Dedham’s Beginning, (First called Contentment)

Walk will continue along Bridge St until it becomes Ames Street (just beyond Pam’s Market bear left and pass Flagship Motors). 

Continue down Ames Street another approximately ½ mile beyond Pam’s until you come to Clough Road.

This portion will walk by the:

• Stimson Wildlife Refuge 
• Powder House
• The Keye 
• The Ames Street Bridge
• Dedham Boat House

Stimson Wildlife Refuge

 The State purchased the Stimson Wildlife Sanctuary from the Dedham Historical Society in 2001. Located at a bend in the Charles River off Ames Street from Clough Road to Ames Street Bridge, the Sanctuary protects over seventeen acres of freshwater wetlands, fifteen hundred feet of riverbank, and a small, forested upland. There is no public access to this property, which is primarily densely vegetated wetlands. 

The walk will continue down Ames St. until the first crosswalk before the Ames St. Bridge. From the sidewalk, look across the street and upon the hill is the Powder House.

Powder House:

The Powder House was constructed in 1766 by the Town of Dedham when it was decided that the town’s munitions could no longer be stored in the rafters of the meetinghouse. It is “built on the great rock that stands in Aaron Fuller’s land”. The square brick structure with its concave, hipped slate roof still stands on Town Land, but structure is owned by the Historical Society. When its function was deemed unnecessary in the 1840’s, its use was discontinued. 

The Keye:

 In 1635 there were rumors in the Massachusetts Bay Colony that a war with the local Native Americans was impending and fear arose that the few, small, coastal communities were in danger of attack. This, in addition to the belief that the few towns that did exist were too close together, prompted the Massachusetts General Court to establish new inland communities.

  Dedham was settled in the summer of 1636 by "about thirty families excised from the broad ranks of the English middle classes," largely from Yorkshire and East Anglia. They traveled up the Charles River from Roxbury and Watertown in rough canoes carved from felled trees.  

The settlers first landed where the river makes its "great bend," near what is Ames Street, and close to the Dedham Community House and the Allin Congregational Church in Dedham Square. The Algonquians living in the area called the place Tiot, which means "land surrounded by water.

The best approximation of the landing site is known as "the Keye," and in 1927 a stone bench and memorial plaque called “Memorial Seat and Tablet” were installed on the site.

 The Ames Street Bridge was redesigned in 2016 and the original plaque reinstalled commemorating the site of the settler’s landing. See introduction to walk for info about the Ames Street Bridge. 

Dedham Boathouse (800 ft)

• Walkers should look over the bridge and notice the pilings from boathouses located there over the years. The Dedham Boathouse was located here. Notice the wooden posts in water that once held up the landing.

 Dedham Boat House:

“Founded April 25, 1874, "For promoting the boating interests of the town”….

The Dedham Boat House was incorporated October 1874. 

The first boathouse was built just off the Keye Bridge on the Pleasant Street site in 1875 and that building was destroyed by lightning in July 1882. To accommodate the growing interest in boating, it was rebuilt in 1883, and enlarged in 1888 and 1902. It was torn down in May 1935. 

The land on which the boathouse stood was given to the Dedham Historical Society May 1st, 1935. 

A plaque dedicated to the Dedham Boathouse is located on a large rock at the end of Pleasant Street right along the river– which is the street before the bridge

A marker with the above information can be found on Pleasant Street; this small parcel on Pleasant Street (once the home of the Dedham Boat Club) was acquired by the State in 2001. 

Another way to see the sights on this stop and many others in this tour would be to canoe or kayak using the Dedham Water Trail . Link below.

(Cart Bridge This street also leads down to take a left turn to Fuller Street until you come to the 109/Cart Bridge on Bridge Street to the left)*

Bridge Street Bridge also called the Cart Bridge because it part of an exchange of land for a road leading to the cart bridge in 1644 and updated last in 2011. Located by the back entrance to Noble and Greenough and Dedham-Westwood Water Company Pumping Station on Bridge Street.

See introduction to walk for info about the  Cart/ Bridge Street Bridge. 

*There are no sidewalks here unfortunately, driving would be safer. 

After looking at the plaque, come back up to Ames Street and walkers should now cross Ames St. again at the crosswalk at the Powder House. ( Before you cross, if stairs are cleared of brush, take a quick walk to the top and look to the river view)

Walkers will backtrack down Ames St. to the corner of Bridge St./109 where you will cross Bridge St. to Pine St. (use X-Walk at Pam's Market).*Crosswalks in island may not operational yet ( 0.5 mi )