| |  Looking Back One hundred years ago, the waterfront was typically a place for work rather than recreation. It bustled with buyers, sellers, and carts carrying cargo; it was noisy with shouts and filled with the smells of fish, coffee, or whatever other commodity was being unloaded that day. This 1902 photograph of Boston's T Wharf captures both the human activity and the forest of masts on fishing boats tied up three deep at the quayside. High quality digital prints of this and scores of other historic photographs depicting the past appearances of familiar places and activities may be ordered from our website. Order this image or others. | | Gravestone restoration at Casey Farm
 Family burial grounds are increasingly being abandoned and forgotten. Unless maintained, they quickly become overgrown, and the stones sink out of sight. At Historic New England's Casey Farm, the Casey burial ground, has been the focus of ongoing restoration. Six generations of the Casey family are buried inside the enclosure, which contains about fifty stones and monuments dating from 1747 to 1940. As part of an ongoing restoration project, Preservation Manager Dana Titcomb recently oversaw the restoration of two gravestones dating from the mid-nineteenth century. The work entailed deconstructing and re-leveling the brownstone bases, then re-grading and seeding the area around the stones. Fractured elements were joined with stone epoxy, and the stones were cleaned. At more than one hundred and thirty years old, the monuments and inscriptions are in good condition. An earlier evaluation of the gravestones identified many of the stone carvers; some were Newport, R.I., artisans, while others worked as far away as New York City and Washington, D.C.
| | Historic New England best seller Historic New England's Retail Operations Manager Carol Bruce reports that one of this season's best sellers is Great Houses of New England. "Both the photography and text offer rich information on building styles of the region for homeowners, architects, historians, and all those who love fine architecture, gardens, and interiors. A wonderful gift idea!"  The book is an exquisitely photographed collection of nineteen New England homes dating from the mid-seventeenth century to the late-nineteenth century. Historic New England properties represented are Beauport, Sleeper-McCann House; Hamilton House; Otis House; and Rundlet May House. Visitors have enjoyed the book and seeing the properties through the photographer's eye. Beauport is featured on the cover. To order, visit Historic New England's online book store or call 617-227-3956. | | Castle Tucker recipes As Historic New England gears up for the Year of the Kitchen in 2009, we share these tastes of the region.  The following recipes are from The State of Maine Cook Book, issued by the Democratic Women of Maine, with recipes compiled and edited by Jane Armstrong Tucker, of Castle Tucker, in the mid-1920s. The book contains eighty-two Tucker family recipes. Nut Bread Two cups flour, two cups of graham (sifted); two cups sweet milk; mix with two-thirds cup brown sugar, one egg, two-thirds cup chopped nuts, salt, one teaspoon soda, two teaspoons cream tartar. Put into 22 gem pans, raise one-half hour (baked in a loaf, requires one hour), but less in gem pans. Bake slowly. Corn PuddingFour ears of cold boiled corn (or one can), two eggs, one tablespoon of butter, melted; one tablespoon of flour, one-half cup of milk, one-half teaspoon salt, a little pepper. Cut corn from cob, mix flour in the milk, add this and beaten eggs to other ingredients, stir well, bake in deep greased pudding dish for 20 minutes or until custard sets and top is brown. Serve as a vegetable . | | Plant of the month  Oil Fern, Microsorum steerii is an unusual looking fern with a texture that resembles blue and silver metallic paint. In its native South East Asia habitat, it can grow to 20 inches wide. Here, these beautiful glossy plants grow best in a bright window with filtered sun. The Lyman Estate Greenhouses have 4-inch pots selling for $12.00. The greenhouses are open Wednesday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. on Thursdays). For more information, call 781-891-4882, ext. 244. Historic New England members receive a 10% discount, and Garden & Landscape members receive a 15% discount at the Lyman Estate Greenhouses. For Garden and Landscape membership information click here. | Roseland Cottage Fine Arts & Crafts Festival Visit the annual Arts & Crafts Festival at Roseland Cottage on Saturday, October 18 and Sunday, October 19 from 10:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.  This festival is one of the leading juried fine arts and crafts shows in New England and features 175 artisans and their wares - jewelry, woodworking, pottery, clothing, metalwork, and much more. It's a perfect opportunity to start your holiday shopping. Free to Historic New England members and children under 12, $5 nonmembers. Rain or shine. | | Celebrate with us  Historic New England celebrates its fourteenth annual book prize award with a reception, talks, and book signing on Thursday, October 23, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Omni Parker House in Boston. The 2008 Book Prize awarded to Samuel McIntire: Carving an American Style, by Dean T. Lahikainen. The evening includes remarks by Historic New England President and CEO Carl R. Nold and talks by authors Dean T. Lahikainen and J. Ritchie Garrison, 2007 Book Prize winner. Register now or call 617-227-3957, ext. 264. Advanced registration is required. Historic New England's Members' Party is Wednesday, December 3, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Lyman Estate. Enjoy the festive atmosphere, fine food and drink, and live music. Tickets are $30 per person. Reserve your tickets here or call 617-227-3957, ext. 264. Advanced registration is required. | | Program Highlights Family Harvest Festival Saturday, October 11, 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.; Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm, Newbury, Mass.; 978-462-2634. Free to members, $6 nonmembers, $4 children.
Try corn husking or enter a pie-eating contest. Learn about machines that help farmers with pumping water, pressing cider, and preparing food. Enjoy a wagon ride, a hay bale maze, building scarecrows, a pumpkin hunt, and making fall crafts. Listen to music by Sweet Loretta's Snake Oil Jug Band and watch a puppet show by Martha Dane. Beacon Hill Walking Tour Saturdays in October, 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.; Otis House Museum, Boston, Mass.; 617-227-3957, ext. 256. $6 members, $12 nonmembers
Visit Beacon Hill's historic tree-lined streets decorated for the season with window boxes filled with chrysanthemums and colorful fall foliage that showcase the charm of this historic neighborhood. The walking tour includes a visit to Louisburg Square with its elegant mansions and the narrow alleys and humbler dwellings on the North Slope. Includes tour of the Otis House. The Awakened Eye
Saturday, November 1, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.; Codman Estate, Lincoln, Mass.; 781-259-8098. $30 members, $45 nonmembers.
Ati Gropius Johansen, daughter of Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, leads a workshop to introduce Bauhaus principles. The workshop is designed to develop a new awareness of the visual world as taught at the famous Bauhaus school of design in the early twentieth century. | | Program Time Correction Please note that the Pruning Workshop at the Quincy House on Saturday, October 25 will run from 9 - 11:30 a.m. We inadvertently listed this program in our What's Happening Newsletter as from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. | | | | | | | Join today to receive Historic New England magazine 
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