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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> <html> <!--SNP:head--> <head> <meta name="author" content="Needham Conservation Commission" /> <meta name="description" content="The Morse-Bradley Estate, located on the Ridge Hill Reservation, offers a unique historical setting to host your special event. Additionally, the reservation provides an environment to conduct a wide variety of outdoor activities ." /> <meta name="keywords" content="Ridge, Hill, reservation, Morse-Bradley, Needham, Massachusettes, weddings, parties, special, events" /> <meta name="copyright" content="2005, Needham Conservation Commission" /> <meta name="robots" content="index,follow"/> <meta name="distribution" content="Global"/> <meta name="rating" content="General"/> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" /> <meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="EN" /> <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="c/default.css" type="text/css" /> <title>The Morse-Bradley Estate at Ridge Hill</title> </head> <!--/SNP:head--> <body id="history"> <div id="frame"> <!--SNP:header--> <div id="header"><h1><img src="i/header.png" alt="The Morse-Bradley Estate at Ridge Hill"/></h1></div> <!--/SNP:header--> <!--SNP:navigation--> <div id="navigation"> <ul style="margin-top:0px"> <li><a href="index.html" id="introduction" title="A summary of the site providing direction to its various areas.">Introduction</a></li> <li><a href="specialevents.html" id="specialEvents" title="Information concerning hosting special events at Ridge Hill.">Special Events</a></li> <ul> <li>» <a href="tour.html" id="tour" title="A photographic tour of the house.">Tour</a></li> <li>» <a href="houselayout.html" id="houseLayout" title="A detailed layout diagram and description of the house.">House Layout</a></li> <li>» <a href="rates.html" id="rates" title="The list of the various rates.">Rates</a></li> </ul> <li><a href="history.html" id="history" title="A brief summary of Ridge Hill's rich history.">History</a></li> <li><a href="reservation.html" id="reservation" title="A page describing the reservation and its many opportunities">Reservation</a></li> <ul> <li>» <a href="trails.html" id="trails" title="Various maps of the trails">Trails</a></li> <li>» <a href="wildlife.html" id="wildlife" title="Descriptions of the wildlife that can be found on the reservation,">Wildlife</a></li> </ul> <li><a href="directions.html" id="directions" title="Maps as well as written directions to Ridge Hill.">Directions</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.town.needham.ma.us/" title="The Town of Needham">Town of Needham</a></li> </ul> </div> <!--/SNP:navigation--> <div id="content"> <h2>History</h2> <p>The Morse-Bradley House is a reminder that Needham was once a “resort town”, widely known for its pure air and water. Wealthy and well-known Bostonians built large estates in Needham, to which they retreated to during the summer to escape Boston's heat and pollution. This influx of wealthy Bostonians began around the 1850s. By the turn of the century there was an enclave of large summer estates on the outskirts of Needham, located on or near the Charles River. </p> <p> The house was built in 1906 by John Torrey Morse III, son of John Torrey Morse Jr., a wealthy Bostonian who had his summer estate on the Charles River, at the south end of Webster Street in Needham. The father was a distinguished author and editor, a Harvard overseer, the cousin of Henry Cabot Lodge and a friend of Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Adams. His son, John Torrey Morse III, was wealthy but not particularly distinguished. When he died in 1928 his death certificate gave his occupation as “not any”. The father, who died in 1937, had been paying the largest private-property tax in the town. </p> <p> After the death of John Torrey Morse III, the property was bought in 1929 by J. Gardner Bradley, another wealthy and well-known man. Although not a Bostonian, he maintained a Boston address. Bradley had a distinguished ancestry. His great-grandfather was President Lincoln's Secretary of War. One grandfather was President Grants Secretary of War; the other was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. </p> <p> Bradley himself was one of several “Coal Barons” and owned mines in West Virginia. His name was much in the news during the 1940s, when he hired armed men who violently resisted the organization of his mines by the United Mineworkers Union. Bradley used the house as his summer residence until his death in 1971. At that time, the property consisted of 222 acres and was the largest privately-owned piece of land in the town. His will contained an option for the purchase of the property by the town. </p> <p> The property, then known as the Bradley Estate, was purchased in 1972 by Needham, which named it "The Ridge Hill Reservation''. This name came about from two things: </p> <ol> <li>The prominent glacial esker, or ridge hill, that runs through the eastern portion of the land, and;</li> <li> The property was once the eastern portion of the famous “Ridge Hill Farms”, or “Baker Estate”. Currently known as “The Disneyland of Needham”, this was the summer home and private amusement park that was built and maintained from 1868 through 1888 by William Emerson Baker. Baker, a wealthy and eccentric Bostonian, obtained a fortune from the manufacture and sales of the “Grover and Baker Sewing Machine”, as well-known in its day as “Singer” is now. </li> </ol> <p> The house is presently available as a function-hall. The extensive acreage, much of it heavily wooded, is used for hiking, walking and horseback riding. During the 1975 Bicentennial, a movie company photographed the reenactment of several Revolutionary War battles between Patriot and British troops on the field and in the woods between the house and the street, The cellar holes and stone foundations of several old houses and barns can still be seen along one of the trails that starts just eastward of the main entry road on Charles River Street. </p> <p> <em>Courtesy of the Needham Historical Commission</em></p> </div> <!--SNP:footer--> <div id="footer"> <img src="i/grey.png" width="510" height="1" alt="" /> Copyright 2005<br/> Needham Conversation Commission<br/> Site by: <a href="http://www.dark-fusion.com/">Dark Fusion</a> <br/> <br/> <a href="mailto:[email protected]">Feedback</a><br/> </div> <!--/SNP:footer--> </div> </body> </html>