At the 2021 Town Meeting, Concord voted to purchase from the R. W. Emerson Memorial Association, owners of the historic Emerson House, a conservation restriction (CR) on a small wooded area between the Emerson House and the Heywood Meadow, pending approval of a CR document acceptable to both. As of February 17, 2023, this CR is in place.
The effect of the CR is greater than its small size. It provides the final permanent link in a continuous greenbelt, rich with Concord history, leading from downtown Concord to Walden Pond: a green Walden Corridor for the perpetual enjoyment of all who would like to walk (or ski, given snow) in the tracks of Emerson and Thoreau — and so many generations of Concord people, friends and visitors — before and since their day.
We of the RWEMA wish to express our great thanks to Delia Kaye, Concord natural resources director, and to Marcia Rasmussen, director of planning and land management, for their primary role for the town since 2009 in working with us toward this goal.
And we hope that many who pass by along the Amble will stop in at the venerable Emerson House, which openly welcomed all comers during its 19th C. heyday and still does so, via guided tours, today. (Although closed now until April 27, we aim someday to be open throughout the year. See ralphwaldoemersonhouse.org for particulars.)
Please come!
Bay Bancroft
President, Ralph Waldo Emerson Memorial Association