3. “Right of Flowing,” 1826

In A History of the Town of Concord (1835), Lemuel Shattuck says of the Mill Brook:

“Mill Brook, arising in Lincoln, flows through the centre of this town, and empties into the Concord river [sic] north of the village. The waters of this brook were used, about 190 years since, to turn the first grist-mill ever built in the town; but since 1826 they have been very properly suffered to flow through their accustomed channel undisturbed.”

When the Concord Mill Dam Company owners began developing the area in the mid-1820s, they purchased the mill privilege, removed the flumes, and let the Mill Brook run free. The mill pond, which had been located in the present-day center of Concord, extended east to Heywood Street. Beyond its association with the mill, the shallow pond served as a fishing hole and a skating rink for Concord’s youth. The Mill Brook is still clearly visible today, running through Heywood Meadow, beneath Heywood Street, parallel to Walden Street, beneath Main Street, and under the Anderson Market building.