Facts & Figures

Our people and our properties represent our most valuable assets. Currently, our employees and special places at a glance include:

Employees

• Full-time staff positions: 338
• Part-time staff positions: 95
• Seasonal staff positions: 509

Special Places

• 27,000 acres (122 reservations) owned, managed, and permanently protected
• 20,500 acres (410 parcels) held under conservation restrictions (CRs); largest owner of CRs in MA
• 24,651 acres (145 projects) protected through assistance

As a steward of distinctive and dynamic places of both historic and cultural value, The Trustees is the nation’s first, and Massachusetts’ largest, preservation and conservation nonprofit, and its more than 100 reservations are destinations for residents, members, and visitors alike, welcoming millions of guests annually. Here are some notable facts and milestones regarding our properties:

• First Property Acquired
  Virginia Woods, Stoneham (20 acres, acquired 1892, transferred to Metropolitan District Commission in 1923)
• Oldest Currently Owned Properties
  Mount Ann Park, Gloucester and Rocky Narrows, Sherborn (both 1897)
• First Historic House property
  The William Cullen Bryant Homestead, Cummington (1927)
• Largest Reservation
  Notchview, Windsor (3,108 acres)
• Smallest Reservation
  Redemption Rock, Princeton (¼ acre)
• First Trustees-held Conservation Restriction
  Charles River, Sherborn (81 acres, 1972)
• Largest Trustees-held Conservation Restriction
  Nashawena Island, Gosnold (1,900 acres, 1976)
• Largest Cluster of Trustees-held Conservation Restrictions
  North Road, Monterey and New Marlborough (2,396 acres)
• Newest Reservation
  Moraine Farm in Beverly (2022)

The Trustees protect more than 27,000 acres across Massachusetts. Beloved beaches, shorebirds, and historic oceanfront estates are all under our care, and we see thousands of visitors each year. Many of these lands support exceptional ecological value including rare species and habitats, Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs), designated and nominated National Natural Landmarks and lands that support species of regional or global conservation concern. In total we own and protect more than 120 miles of coastline in Massachusetts made up of 35 properties including 75 miles of coastline located in 25 different communities, representing 16% of all protected coastline in MA—more than any other single private landowner in the state.

• 120 miles of coastline protected
  75 miles on our reservations
  45 miles through conservation restrictions (CRs)
  The Trustees is the largest private owner of coastline in MA
• Beaches
  Crane Beach, Ipswich
  Long Point Wildlife Refuge, Martha’s Vineyard
  Wasque, Martha’s Vineyard (Chappaquiddick)
  Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge, Martha’s Vineyard (Chappaquiddick)
  Leland Beach, Martha’s Vineyard (Chappaquiddick, managed by The Trustees)
  Coskata Coatue Wildlife Refuge, Nantucket

Ecological resources:

• 32% of Trustees land is designated as Priority Habitat by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program
• 15% of Trustees holdings are designated as Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC)
• 2,300+ acres of protected Salt Marsh, an iconic coastal habitat critical for wildlife and coastal resiliency. The Trustees protect 15 % of the Great Marsh (the largest salt marsh ecosystem in New England), caring for more acreage than any other private landowner in the state.
• 187 rare species. A diversity of Federally Endangered and Threatened species and state-listed Endangered, Threatened, Special Concern and Watch-listed species have been documented on Trustees reservations, and 42% of our holdings are in BioMap2 Core Habitat.
• A significant portion of the state’s population of nesting shorebirds. The Trustees beaches regularly support up to 60 or more pairs of the federally threatened piping plover (roughly 10% of the Massachusetts population), more than 500 pairs of least terns, and 25 pairs of American oystercatchers. Common and roseate terns, as well as black skimmers, also nest in some years.
• Two out of 11 designated National Natural Landmarks (Bartholomew’s Cobble NNL, Two Mile Farm –part of the North River NNL)  and one nominated landscape awaiting designation
• 2,000+ acres of grassland habitat
• 700+ acres of barrens habitat shaped by fire. Barrens are declining regionally and disproportionally support concentrations of rare and declining species compared to most other habitats.
• 30 “Priority Natural Community Types,” as designated by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, including Sandplain Grassland, Floodplain Forest and Salt Marsh.
• 12,292 acres of Designated Core Habitats as identified by MassWildlife BioMap and Living Waters, spread across 68 reservations
• 18 certified Documented Vernal Pools (and 114 potential)

Whether we’re offering people the opportunity to eat locally with food from our vibrant working farms or facilitating community gardens in Boston, over the last 15 years, we have increased our focus on agriculture, reactivating working farms and community gardens.

