| Borderland State Park | |
|---|---|
 Ames Mansion | |
  Borderland State Park Location in Massachusetts Show map of Massachusetts Borderland State Park Borderland State Park (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Location | Easton andSharon,Massachusetts, United States |
| Coordinates | 42°03′54″N71°09′16″W / 42.0650918°N 71.1545746°W /42.0650918; -71.1545746[1] |
| Area | 1,843 acres (746 ha)[2] |
| Elevation | 203 ft (62 m)[1] |
| Established | 1971 |
| Administered by | Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation |
| Website | Official website |
Borderland Historic District | |
| Built | 1910 |
| Architect | Ames, Blanche Ames; Ames, Oakes |
| Architectural style | Late Gothic Revival, Georgian, Colonial Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 97000497 |
| Added to NRHP | June 16, 1997 |
Borderland State Park is an American history and nature preserve with public recreational features located in thetowns ofEaston andSharon,Massachusetts. Thestate park encompasses 1,843 acres (746 ha) surrounding the Ames Mansion, which was built in 1910. The area was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places asBorderland Historic District in 1997. It is operated by theMassachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, with an appointed advisory council that participates in policy decision-making.[3]
In 1906,Oakes Ames, aHarvardbotanist (son of Massachusetts governorOliver Ames and grandson of U.S. RepresentativeOakes Ames), and his wifeBlanche Ames Ames (daughter of Mississippi governorAdelbert Ames, but not related to Oakes Ames), an artist and feminist, purchased land on the border of Sharon and Easton. There they built a mansion that includesBlanche Ames' studio, which still stands and created a nature preserve with woodland paths and roadways and man-made ponds. The family's home, a three-story, 20-room stone mansion constructed in 1910, was built largely at the direction of Blanche Ames.[4][5] Her paintings still hang on the walls and much of the original furnishings are still intact. After it remained in the family for 65 years, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts acquired the Borderland estate in 1971, two years after the death ofBlanche Ames, and opened it as a state park.[3]
The park has more than 20 miles (32 km) of wooded trails for hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding. Trails include a portion of theBay Circuit Trail and the Quarry Loop to Moyles Quarry which supplied the facing stone for theCanton Viaduct in 1835.[6] The park features mansion tours, a visitors center, pond fishing and canoeing, ice skating, sledding, anddisc golf. Mansion tours are typically held on Sundays during the months of April through May. The mansion is typically not open to the public other than during these tours, and for special events.[7]
Borderland is the home course forOliver Ames High Schoolcross country team.[8] Until 2014, it was the site of the Hockomock League Cross Country championship race. It is also utilized by theOld Colony League for its annual cross country meet and various invitational meets on the 3.1-mile-loop (5.0 km) course, and was the site of the World Masters Flying Disc Championships in 1996.[9]
The park has been used in a commercial, a documentary, and the filmMermaids. Scenes from theMartin Scorsese movieShutter Island were shot at the stone lodge next to Leach Pond in 2008.[10] Ames Mansion interiors were used as a filming location forGhostbusters in 2015.[11] A fictionalized version of the park is featured in the novelsDisappearance at Devil's Rock andSurvivor Song byPaul Tremblay. Interiors, particularly the library, were featured in the 2019Rian Johnson filmKnives Out as the home of mystery writer and murder victim Harlan Thrombey.Production designer David Crank stated, “The general rule was that both the inside and outside of the house needed to look like the sort of house that Harlan would describe in one of his mysteries. The moment we walked into the mansion we knew right away that it had the personality we needed.”[12][13]
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