Canterbury Tales

Boston Nature Center - American Legion Highway (2007)



St Michael's Cemetery - Walk Hill street and American Legion Highway (2007)


If you didn't know where to look, you wouldn't know that Canterbury Brook existed. I've been driving through the area for over 30 years, and I didn't know it was there. The brook once flowed from east of Forest Hills Cemetery, south and through the Neponset St./Southbourne St. area, and connected to Stony Brook between Hyde Park Ave. and Washington St. I've tracked it as far as Morton St., but there's a culvert to the Franklin Park side that I haven't investigated yet. There's definitely plenty of water coming from north of Morton St. - maybe it connects to Scarboro Pond? I dunno.(note: I walked over to Scarboro Pond, and see no connection to Canterbury brook.)

I added two pictures. The first is in St Michael's Cemetery near the corner of Walk Hill St. and American Legion Hwy. From this point, the brook cuts back towards Canterbury St. before curving back towards Legion Hwy. and passing under the road to the Boston Nature Center on the old Mattapan State Hospital site. The next picture shows the wetlands in the Nature Center. This is what much of this area must have looked like in the 19th century. The Brook follows American Legion Hwy. to Morton St., where it passes through a culvert under the road. There's another branch that seems to come from the direction of the Legion Hwy. bridge over Morton St. It would take a little cross-country hiking through thick brush to tell exactly where it comes out. Right now, Canterbury Brook is by far the biggest contributor to Stony Brook. Not much water flows in late August, but Canterbury has a small but significant flow. I'll be documenting the other tributaries in future posts.