and carriage events highlight the Farm's rich equine history. Ty-Rods Old Timers Reunion, a custom car show, has more than 1,500 vehicles, which makes it the largest show of its kind in the Northeast. The Farm City Festival, is Prowse Farm's signature event celebrating Massachusetts agriculture in a fun and festive atmosphere with a farmers' market, equine demonstrations, hayrides, live music, barnyard petting zoo, championship oxen pull, crafts and much more. In December is Holiday at the Farm, complete with horse-drawn carriages, antique cars, old-fashioned hayrides and a barn for the animals-just like Christmas was celebrated in the early part of the twentieth century.
Over the years, the Friends have hosted other special events including the Carriage Event highlighting the rich equine history of the Farm by presenting the modern version of pleasure driving and dressage. An Artists in Residence Day brings amateurs and professionals together along with visitors to enjoy the beauty of the area through painting demonstrations and an exhibit.
Today the scenic farm is also available for special events. Meeting space in the original residence is available to local groups, companies and organizations.
The Friends of Prowse Farm are also actively soliciting to host new events including a major equestrian event and a historic re-creation of a Colonial muster, which would emphasize the importance of the Doty Tavern Site. If you are a member of a related club or organization involved in such events, please contact our office.
The Friends welcome you to Prowse Farm, hope you enjoy your Show House experience and look forward to seeing you at a future event.
For additional information and updated schedule of events call 781-828-FARM.
Friends of Prowse Farm
5 Blue Hill River Road
Canton, MA 02021
Office: 781-828-FARM, FAX: 781-828-1983
E-MAIL: inquiry@prowsefarm.org or prowsefarm@aol.com
Fair Environment Corporation, dba Friends of Prowse Farm is a nonprofit, tax exempt, 501 (c) 3 organization originally chartered in 1981.
*Other readings on John Adams, 2nd U.S. President through the Massachusetts Historical Society