Nashoba Brook Pencil Factory Site facts for kids

Kiosk at the Nashoba Brook Pencil Factory Site

The Nashoba Brook Pencil Factory Site is where you can find the remains of an old pencil factory from the 1800s. This factory used power from a dam to make pencils. It was one of many factories in Acton and Concord, Massachusetts that helped improve how pencils were made. Today, only parts of the dam and some old machine pieces are left.

You can find this site in the Nashoba Brook Conservation Area in Acton, Massachusetts. It's right next to Nashoba Brook and the old Davis Road Dam. To visit, just follow the marked path from the Davis Road parking area for the conservation area.

How Pencils Started in Concord

Original Thoreau pencils (photographed in 2015)

The American pencil-making industry began in Concord in the 1800s. In 1812, a cabinet maker named William Munroe became the first American to successfully make and sell pencils with wood around them.

Later, the Thoreau family pencil business became Munroe's main competitor. This business in Concord was run by John Thoreau, who was the father of famous writer Henry David Thoreau. In 1821, John Thoreau's brother-in-law, Charles Dunbar, found a lot of graphite (the material inside pencils) in Bristol, New Hampshire. In 1823, Dunbar asked John Thoreau to join him in making pencils from this graphite. Dunbar later left the company, and it became known as John Thoreau & Company. Henry David Thoreau worked at his family's factory for most of his adult life.

Ebenezer Wood's Innovations

The person who started the factory at this site was Ebenezer Wood (1792–1880). Wood made some important new changes to how pencils were made. For example, he started using a circular saw to cut the wood casings. He also introduced octagonal (eight-sided) and hexagonal (six-sided) shapes for pencil casings. The hexagonal shape is still very common for pencils today.

Like William Munroe, Ebenezer Wood was also a cabinet maker. This shared skill might be why Munroe hired Wood to help cut pencil casings with a two-man saw. Wood eventually brought more machines and automation into Munroe's factory.

Later, Wood started his own mill to grind plumbago, which is another name for the graphite used in pencils. At first, Munroe was one of his customers. But by the 1830s, Wood sold plumbago only to the Thoreau company. This business relationship lasted for many years. It's believed that Henry David Thoreau bought his sketch pencils from Wood's factory.

Nashoba Brook Mills and the Area

The Nashoba Brook Pencil Factory was one of several mills that once got their power from Nashoba Brook. This factory was located on the western side of the stream, closer to the Framingham & Lowell Railroad tracks.

Today, you can't reach the exact factory site directly from the Pencil Factory Kiosk or the Nashoba Brook Conservation Area trails. However, the kiosk has a picture of the site from around 1900. You can also see the site from a new part of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail. There's a historical marker and a photo along the trail that explain how important the site was and what Ebenezer Wood contributed.

Upstream, on the northern side of the Nashoba Brook Conservation Area, at 42°30′51.2″N 71°24′14.1″W / 42.514222°N 71.403917°W / 42.514222; -71.403917, is the Robbins Mill Pond Dam. The town fixed up this dam in 1990. Paths along both sides of Nashoba Brook connect the upstream areas to the Pencil Mill site.

Another pencil factory was located downstream at Brook Street (42°29′38.4″N 71°25′12.6″W / 42.494000°N 71.420167°W / 42.494000; -71.420167).

Trail Through Time

The Pencil Factory site will be part of Acton's Trail Through Time. This trail is being created to show how the North Acton area around Nashoba Brook was settled and used over time. Besides the Factory site, other interesting spots on the trail will include the Potato Cave and the Wheeler Farm site.

Timeline

See also

• Henry David Thoreau
• Pencil
• History of Acton, Massachusetts