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distribute to other lists and concerned individuals.

**Historic mill site and surrounding open space is
threatened by development**
www.geocities.com/friendsofburlhist

We desperately need your support! A Burlington,
Massachusetts 17th-19th century mill site has been
advertised as having subdivision potential.

We need you to write our local officials and emphasize
1) the national and regional significance of the site
and 2) how important it is for the town to acquire
this property and to protect it from development. See
www.geocities.com/friendsofburlhist for email, mail
and fax contact information, a sample letter. and more
information on the mill site. We need your support!

Butters’/Miller’s/Clapp’s mill site:

+ Is potentially eligible for the National Register of
Historic Places, due to its significance on the
national, state, and local levels

+ Is registered as a Massachusetts Historical
Commission's Archaeological Resources Survey Site.

+ Is historically significant for 17th-19th century
associations as Burlington's last surviving
water-powered mill Burlington's other main mills--the
Reed mills on Vine Brook--are covered by the
Burlington Mall

+ Has associations with Minuteman James Butters
(1745-1838), the propagator of the Baldwin apple and
Loammi Baldwin (1745-1807), designer of New England’s
first canal (1803 Middlesex Canal), and the first
individual to graft the Baldwin apple.

The mill was most likely used by Minuteman James
Butters (1745-1838) during the early part of the 19th
century--the mill was located on family land and was
just down the road from the Butters' farm in
Wilmington. The Butters and Millers--the Burlington
owners for over 20 years--were related by marriage.

It is very possible that the mill was designed by
Loammi Baldwin (1745-1807), before he achieved fame as
the designer of the Middlesex Canal in 1803. **The
stone construction of the mill dam and foundations is
especially substantial, similar in scale and
sophistication to works found on the Middlesex
Canal.** Baldwin did surveying in the area and the
canal ran right through Butters' Row in Wilmington.
The Middlesex Canal connected the Merrimac River to
the Charles River in Boston and ran parallel to
Butters' Row. The property retains historic Butters'
family associations with the origin and early grafting
of the famous Baldwin apple.

+ Is a quiet and natural place to reflect on the
Burlington that once was

+ Severely endangered by heavy development and
vandalism

The parcel--3+ acres in Wilmington, MA and 3+ acres in
Burlington, MA--are for sale and are advertised as
having subdivision potential. Vandalism, heavy
development, removal of "private road" signs, and for
sale signs show that the mill features are severely
endangered.

Burlington underwent the most rapid development of any
town in the state in the 1950s and 1960s and we have
experienced unchecked development. As a result, we
have lost countless historic sites and historic
documentation. We have already experienced great
losses: demolition, relocation, alteration, and
removal of many historic buildings and streetscapes,
as well as the loss and disturbance of many ancient
landscape features--streams, meadows, pine groves,
cranberry bogs, orchards, and archaeological
resources.

We don’t want it to happen again!

Thank you for your help,
Burlington Historical Commission

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