The next time you’re traveling through rural New England, especially in Southern New England, be on the lookout for stone walls. And I’m not talking about the ornate and perfectly aligned walls put together by a professional stone mason.

No, I’m talking about functional old traditional stone walls put down over 150-years ago by farmers by just laying one stone on top of another. Most of these walls have an “abandoned” look today, with gaps in the wall or only a few of the base stones left.

These older stone walls may not be as pretty as the new cement based walls, but they are as New England as white steeple churches, clam chowder, and our fiery fall colors.

And there is a movement afoot to preserve these traditional stone walls as an important link to the heritage of the region.

When the colonists first arrived and spread to the interior they found a wonderland of rich dark earth and plenty of old growth timber. These colonists were mostly farmers and they delighted in the land they found. But not for long.

The tilling of the land and harsh winters soon exposed the rocks underneath, which each year required removal, usually to the fence line to reduce effort and time involved. If you’ve ever seen the size and shape of the rocks in the walls then you know they take some manhandling. Most of the old walls are rarely above shoulder height because of the lifting required. These walls then became a “dumping ground” for the exposed rocks before the land could be prepared for crops.

Eventually, the farmers of New England abandoned the region and went west to escape the rocky land, calling it the “work of the devil.”

This left the livestock farmers who used the land as pasture and built more walls with the plentiful raw material to keep their animals enclosed. Most stone walls in New England were built during the century 1750–1850. These walls were built using the same simple principles of just laying the rocks one on top of ‘other. This is called the Dry Wall approach, and provides for excellent drainage and is why the walls have survived to this day.

Stone walls built now are mostly cement based, and called the Wet Wall method. Building a Dry Wall is a labor of love and expensive. Wet Walls are built quicker but do not drain so well and are prone to cracking and movement.

The epicenter of stone walls in America is New England and particularly a 50-mile radius at the boundary of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.

Why here? It’s a question of just the right conditions of soils, history, and agricultural techniques. At one time it was estimated that there was more than 250,000 miles of stone walls in the northeast, with most in the New England region, and about half of these remain.

It just so happens I live smack in the middle of Stone Wall country in Massachusetts. And, yes, I have a few on my property. They were exposed when the forest land was cleared for the house. I keep them as I found them leaving everything in place.

So as you drive around rural New England and happen upon a stone wall that looks neglected and forlorn, don’t be sad. This is the way it should be. The wall once had a purpose, but is now providing a function by stabilizing the surrounding soils and sheltering all manner of creatures.

A wonderful resource about New England Stone Walls can be found at the Stone Wall Initiative at http://www.stonewall.uconn.edu/

For destination and trip suggestions in the region check out my Massachusetts vacation section by clicking here.

Have a great week,

Cliff Calderwood
Online Vacations Guide to New England