Welcome to the Tweedy & Barnes Historic Trail

As you explore here, you’ll travel through uplands, bogs, and wetlands along the Sippican River. This scenic spot was once owned by the Tweedy & Barnes Cranberry Company, and it offers keen observers a glimpse into the history of Wareham, from the Ice Age to today. This program is supported in part by a grant from the Wareham Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

How the Land Came to BeImagine for a moment that the land where you now stand was covered by several thousand feet of glacial ice. The massive ice sheet of the last Ice Age shaped the landscape of Wareham, the South Coast, and Cape Cod. As it advanced south from present day Canada to cover a large portion of the United States, the glacier plowed and pushed up boulders, rocks and soil

and carried these materials as it moved. The Elizabeth Islands, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket are all deposits that mark the farthest advance of the glacier. As the glacier melted and retreated, it left behind large amounts of till—gravel, small rocks, sand and mud—which formed the basis for Wareham’s sandy soil.

The remains of the ice sheet that once covered Wareham can still be seen in Greenland and Antarctica. Photo courtesy of Oregon State University

The Nature of Industry Wareham’s unique natural resources made the area well-suited for manufacturing. By the early 17th century, colonists began mining the bogs in Wareham for iron ore, the raw material necessary to produce iron. Timber, from forests like the one you are in now, was harvested for fuel, tools, housing,

and road buildling. Dams built along the Agawam, Sippican, and Weweantic rivers provided water-power for the manufactur-ing process. Even piles of shells left by the Wampanoag—middens—were ground up and used as flux in the furnace to extract pure iron from iron ore.

Workers at the Tremont Nail Company pose in front oftracks that ran through the factory. The tracks allowedproducts to be easily loaded onto waiting freighttrains. Photo courtesy of Mack and Cathy Phinney

Once, there was a railroad bridge that spanned the SippicanRiver here. That bridge was part of the Fairhaven BranchRailroad, a train line that ran 15 miles from Warehamto Fairhaven. This short line was part of the Old ColonySystem, which ran north to Lowell and Fitchburg and southto Provincetown and Newport. From 1849-1953, this trainline carried passengers and was also used by the ironindustry to ship out their products.

From Here to There

A postcard of the Wareham Village Station depictsone of the stops the Fairhaven Branch Railroad madein the middle of Wareham. Photo courtesy of D.E. Swift, Milinery & Fancy Goods

Like the native Wampanoag, early European settlers came to Wareham for the resources it had to offer, many of which were found in Wareham’s rivers. The species of herring called alewives were particularly treasured—so much so that, in the late 18th century, constables became responsible for

monitoring the fish population, which was already declining due to dams that blocked their natural migration. Fishing rights were privatized so that fishing was only allowed by those who owned the land alongside the rivers, but the fish were so valued that poaching was prevalent.

The Running Resource

During early spring, alewives will attempt to run up rivers like the Sippican to spawn in the same water in which they were born. Photo courtesy of NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center

A Vision for the Future Tweedy and Barnes is now a conservation area for everyone to explore! Conservation is part of Wareham’s history, too. The Wareham Land Trust has been working to protect Wareham’s open spaces since 2001. We are an all-volunteer land trust made up of people who care about Wareham’s natural resources, and as of 2016 we’ve conserved over 550 acres of open space.

We aren’t the only ones working to support conservation in Wareham—Mass Audubon, The Wareham Community Preservation Committee, and many state agencies share our vision. By working together, we can help preserve natural spaces like these for the future, and make sure the resources that have always made Wareham so special are maintained.