Robert Frost Farm Historic Site

Lots of interesting facts about one of our best loved poets!

Maybe it’s only true if you live in New England, but Robert Frost seems to be one of the best-loved, and most well known poets in the US. And multiple states seem to claim him, from MA (we saw his high school years documented at the Lawrence Heritage State Park), to Vermont (he was named poet laureate of that state and also has a museum there) to NH with the Robert Frost State Park Historic Site. Stopping by the farmhouse in Derry, NH is a nice chance to catch a glimpse into this poet's life as well as that of his family. His turn as a poultry farmer, the health and education of his children, and the decisions he and his wife, Elinor, made about their lives together.

• Our Rating: 2.5 wags Not because we didn’t like this place, but it’s not really one we feel the need to visit again. Definitely worth seeing and we’d recommend it if you’re in the area, but “been there, done that” is probably more the case for us. Unless they have a special event like a Christmas Homecoming or a special outdoor exhibit. An activity in line with seeing more of the way of life in the early 1900's. Especially a life lived and written about by someone like Robert Frost. We provided suggestions for both of these activities with the ranger when we were there.
• Tucker’s Rating: 0 wags! Dogs aren’t allowed in the house or barn. And while he’d probably have loved the field, there are lots better fields around to sniff and wander through. 
• Accessibility: Not really. People using wheelchairs or strollers would have difficulty here. The parking lot is nice and flat, and the ramp running into the barn is fine, but the bulk of this site is in the house itself and that is a standard old-fashioned farmhouse, complete with narrow stairs, and long-winded ranger talk with no place to sit even if you got into the house under your own steam but just aren't into standing still for long! More on that later, but suffice to say we can’t call this one accessible.  
• Fees: FREE to NH residents according to the website. But on another site we saw a fee of $4 per NH adult or $5 for non-NH resident, still other sites state $7 for others with discounts for children and seniors. When we were there the ranger told us it was “free for NH residents and I’m not going to check to see where your license plates are from” but we did pay our fees, which I think were $7 for each of us. Seems a bit high but they have some great memorabilia, a really nice video and the house is pretty interesting so we thought it was worth it. 
• Pet-Friendly: No. Dogs are allowed in the fields behind the house but not in the actual property.
• Activities: Shopping in the barn store (interesting books, pictures, etc.) picnicking, hiking. They have a series of events here in the summer including a quilt show, classes, etc. See the website.

We’d seen quite a bit about Robert Frost when we stopped at the Lawrence Heritage State Park and we’ve driven BY this old farmhouse numerous times, so thought it would be a good place to check out as part of the blog. After all, my father used to quote from The Road Less Traveled:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –  

I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Only the last three lines of the poem, and I’m not so sure my father TOOK the road less traveled, but I also think the nuns who forced him to memorize poetry had a leaning towards what was very modern poetry back in the 20’s…. because this poem was written in 1920. I’m not sure kids are learning poems today that were written in 2000…. But then maybe they are, what do I know?

In any case, the previous weekend, Mother’s Day, had Beth traveling in one direction and I in another (our own "two roads in a wood.... " I guess) so we waited til the following weekend to take our respective mother and step-mother, out for a Sunday drive to Robert Frost’s Farm in Derry, NH. It's easy to find, right on Rt. 28, and plenty of parking! They’ve also got a really nice tree for photographs just behind the house, so definitely bring your camera if you want a pastoral scene for family photographs.

  

Entrance to the home is through the barn to the right of the house. The barn is filled with memorabilia, sculptures, children’s poems and drawings, photos, and a seating area where you can watch video of Frost himself reciting his poems, and his daughter speaking about growing up in the Derry homestead. Definitely take the time to watch the video. It's a treat to see and hear the actual poet recite his own work. And to hear his daughter talk about life in the farmhouse and New England in general takes you back to a time quite a bit different than today's busy life, but in it's own way, VERY busy. I can’t remember the name of the film itself but it was a PBS documentary produced locally. After sitting through that film, we were asked to pay the appropriate fee and then enter the house with the Park Ranger to start the tour!