Farms

• 2,000+ agricultural acres (among largest private owners of MA farmland)
• 5 community farms (open to the public)
• 2 production farms
• 4 vegetable CSA (community supported agriculture) programs
• 1 meat CSA program
• 550,000+ visitors annually
• 1,300 CSA members
• 3 farm stands

Community farms

• Appleton Farms, Ipswich (oldest continually operating farm in North America)
• Chestnut Hill Farm, Southborough
• Powisset Farm, Dover
• Weir River Farm, Hingham
• The FARM Institute, Martha’s Vineyard

Production farms

• Moose Hill Farm, Sharon

Selected Trustees farm leases

• Land of Providence, Holyoke (Nuestras Raices, nonprofit farm and farmer training programs)
• The Eleanor Bradley Cabot Estate, Canton (non-profit Brookwood Community Farm)
• The Stevens-Coolidge Place, North Andover (graduates of New Entry Sustainable Farming Project farmer training program)
• Moraine Farm, Beverly (Headquarters for New Entry Sustainable Farming Project)
• Fork Factory Brook, Medfield (Neighborhood Farm)

Community gardens & urban food systems

Community gardens

• 56 community gardens
• 8 neighborhoods with gardens
• 1,575 garden plots
• 10,000 Boston residents served
• 60,000 pounds (estimated) of produce every year
• 20,000 pounds of food donated to food pantries

Mobile Farmers Market

• 1,500+ customers in low-income urban areas served (accepts SNAP/EBT)
• 3,000 pounds of produce sold

It’s not enough to save special places. Our reservations are catalysts, a means to inspire passion for the larger landscape around us through learning, discovery, and exploration.

• 14 parks
• 350 miles of hiking trails
• Trail connections:
  • Appalachian Trail
  • Bay Circuit Trail
  • Cape Cod Pathways
  • Charles River Trail
  • Mid-State Trail, New England
  • Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve

Programs & Education

• 5,000+ annual programs
• 9 summer camps
• 1 nature preschool

In Massachusetts, you find history under every rock and on every corner. From the tracks of dinosaurs and the settlements of Mohicans to the stone walls of colonial farmers, The Trustees of Reservations care for and share an incredible array of places and things that illuminate who we were, who we are now, and who we will be.

• 24 designed landscapes
• 11 public gardens
• 6 National Historic Landmarks
• 1 National Natural Landmark
• 11 National Register of Historic Places sites
• 340 buildings (11 historic homesteads, most of which are open to the public seasonally)
• 1,600+ land conservation trusts in the U.S. based on The Trustees, including the National Trust for Historic Preservation

For centuries, human beings have had their hands on every inch of the Massachusetts landscape, turning it from forest to farm and back again. In Massachusetts, people and the land are of each other, inextricably woven together to form the tapestry of our long history together.

Historic Homes and Homesteads (Not all open to the public, please check website)

• Castle Hill on the Crane Estate, Ipswich
• The Stevens-Coolidge Place, North Andover
• The Paine House at Greenwood Farm, Ipswich
• The Old Manse, Concord
• The Eleanor Bradley Cabot Estate, Canton
• The William Cullen Bryant Homestead, Cummington
• Naumkeag, Stockbridge
• The Mission House, Stockbridge
• The Ashley House, Sheffield
• The Folly at Field Farm, Williamstown (Massachusetts’ youngest historic house museum)
• The Farmhouse at Fruitlands Museum, Harvard

National Historic Landmarks

• The William Cullen Bryant Homestead, Cummington (1966)
• The Old Manse, Concord (1966)
• The Mission House, Stockbridge (1968)
• Castle Hill on the Crane Estate, Ipswich (1998)
• Naumkeag, Stockbridge (2007)
• The Charles Lane Farmhouse at Fruitlands Museum,
• Harvard (1974)
• Wauwinet Wildlife Refuge Reception Station, Coskata-
• Coatue Wildlife Refuge, Nantucket (1966)

