An on-site visit to the former home of social reformer Jacob Riis in Barre and to the Barre Heath across Route 62, which was part of his farm, will be led jointly by the DCR and the Barre Historical Society & Museum. Because of limited parking on-site, we request that all attendees meet at 18 Common Street in Barre to carpool to the program site.

Jacob Riis was one of the most influential journalists and social reformers of the early 20th century.  He was an immigrant whose photographs changed the way America looked at the human cost of poverty; he was friends with President Theodore Roosevelt, and did you know he spent the last few years of his life in Barre, Massachusetts?  Drawn to Barre due to its rural beauty and the hope of a simple life, Riis referred to his home near the Burnshirt River as "Our Happy Valley." City people most of their lives, Jacob and his wife Mary faced the challenges of becoming farmers on the rundown farm with humor.  Riis is buried at nearby Riverside Cemetery. Join us as we visit his former home site on the grounds of the DCR Ware River Watershed, then we will cross the street to the beautiful Barre Heath - Riis' front yard - where an ongoing restoration project is recovering this critical biodiversity habitat.

The tour will involve walking on hilly and potentially rough terrain. The program will be led jointly by:

Nancy Huntington 
DCR Program Coordinator 

Lucy Allen
Barre Historical Society, BHS&M Historian

The photograph is from a 2023 Barre Heath hike.  We will be walking on similar terrain.