Our first stop was just inside the door, in the “outhouse” of the property. Since it’s located inside, and attached to the house itself, it’s more like an “in house” but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a bathroom since there was no bathtub, no running water, and a two seater “necessary”! I guess that kind of “sharing” is something only real family members or true friends would allow. The ranger spent quite a while in this room chatting about the history of the house and land, how the purchase was financed, how many chickens were purchased, the paint on the walls, the implements hung from the walls, and after 20 or so minutes Lillian started to fade. She’s not the greatest at standing on her feet, and in the heat of the day she needed to SIT! She walked back into the barn and figured she’d be stuck there for the whole tour, because there really wasn’t anywhere to sit once inside the house. The ranger didn’t hesitate in his discussion, but told us we could grab a chair if we wanted. I think more than a few of us were wishing he'd take her needing to sit as a signal that he needed to either shorten his speech or at least move to a different room, but no, he kept on. Eventually we moved to the next room, a large, unfinished room where wood was stored and other farm implements were displayed, and he continued his talk…. This guy DID love to hear his own voice. He even commented on that himself a number of times. He also told us he’d been a poetry major in college. AH! That’s why they chose him for this park. He definitely knew his stuff and could wax forever on Frost, poetry and the history of this property. I wanted to ask him to recite one of his own poems, since I was curious to see just how great a poet he could be that he was working full time as a park ranger, but I also really wanted to get on with the house tour AND have Lillian join us. It didn’t take long though, and that problem had been solved.

As we moved into the kitchen of the house the ranger introduced us to his intern… actually his son who was learning the ropes of being a park ranger, and who was asked to do a bit of the presentation himself, specific to how laundry was done on a regular basis. He also pointed out the rules of bathing in the house, with the oldest person being allowed to take the first bath, and then the tub full of water being used over and over by each member of the family, down to the youngest. My guess is the youngest never was totally clean! Probably also didn’t have a clue what hot water was! At this point the ranger did allow Lillian to sit in one of the kitchen chairs and amazingly enough as we moved into the living room he told his son to carry the chair there so she could sit again. After that, he was very attentive to her having a place to sit as we went through the house, but she did have to climb the stairs to the bedrooms on her own power and there really wasn’t a place to sit up there. He just promised we wouldn't spend much time up there. We found the living room very interesting, complete with books Frost used to home school his kids. The selection included an eclectic mix with titles like The Pilgrim's Progress, and others you'd expect to see, and then some odd choices regarding religion, greek and roman history, exploration of the north pole and more! I diligently made a list when we were there, but unfortunately changed purses since then and the list is nowhere to be found! I wrote the park asking if they might share a title or two but so far no response. But suffice to say, the variety of books on those shelves would probably be a great start for a paper on home schooling in the early 1900s. 

We found the ranger's stories of Robert Frost, his wife, and children and their travels very interesting. It’s obvious that Frost loved to explore. He started life in San Francisco, but at an early age moved to Lawrence. He's also lived in NH, VT and England to name a few mroe. He also clearly had a control issue, but it may have only been control to allow himself time to create. And he also had a desire to allow life to take him where and how it would, within limits. He wasn't going to be forced to do anything he didn't want to. That may seem contradictory but listening to the stories told by the ranger had us laughing, and wondering how his wife put up with him. Had to be love, most definitely!

Frost ran the poultry farm in Derry with limited success, taught at Pinkerton Academy until 1911, and wrote poetry, a talent that started when he was a young man and just seemed to continue throughout his life with no sign of stopping.  When he sold the farm, he used the money to take his family to England where he began his real literary successes. Robert Frost didn’t want to be tied down and his wife seemed quite willing to live this type of life by his side. Her father was not behind the marriage, but was definitely a part of what kept them warm and fed in Derry. If you love Frost’s poems, or New England living in the early 1900s, or just want to walk the same land that a poet laureate has walked, to see where walls were mended and inspired the poem Mending Wall, a poem that features the line, "good fences make good neighbors", or to see the field that he stopped in on a winter's night in Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, then check out the Robert Frost Farm in Derry, NH. It’s a nice place to spend an hour or two, and you might just find yourself checking out his poetry again! We still love it!

Other resources:

Alternate website with more resources for teachers, and Robert Frost history: www.robertfrostfarm.org

Frostiana: Seven Country Songs. A really beautiful piece of composition by Randall Thompson based on poetry by Robert Frost.

Lawrence Heritage State Park - #10

Is it a park? Is it a museum? Is it the birthplace of Robert Frost (like the sign on Rt. 495 says)?

