Trolley Powerhouse

I went over the Nashua River to Ayer to catch this view of the old electrical generating facility associated with the Ice House Dam whose picture you've hopefully seen earlier in this series. It powered trolleys before helping to make ice and before that housed machinery which powered a sawmill. For awhile I figured this was the ice house, but that building disappeared some time ago.

The dam stretches between Shirley and Ayer. This area originally belonged to Shirley (annexed 1798 from Groton) and went to Ayer in 1871. It is called Nonacoicus after a brook it contains. There was originally quite a mill complex there which included Horgan's Ice Plant. (Ice plant, where have I heard that word before?)

The leaves are pretty much off the trees at this point. There are a few stubborn red oak leaves still hanging on.

Click here for a historical view of this area with the Fitchburg train passing by.

November 10, 1997