Borderland State Park

Borderland Historic District
Ames Mansion
Nearest city: Easton and Sharon, Massachusetts
Built: 1910
Architect: Ames, Blanche Ames; Ames, Oakes
Architectural style: Late Gothic Revival, Georgian, Colonial Revival
Governing body: State
NRHP Reference#:

97000497

[1]
Added to NRHP: June 16, 1997

Borderland is one of Massachusetts' state parks, located in the towns of Easton and Sharon. The main entrance and visitor center are located in Easton. The area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Borderland Historic District in 1997.

In 1906, Oakes Ames, a Harvard botanist (son of Massachusetts governor Oliver Ames and grandson of U.S. Representative Oakes Ames), and his wife Blanche Ames Ames (daughter of Mississippi governor Adelbert Ames, but not related to Oakes Ames), an artist and feminist, purchased land on the border of Sharon and Easton. The country estate they named “Borderland” remained in the family for sixty-five years. In 1971, two years after the death of Blanche Ames, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts acquired the estate and opened it as a state park.

Borderland continues to offer the public many of the same pleasures that the Ameses enjoyed, such as walking and horseback riding on woodland trails, fishing and canoeing in the ponds, and, in winter, ice skating and sledding. The park also includes a disc golf course and Moyles Quarry (a.k.a. Canton Viaduct quarry) which supplied the facing stone for the Canton Viaduct in 1835. The family’s home, a three-story stone mansion built in 1910, still stands. Its twenty rooms are furnished much as they were when the Ameses lived there; many of Blanche Ames’ paintings grace the walls. During the spring, summer, and fall, the house is open to visitors for regularly scheduled guided tours (as of 2006: April-November, 3rd Sunday of each month at 1 pm, duration approximately 2 hours, cost $3 per person; group tours also available by appointment).

The 1,782-acre (7.21 km2) park is operated by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. An appointed Advisory Council participates in policy decision-making.

In recent years, Borderland has served as the home for Oliver Ames High School cross country running, representing the school's home course. It is also utilized by the Old Colony League for its annual cross country meet. The park also hosts the Hockomock League Championship meet and various invitational meets on the 2.7-mile (4.3 km)-loop course. In 1996, the World Masters Flying Disc Championships were held at Borderland.

Scenes from the movie Shutter Island, directed by Martin Scorsese, were shot here at the lodge located next to Leach Pond.

References

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 

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  • Category:National Register of Historic Places
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