Bradley Palmer State Park
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| Bradley Palmer State Park | |
|---|---|
 Ipswich River from the park's footbridge | |
  Bradley Palmer State Park Location in Massachusetts  Bradley Palmer State Park Bradley Palmer State Park (the United States) | |
| Location | Topsfield, Massachusetts and Hamilton, Massachusetts, United States |
| Coordinates | 42°39′20″N 70°53′59″W / 42.6554826°N 70.8996882°W[1] |
| Area | 736 acres (298 ha)[2] |
| Elevation | 197 ft (60 m)[1] |
| Administered by | Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation |
| Website | Official website  |
Bradley Palmer State Park is a public recreation area covering 736 acres (298 ha) on the Ipswich River in the towns of Hamilton and Topsfield, Massachusetts. The state park was once the estate of noted attorney Bradley Palmer. In addition to an extensive system of multi-use trails, the park features Palmer's restored Willowdale Mansion. The mansion is now home to Willowdale Estate, a premier event venue. Bordered on the north by the Ipswich River and Willowdale State Forest, the park is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation.[3]
The park is the former estate of Bradley Palmer, an attorney of the early 20th century. Originally, the dense forest that composes the modern park would have been farmland, which Palmer both cultivated, and used to build his impressive steeplechase. During Palmer's lifetime, Palmer hosted regular horse races for the Myopia Hunt Club. Palmer was an active member in the Topsfield community, owning approximately 10,000 acres in Topsfield, Hamilton, and Wenham areas. Palmer often rode his favorite horse, Rifle, around the towns, smoking a cigar sticking straight out of a pipe. Near the end of his life (between 1937 until 1944), Palmer willed his lands "“to the people of Massachusetts as a place to enjoy the peace and beauty of river, woods, fields, and hills”.[4]
- Training center
During the 1960s and '70s the park was the location of the Massachusetts Civil Defense Training Academy. The academy utilized the rooms of the Willowdale Estate as classrooms, dormitory and mess facilities. A disaster town was constructed in a clearing apx. One-quarter mile east of the mansion consisted of a burn house, five story rappelling tower, shed class rooms and four collapse building simulators.[citation needed]
Natural features
The park features meadows where blueberries can be picked, equestrian runs, stands of climax white pine and hemlock, and a central paved road lined with white pine and in one stretch of a few hundred yards of rhododendron and mountain laurel thickets.[3] On its northeast edge, the park has contiguous access to the ruins of Willowdale Mill, a former textile mill.[5]
