Grass Roots for Heywood Meadow Committee (Concord, Mass.)

Citizens' group of Concord, Mass., formed to oppose the 1969 taking by eminent domain of Heywood Meadow in Concord by the Middlesex County Commissioners, who planned to build a district courthouse on the land. Heywood Meadow, which was acquired by the Town of Concord in 1947, is located in one of Concord's historic districts, in proximity to the Emerson and Alcott houses and the Concord Museum (in 1969 still called the Concord Antiquarian Society). The Mill Brook, which runs through the meadow, is subject to flooding in periods of heavy rain. The Grass Roots for Heywood Meadow.

(Cont.) Committee, chaired by J. Russell Clarke, Jr., organized a campaign of petitions, letter-writing, phone calls, and resolutions by committees and organizations to influence the Middlesex County Commissioners to find an alternate location in Concord or elsewhere for the courthouse. At the Mar. 1969 Town Meeting, citizens voted to transfer ownership of Heywood Meadow from the Board of Selectmen to the Natural Resources Commission. As a result of efforts by the Grass Roots for Heywood Meadow Committee, the County Commissioners rescinded the taking by eminent domain of Heywood Meadow.

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