Chapter 3
The "Shawsheen Grove" at Pole Hill

Pole Hill

Up river from the BallardVale Dam was the "Shawsheen Grove" at Pole Hill. This was a favorite place to picnic during the summer months. There were two swimming holes, a cook house, a dance pavilion and all the families along the river were happy to rent boats and canoes for the weekends.

As noted previously, the Boston and Maine Railroad promoted day excursions from Boston to BallardVale at the turn of the century. Residents remembered visitors disembarking for the day. They bought souvenirs from Shattuck's Drug Store and then crossed the tracks to The Grove of pines. They could buy lunch at Maynard Clemens' Camp run by Charles Ormsby, swim in the Shawsheen River, and in the evening they would dance on Pole Hill (from Andover: A Century of Change).

By September 1, 1893, however the Townsman called the Shawsheen Grove "an expensive nuisance" and commented that the people from the west end of Boston (those who presumably rode the train up) were a "tough crowd." The paper reported that police officers had a hard time and that "Officer Shattuck is pretty well used up." The question was asked, "are the taxes coming to the town sufficient to cover the expenses in policing it?" It seemed that the good times in the Shawsheen Grove were  in danger of coming to an end.

At the turn of the century, however, the Shawsheen Grove still boasted a picnic area and a dance hall, and people from out of town were still streaming in. There were three camps along the Shawsheen River, one of which served as a refreshment stand. When the river was higher, canoes could be rented in BallardValle for a romantic paddle upstream to The Grove.

To be continued, next edition, Aug. 2, 2008