This historic trail through uplands, bogs, and wetlands in Wareham was once owned by the Tweedy & Barnes Cranberry Company and offers insights into the area's history. The landscape was shaped by glaciers during the last Ice Age, which deposited soils and left glacial features still visible today. Wareham's natural resources, like iron ore in bogs and timber forests, supported its early manufacturing industry. A railroad once transported goods from local iron producers and the trail was formerly the site of a railroad bridge over the Sippican River. Conservation groups now work to preserve the area's natural spaces for the future.

1. Welcome to the
Tweedy & Barnes
Historic Trail
As you explore here, you’ll travel through uplands, bogs,
and wetlands along the Sippican River. This scenic spot
was once owned by the Tweedy & Barnes Cranberry
Company, and it offers keen observers a glimpse into the
history of Wareham, from the Ice Age to today. This
program is supported in part by a grant from the Wareham
Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the
Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

2. How the Land Came to Be
Imagine for a moment that the land where you now
stand was covered by several thousand feet of glacial
ice. The massive ice sheet of the last Ice Age shaped
the landscape of Wareham, the South Coast, and Cape
Cod. As it advanced south from present day Canada to
cover a large portion of the United States, the
glacier plowed and pushed up boulders, rocks and soil
and carried these materials as it moved. The Elizabeth
Islands, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket are all
deposits that mark the farthest advance of the glacier.
As the glacier melted and retreated, it left behind large
amounts of till—gravel, small rocks, sand and mud—
which formed the basis for Wareham’s sandy soil.
The remains of the ice sheet that once covered
Wareham can still be seen in Greenland and Antarctica.
Photo courtesy of Oregon State University

3. The Nature of Industry
Wareham’s unique natural resources made
the area well-suited for manufacturing.
By the early 17th century, colonists began
mining the bogs in Wareham for iron ore,
the raw material necessary to produce iron.
Timber, from forests like the one you are in
now, was harvested for fuel, tools, housing,
and road buildling. Dams built along the
Agawam, Sippican, and Weweantic rivers
provided water-power for the manufactur-
ing process. Even piles of shells left by the
Wampanoag—middens—were ground up
and used as flux in the furnace to extract
pure iron from iron ore.
Workers at the Tremont Nail Company pose in front of
tracks that ran through the factory. The tracks allowed
products to be easily loaded onto waiting freight
trains. Photo courtesy of Mack and Cathy Phinney

4. Once, there was a railroad bridge that spanned the Sippican
River here. That bridge was part of the Fairhaven Branch
Railroad, a train line that ran 15 miles from Wareham
to Fairhaven. This short line was part of the Old Colony
System, which ran north to Lowell and Fitchburg and south
to Provincetown and Newport. From 1849-1953, this train
line carried passengers and was also used by the iron
industry to ship out their products.
From Here to There
A postcard of the Wareham Village Station depicts
one of the stops the Fairhaven Branch Railroad made
in the middle of Wareham. Photo courtesy of D.E.
Swift, Milinery & Fancy Goods

5. Like the native Wampanoag, early European
settlers came to Wareham for the resources it
had to offer, many of which were found in
Wareham’s rivers. The species of herring
called alewives were particularly treasured—
so much so that, in the late 18th century,
constables became responsible for
monitoring the fish population, which was
already declining due to dams that blocked
their natural migration. Fishing rights were
privatized so that fishing was only allowed by
those who owned the land alongside the
rivers, but the fish were so valued that
poaching was prevalent.
The Running Resource
During early spring, alewives will attempt to run
up rivers like the Sippican to spawn in the same
water in which they were born. Photo courtesy of
NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center

6. A Vision for the Future
Tweedy and Barnes is now a conservation area
for everyone to explore! Conservation is part
of Wareham’s history, too. The Wareham Land
Trust has been working to protect Wareham’s
open spaces since 2001. We are an all-volunteer
land trust made up of people who care about
Wareham’s natural resources, and as of 2016
we’ve conserved over 550 acres of open space.
We aren’t the only ones working to support
conservation in Wareham—Mass Audubon,
The Wareham Community Preservation
Committee, and many state agencies share our
vision. By working together, we can help
preserve natural spaces like these for the future,
and make sure the resources that have always
made Wareham so special are maintained.