In 1632, after climbing up the face of a boulder near present-day Waltham and facing west toward Neipnett, Gov. John Winthrop sighted Wachusett Mountain rising against the setting sun. However, the idea of a town did not take hold until 1742, when the first settler, Joshua Wilder, arrived from Lancaster and established a tavern. By the mid-1800s, magnificent hotels and guesthouses dotted Princeton's landscape. Princeton and Wachusett Mountain shows the early days of tourism when visitors from Boston, New York, and Philadelphia rode stagecoaches to relax in the shade, play croquet on the common, and breathe country air. The village of East Princeton, meanwhile, flourished differently-chair factories used a fast-moving stream to run machines, and farmers worked the fields. Village life was simple and focused on family and the earth.

In 1632, after climbing up the face of a boulder near present-day Waltham and facing west toward Neipnett, Gov. John Winthrop sighted Wachusett Mountain rising against the setting sun. However, the idea of a town did not take hold until 1742, when the first settler, Joshua Wilder, arrived from Lancaster and established a tavern. By the mid-1800s, magnificent hotels and guesthouses dotted Princeton's landscape. Princeton and Wachusett Mountain shows the early days of tourism when visitors from Boston, New York, and Philadelphia rode stagecoaches to relax in the shade, play croquet on the common, and breathe country air. The village of East Princeton, meanwhile, flourished differently-chair factories used a fast-moving stream to run machines, and farmers worked the fields. Village life was simple and focused on family and the earth.

Nestled at the foot of Wachusett Mountain, Princeton has come a long way since the days when cows outnumbered its citizens. Today, within its small circumference, the town boasts four nationally registered historical districts. With an array of styles from Colonial to Greek Revival, Richardsonian to Romanesque, its distinguished architectural landscape serves as a lasting reminder of the towns many transitions. Anderson, Dubman and Fiandaca document Princetons growth from eighteenth-century agrarian community to turn-of-the-century summer resort.

Join author Robert Young as he walks along the roads traveled by Henry David Thoreau and companion Richard Fuller in 1842. Explore and relive the thrill and the challenge of making the 34 mile journey from Concord, MA to Mt. Wachusett, located in Princeton, MA.