FRIENDS OF THE NORTH LEVERETT SAWMILL ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF NEW HERITAGE PARK AND NATURE TRAIL 

Family-friendly event will feature tours, walks, and an art exhibition
 
NORTH LEVERETT (June 2, 2025) — The Friends of the North Leverett Sawmill will host a free, public event on June 21 to celebrate the official opening of its new heritage park and nature trail. The event will be held at the corner of North Leverett Road and Cave Hill Road from 1-4 p.m. with remarks scheduled for 2 p.m. Visitors will be able to enjoy the park’s new riverside pavilion, observe native flora and fauna along its nature trail, investigate nearby industrial ruins, and tour the historic sawmill building. An art exhibition, showcasing work by more than 40 artists, including Pioneer Valley favorites, will feature the sawmill and environs in a wide variety of media.

“We are grateful to the Town of Leverett’s Community Preservation Committee, Greenfield Cooperative Bank, and the many other contributors who made this project possible,” said Susan Lynton, treasurer of the nonprofit. “We look forward to sharing this beautiful new resource with our Leverett neighbors and residents of the surrounding community.”

The heritage park encompasses 4.6 acres of land along the Sawmill River, including 2 acres owned by the Town, and is adjacent to the 1774 Slarrow Sawmill, which was gifted to the organization in 2022. Conceived by Samuel Black and Cynthia Baldwin, both scientists and retired UMass Amherst professors who serve on the nonprofit’s board, the park’s development represents the first phase of the group’s larger effort to preserve and document the region’s early industrial heritage and make the site publicly accessible for recreational and leisure activities.

“Interpretative signage throughout the park helps us understand the connection between the site’s physical terrain and attributes and the daily lives of the people who lived in and around Leverett,” said Baldwin, noting that each sign contains a QR code that links to additional information and resources online. “This place was significant to the Pocumtuck/Sokoki people who inhabited the area at the time of the Contact Period, to the early colonists who established the sawmill, and to the generations of mill owners who operated it during and after New England’s industrial revolution.”

Black credits the many local tradespeople, consultants, and volunteers who contributed their time and skills to the project for its completion. “Each brought deep expertise in their field, and we couldn’t have done it without them,” he said. 

The Friends’ board hopes that, in addition to providing new opportunities for recreation and leisure activities, the park will prompt visitors to reflect on Leverett’s indigenous history and culture, the ingenuity of the technology and industry introduced by colonial settlers, and the importance of native plants and trees to the environment. Once rehabilitated, the sawmill building will be transformed into a museum and community space that offers additional opportunities for visitors to learn about industrial New England from the eighteenth to the twenty-first centuries, as well as technologies of the future. 

To learn more, visit leverettsawmill.org.

WHAT: Opening Celebration for North Leverett Heritage Park and Nature Trail 

WHEN: June 21, 2025, from 1-5 p.m. (remarks at 2 p.m.)

WHERE: North Leverett Sawmill, corner of North Leverett and Cave Hill Roads