Local author, naturalist, and advocate John Hanson Mitchell reflects on wilderness and the complex relationship between humans and their habitat. His insights span from a global outlook to the hyperlocal accounts of seasons, wildlife and stories in ten books and in articles for the award-winning natural history/environmental journal Sanctuary published by the Massachusetts Audubon Society.

We focus on the earliest people (pre-European) who inhabited this area – a group broadly known as Eastern Woodland Indians which include the Massachusetts Nation, the Nitmuc and the Pawtucket.

John Mitchell gives an account of how Littleton and the Nashoba Valley began a journey towards becoming a major agricultural area where early farms grew staples and over time raised beef and sheep. Eventually, this area became well-known as a major exporter of apples and other fruits which were shipped as far away as Europe.

A major push for the genesis of the Spectacle Pond Association (SPA) came from threat by a railroad company that had plans to build an auto-unloading facility on top of an aquifer right by the pond. Founding member and first President of the SPA, Rob Hartz, unfolds part 1 of this story.

The Spectacle Pond Association (SPA) sought help from all levels of agencies and politicians, but ultimately exhausted all options… until they found a solution with Ford Motors. Part 2 narrates the struggles and tenacity that resulted in success, albeit short-lived.

Residents and the Spectacle Pond Association were stunned to hear that plans to construct the auto-unloading facility re-emerged not many years after it was thought to have been canned. An oil spill followed suit, which in a twist of events, became the silver lining to ensure that the aquifer was well-protected in the future.