Synopses & Reviews
The only field guide to stone walls in the Northeast.
"Every stone wall is unique and every stone tells a story," says Robert M. Thorson, the author of the first field guide to historic New England stone walls-- one that helps you identify and appreciate those in your yard, neighborhood, and throughout the Northeast.
Exploring Stone Walls is like being in Thorson's geology classroom, as he presents the many clues that allow you to determine any wall's history, age, and purpose. Thorson highlights forty-five places to see interesting and noteworthy walls, many of which are in public parks and preserves, from Acadia National Park in Maine to the South Fork of Long Island. Visit the tallest stone wall (Cliff Walk in Newport, Rhode Island), the most famous (Robert Frost's mending wall in Derry, New Hampshire), and many more. This field guide will broaden your horizons and deepen your appreciation of New England's rural history.
Robert M. Thorson is the winner of the 2003 Connecticut Book Award for Stone by Stone: The Magnificent History of New England's Stone Walls. He is a professor of geology at the University of Connecticut and cofounder of the Stone Wall Initiative, which supports the appreciation and preservation of historic walls. He writes a weekly op-ed column for The Hartford Courant.
Praise for Stone by Stone:
"(Thorson's) fine study is an open invitation to head into the country oneself and explore a stone wall."-- Michael Kenney, The Boston Globe
"Thorson is a fine writer, a scientist with the sensibility of a poet."-- The Providence Sunday Journal
Synopsis
Speaking to historical societies, garden clubs, and stone wall aficionados, Robert Thorson was often asked to recommend a guidebook to New England's stone walls--one that helps people identify and appreciate the walls in their yards and neighborhoods, and in the woods of the Northeast. None existed, so Thorson has written such a guide. Like a good detective story, Exploring Stone Walls pieces together the many clues that are observable when encountering any stone wall, aiding you in determining a wall's history, age (the presence of lichen on stones and signs of collapse are indicators of how old the wall is), and purpose (if the stones bear the marks of being hammered or drilled, the wall was more likely built as architecture than as a place to dispose of stone). Exploring Stone Walls highlights the particularly interesting walls to visit, most of which are in public parks and preserves, from Mystic Seaport. Connecticut, to Acadia National Park, Maine. This guidebook will broaden your horizons and deepen your appreciation of historic stone walls.
Synopsis
The only field guide to stone walls in the Northeast.
"Every stone wall is unique and every stone tells a story," says Robert M. Thorson, the author of the first field guide to historic New England stone walls-- one that helps you identify and appreciate those in your yard, neighborhood, and throughout the Northeast.
Exploring Stone Walls is like being in Thorson's geology classroom, as he presents the many clues that allow you to determine any wall's history, age, and purpose. Thorson highlights forty-five places to see interesting and noteworthy walls, many of which are in public parks and preserves, from Acadia National Park in Maine to the South Fork of Long Island. Visit the tallest stone wall (Cliff Walk in Newport, Rhode Island), the most famous (Robert Frost's mending wall in Derry, New Hampshire), and many more. This field guide will broaden your horizons and deepen your appreciation of New England's rural history.
Robert M. Thorson is the winner of the 2003 Connecticut Book Award for Stone by Stone: The Magnificent History of New England's Stone Walls. He is a professor of geology at the University of Connecticut and cofounder of the Stone Wall Initiative, which supports the appreciation and preservation of historic walls. He writes a weekly op-ed column for The Hartford Courant.
Praise for Stone by Stone:
"(Thorson's) fine study is an open invitation to head into the country oneself and explore a stone wall."-- Michael Kenney, The Boston Globe
"Thorson is a fine writer, a scientist with the sensibility of a poet."-- The Providence Sunday Journal
About the Author
Robert M. Thorson is the winner of the 2003 Connecticut Book Award for
Stone by Stone: The Magnificent History of New England's Stone Walls. He is a professor of geology at the University of Connecticut and cofounder of the Stone Wall Initiative, which supports the appreciation and preservation of historic walls. He writes a weekly op-ed column for
The Hartford Courant.