This adventure begins twenty-five years ago when I lived along the Salmon Falls River in Somersworth. It was just my second apartment, me and my friends were all poor, and for entertainment we spent much of our time hanging out along the river. A friend's grandmother had a small boat we had access to and we got to know those waters like our own backyard. We boated, fished, possibly caused a little mischief now and then, and spent many afternoons exploring the surrounding woods on the Maine side. And somewhere in the course of those explorations we came across this stone tower.
Fast forward to 2016, and as a curious older man I start wondering what, if anything, has happened with that structure. I couldn't get to it by boat like we used to, so I made a few scouting missions through Maine and looked for any trails that would lead me in its direction. Not finding any, I picked a road where the abutting woods were the shortest distance as the crow flies to where I remembered the tower being, and on a recent Sunday afternoon I went for a hike.
It was maybe a mile I expected to walk, but the big question was how difficult it would be. The first half was actually enjoyable with the hint of a trail leading me alongside the river. Then I came to an intersecting stream which would normally have stopped my progress, but with our recent drought it was low enough to where I could rock jump my way to the other side. No trail existed on the far side of the stream, however, so there began my bushwhack. And although I can't remember where I leave my car keys or what I had for breakfast on most days, it wasn't long before I arrived exactly where I remembered it being a quarter-century ago.
So I emailed researcher James Gage, a local historian who wrote the book on stone structures in New England. Literally. James is co-author of A Handbook of Stone Structures in Northeastern United States, and since he'd graciously helped me with a previous location I was researching (a future post) I thought he may be aware of this one too. He wasn't, but he was interested and gave me a few clues as to what he thought it could be. He also ruled out my amateur's guess of it being a kiln furnace.
My next step was reaching out to the town of Berwick, so I wrote to the folks at the Old Berwick Historical Society. Within half an hour I received a very nice email from their spokesperson saying she wasn't aware of the tower but thought it fascinating. We talked back and forth a bit and she forwarded my emails and pictures to a handful of life-long residents for help.
That was this past weekend and now I wait, hoping one of these local historians can shed some light on Berwick's mysterious stone tower.
Links of Interest:
A Handbook of Stone Structures in Northeastern United States
Old Berwick Historical Society
*Edit*
I learned that the Old Berwick Historical Society (OBHS) is a separate organization from The Berwick Historical Society. I've been referring to them as one group and apologize for any confusion. - Dave
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ReplyDeleteI grew up wondering along that river for 16 years and I remember walking and seeing this but never going in, but just so you know that's not the only thing that's hidden in those woods, keep looking and you'll find more!
DeleteI know of a few more treasures in those woods as well. I'll send you a PM and we can exchange notes if you'd like :)
DeleteI'm not sure, but possibly the lower remains of an old windmill
DeleteCool find. I grew up in the Town of Berwick. I never knew this existed. Something to explore
ReplyDeleteWe used to go there on a regular basis in the late 70s. Friends lived across the river on Buffumsville (sp.). Forgot it even existed. We called it the Indian tower, which it obviously isn't. but we were just kids.
ReplyDeleteI grew up on Buffumsville Rd in the 70s. I may know who you visited there.
DeleteI hung around that area in the late 80s and that's what we all called it too. I wonder how many decades that name for it has been passed down.
DeleteFound this in the Berwick Historical page, Maybe it was part of the Forts along the River during the Indian Wars. If it was near Worster Island, or Worster Brook, there was a sawmill there in the 1800's.
ReplyDeleteIn the Lovell War, Berwick was still the out-post of civilization on the north, and the inhabitants were in constant peril and alarm. At this time, 1723, there was not a house between Berwick and Canada. All that were built in Berwick between 1690 and 1745 were of hewed logs, sufficient to oppose the force of small arms. At this time there was a block-house on the western side of Salmon Falls Brook, a mile above Keay's Garrison; and next was Wentworth and Goodwin's block-house. A fort on Pine Hill, called Hamilton's Garrison, was standing in 1750; it was made of poles twenty feet high, and picketed at the ends.
Thanks for this info! One of the clues I was given were the bricks on top. They might be there to level out the tower, in which case there would have been a platform up there and it may have been used as an observational tower.
DeleteSooooooo....Where is it? How do you get there? Grew up in Berwick and never heard of this place.
ReplyDeletePlease do tell location many want to know past Berwick resident
ReplyDeleteThere is no way to reach the tower without going on private property (yes, I'm guilty of that) so I can't give the location. My hope is that with the Old Berwick Historical Society looking into it maybe an easement could be put into place and trails created that lead to it. I would be a wonderful hike and something like this should be shared with everybody.
DeleteCould it possibly be a silo?
DeleteAny evidence of fire inside? I'm wondering if it might be a lime kiln, used for making quicklime, an early form of fertilizer. If it is 8-12 feet wide opening at the top, tapering to a narrower 3-6 feet wide at the bottom that is almost certainly what it was used for. A metal grate would be placed in the bottom for the wood to burn on. Just speculating, not having seen it, but if I were a betting man that is where I would put my money.
ReplyDeleteI lived nearly 20 years of my life in Berwick. I graduated from Noble High on Cranberry Meadow Road. I would love to talk to you about such places. You can email me anytime! rmtarr07@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteI used to play down by the river off of Rte 236 where I grew up on Old Pine Hill Rd.
The town of Berwick should surely place this as a historical landmark.
Kudos for finding it again!
Thanks for writing! Another interesting historical place to explore is the abandoned Punkinton Village in Elliot. It's not as physically impressive as this tower but has some great history and remnants!
