[MassHistPres] Stone walls

[Joseph S. Larson]

Massachusetts law on stone walls is not robust. Stone walls along roads that
have been officially designated as "scenic roads" by town adoption of state
law, stone walls that mark the division of land between different
landowners, stones at parts of stone wall that mark the turning points of
property boundaries, have some level of protection depending on each
statute. Stone walls that run between parcels owned by the same person and
stone walls along public ways that are not scenic roads appear to be
unprotected. In the days when dirt roads were undergoing drainage
improvement and being surfaced with macadam, some towns purchased the
adjoining stone walls, crushed them and used them in the road
re-construction.

 

A "Handbook on Fence Viewers and Laws on Fences in the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts" may be available in town offices. If not, a $6.00 check sent
to me will ensure that one is mailed to you.

 

Joseph S. Larson

Fence Viewer

Town of Pelham

27 Arnold Road

Pelham, Massachusetts 01002-9757

 

From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu
[mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of Diane Gilbert
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2010 8:47 AM
To: ospreydesign at verizon.net; Untitled
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Stone walls

 

Aren't there laws against removing stone walls?  I know it's the case for
"scenic roads". So what about presumably private landowners and the
permitting process? Any land in southeastern MA and elsewhere in the
Commonwealth would have had stone walls at some point in time after land was
cleared for farmland. Thanks for sending this alert along.  Perhaps someone
out there knows what's going on along Rt 24....the usual highway
construction work, no doubt.  Why not move the stones if the wall has to or
is permitted to be destroyed?  We've lost many of our emblematic stone wall
already. 

Diane Gilbert, Dartmouth, MA


On 6/25/10 10:23 AM, "ospreydesign at verizon.net" <ospreydesign at verizon.net>
wrote:

> Hi all,
> On my way to the sawmill in Assonet I saw some land clearing along Rt 24.

> They have exposed a lot of stone walls.  I spoke to the co clearing the
land 
> and they said the walls were going to be "crushed". That bothers me.
> Jack Mac Donald
> Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
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