South Windham – The Golden Corner – Introduction

“…Nothing Gold Can Stay” Robert Frost

When I grew up in town, South Windham, the part that borders Salem and Pelham, was a pretty uncharted place, especially the empty wilderness along Marblehead Road and on top of Castle Hill. A few people discovered the quiet solitude of Rock Pond, or made a visit to Moeckel’s Grove, but many didn’t even know any of it was there. It wasn’t until the Tokanels and Red Lamson began developing Shady Brook Park, that the area began to be rediscovered. I began pouring over the family histories in the area in order to find more information about Robert Smith, and his slaves; Raphael Smith, Peter Smith and “Old Rif.” People should have paid more attention to “Old Rif” because in ancient times this end of town did seem bewitched or maybe it was just the copious amounts of rum that flowed through every important and sundry occasion in early Windham.  Then again, maybe this was related to the slaughter of the young boy, John Gregg, by Native Americans on Golden Brook that let loose the juju or was the result of it. He remains buried there still. Finally, there is the deeply evocative Deer Leap with it many exotic, bizarre and massive stone outcroppings, which may just be some kind of undiscovered spiritual vortex. Many strange and terrifying events happened in this section of Windham back in the day. In the 18th and 19th century this was a vibrant community made up of the many Smiths, Simpsons, Emersons, Woodburys, Smileys, Corlisses, Fletchers and others whose lives intertwined through marriage and other connections. They had kith and kin in that adjacent section of Salem, reached by Spear Hill Road, that was removed from Windham in 1752.

    The photograph above from 1910, shows Simpson’s Pond where it is crossed by Simpson Causeway. It is important to know this site because Morrison uses it repeatedly as a landmark in the area. Simpson Pond at the time was adjacent to Golden Pond. There was the neighborhood of “Golden Row,” located along Lowell Road from the Center to the Pelham line, and another place known as the “Golden Meadow.” The magnificent heights on Castle Hill which was known as “Mount Ephraim;” overlooking the Golden Brook valley was the location of the curiously named “Gold Region.” I hope you enjoy the trip back to a time when this section of Windham was a densely populated community with a rich, yet somewhat mysterious history.

Cutting Down Windham’s Trees – When they were Worth more than the Land the Grew on.

I know you’re not going to believe this, considering the price of real estate today,  but there was a time in Windham when land had was worth almost nothing. The value or large tracts of land was in the timber value.  Top photo is of a portable mill in West Windham. From left to right below: Timber piled up near the train station in West Windham. The Seavey Mill. A saw mill operated by the Johnson family. Workers at the Seavey mill at the Junction. 

A Range Road Farm

This photograph was featured in the local history “Rural Oasis.” I’ve been musing lately that I would like a horse. I mean a real, honest to goodness horse. A friend to greet me in the morning. Not an AI dream but real flesh and blood to pull a carriage or to ride upon. Automobiles are O.K. but they’re not alive and endowed with a personality; they can’t show affection or anger. I know cars go fast, have AC and keep you out of the weather, but they aren’t a creature. Quite honestly, I am jealous of the people who have had relationships with horses. Maybe I had a beloved horse in another life. A magnificent black steed that carried me into battle or a sway backed mare that carried me to the tavern.  Simpatico; at one with my living, breathing ride!

Riding along a dirt road, in the open air, experiencing the weather and scenery. Kind of makes me see our current world as so totally fake; plastic, screens, a glowing electric world of impulses, of zeros and ones. None of this madness existed when horses lived among us! So now we are being bludgeoned to accept a suffocating new green world, where you will own neither a horse or a car. Soon, you will hunger for insect protein and if you’re really good and behave, a little digital money; maybe even the right to rent a bike for 24 hours. But you’ll own nothing, not even your own body or soul. I’m not down for a digital prison. Come on boy, let’s fly like the wind and gallop right out of this place… Back to the real world of living, breathing, beings.