50 States of Wonder
12 Places in Massachusetts Where Literature Comes to Life

Walden Pond is about a half-mile across, but it occupies an outsized place in literary history. It's where Henry David Thoreau hunkered down between 1845 and 1847, and the landscape would ultimately inspire his book Walden; or, Life in the Woods, published roughly a decade later. A pillar of American literature, the volume extolled simplistic living and harmony with nature. Thoreau’s legacy is still plainly visible today: Next to the parking lot, you’ll find a statue of him, mid-stride, and a recreated version of his humble cabin. But the pond is a vibrant modern-day attraction, too. When the weather allows, the water is speckled with swimmers splashing or doing laps from one shore to the other. (Read more.)

A family of nine—a mother and her eight offspring, Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack—have lived in the Boston Public Garden for 30 years. They're bronze statues of the “Mallard” family, from the classic 1941 children’s book Make Way for Ducklings. In the book, Mr. and Mrs. Mallard come to Boston to look for a home, and are enticed by the Public Garden. After seeing humans zipping around, though, they deem it too dangerous for their brood. But when Mrs Mallard teaches them to swim and watch out for themselves, the family settles on a tiny island in the garden’s lagoon. The gaggle has been a family favorite on this patch of cobblestone since it was installed in 1987. (Read more.)

Located a couple steps away from the Boston Common, Brattle Book Shop has been peddling used books since 1825. The store is pleasantly jumbled with 250,000 books, postcards, maps, and prints spanning genres and decades. The first two floors of the store are stuffed with shelves holding general used books, some of which hide long-ago dedications and notes inside. Antiquarian and rare books live on the third floor. Outside, authors including Toni Morrison and Italo Calvino gaze down from a mural at shoppers sifting through sale racks. (Read more.)

The Grinch, the Cat in the Hat, and a bunch of other gangly, affably goofy characters hang out in a park in Springfield. Each member of the bronze brigade was made by sculptor Lark Grey Diamond-Cates, who paid tribute to her stepfather, Ted Geisel—better known as Dr. Seuss—in his hometown. If you want to commune with some trees, you may as well meet up with the Lorax, their biggest fan. Afterward, there’s a museum dedicated to Geisel’s work nearby. (Read more.)

Over the years, several literary luminaries roamed this clapboard house. Ralph Waldo Emerson jotted down many thoughts in the home, which was built for his grandfather in 1770. It’s where Emerson wrote the influential essay “Nature,” and other Transcendentalists eventually flocked to the premises, too. Thoreau paid a visit; the Old Manse isn’t far from Walden Pond. And when Nathaniel Hawthorne and his wife, Sophia, settled into the home as newlyweds in 1842, Thoreau gifted them a vegetable garden just outside their door. Nathaniel and Sophia etched poems into the window panes, and their scribbles are still visible today. The grounds are currently open, though the house itself is closed because of the pandemic. (Read more.)

By the time the eccentric author Edward Gorey died in 2000, the floors of his 200-year-old Yarmouth home were heavy with 25,000 books, assorted collections of eclectic flea market finds, and 75 unpublished manuscripts. Gorey, a devoted balletomane with a flair for raccoon-fur coats, was deeply committed to his cats, too: He had several at a time, and a claw-tattered divan is one of the many curios on display in his home, which is now a museum about his work. Visitors can make an appointment to drop in and check out ephemera including etchings and hand-scribbled lists. (Read more.)

The house where Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, no longer exists. But in 2009, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Poe’s birth, Boston renamed a nearby plaza after the author. A plaque was installed nearby decades ago, and has recently been joined by a statue. It shows Poe striding down the street, jacket flapping. Unsurprisingly, he's flanked by a corvid companion—and, of course, a heap of books. (Read more.)

Before she penned Little Women, which centers on life at home with a slew of sisters, Louisa May Alcott shared a colonial on 12 acres of land with three sisters of her own. Alcott’s father, Bronson, purchased the home in 1857. It was affectionately known as the Orchard House, because more than three dozen trees were heavy with apples.

Alcott’s novel enchanted readers when it was published in 1868. Contemporary visitors can wander the handsome house—fashioned into a museum that includes art by Louisa’s sister, May, the inspiration for the novel’s Amy—and learn about the young ladies who once called it home. The house is currently closed due to COVID-19, but virtual tours are available on Vimeo. (Read more.)

Mourners coming to pay tribute to (or pour one out for) a founding father of the Beat Generation often leave cigarettes and joints and skewer poems to the ground with pens. Keroauc’s final resting place is the town where he grew up, and it's a popular pilgrimage site for his legions of readers. Snippets of Keroauc's work are also emblazoned onto granite markers in an eponymous park nearby. (Read more.)

Along the bank of the narrow Sawmill River, there’s a deliciously stuffed bookshop. Inside a gristmill that dates to 1842, the store retains some of its centuries-old charm—think scuffed floors and generous windows, whose light pours into the aisles. Throughout, you’ll find armchairs, couches, and benches to flop down on while savoring the view of the fast-moving river. (Loafing is limited during the COVID-19 pandemic; the shop has several precautions in place.) Stop in to pick up a book about local history or ecology, or just sift through all that’s on offer until something snatches hold of your imagination. (Read more.)

The writer Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, and his famous 1851 novel, The House of the Seven Gables, was based on a gloomy-looking structure that still stands nearby. Also called the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion, the sprawling home was built in 1688. Gray and outfitted with many namesake pointy bits, it feels a bit foreboding. Inside, it's not so spooky: The home is now packed with information about Hawthorne’s life and work. Ticketed tours of the gardens and grounds are available during the pandemic, and include a link to a virtual glimpse of the interior. (Read more.)

One gallery in this playful museum is dedicated to writer and illustrator Eric Carle’s own work, including The Very Hungry Caterpillar. In addition to that ravenous insect, the museum also hosts rotating shows featuring the work of Dr. Seuss, Maurice Sendak, and all other mainstays on a kid’s bookshelf. The institution also invites kids and grown-ups to get creative, with workshops about drawing, screen printing, and more. (Read more.)