Bancroft Tower is a 56-foot-high (17 m) natural stone and granite tower, which looks like a miniature feudal castle
Bancroft Tower is a 56-foot-high (17 m) natural stone and granite tower, which looks like a miniature feudal castle. It is located in Salisbury Park, in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts. It was erected in 1900, in memory of Worcester native politician, historian, and statesman George Bancroft. The tower was designed by Worcester architects Earle and Fisher. The cost of construction was roughly $15,000. Bancroft Tower is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Description
Bancroft Tower is located northwest of downtown Worcester, in Salisbury Park, a public park located west of Park Avenue and south of Drury Lane. It is a two-story stone structure, built out of boulders and cobbles, with a rock-faced granite exterior. It is asymmetrical in plan, with crenellated square towers at the corners and a taller off-center circular tower in between. To the right of that tower is an arched gate.
History
This tower was erected by Stephen Salisbury III in honor of George Bancroft, a prominent historian and statesman who had been a childhood friend of Salisbury's father. It was one of three towers built on high points of the city, and is the only one to survive. The park and tower remained in Salisbury's ownership until his death in 1907. The tower was bequeathed to the Worcester Art Museum, which in turn donated it to the Worcester Parks Department in 1912. The Bancroft tower was listed on the National Register of Historical Places on March 5, 1980.
Also notable about the small park in which the tower stands are the two half-compasses set into the ground in front of and behind the tower itself. They are marked as if they pointed to the other six of the Seven Hills of Worcester (Bancroft Hill itself being one of the seven), but it doesn't appear, from the top of the hill, that they really do.
https://en.wikipedia.org/
Salisbury Park itself extends down almost to Park Ave, as it includes both of the wooded areas that line Massachusetts Ave. The paved road around the Tower was open for driving until the 70s-80s, when it was closed off to motorized traffic with the installation of stone pillars.
Bancroft Tower was permanently open and accessible to the general public until the 1980s. During the 1980s, it was heavily used as a party spot and known as a haven for illicit activities. The immediate neighborhood surrounding the Tower was largely responsible for closing the Tower, and rightfully so, with the frequent disturbance of unwelcome parkgoers after hours and the safety hazard that is posed by a 56-foot, unmonitored stone tower.
A new addition to Salisbury Park is a newly cut trail segment of Park Spirit's East West Trail that runs through the steep, wooded area of the park - leading down to Park Ave towards Institute Park. The trail had been overgrown for many years and it was only during the summer of 2016 that the Park Stewards Summer Workers recut the trail to incorporate it into the cross-city East West Trail. Guided hikes of this segment of the East-West Trail will start hourly during the October 1st Park Spirit Presents: Bancroft Tower at Salisbury Park.
Park Spirit opened the Tower to the general public in 2014. Prior to this open house, the Tower was open to the general public on an inconsistent and intermittent basis. The Greater Hammond Heights Neighborhood Association (serving the neighborhood around the Tower and the homes on Prospect Hill) has held private/neighborhood events at the Tower over the years, such as their well known 'Haunted House' event in October.
https://www.parkspirit.org/
Free
Free
Free
Free
- Information tables
- Guided tours
- Nice view
Open every Sunday in October (weather permitting)