National Natural Landmarks

• Bartholomew’s Cobble, Sheffield (1971)

Museums

• Fruitlands Museum, Harvard
• deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln

National Register of Historic Places

• The Ashley House, Sheffield (1975)
• Naumkeag, Stockbridge (1975)
• The Stevens-Coolidge Place, North Andover (1979)
• North Common Meadow, Petersham (1982)
• Tantiusques, Sturbridge (1983)
• Cape Poge Lighthouse at Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge, Martha’s Vineyard (1987)
• The Paine House at Greenwood Farm, Ipswich (1990)
• Fruitlands Museum (a National Register District), Harvard (1997)
• Governor Oliver Ames Estate (National Register District), Easton (1972)
• E. Albee House, Cormier Woods, Uxbridge (1983)
• Lucy Stone Home Site, Rock House Reservation, West Brookfield (2021)

Public Gardens

• Castle Hill on the Crane Estate, Ipswich
• The Stevens-Coolidge Place, North Andover
• Long Hill, Beverly
• The Eleanor Bradley Cabot Estate, Canton
• Gov. Oliver Ames Estate, Easton
• Naumkeag, Stockbridge
• The Mission House, Stockbridge
• Ashintully, Tyringham
• Allen C. Haskell Public Gardens, New Bedford
• Mytoi, Martha’s Vineyard (Chappaquiddick)
• Farandnear, Shirley

Historic Houses and Structures

• The Colonel John Ashley House, Sheffield
• The Eleanor Cabot Bradley Estate, Canton
• Brooks Law Office at North Common Meadow, Petersham
• The William Cullen Bryant Homestead, Cummington
• Cape Poge Lighthouse, Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge, Martha’s Vineyard
• Castle Hill, Ipswich
• The Inn at Castle Hill, Ipswich
• Choate House at the Crane Wildlife Refuge, Essex
• The Folly at Field Farm, Williamstown
• The Guest House at Field Farm, Williamstown
• Great Point Lighthouse, Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge, Nantucket Island
• The Paine House at Greenwood Farm, Ipswich
• Long Hill, Beverly
• The Mission House, Stockbridge
• Naumkeag, Stockbridge
• The Old Manse, Concord
• The Stevens-Coolidge Place, North Andover
• The Farmhouse at Fruitlands Museum, Harvard

Gorges and Waterfalls

• Bear’s Den, New Salem
• Chapelbrook, Ashfield
• Chesterfield Gorge, Chesterfield
• Doane’s Falls, Royalston
• Glendale Falls, Middlefield
• Spirit Falls at Jacobs Hill, Royalston
• Royalston Falls, Royalston

Large Woodlands (500 acres+)

• Brooks Woodland Preserve and Swift River Reservation, Petersham
• Copicut Woods, Fall River
• Noanet Woodlands, Dover
• Notchview, Windsor
• Ravenswood Park, Gloucester
• Rocky Woods, Medfield
• Ward Reservation, Andover and North Andover
• Whitney and Thayer Woods, Hingham and Cohasset

Working Landscapes

• Appleton Farms, Ipswich
• The William Cullen Bryant Homestead, Cummington
• Charles River Peninsula, Needham
• Chestnut Hill Farm, Southborough
• Field Farm, Williamstown
• Fork Factory Brook, Medfield
• Powisset Farm at Noanet Woodlands, Dover
• The Stevens-Coolidge Place, North Andover
• Tyringham Cobble, Tyringham
• Weir River Farm, Hingham

Early Industrial Sites

• Doane’s Falls, Royalston
• Fork Factory Brook, Medfield
• Halibut Point Reservation, Rockport
• Noanet Woodlands, Dover
• Tantiusques, Sturbridge

Native American History

• Rock House Reservation, West Brookfield
• Pegan Hill, Dover & Natick
• Redemption Rock, Princeton
• Tantiusques, Sturbridge
• The Mission House, Stockbridge

Literary Connections

• The William Cullen Bryant Homestead, Cummington
• Old Manse, Concord (Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau)
• Monument Mountain, Great Barrington (Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne)

Reservations that are part of Designated Scenic Rivers

• Westfield River (national): Glendale Falls, Middlefield; Chesterfield Gorge, Chesterfield; Notchview, Windsor
• Concord, Sudbury, and Assabet Rivers (national): The Old Manse, Concord
• North River (state): Norris Reservation, Norwell; Two Mile Reservation, Marshfield