DeleteJust curious, with a clearing behind it, why you didnt ask the person that owns the land. If they have been maintaining the land behind it they probably know it is there. If your lucky and the land has been in their family a while they may know about it. I grew up on 236, and never heard about this before, but most of the people in the area are really friendly.
ReplyDeleteAlso check with the South Berwick historical society. It looks old enough to be when it was one town, and they used to seem to have a more active group.
Hi, yes I reached out to the Berwick Historical Society and that's where things got interesting...they had never heard of the tower!
DeleteWithout giving away clues to its location, I can say that the town reached out to someone associated with this cleared field who said they always found the tower interesting and curious, but apparently never pursued solving its mystery.
After looking at a few similar structures online, it looks as if this is base of a residential water tower for the property owner. Being close to the river this was probably pretty convenient.
ReplyDeleteEspecially for farming. Note the brick on the top showing that there was a secondary structure. That brick probably held the wooden staves in place during construction.
That's my best guess anyway!
Good thoughts. Another thing that was pointed out to me is the doorway, which has a "lip" along the edge of each bottom. The thought is that the lip supported a standing platform at the bottom of the structure. If you can open the picture in this link it will show you what I mean...
Deletehttps://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B3GCBPz-XkHQQmpnb0dpOXVmT0k
The last time I saw this structure there was an "X" shaped wooden support running flat along the top, either right where the brick started or maybe on top, I can't remember for sure
DeleteI grew up, and hung out on the banks of the Salmon Falls along Buffumsville Rd, in the '70's. In winter we would cross the ice over to the Berwick side and go to the tower,(Indian Tower). In Summer the river was so disgusting, we rarely went within several yards of the bank. We were told the chemicals in the water would melt our shoes and suck us into the muck. No doubt stories by parents to scare us away. The river is certainly much cleaner now, in those days you could actually see clumps of sewage so thick that it looked as though you could walk across it. But Indian Tower was always a mystery, we would look for arrow heads, but never found any.
ReplyDeleteSame as us, even in the late 80's we'd fish the water but never eat anything we caught, and I'd cringe if I ever saw anyone swimming in it. Also, you had the same name for the tower that we did!
DeleteOh the things we used to do outside before the age of the video games. Those adventurous times we had back then were priceless! I too had friends that lived along the banks of the Salmon Falls River. We used to squirrel hunt in the area but never came across this structure. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteVery well said. Childhood 30 years ago was a whole different experience than it is today. To combat it I make deals with my youngest child, he can "earn" time on the computer by going on adventures with me :)
DeleteThere used to be a small enclosed structure on the Berwick side of Stair Falls about 150-200' above where the trolley crossed over the river. There's a brass official maker cemented into the rocks there as well. The little grass meadow across the river used to be used as a camping spot by local Indians and the canoe portage that leads to it is extremely old. Used to find arrowheads there as a kid and caught my first fish there almost 50 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI may know the spot you're talking about, but I never knew anything about a trolley or pulley system. Interesting.
DeleteMy dad thinks its a smelting oven
ReplyDeleteA few people have sent me pictures of them and there's many similarities between them and this tower.
Deletelooks similar to an old stone fort powder house or powder room
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DeleteLooks like Newport Tower and is placed on a meridian going from Iceland via South Greenland to around Cape Cod and Nantucket. Could be Norse. If interested pls. look at www.etimage.com
ReplyDeleteinteresting link, thank you
DeleteFrank a few beers there in the past what a cool structure I found it while hiking out from fishing in the late 90s haven't been back because of the hike lol
ReplyDeleteI've been the as a kid...went back this weekend..followed the river all the way to the land that's its on, but all fenced in on both sides ( even 5 feet into the river), if some of you know what I mean...someone please refresh my memory...do I need to go farther down the river, or is that inaccessible spot where the tower is....please help me this is very important to me..
ReplyDeleteIf you came to the fence you're in the right spot, I had to climb around that fence and go a little further to reach the tower.
Deletethanks, that's what I thought...the open field area was always fenced off, but it never used to go all the way to (and into) the river, so you could still access it.
DeleteAny update on this structure? Would love to see the Envision Berwick folks look into what it would take to create a trail to it. This is part of Berwick’s history shouldn’t be forgotten!
ReplyDeleteHi Laura, there are council members in Berwick who feel the same way you do, and after investigating it they have determined the when and why of its construction. My personal belief is that one day there will be a trail leading to this tower :)
DeleteWhat was the council's conclusion regarding what this tower is/was?
DeleteBoth local historian James Gage and the Berwick Council determined this was a 19th century water tower, supplying the J.R.Horne Sawmill complex at that site. A trail system was in the initial stages of creation prior to covid, and as I drive by the location of the trailhead lately I have not seen any new activity on it. Hopefully the project gets back on track so that everyone can eventually take a river walk to see the tower themselves :)
DeleteI've been out that way 5 times and I finally found this tower. It's really cool, I think it was a old water tower or smoke hut. There is also a old saw mill out there and tunnels if you know where to look.
ReplyDeleteNice job! I had been in the tunnels in the 90's but when I looked for them a few years ago I couldn't locate them and assumed they were inside the new fence that was put up.
DeleteIn the first picture, you can see The Salmon Falls River in the background. Just upstream is Great Falls and Salmon, Alewives, Shad, Frost Fish, Sturgeon and Smelt would gather in the rocks and pools. Indians would net and Smoke these fish and when The English came up this river in the 1640's, they also smoked these fish, in a Fire-Proof Stone Tower.
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