Tucker’s Rating – 1 wag (pets not allowed and there’s nothing there for them anyway!)
Our Rating – 2.5 wags. Although the thought of us wagging our tails at ANYTHING but a 5 is kind of ludicrous. We considered this park an interesting place, but not a "destination park", at least not in winter. Also, the lack of staff and lighting was a big drawback. We’d suggest it as a place to go for those with a particular interest in mill history, Lawrence history, or if you happen to be in the area and have an hour or so to discover some interesting local facts. It's definitely not a waste of time, but not a highlight either. Kids might be entertained by some of the exhibits and they do carry the MA DCR's Park Passports. The Park Passports are part of a program run by the Massachusetts Division of Conservation and Recreation, to promote children visiting state parks. Actually a really cool program we've seen, similar to one where kids earn patches for visiting firetowers in NH! While Lawrence Heritage State Park doesn't have its own stamp (since its not really geared towards children) the passports themselves are available and they do have a stamp that can be used to prove you've visited the park. This site also includes a visitor’s center, and carries announcements about local events, so it feels a little like a tourist information booth when you first walk in, but there are interesting things to see.

Accessibility - ADA Accessible including ramps and elevators. Lillian had no trouble getting in and around!

Fees - Free (even the parking if you hit it on a day that the small lot has a vacancy. It was totally empty the day we visited.) There is also street parking but we'd recommend the lot.

Two weeks in a row! We must be determined this year!
And to answer the first questions we posed, officially it’s a park, in reality it’s a museum, and no, Robert Frost was born in San Francisco in 1874. When his father passed away, he DID move with his family to Lawrence, MA around the age of 10. He graduated from Lawrence High School as valedictorian, and published his first poem in the school newspaper. His most famous poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening with it's last four lines, "The woods are lovely dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep-, And miles to go before I sleep" is one I can still hear echo in my head in my father’s voice. Amazing how sound is something we carry with us forever. I even found part of this poem in Frost’s own handwriting on the web . But this isn’t a blog about Robert Frost, or poetry even! It’s about parks and hiking and interesting stuff along the way! So here we go!

Let's do TWO parks!
We started off the day planning to see both Lawrence and Lowell's State Parks. Both were created around the business of the mills, so it seemed like a good combination. Unfortunately, as is usually the case with us, we got out of the house later than planned and couldn’t hit both in the afternoon. They are pretty close together, and located just off Rt. 495 (easy to find), but these parks are not open late in the day. To be honest, except for the fact that the front door was unlocked at the Lawrence facility, you could have convinced me that we’d walked into a building that was really closed for at least the day if not the season.

The Lawrence Heritage State Park is accessible to all, with ramps outside and elevators inside. A person Beth tells me was a park ranger (but who looked to me like just someone from the neighborhood), pointed out the ramps so we could help Lillian into the building. She turned them down, having already faced the icy parking lot and the icy walkway. She felt confident handling the 3 or 4 stairs up into the building. They were very clear and safe, and while the building itself is in among the old mill buildings, and a part of the city that one might think is mostly abandoned, we didn't feel that safety was an issue. The "park" itself is located in an old rooming house next to what appears to be the skeletal remains of another mill building, which has been cleaned up and beautified by a garden area with walks, benches and the roof opens up to the sky above. On the way back to our car after our visit, Beth even saw a hawk sitting on one of the rafters. No doubt taking a break from fishing in the canals nearby. The park building has been made over into an information- and image-filled archive of everything mill-related wrapped with the history of Lawrence in its heyday. What an amazing place it was before the mills started to shut down. We wandered and poked around, finding lots of dimly lit rooms. Thankfully it was a sunny day, so for the most part we could see displays, read signs, etc.

As you enter the building there is a large piece of equipment that we think was a safe. Both the size and design is incredible! The sign on the front says if you’re wondering what’s inside, ask the person at the front desk to open it…. Unfortunately, there was no one at the front desk… or anywhere in the building that we could see. Just off the first large room there is also a small video room where they show various films (including The Great Impostor, a film about a famous resident of Lawrence), and the feature on Sunday was about the Bread and Roses Strike. I would have loved to watch the video, but the sign said to ask for assistance at the front desk and again there wasn’t anyone AT the front desk. Hmmmmm......

