In 1632, after climbing up the face of a boulder near present-day Waltham and facing west toward Neipnett, Gov. John Winthrop sighted Wachusett Mountain rising against the setting sun. However, the idea of a town did not take hold until 1742, when the first settler, Joshua Wilder, arrived from Lancaster and established a tavern. By the mid-1800s, magnificent hotels and guesthouses dotted Princeton's landscape. Princeton and Wachusett Mountain shows the early days of tourism when visitors from Boston, New York, and Philadelphia rode stagecoaches to relax in the shade, play croquet on the...
In 1632, after climbing up the face of a boulder near present-day Waltham and facing west toward Neipnett, Gov. John Winthrop sighted Wachusett Mounta...