Haywardville Rubber Factory Ruins - Stoneham, MA - Remains of Settlements on Waymarking.com

In Stoneham, within the Middlesex Fells Reservation, is a trail loop that passes by several mill sites along Spot Pond Brook. Two of these are by old mill ponds with little evidence left of the mills themselves. However, near the corner of Pond Street and Fellsway East, where Spot Pond Brook enters a culvert and passes under Pond Street, is a rectangular stone foundation. This foundation was most recently a rubber factory run by Nathaniel Haywward, but it was also the rubber plant the Converse family, and before that, it was a dye factory.

There are several parking spots available. One on Pond Street is perhaps the best access point. It is approximately halfway between the Fellsway East and Woodland Road and has a sign to Virginia Wood. You might also park your car at a parking lot by Jerry Jingle Park along the Fellsway and walk to the intersection, then through the woods to the location. We entered the area via an access point off Woodland Road, near the intersection with Pond Street. There is a map of the Middlesex Fells that can be purchased, and there is a booklet that was published by the Friends of the Middlesex Fells that still might be purchased via the park headquarters that might help in traversing the area.

According to a Wicked Local article, there was a lot of activity at this particular site. Unfortunately, the article is not very clear on the activity. It wasn't clear what was at this location before 1813. It starts a paragraph with a description of the middle pond owned by the Buckman family. Then, "The Buckman family sold the property to a man named Barrett in 1813. Barrett was a dyer of silks and a manufacturer of medicines. His process caused the mill to become covered in red. This is why the building became known as the Red Mill. This site was located at the corner of Pond Street and Wyoming Avenue."

Barrett died in 1840, then James and Elisha Converse obtained the property and operated a rubber factory. The article claims that this was the beginning of Converse shoes, but it doesn't state taht shoes were made at this factory. In 1858, the premises was sold to Nathaniel Hayward, who also ran this as a rubber factory. Nathaniel Hayward was a partner with Charles Goodyear. Sources differ on the exact story, but it seems to be generally agreed on that Nathaniel Hayward was the first to discover that applying sulfur to natural rubber helped stabilize the compound and that Charles Goodyear (or he and Hayward) discovered that applying heat to the compound - called vulcanization - created a compound that was very stable (modern 'rubber' products). Products known, according to the article, included, "rubber boots, spittoons, chamber pots and various sizes of buckets." It is not clear how or if the factory used the operation to power the factory or used the water in the process of making rubber. Since the vulcanization process involves heating rubber to high temperatures, it is doubtful that water provided the power. In 1863, Hayward sold the operations. In 1870-2, Spot Pond was converted into a public water supply, and the water supply for the mills was diverted.

Today, there isn't much left of Haywardville. The most complete feature is the rectangular foundation remnants. Also visible is the brook channel next to the foundation, and a stone lined embankment extending from the mill. The rest is harder to discern. There were 10 buildings related to the rubber factory, but it is difficult to determine their placement. With the factory, there were likely tenaments and boarding house. The article remarks that there might be the remnants of a stone feature that had an outline of a kettle on it on the other side of the road, and that materials from the mill were used in making a duplex home on Ravine Terrace.


Source:

A walk through historical Haywardville - Medford, Massachusetts - Medford Transcript (visit link)

Terrain: Parking: N 42° 27.434 W 071° 05.185 Recommended access: Not Listed

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