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 Passing what was once Norumbega Park (the present-day site of the Marriott) and remembering her occasional childhood trips to the then famous Norumbega Tower, Marash Girl realized that it had been years since her last visit. Begging Marash Boy to drive down Norumbega Road on their way home, she saw it once again . . . that strange structure which, years ago, she had been told was built by the Norsemen on their trip through the area, long before Columbus landed on our shores. On this day, however, try as she might, she could not make out the words on the marble of the time-worn commemorative plaque affixed to the base of the tower, nor could she enter the tower and climb to its top (the iron gate securely chained closed the tower's entrance), so, upon her return home, she decided to do some research on the internet, and there she found not only the tower's inscription unfaded by time, but the history of its construction as well. |
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| The view of Norumbega Tower through the eyes of a child . . . grown to adulthood. |
"The Norumbega Tower is a stone tower erected by Eben Norton Horsford in 1889 to mark the supposed location of Fort Norumbega, a Norse fort and city. It is located in Weston, Massachusetts at the confluence of Stony Brook and the Charles River." . . . From the internet
The inscription on the marble embedded at the base of the tower reads as follows:
A.D. 1000 A.D. 1889
NORUMBEGA
CITY·COUNTRY·FORT·RIVER
NORUMBEGA = NOR MBEGA
INDIAN UTTERANGE OF NORBEGA THE ANCIENT FORM
OF NORVEGA·NORWAY·TO WHICH THE
REGION OF VINLAND WAS SUBJECT
CITY
AT, AND NEAR WATERTOWN
WHERE REMAIN TO-DAY
DOCKS·WHARVES·WALLS·DAMS·BASINS·
COUNTRY
EXTENDING FROM RHODE ISLAND TO THE ST. LAWRENCE
FIRST SEEN BY BJARNI HERJULFSON 985 A.D.
LANDFALL OF LEIF ERIKSON ON CAPE COD 1000 A.D.
NORSE CANALS·DAMS·WALLS·PAVEMENTS·
FORTS·TERRACED PLACES OF ASSEMBLY REMAIN TO-DAY
FORT
AT BASE OF TOWER AND REGION ABOUT
WAS OCCUPIED BY THE BRETON FRENCH IN THE
15TH 16TH AND 17TH CENTURIES
RIVER
THE CHARLES
DISCOVERED BY ··············
LEIF ERIKSON·1000 A.D.
EXPLORED BY ··············
THORWALD LEIF'S BROTHER·1003 A.D.
COLONIZED BY ··············
THORFINN KARLSEFNI·1007 A.D.
FIRST BISHOP ··············
ERIK GNUPSON·1121 A.D.
INDUSTRIES FOR 350 YEARS
MASUR·WOOD [BURRS]·FISH·FURS·AGRICULTURE·
LATEST NORSE SHIP RETURNED TO ICELAND IN 1347.
I grew up just down Norumbega Rd, where the big nursing home is now. Used to climb the tower, wander the brook, sit in the woods and "imagine". At night during the summer I would look out my bedroom window at the lights of the park and listen to the music. I miss my house. I miss my park.
ReplyDeleteWe used to visit Norumbega Park as kids, though didn't have the good fortune to live near the park or the tower. And I, too, miss those days and miss the park. Thank you so much for sharing your memories. Did you attend Newton Public Schools?
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