12 Places in Massachusetts Where Literature Comes to Life: 50 States of Wonder - Atlas Obscura

50 States of Wonder
12 Places in Massachusetts Where Literature Comes to Life

Massachusetts is a lit-lover's paradise. From landscapes that have moved writers to wax poetic about beans to story-inspired sculpture parks and shops stacked with volumes new and old, the Bay State would also be aptly named the Book State. Here are 12 places to celebrate writers or the places that inspired them.

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The pond that inspired a book full of musings. Pablo Sanchez Martin/cc by 2.0
Natural Wonder

1. Walden Pond

Walden Pond is about a half-mile across, but it occupies an outsized place in literary history. It's where Henry David Thoreau hunkered down between 1845 and 1847, and the landscape would ultimately inspire his book Walden; or, Life in the Woods, published roughly a decade later. A pillar of American literature, the volume extolled simplistic living and harmony with nature. Thoreau’s legacy is still plainly visible today: Next to the parking lot, you’ll find a statue of him, mid-stride, and a recreated version of his humble cabin. But the pond is a vibrant modern-day attraction, too. When the weather allows, the water is speckled with swimmers splashing or doing laps from one shore to the other. (Read more.)

915 Walden St, Concord, MA, 01742

The gang's all here. Theilr/cc by-sa 2.0
Sculpture

2. "Make Way for Ducklings" Statue

A family of nine—a mother and her eight offspring, Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack—have lived in the Boston Public Garden for 30 years. They're bronze statues of the “Mallard” family, from the classic 1941 children’s book Make Way for Ducklings. In the book, Mr. and Mrs. Mallard come to Boston to look for a home, and are enticed by the Public Garden. After seeing humans zipping around, though, they deem it too dangerous for their brood. But when Mrs Mallard teaches them to swim and watch out for themselves, the family settles on a tiny island in the garden’s lagoon. The gaggle has been a family favorite on this patch of cobblestone since it was installed in 1987. (Read more.)

4 Charles St S, Boston, MA 02116

Somewhere on the shelves, you're bound to strike literary gold. Chris Ball/cc by 2.0
Bookstore

3. Brattle Book Shop

Located a couple steps away from the Boston Common, Brattle Book Shop has been peddling used books since 1825. The store is pleasantly jumbled with 250,000 books, postcards, maps, and prints spanning genres and decades. The first two floors of the store are stuffed with shelves holding general used books, some of which hide long-ago dedications and notes inside. Antiquarian and rare books live on the third floor. Outside, authors including Toni Morrison and Italo Calvino gaze down from a mural at shoppers sifting through sale racks. (Read more.)

9 West St, Boston, MA 02111

A great day out with the Grinch. Islanddog (Atlas Obscura User)
Sculpture

4. Dr. Seuss Sculpture Garden

The Grinch, the Cat in the Hat, and a bunch of other gangly, affably goofy characters hang out in a park in Springfield. Each member of the bronze brigade was made by sculptor Lark Grey Diamond-Cates, who paid tribute to her stepfather, Ted Geisel—better known as Dr. Seuss—in his hometown. If you want to commune with some trees, you may as well meet up with the Lorax, their biggest fan. Afterward, there’s a museum dedicated to Geisel’s work nearby. (Read more.)

21 Edwards St, Springfield, MA 01103

Wander the leafy grounds, then peer through the poetic graffiti on the windows. The Trustees of Reservations (Used with permission)
Historic Home

5. The Old Manse

Over the years, several literary luminaries roamed this clapboard house. Ralph Waldo Emerson jotted down many thoughts in the home, which was built for his grandfather in 1770. It’s where Emerson wrote the influential essay “Nature,” and other Transcendentalists eventually flocked to the premises, too. Thoreau paid a visit; the Old Manse isn’t far from Walden Pond. And when Nathaniel Hawthorne and his wife, Sophia, settled into the home as newlyweds in 1842, Thoreau gifted them a vegetable garden just outside their door. Nathaniel and Sophia etched poems into the window panes, and their scribbles are still visible today. The grounds are currently open, though the house itself is closed because of the pandemic. (Read more.)

269 Monument St, Concord, MA 01742

Visitors are still welcome inside Gorey's world. Amy Meredith/CC by-ND 2.0
Museum

6. Edward Gorey House

By the time the eccentric author Edward Gorey died in 2000, the floors of his 200-year-old Yarmouth home were heavy with 25,000 books, assorted collections of eclectic flea market finds, and 75 unpublished manuscripts. Gorey, a devoted balletomane with a flair for raccoon-fur coats, was deeply committed to his cats, too: He had several at a time, and a claw-tattered divan is one of the many curios on display in his home, which is now a museum about his work. Visitors can make an appointment to drop in and check out ephemera including etchings and hand-scribbled lists. (Read more.)

