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Description
The Mazza Farms Property is a critically important parcel that preserves the slopping forests of George Hill Road and Silver Lake. Its importance in terms of preservation is clear, but the lack of development greatly aides in the clean Silver Lake water — which is a terrific community swimming hole.
Donor
Mazza family
History
In the 1982 Fall edition of the Land Lovers Bulletin an interesting tale is told about Mazza Farms' neighboring Silver Lake. "Indian Curse Strikes Silver Lake" by Carolyn Kinloch. Kinloch wondered about the dramatic decrease in the water level:
Have you noticed that the level of Silver Lake has dropped quite a bit in the last few weeks? It could be the result of an old Indian curse made when the dam was first erected.
It seems that the men clearing the area for the erection of the first mill were a brutish bunch who tossed aside the bones they found in an Indian burial site. They scoffed at Mary Boston, a Grafton Indian, when she suggested that they were showing no respect for her ancestors. As a result she put a curse on the mill site, proclaiming that “no commercial venture would ever prosper here.” None has in 150 years.
We can only now conjecture whether this is a true story or a more natural result of the suffocating weeds being removed at the time, or perhaps the "40 years of decay of old burlap sand bags placed in front of a broken gate in the dam." But it does cause one to wonder...