"The Lost Mill Village of Middlesex Fells" Authors At Whitelam

A release from Reading's Whitelam Books:

Whitelam Books is hosting Douglas Heath and Alison Simcox, authors of the book The Lost Mill Village of Middlesex Fells on Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. Whitelam Books is located in downtown Reading at 610 Main Street, near the intersection of Haven Street and Main Street.

Local authors Doug Heath and Alison Simcox will be discussing their book about the history of the Fells. One of the earliest mill communities in America formed along Spot Pond Brook in Stoneham and Malden, a few miles north of Boston.

Thomas Coytmore built the first mill in 1640 at the brook’s downstream end in “Mistick Side” (present-day Malden). Other mills sprang up along the brook as well, some leading to violence and lengthy court battles over stream flow.

Today, most of Spot Pond Brook is hidden in culverts beneath the busy streets of Malden and Melrose. However, remnants of the lost mill village of Haywardville — foundations, millruns, ponds and waterfalls — are preserved within the Middlesex Fells Reservation, part of Boston’s world-famous Metropolitan Park
System. Authors Douglas L. Heath and Alison C. Simcox trace the exciting history of this thriving early American community.

Alison C. Simcox and Douglas L. Heath are environmental scientists with an interest in local history. They have also written Breakheart Reservation, Lake Quannapowitt, and Middlesex Fells.