On the Mount' (Parnassus)

Ph39e

On the Mount' (Parnassus)

Black and white to sepia tone photograph: This picture shows 2 men and 2 women standing around a very large free standing chimney-like structure. Bee Smith speculates that it is near 'Mount Parnassus' located near Parker Four Corners, 669490, 4691207. 'The Western Hampshire Highlands' published by the Western Hampshire Board of Trade, 1912, F. A. Bassett Company Printers, Springfield. Reference contains a similar picture and text on Page 25-26. Mt. Parnassus does not appear on any Worthington maps, but it was apparently located on the road heading into what is now Fox Den from "Parker Four Corners," at the intersection of West Street and Almon Johnson roads. The site is at a high point on the right (north) side of the road, about 300 yards in. Barely any evidence of a home site remains. The same chimney appears in the publication The Western Hampshire Highlands Massachusetts, published by the Western Hampshire Board of Trade in 1912. This publication places Mt. Parnassus near West Street, south of Curtis Road, and describes the site as "the windiest spot in town," with panoramic views. The site described above would have had views in all directions when the forests were cleared. Also corroborating the location is that Ben Brown remembers a very large cellar hole at this location in the 1970s. This hole was filled in by a logging company before the state acquired the land. The 1873 map shows no home sites at this location, so the chimney might have been built by the original purchaser of the land, whose name was Partridge, according to Ben Brown.

6.7 x 10.8 cm (2.6 x 4.2 in)

2007-07-11

Box 04a

Arthur Capen