HIGH ROCK TOWER
The original area of the High Rock Reservation consisted of approximately four-and-one-half acres located at the summit and along the south slope of High Rock. The area is a steeply sloping hillside that is studded with large outcroppings of porphyry and views of Boston, Nahant, and Salem. High Rock Tower and the Stone Cottage possess integrity of location, design, setting, and for the most part materials.
Rising to a height of 170 feet, High Rock is less than three-quarters of a mile from the ocean and commands unobstructed views of Boston, Nahant, and Swampscott. Although local historians suggest that the hill’s summit was used as a lookout point by Native Americans and early settlers, the site’s major fame dates from the mid-nineteenth century when High Rock and its porphyry outcroppings became appreciated for their “Romantic” qualities.
During the 1840s, a parcel of five and one-half acres, including the summit of High Rock, was purchased by Jesse Hutchinson, who, together with other members of his family, built two Gothic cottages, an auditorium, and an observation tower on the property. Both the fame of the Hutchinson Family, who lived there until the early twentieth century, and the “picturesque” qualities of the property made up of High Rock Stone Cottage, Daisy Cottage, and the first High Rock Tower, frequent illustrations in wood-cut, lithographic and stereopticon views of nineteenth-century Lynn. These structures are significant for their associations with the Hutchinson family, a group immersed in many nineteenth-century causes such as temperance, abolitionist, and women’s movements, and are unusual physical representatives of this important phase of nineteenth-century culture.
HIGH ROCK PARK, TOWER AND OBSERVATORY STARRY STARRY NIGHT PROGRAM
High Rock Tower will be open to the public on the schedule listed below. The observation will be cancelled if the weather forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies. Registered visitors will receive cancellation updates by 2 PM.
If you have any questions you can contact Jamie Marsh. We look forward to seeing you see the stars!
2024 STARRY STARRY NIGHT SCHEDULE
We will be open to the public on the schedule listed below provided the weather forecast calls for mostly clear skies.
Wednesday
August 14th
8-10PM
Wednesday
September 4th
7:30-9:30PM
Wednesday
October 9th
6:30-8:30PM
DRIVING DIRECTIONS
From the South( Boston/Revere area)
Go north on the Lynnway/Route 1A to Market Street
Take a left on Market Street
From Swampscott area
Go south on Lynn Shore Drive/the Lynnway/ Route 1A to Market Street
Take a right on Market Street
Once on Market Street
Go north on Market Street, thru City Hall Square to Franklin Street
Bear right onto Franklin Street
Take first right onto Hanover Street
Follow Hanover Street to Washington Street
Go straight across onto Beacon Hill Avenue
Take first right onto Lawton Avenue
Once on Lawton Avenue
Take 2nd left onto High Rock Street
Take 1st right onto Circuit Avenue
High Rock Tower is at the top of the hill.
From the North (Salem area)
Go southwest on Western Avenue/Route 107
Pass Fraser Field (on your right) and take 2nd left onto Lawton Avenue
From Major Highways and Peabody/Lynnfield area
Go south on Route 129 (various streets)
On Washington Street take the first left onto
Western Avenue/Route 107
Take first right onto Lawton Avenue.
Once on Lawton Avenue
Take 5th left onto High Rock Street
Take 1st right onto Circuit Avenue
High Rock Tower is at the top of the hill.
