Area Attractions

The John Brown Bell

The John Brown Bell, located in the heart of downtown Marlborough is a distinguished American Civil War era bell that is often known as the “second-most important bell in American history” after the Liberty Bell.

At one time the bell was kept in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, but since 1892 the John Brown Bell has been in Marlborough, Massachusetts, and currently resides in a special tower built for the bell on Union Common in downtown Marlborough.

In 1859, abolitionist John Brown led a raid on the Harpers Ferry armory the second armory built in the U.S. that ended when Marines under the command of Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee stormed the building. Brown and 10 of his men were hanged for murder and treason.

Two years later with the Civil War beginning, a Marlborough unit in the Union Army took the bell from the Harpers Ferry Armory after being ordered to seize anything of value to the U.S. government, lest it fall into the hands of Lee’s Confederate army.

Knowing their hook and ladder company in Marlborough needed a bell, the soldiers removed the 700 to 800-pound device and got permission from the War Department to keep it.

Henry Ford’s Historic Wayside Country Store

The Wayside Country Store was built in 1790 and stood in the center of Sudbury, where it was used as a post office, general store and school. On the second floor was a grand ballroom. Henry Ford purchased this building in 1928 and moved it by oxen to its present site on Hager Pond. The store’s interior is still much the same as when Henry Ford ran it. It was the first country store in the United States to be re-established and restored.

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Nature Trails & Conservation Land

Mount Ward Conservation Land

Cider Knoll Conservation Land

Ghiloni Nature Trail / State Forest

Felton Conservation Area