Holiday Cheer in Townsend Massachusetts

According to the United States Census Bureau, Townsend Masschusetts has a total area of 33.1 square miles (85.8 km²), of which 32.9 square miles (85.1 km²) is land and 0.2 square mile (0.6 km²) (0.72%) is water. Townsend has the largest land area of any town in Middlesex County but is by far not the most populated.

Townsend is a beautiful old town with many historical buildings a beautiful river feeding into a pond which feeds into a water fall in what is called Townsend Harbor. The river and pond support the annual Townsend Lions Club Canoe Race.  The Reed Homestead shown above is only one of the houses the Historical Society oversees , there are several such properties in town. Townsend Harbor is a village in Townsend, Massachusetts, containing Harbor Pond dammed from the Squannacook River.

The painting above of the harbor in fall was commissioned of a well-known local artist, Samuel Thorpe, who passed away in 2005 at the age of 71.

At this location Jonas Spaulding and his brother Waldo started a mill in 1873 that made leatherboard (composed of leather scraps and wood pulp). They did business as Spaulding Brothers. Operation of the leatherboard mill at Townsend Harbor ceased in 1957, after the last two surviving siblings, Huntley Spaulding and his married sister Marion S. Potter, died.

The town is also home to Willard Brook State Park including Damon Pond and Townsend State Forest which includes Pearl Hill. Pearl Hill's campsites in Massachusetts are spacious and private. There are 51 campsites with a modern bathhouse. A day use area includes a 5 acres (2.0 ha) pond with a beach. A recently completed and somewhat challenging trail connects to Willard Brook State Forest. The Willard Brook property has 19 campsites and one Yurt at Damon Pond. Campground office hours are 9 am – 10 pm. The regular camping season is from late May to early September. The fairly challenging "Friends Trail" that connects the campground to the one at Pearl Hill State Park takes up to 3 hours to complete and hikers should be in good physical condition.

Steeped in so much history it is no wonder that Townsend also has a large antique shop community.  Starting on the Eastern edge in the Harbor with small individual shops like Harbor-side Antiques and Estate Service or  B and G Antique Clock Repair Shop the antique trail finishes on the Western edge with large group shops like  Hobart Village Antique Mall and Antique Associates  as well as individual vendors like   J Delaney Antique Clocks a family business that has been featured on the Antiques Roadshow.

Great food is also a part of the Townsend Experience.  Lunch or Dinner or Sunday Brunch at Bailey’s Bar and Grille is a treat. They offer senior discounts along with vegetarian and gluten free options and a special burger where a portion of the proceeds supports various local fundraising and charitable organizations.  Live entertainment at the full  bar or on the deck (seasonal ) is a real draw. 

Several other local establishments are hometown and visitor favorites, like Cliffs Café for breakfast , indoors or out on the porch (weather permitting).   The Townsend House , as another example, is host to several local and surrounding town organizational dinner meetings proving that the food has to be good. 

Holidays in Townsend  provide many shopping and entertainment delights.  Beginning with the  events such as the library's Winter Holiday Art Showcase opening November 5^th , an indoor church fair November 23^rd at the Congregational Church on the common, followed quickly by the Townsend Lions Annual Christmas Tree Sale which begins the weekend following Thanksgiving with the delivery from a local NH tree farm to the back of the Townsend Common. 

The library will open their Festival of Trees on December 7^th which will display many artificial trees decorated by local businesses and families. 

 One of the most magical of events is deemed “Christmas in Townsend”.

This is a choreographed light and holiday music display put on annually by a Townsend teenager, Chris Puglia. It will rival any professionally developed display you might encounter.  2012 was their third and a record year for the display. Chris attributes that partly to a video segment appearing on the Groton Channel News, click here and see. The songs are advertised on the website ahead of time and each year the results are documented .  Bonus!  There is a mobile site that works for Windows, iPhone, Android, and Blackberry, check it out here. It is very well done. 

So much to see and do.  Too little space and time to write.  I will cover Townsend again in the spring.