8 Strawberry Ln, Yarmouth Port, MA 02675

A raven, on the move. Rocknaks (Atlas Obscura User)
Public Space

7. Edgar Allan Poe Square

The house where Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, no longer exists. But in 2009, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Poe’s birth, Boston renamed a nearby plaza after the author. A plaque was installed nearby decades ago, and has recently been joined by a statue. It shows Poe striding down the street, jacket flapping. Unsurprisingly, he's flanked by a corvid companion—and, of course, a heap of books. (Read more.)

Boylston St & Charles St, Boston, MA 02116

Roomy enough for several little women. Maria Valeria Diaz (Atlas Obscura User)
Historic Home

8. The Orchard House

Before she penned Little Women, which centers on life at home with a slew of sisters, Louisa May Alcott shared a colonial on 12 acres of land with three sisters of her own. Alcott’s father, Bronson, purchased the home in 1857. It was affectionately known as the Orchard House, because more than three dozen trees were heavy with apples.

Alcott’s novel enchanted readers when it was published in 1868. Contemporary visitors can wander the handsome house—fashioned into a museum that includes art by Louisa’s sister, May, the inspiration for the novel’s Amy—and learn about the young ladies who once called it home. The house is currently closed due to COVID-19, but virtual tours are available on Vimeo(Read more.)

399 Lexington Rd, Concord, MA 01742

Well-wishers ensure that Keroacu's ghost always has something to smoke or swig. Pauljuser (Atlas Obscura User)
Grave

9. Jack Keroauc’s Grave

Mourners coming to pay tribute to (or pour one out for) a founding father of the Beat Generation often leave cigarettes and joints and skewer poems to the ground with pens. Keroauc’s final resting place is the town where he grew up, and it's a popular pilgrimage site for his legions of readers. Snippets of Keroauc's work are also emblazoned onto granite markers in an eponymous park nearby. (Read more.)

1375 Gorham St, Lowell, MA 01852

The shop also boasts a pretty view of the river and the environs. John Phelan/CC by 3.0
Bookstore

10. The Montague Bookmill

Along the bank of the narrow Sawmill River, there’s a deliciously stuffed bookshop. Inside a gristmill that dates to 1842, the store retains some of its centuries-old charm—think scuffed floors and generous windows, whose light pours into the aisles. Throughout, you’ll find armchairs, couches, and benches to flop down on while savoring the view of the fast-moving river. (Loafing is limited during the COVID-19 pandemic; the shop has several precautions in place.) Stop in to pick up a book about local history or ecology, or just sift through all that’s on offer until something snatches hold of your imagination. (Read more.)

440 Greenfield Rd, Montague, MA 01351

Historic Home

11. House of the Seven Gables

The writer Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, and his famous 1851 novel, The House of the Seven Gables, was based on a gloomy-looking structure that still stands nearby. Also called the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion, the sprawling home was built in 1688. Gray and outfitted with many namesake pointy bits, it feels a bit foreboding. Inside, it's not so spooky: The home is now packed with information about Hawthorne’s life and work. Ticketed tours of the gardens and grounds are available during the pandemic, and include a link to a virtual glimpse of the interior. (Read more.)

115 Derby St, Salem, MA 01970

Museum

12. The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art

One gallery in this playful museum is dedicated to writer and illustrator Eric Carle’s own work, including The Very Hungry Caterpillar. In addition to that ravenous insect, the museum also hosts rotating shows featuring the work of Dr. Seuss, Maurice Sendak, and all other mainstays on a kid’s bookshelf. The institution also invites kids and grown-ups to get creative, with workshops about drawing, screen printing, and more. (Read more.)

125 W Bay Rd, Amherst, MA 01002

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Long before California was home to tech campuses, freeways, and palm trees, Native inhabitants etched huge designs into the landscape. Even before that, at roughly the same time that the Pyramids of Giza were under construction, a tree that still survives today began taking root. And even farther into the past, glaciers and mammoths created enduring monuments to antiquity. Across the state, the distant past is still within easy reach.

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One of Houston's four giant concrete Beatles.

10 Art Installations That Prove Everything's Bigger in Texas

There’s a time-tested saying about things being large in Texas—and it certainly holds true for the state’s artworks, many of which are so huge or sprawling they could only reasonably live outdoors. Across the vast expanse of the Lone Star State are artistic testaments to some of the area’s oddest characters and stories.