Massachusetts Archaeological/Historic Landmark

• The Old Manse, Concord (1966)
• The Mission House, Stockbridge (1966)
• The William Cullen Bryant Homestead, Cummington (1977)

Local Historic District

• North Common Meadow, Petersham (1966)
• The Old Manse, Concord (1973)
• The Colonel John Ashley House, Sheffield (1980)
• The Stevens-Coolidge Place, North Andover (1987)

In many ways, the history of Massachusetts flows through Trustees properties. Visit these reservations, each with its own connection to evolution of the Commonwealth.

Notable Architects Associated with Trustees Historic Houses

• David Adler (Castle Hill, Ipswich)
• Edward Burnett (Castle Hill, Ipswich)
• Joseph Everett Chandler (The Stevens-Coolidge Place, North Andover)
• George Francis Dow (Choate House at Crane Wildlife Refuge, Essex)
• Ulrich Franzen (The Folly at Field Farm, Williamstown)
• Edwin Goodell (Field Farm, Williamstown)
• Charles Platt (The Eleanor Cabot Bradley Estate, Canton)
• Richardson, Barrott & Richardson (Long Hill, Beverly)
• Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge (Castle Hill, Ipswich)
• Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White (Naumkeag, Stockbridge)

Landscape Architects and Horticulturists associated with Trustees Historic Landscapes

• Nathan Barrett (Naumkeag, Stockbridge)
• Ernest Bowditch (Castle Hill, Ipswich)
• Joseph Edward Chandler (The Stevens-Coolidge Place, North Andover)Harriett Foote (Castle Hill, Ipswich)
• Olmsted Brothers (Castle Hill, Ipswich)
• Mabel Cabot Sedgwick (Long Hill, Beverly)
• Marjorie Russell Sedgwick (Long Hill, Beverly)
• Arthur Shurcliffe (Castle Hill, Ipswich)
• Fletcher Steele (Naumkeag and The Mission House, Stockbridge; Peters Reservation, Dover)

Painters Represented in Trustees Historic Collections

• Frank Weston Benson (The Stevens-Coolidge Place, North Andover)
• Lydia Field Emmett (Castle Hill, Ipswich)
• Walter Gay (The Stevens-Coolidge Place, North Andover)
• Eastman Johnson (The William Cullen Bryant Homestead, Cummington & Appleton Farms, Ipswich)
• Abram Poole (Castle Hill, Ipswich)
• Ellen Emmett Rand (Naumkeag, Stockbridge)
• John Singer Sargent (Castle Hill, Ipswich and Naumkeag, Stockbridge)
• Edward Simmons (The Old Manse, Concord)
• Mabel Sturgis (Long Hill, Beverly)
• Anders Zorn (Castle Hill, Ipswich)

Sculptors Represented in Trustees Historic Collections

• Herbert Ferber (Field Farm, Williamstown)
• Grinling Gibbons (Castle Hill, Ipswich)
• Frederick MacMonnies (Naumkeag, Stockbridge)
• Paul Manship (Castle Hill, Ipswich)
• Augustus Saint-Gaudens (Naumkeag, Stockbridge)

The natural side of Massachusetts is as lovely as it gets. From the hills of the Berkshires to the shores of Nantucket, The Trustees protect and preserve natural places and the plants and animals that call them home.

Miles of trails represented by all reservations: 270+

Reservations linking the Appalachian Trail

• Tyringham Cobble, Tyringham

Reservations Linking the Bay Circuit Trail

• Castle Hill, Ipswich
• Crane Beach, Ispwich
• Old Town Hill, Newbury
• Ward Reservation, Andover and North Andover
• The Old Manse, Concord
• Noon Hill, Medfield
• Rocky Narrows, Sherborn

Reservations Linking the Mid-State Trail

• Redemption Rock, Princeton

Reservations Linking the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail (now the New England Scenic Trail)

• Royalston Falls, Royalston

Reservations Linking the Tully Trail

• Doane’s Falls, Royalston
• Royalston Falls, Royalston
• Jacobs Hill, Royalston

Reservations linking Cape Cod Pathways

• Mashpee River Reservation, Mashpee