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Page 26
In 1817 a Baptist society was organized, and had several pastors; but in
1844 the society began to diminish, and not long after ceased to exist.
The meeting-house was sold and is now an hotel--the Prospect House. In
1839 a Methodist Episcopal Church was organized which still flourishes.
Besides Wachusett Mountain there are two other hills in Princeton that
are deserving of mention--Pine Hill and Little Wachusett. The former is
about two miles from the centre of the town and not far from Wachusett,
and the latter is about half a mile to the north of the centre. Neither
of these hills is large or high, their elevation being about one
thousand feet less than that of Wachusett, but they appear like two
beautiful children of the majestic father that looms above them. All
these hills were once heavily wooded, but much timber has been cut off
during the last century, and forest-fires have devastated portions at
different times; yet there is still an abundance left. Whitney speaks of
the region as abounding in oak of various kinds, chestnut, white ash,
beech, birch, and maple, with some butternut and walnut trees. The
vigorous growth of the primeval forest indicated the strength and
richness of the soil which has since been turned to such profitable use
by the farmers. The houses in which the people live are all substantial,
convenient, and, in many cases, beautiful, being surrounded by neatly
kept grounds and well-tilled land.
In a hilly country such as this is, springs and brooks of course abound.
The height of land upon which Princeton is situated is a watershed
between the Connecticut and Merrimack Rivers, and of the three beautiful
brooks having their source in the township, one, Wachusett Brook, runs
into Ware River, and thence to the Connecticut, while the other two,
East Wachusett and Keyes Brooks, get to the Merrimack by Still River and
the Nashua.
Mention has been made of Wachusett Lake. Properly speaking, this cannot
perhaps be considered as being in Princeton, inasmuch as about four
fifths of its surface lie in the adjoining township of Westminster.
Besides Wachusett Lake there is another called Quinnepoxet, which lies
in the southwestern part of the township, a small portion of it being in
Holden. It is smaller than its northern neighbor, covering only about
seventy acres, but it is a very charming sheet of water.
A brief account of the geology of this region may perhaps prove
interesting. In the eastern portion of Princeton the underlying rock is
a kind of micaceous schist, and in the western is granitic gneiss. The
gneiss abounds in sulphuret of iron, and for this reason is peculiarly
liable to undergo disintegration; hence the excellent character of the
soil in this portion of Worcester County where naked rock is seldom seen
in place, except in case of the summits of the hills scattered here and
there; and these summits are rounded, and show the effects of
weathering. As we go westerly upon this gneiss range, and get into the
limits of Franklin and Hampshire Counties, a larger amount of naked rock
appears, the hills are more craggy and precipitous, and in general the
soil is poorer. The three principal elevations in Princeton are mainly
composed of gneiss. This variety of rock is identical with granite in
its composition, the distinctive point between the two being that gneiss
has lines of stratification while granite has none. The rock of which
Wachusett is mainly composed has rather obscure stratification, and
hence may be called granitic gneiss. What stratification there is does
not show the irregularity that one would suppose would result from the
elevation of the mountain to so great a height above the surrounding
country; on the other hand the rock does not differ essentially in
hardness from that in the regions below, and hence the theory that all
the adjacent land was once as high as the summit of the mountain, and
was subsequently worn away by the action of water and weather, is hardly
tenable. The gneiss of this region is not especially rich in other
mineral contents. Some fine specimens of mica have however been obtained
from the summit of Wachusett. The only other extraneous mineral found
there to any great extent is the sulphuret of iron before mentioned. The
common name of this mineral is iron pyrites, and being of a yellow color
has in many localities in New England, in times past, caused a vast
waste of time and money in a vain search for gold. It does not appear
that the inhabitants of Princeton were ever thus deceived, though
Whitney wrote in 1793: "Perhaps its bowels may contain very valuable hid
treasure, which in some future period may be descried." In describing
the summit of the mountain he speaks of it as "a flat rock, or ledge of
rocks for some rods round; and there is a small pond of water generally
upon the top of it, of two or three rods square; and where there is any
earth it is covered with blueberry bushes for acres round." The small
pond and blueberry bushes are visible at present, or were a year or two
ago at any rate, but the area of bare rock has increased somewhat as
time went on, though the top is not as bare as is that of its New
Hampshire brother, Monadnock, nor are its sides so craggy and
precipitous.
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