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Honestly, the tallest building in the state is still a little dinky, compared to skyscrapers elsewhere.

6 Huge Things in Tiny Rhode Island

The smallest state in America is often the butt of jokes. Rhode Island is neither a road nor an island, and it was once famously parodied in the now-defunct website “How Many Rhode Islands”—a simple tool that allowed you to see just how many Rhode Islands could squeeze inside a given country. The United States could contain 3,066 Rhode Islands, and Russia could hold 5,445. But the tiny state has a rather grand history. Rhode Island was founded on the principle of religious freedom, was the first of the Thirteen Colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown, and was one of only two states not to ratify the 18th Amendment, which prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol. Many of the state’s attractions still loom large, including a 58-foot-long blue fiberglass termite and an improbably large blue bear slumped under a lampshade.

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Forbidden Caverns, ready for its closeup.

7 Underground Thrills Only Found in Tennessee

Famous for country music and hot chicken, Tennessee is also filled with natural wonders. Across the state, caverns beckon. Venturing into some of Tennessee's strangest subterranean haunts is a great way to experience the depths of the state's spell-binding charm.

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Watch out for any chimp-gator hybrids lurking in the tea-colored water of Honey Island Swamp.

Sink Into 7 of Louisiana's Swampiest Secrets

Louisiana has long had a complex relationship with the wet world. Chitimacha, Choctaw, and Atakapa peoples built communities among the knobby knees of bald cypress trees; French fur traders and pirates eventually made their own marks. Later still, modern engineers attempted to corral waters with levees and dams, or to reclaim land where there had been none. Across the 50,000-odd square miles that make up the state, troves of special places are becoming concealed by rising water. Here are seven places water has revealed or covered up.

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Diego Rivera's mural sprawls across a light-flooded room in the Detroit Institute of Arts.

7 Mechanical Marvels in Michigan

Michigan is famous for its steep, sweeping sand dunes, freckling of lakes, and unique fossils—but across the state, you'll find slews of automated wonders, past and present. From old animatronic toys to the ruins of early assembly lines, here are seven places to be dazzled by industry.

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Who doesn't love an old tree?

11 Wholesome Spots in Nevada

Here at Atlas Obscura, we have a fondness for the forbidden, a hunger for the hidden, a gusto for the grim. (You get the point.) But it wouldn’t be so intrepid to simply highlight Nevada’s underbelly, would it? There’s more to the state than extraterrestrial-themed brothels and nuclear bomb test sites. Kids and grandparents might enjoy enormous Ferris wheels, unusual geysers, or pristine parklands. Even Nevada—home to Sin City—has a family-friendly side.

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All aboard for a plate of pancakes.

7 Places to Glimpse Maine's Rich Railroad History

Maine is widely known for its mottled red crustaceans and stony-faced lighthouses, as well as bucolic towns and the top-notch hiking outside of them. But before all that, Maine was all about one thing: trains. As America industrialized in the 19th century, there was an insatiable demand to build and a hunger for lumber. Maine had plenty of it, and the state’s rivers became swollen with the fallen bodies of pine and spruce, much of which was hauled by rail. Trains did the heavy lifting to coastal hubs including Bangor and Ellsworth, and by 1924, there was enough railroad mileage in Maine to get from London’s King's Cross station to Mosul, Iraq. Over the years, some of the old cars were fashioned into eateries, but many were simply abandoned in the woods. Now, relics of Maine’s railroad history are scattered in museums, restaurants, and more.

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At Glacier Gardens, the tree canopies are flowers in bloom.

11 Places Where Alaska Bursts Into Color

Picture Alaska. You might see in your mind's eye the granite and stark white snowcaps of Denali National Park, or the dark seas that surround 6,000-plus miles of coastline, or the muted olive of its tundra in the summer. But as anyone who's been there knows, the country's largest, most sparsely populated state can absolutely burst with color, from the luminous green of the Northern Lights, to the deep aqua of its glaciers, to the flourish of wildflowers fed by its long summer days. Here are some places to see the full spectrum of The Last Frontier.

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Workers assess the exterior of the Washington Monument after an earthquake in 2011.

9 Places in D.C. That You're Probably Never Allowed to Go

The District of Columbia is home to a number of places that you need to flash the right ID to access. From restricted rooftops to government storage facilities and underground tunnels, the city is filled with places that are off-limits to the average visitor. What’s more, many of them are hidden within popular tourist destinations and densely populated neighborhoods—so you might catch a glimpse of them, but never get any closer. These are a few of our favorite restricted spots in D.C., and the stories behind them.

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