What will you find?
The building holds memorabilia on the mills (their rise and fall), the collapse of the Pemberton Mill in 1860 (we were happy to see that it was rebuilt and is still just down the street), the Bread and Roses strike of 1912, and the immigrant population as well as commercial memorabilia from various manufacturing companies in Lawrence including New Balance Shoes, signage from restaurants, letters written by George Washington (I’m thinking this is a case of "George Washington slept here." Why else would they have letters written by him?), school photos of Robert Frost and his wife, and more. It’s a place you could wander in for quite some time if you're into reading display signs and pouring over collages, photos, and memorabilia. There are lighted displays but none of the lights worked and it wasn’t until I’d made my second pass by an area on the second floor that I read the sign stating that they were conserving electricity by keeping all non-essential lights off, so "Please check with the front desk if there is something you’d like to see…" Again, no one at the front desk! You’d think they’d take those signs down when they know no one will be at the front desk. I didn’t bother to GO to the front desk until we were getting ready to leave because I knew no one was there. It wasn't until I stopped there on the way out to pick up various brochures and sign the guest book that I saw the bell and the sign saying to ring it for assistance. aaargh! And how long, pray tell, would it take for that person who is obviously hovering somewhere close enough to hear the bell, take to get back to their post???… now I’m thinking if there was a ranger somewhere in that building (and Beth says the guy who told us about the ramp came in after us and went downstairs) then that ranger is sitting SOMEWHERE in that building…. My suggestion... SIT BEHIND THE DESK! Rather than sitting somewhere else waiting for a bell to ring. I mean REALLY, are they watching TV somewhere? Doing piecework? Handling correspondence? Sitting is sitting, isn't it? Either that, or put motion detectors on the lights so that when you enter the room, lights and buttons are activated. If the room is vacant for say 10 minutes, the power goes out. We did see the bulk of the displays but not all…. And we were wishing we’d been able to view them without having to squint or hope the sun would come out from behind a cloud. If it were a cloudy day I think we really wouldn't have bothered going upstairs at all.

Anything else?
They’ve also got miniature reproductions of the famous mill clock tower (acting as a time capsule to be opened in 2053!), various mill buildings, and life-size statues in a mill room setting. This is a nice museum/park, but unless you’re watching one of the movies available, I think an hour tops is what you’d need, that and a flashlight!

So at the end of our hour, we headed out to explore the immediate area and were amazed at how far and wide the mills spread out. They cover acres of the city! I'd definitely recommend driving around a bit near the canal to get a good feel for how far and wide the mills stretched. Its no wonder that with the loss of both the cotton and woolen industries, Lawrence was hit with a terrible crash from which they are still trying to rebuild. Some of the renovation is very impressive, and you'll find some cute restaurants and shops scattered through the mills as well as some gorgeous stonework in a few. The Immigrant Archive is just down the block from this building and I’m certain would be great for anyone interested in more New England history past and current.

What else is in the area?
As mentioned, this area of Lawrence is still under development. There are a lot of abandoned mill buildings, but more that have been refitted for various businesses including restaurants, manufacturing, doctor’s offices, etc. I'd highly recommend Salvatore's if you're looking for a restaurant with great food, reasonable prices and a beautiful deck that overlooks the Merrimack River. Some of the buildings have also been developed into loft and studio style residences, and if you like antiques you can find Canal Street Antique Center and a few other interior decorating type of businesses in the area, with some great deals on all kinds of things both old and new! At Canal Street we were offered a beautiful solid cherry Asian-style sideboard marked from $895, down to $495 and the owner told us to “make an offer” because he HAD to get rid of it! We did very well by resisting temptation but if you’re looking for furniture, glass, tea cups, lamps, you name it, you’ll find it!

On the way home we tried to stop at our favorite Bradford restaurant, Joseph’s Trattoria/Bakery/Cafe, but they were closed for a company holiday party (in late January I guess they cover lots of holidays). If you’re looking for a yummy bakery or home made pasta, brick oven pizza and fire roasted meats and seafood, this is the place to stop! We’ll make it back there next time we’re out this way most definitely. Instead, we headed to The Loop, which is the redesigned Methuen Mall, looking happy, busy and much more popular than the indoor mall it had been. We poked around in Borders Books, had coffee and vanilla bean scones and headed back home. Altogether a nice relaxing and interesting day for a winter Sunday.