Heritage Site Visitor

By Guest

By Rich Trotto

Back on April 11, 2017, while the copper rolling mill and the horse barn were being restored at the Paul Revere Heritage Site, workers uncovered the cement triple box culvert to inspect it. That is where the river that powered Paul Revere’s businesses now flows underground.

Many historic photos show the river on the surface in this location. Note also that the horse barn has been moved closer to the mill and a copper roof was installed as part of the mill restoration.

On a recent walk through the park, I went from the parking lot near the mill to the smallest yellow shed where the dam is that directs water through the triple box culvert continuously and to the diversion channel when rainfall increases the flow. The difference in the height of the two sides of the dam is only about three-quarters of an inch. The diversion channel prevents flooding, which has happened numerous times in the past.

I walked a short loop from the yellow shed side to the Neponset Street side of the dam. Under the park bench between the two sides is the exposed entry point to the triple box culvert. The heron was at the foot of the wide diversion channel side of the dam and is shown in the photo above. The whole time I was there he never moved his feet and only turned his head to keep an eye on his surroundings.

Park signs offer a lot of historic text and photos that are very interesting on a variety of subjects but there’s no mention of the heron.

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