The Oak Hill, Waterman Broadcasting, and Zimmerman parcels are collectively known as Poor Farm Brook Conservation Area, and offer public access points along Salisbury Street. A parking area in the Waterman parcel provides access to the property, and a loop trail circumnavigates the property.
History
The Waterman parcel was the first land in this area that was donated to White Oak Land Conservation Society (WOLCS), much earlier than the rest of the property that now comprises Oak Hill’s Trails. The Waterman Broadcasting Corporation property was previously the site of two former AM transmitter towers installed circa 1952 for station WAAB, whose studio was in Worcester. This 8-acre property along Salisbury Street, which was granted to WOLCS, still contains concrete piers for the towers and other infrastructure. The parcel contains woods, wetlands, and the headwaters of Poor Farm Brook.
The 10.8-acre Zimmerman parcel, with frontage on the south side of Stanjoy Road, was donated to WOLCS by the Zimmerman family. This parcel is largely wetland, with the headwaters of Poor Farm Brook running through. It immediately abuts the Winter Ridge cluster development.
When the Oak Hill cluster development was formed by Winter Ridge Limited Partnership (Andrew J. Lane and his son Stephen B. Lane) in 2015, it significantly expanded the open space in the immediate area. This open-space development granted WOLCS four open space parcels totaling 62.8 acres.
Additionally, White Oak received a donation of parcels from an older development at Winter Hill. These six mostly non-contiguous parcels, with frontage on Summer Lane, Winter Hill Road, Newell Road, and Autumn Circle, total 17.2 acres. These parcels were granted to WOLCS by Lodge Corp. dba Winter Hill, LLC (Andrew J. and Stephen B. Lane) in 2012. These parcels are collectively known as the Winter Ridge Conservation Area.
Portions of the Oak Hill conservation property were previously owned by Stone & Berg Lumber Co. and the Berggren family. The Stone & Berg Lumber Co. parcel contained 49.7 acres and included Stanjoy Road, a private street. A 50-lot subdivision was proposed for this property in 1959, of which only six lots were built on (those along Salisbury Street and the beginning of Stanjoy Road). The roadbed of the proposed extension of Stanjoy Road was constructed for nine hundred feet northeasterly, including a water line with valves and drainage structures (catch basins and manholes). Some of these abandoned structures can still be seen in the woods. The Berggren parcels totaled 56.4 acres and contained a 16-acre Christmas tree farm; the remaining acreage was wooded land and wetland, with Poor Farm Brook running through.
Oak Hill Subdivision Plans (PDF)
Trail Map (PDF)