A Landscape History of New England

by Harrison, Blake; Judd, Richard W.; Elder, John (AFT); Ryden, Kent C.

• ISBN13: 9780262016407
• ISBN10: 0262016400
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-10-07
• Publisher: Mit Pr

Summary

A Landscape History of New England takes a view of New England's landscapes that goes beyond picture postcard-ready vistas of white-steepled churches, open pastures, and tree-covered mountains. Its chapters describe, for example, the Native American presence in the Maine Woods; offer a history of agriculture told through stone walls, woodlands, and farm buildings; report on the fragile ecology of tourist-friendly Cape Cod beaches; and reveal the ethnic stereotypes informing Colonial Revivalism. Taken together, they offer a wide-ranging history of New England's diverse landscapes, stretching across two centuries. The book shows that all New England landscapes are the products of nature as well as human agency. The authors trace the roles that work, recreation, historic preservation, conservation, and environmentalism have played in shaping the region, and they highlight the diversity of historical actors who have transformed both its meaning and its physical form. Drawing on a wide range of disciplines--including history, geography, environmental studies, literature, art history, and historic preservation--the book provides fresh perspectives on New England's many landscapes: forests, mountains, farms, coasts, industrial areas, villages, towns, and cities. Generously illustrated, with many archival photographs, A Landscape History of New England offers readers a solid historical foundation for understanding the great variety of places that make up New England.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Map of New England	p. xiv
Introduction	p. 1
Landscape, Nature, and Regional Identity	p. 15
Regional Identity and New England Landscapes	p. 17
The Handselled Globe	p. 37
Natural Systems, Cultural Process, and the Formation of the New England Landscape
Forests and Mountains	p. 51
New England Forests	p. 53
Two Centuries of a Changing Landscape
Women and the White Mountains	p. 71
Changing Visions of Nature in New England, 1830-1930
Traditional Landscapes	p. 91
Henry Red Eagle and the Native American Presence in the New England Woods
Rural Landscapes	p. 109
A Vision Rooted in Place	p. 111
Conservation Planning in Vermont
Stone Walls, Woodlands, and Farm Buildings	p. 129
Artifacts of New England's Agrarian Past
"A Bit of Realistic Fairy-land"	p. 145
Writing the Tourist Landscape
Landscapes of Self-Sufficiency	p. 163
New England Farms and the Back-to-the-Land Movement of the 1930s
Coasts	p. 179
"All at Last Returns to the Sea"	p. 181
Land Use and Water Quality on Southern New England's Shore
Rethinking Conservation	p. 199
The Nineteenth-Century Battle to Save Boston Harbor
Building a Tourist Landscape in a Fragile Ecosystem	p. 213
Cape Cod in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
Bays and Barrens and Culture in Cans	p. 231
Reconceptualizing Coastal Landscapes in Downeast Maine
Villages, Towns, and Cities	p. 249
New England's Legacy Landscape	p. 251
Water and Steam	p. 269
How Industrial Power Shaped the New England Landscape
"Preserving the Illusion of Being Transported Back into the Past"	p. 285 Remaking
"Wrought in the Spirit of Our Ancestors"	p. 303
Ethnicity, Scale, and the Reinvention of a New England Town
Landscape and Class	p. 323
Public Parks as Environmental Amenities in Nineteenth-Century Boston
The Evolution of Twentieth-Century Boston's Metropolitan Landscape	p. 341
The Toxic Assault on the New England Landscape	p. 361
Conclusion	p. 379
Afterword: "Back in a time made simple by the loss/Of detail..."	p. 389
About the Contributors	p. 403
Index	p. 407
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