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 By Lucille (Daniel) Stott, a Concord resident, writer and editor, and a former editor and managing editor of The Concord Journal.
Originally located at 215 Virginia Road on a large farm owned by Henry's step-grandfather, Jonas Minot, the house was moved in 1878 and now stands at 341 Virginia Road on twenty acres that were part of the original farm. This beautiful farmland was preserved and the historic farmhouse saved from possible destruction by a purchase by the Town of Concord in 1997. The $960,000 used for the purchase included only $160,000 of town funds. The remainder was raised through major contributions from state, corporate and foundation grants, the Educational Collaborative for Greater Boston (EDCO), Massport, and many private citizens.
The sea of paper Town Meeting ballots raised in favor of this article was an enthusiastic recognition of the hard work of many people: members of the Breen family who owned the house at the time; concerned neighbor Doris Smith, scholar Tom Blanding, Town Manager Chris Whelan, and several devoted advocates, including then-Selectman Judy Walpole, Helen Bowdoin, Joe Valentine, Court Booth, Jack Green of EDCO, and Joe Wheeler, the latter born in the house that was built at 215 Virginia Road after the birth house was moved. The purchase was also a model of public-private partnership that continues to this day. Acreage at the site has been leased to Gaining Ground, the local nonprofit farm organization that grows and harvests food for the hungry. In this way, the property's long farming tradition has been preserved and the public has enjoyed access to the open land. After the purchase, the town put out a call to private citizens to find a way of rehabilitating the house and implementing an appropriate educational program. The Thoreau Farm Trust, a nonprofit, volunteer citizens' group, was born in response to that call.
A fresh opportunity arose in 2003, when the town issued a new Request for Proposals, and the Thoreau Farm Trust decided to step forward once again. This time, the Trust was greatly aided by BayTrust, Inc., a nonprofit development company based in Maynard. With the support of BayTrust's president, Joseph Mullin, and vice-president, Patricia Marcus, the Trust negotiated the purchase and sale agreement, prepared cost estimates for the house and barn, and engaged top-notch historic preservationists to guide in the construction and re-use plans. A solid year of hard work -- and enormous help from Concord's Planning Director Marcia Rasmussen and her associate, Carol Kowalski -- led to the Board of Selectmen's unanimous vote to sign a purchase and sale agreement. The Thoreau Farm Trust is currently composed of ten board members, all volunteers with a strong interest in Thoreau and the history of agriculture in Concord: Joe Wheeler, Court Booth, John Mack, Helen Bowdoin, Brian Donahue, Jayne Gordon, Michael Kellett, Barbara Lambert, and Tim Rodgers. I am currently serving as president. Last fall, the Trust asked Molly Eberle, a Concord resident with extensive development and community service experience, to serve as our part-time executive director.
One of the Trust's major goals is to provide materials at the site that trace the evolution of agriculture in Concord, with Thoreau's lifetime as the important pivot. In addition, because Gaining Ground continues to cultivate the land, visitors to the house will have the opportunity to experience a working farm. An adjacent barn will be used in part as a place where students and teachers can gather to discuss a visit to Concord's historic sites. Right now, there is no place for this to happen comfortably, so Thoreau Farm will fill an important niche. Members of the Thoreau Farm Trust are committed to the idea that there must be a place in Concord -- a simple, unassuming place -- where Thoreau's full life, not just the part he spent at Walden Pond, can be celebrated in the modest way he lived it. By purchasing the house and part of the farm where he was born, the people of Concord paved the way for this to happen in the agricultural landscape he knew so well. The Trust's mission is to help realize the full promise of that historic decision.
ART CREDITS: Photo of house courtesy of Thoreau Farm Trust; other photos from Art Today.
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After a year of planning and negotiation, the Town of Concord agreed on July 12, 2004, to sell the house where Henry David Thoreau was born and two acres of surrounding land to the 
When the 1997 Town Meeting voted to approve the town's purchase of the property, then-Selectman Sally Schnitzer explained that the town would continue the long agricultural tradition at the site, provide a place for citizens to enjoy walks in the rural landscape, and honor the legacy of Concord's most famous native son by restoring his birth house and providing educational programming.
The Trust's first plan involved a partnership with EDCO, a major contributor to the purchase. The Trust proposed to lead a fundraising effort and plan the restoration, while EDCO offered to erect a barn and oversee educational programming. When in 2001 negotiations between the town and EDCO broke down over proposed uses of the barn, the Trust suspended its own plans in order to seek alternative ways to proceed.
Throughout its years of exploration, the Trust has benefited from the support and advice of representatives of other historical sites in town that honor Thoreau as well as the Walden Woods Project in Lincoln. We have learned that there are, in fact, important roles this property can play. There is no place in Concord, for example, to celebrate the rich agricultural history of the town, and the Trust feels it has the perfect spot to do this. The house -- identified on the National Register as the Wheeler-Minot Farmhouse/Henry David Thoreau Birth House -- has a long agriculture history that preceded and followed Thoreau's lifetime. It provides an ideal setting for placing Thoreau and his work in the context of his family, his community, and his connection to and strong interest in the town's farming tradition. 