Raising the Bar The following is the fifth installment of a twelve-part series on the history of the organization. You can read the other installments here. By Jim Glinski, Scituate The NSRWA continued to evolve and grow as an organization. As Executive Director Samantha Woods stated at the time of the NSRWA’s 40th anniversary in […]
Early Activism Leads to Cleaner Rivers By Jim Glinski, Scituate The Scituate Wastewater Treatment Plant was built in the 1960s to treat town sewage and to discharge wastewater into the ground only. Over time the sand filtration system became inadequate to treat the growing volume of sewage. During the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, […]
The following story was unearthed recently. It tells the tale of the Brig Polly, a 131 ton ship constructed in Pembroke in 1791. She was probably built by shipbuilders Alden Briggs, Calvin Turner and Icabod Thomas, Jr. Her home port was Boston. Lost Ships and Lonely Seas by Ralph D. Paine 1920 A hundred years […]
A Second Wind: “Watershed Wakes Up — How About You” (Newsletter, May 1989) By Jim Glinski, Scituate In a frank letter to its members in May 1989, the NSRWA admitted that after the passage of the North River Scenic Protective Order in 1978, “we all relaxed because it seemed like the state would take care […]
By Caleb Estabrooks, Hanover Fox Hill is located in present day Norwell where the Barque Hill/Brigantine Circle neighborhood can be found. Today it is difficult to identify the hills that dominated the landscape, but during the colonial and early federalist era; when the area was deforested and before the bulldozers had leveled the land for […]
The First Decade By Jim Glinski, Scituate Even though the NSRWA lacked a permanent office and held meetings in private homes, under the leadership of its first president, Bill Finn, it got right to work to preserve the scenic and recreational values of the North and South Rivers. In January it published its first newsletter, […]
By Caleb Estabrooks, Hanover The year 1821 was not a particularly busy year for North River Shipyards: The Panic of 1819 had set in and few people were investing in shipping. As a result only eight ships were launched on the North River that year. Despite this, John B. and Elijah Barstow managed to build […]
NSRWA began as a group of 200 local citizens 50 years ago. Today, we have grown to more than 1,700 members across our region, making NSRWA the largest environmental organization on Boston’s South Shore. With our supporters, we strive to act as a catalyst for change by boosting the capacity of grassroots groups, fostering advocacy […]
The site of SMITHS YARD in Hanover is about 300 yards below the old North River Bridge, and about 12 miles up-river from the ocean (although the distance was 15 miles until the Portland Gale altered the river in 1898). The cast iron sign that marks the location for this shipyard reads “SMITHS YARD LATER […]
December 19, 1919 By: Henry T. Claus Transcribed and edited by Jane Estabrooks A Democracy Afloat Others perhaps had a large share in making history in those history-making days, but in the light of today no vessel reaches quite the picturesque heights attained by the Roanoke, 99 tons, built in 1842 at Barstow’s Lower Yards. […]