File:Morses Pond Culvert Site Visit - May 24, 2010 - Wellesley, Massachusetts (4639676980).jpg

"This site was the location of the Henry Wood's Sons paint factory from 1848 through 1928.

After emigrating from England, Henry Wood established a pigment grinding shop in Boston. He later moved to Wellesley Lower Falls, the center of the town's industry in the late 19th century, and in 1848 opened the factory on this site, which was then called Natick Brook. The factory produced tinted Portland cement used in building construction, artists' oil paint in tubes, and the pigment component of paint. At the height of the business' success (1897-1910), the factory was one of the larger regional producers of pigments, producing six tons per day, including its own formula, "Marseilles green." On this site were factory buildings, living quarters for the owner and employees, a 60,000 gallon water tank, and a railroad spur crossing Waban Brook on a two-arched stone bridge. Around the turn of the 20th century, changes in technology and marketing in the paint industry caused the business to suffer financial difficulties and finally close in 1928.

In 1932 Wellesley College purchased the property to preclude further industrial use of the site. The remaining stone and wooden buildings were demolished, leaving only foundations and the remains of the stone railroad bridge. These remains were left untouched until the 1980s when metal contaminants left by the pigment manufacturing process were discovered in the soil. Wellesley College then undertook the excavation of the soils, cleanup of the site, and restoration of the wetlands."

Photograph from a May 24, 2010 site visit to the Morses Pond Culvert site in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

MassDEP RTN: 3-0011653