The Town of Concord used quotes from Henry David Thoreau’s journal to help win a land dispute over Estabrook Road. The road runs from the border of Carlisle, Massachusetts to the center of Concord.
In 2020 abutters along a northerly section of the road claimed that it was private property and not a public way. Accordingly they erected barriers and posted signs to prevent public use of the road.
The town filed a lawsuit in land court seeking a declaration that the land was in fact a public way. The town’s lawyers sought to prove that from the early 1700s the road was commonly used for travel between Carlisle and Concord.
As part of their case, lawyers presented Thoreau’s writings which documented his use of the road.
In a June 10,1853 journal entry, Thoreau wrote that he
strolled [past[ the Easterbrooks Place, the Old Lime Kiln, the Lime Quarries, the Ermine Weasel Woods; also the Oak Meadows, the Cedar Swamp, the Kibbe Place … What shall the whole be called? The old Carlisle road, which runs through the middle of it, is bordered with wild apple pastures … It is a paradise for walkers in the fall … Shall we call it the Easterbrooks Country?
Many of the landmarks referenced by Thoreau (e.g., the kiln, the quarries, and the swamp/pond) are still present today and helped the court identify the portion of the road in litigation.
This and other notable writings from the period (including some from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s daughter) helped persuade a land court judge that the road was originally intended as a public way.
The town won the dispute in land court and the abutters filed an appeal. The Appeals Court sided with the land court judge.
When discussing the circumstantial evidence favorable to the town, the justices wrote:
Henry David Thoreau also wrote about Estabrook Road in his journals in the 1850s and described his interactions with individuals he met on or near the road. The town’s expert historical archaeologist relied on those writings to conclude that Estabrook Road was used for such things as travel, berrying, collecting nuts, and logging. The daughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson described a carriage ride along Estabrook Road in 1866 and a picnic she shared with others in the area in October A 1897 Massachusetts travel guide stated that the drive through Estabrook Road “through the woods” and by the lime quarry, was a “favorite summer” drive.
The full text of the opinion is attached below.