Solitude Stone

Located on the side of the road of a very quiet neighborhood right next to the Nunckatessett River is the Solitude Stone. There’s a bench nearby where visitors can sit down to read the engraved poem and one might assume the name is referring to the area to enjoy some peace and quiet. However, there is more to this stone than meets the eye and peeling back the layers of history reveals a mysterious and tragic backstory.

Although much of the original inscription has faded, the writing on the stone reads, “All ye, who in future days, Walk by Nuckatesset stream Love not him who hummed his lay Cheerful to the parting beam, But the Beauty that he wooed, In this quiet solitude.” 

The writing was engraved by Reverend Timothy Otis Paine of Winslow, Maine around 1852. He was the minister of the New Jerusalem Church in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. His beliefs and principles were inspired by theologian Emanuel Swedenborg who had significant influence in the development of freemasonry and the early occult movement.

The stone itself went undiscovered for over 60 years until it was found by a local reporter searching for Evelyn Packard in 1916 who had recently disappeared. Packard’s body was found not far from the stone three days after she was reported missing with some speculating she was “crazed” from her experiences in the nearby Hockomock Swamp, an area with a reputation for strong paranormal activity. It was later learned that in 1880, a man named John Crane shot himself near the stone’s location and the Solitude Stone began being referred to as the “Suicide Stone.”

The stone was moved at one point, but returned close to its original location in 1970. Since then the stone has continued to attract paranormal enthusiasts hoping to catch a glimpse of Evelyn Parker or John Crane’s ghosts, or  historians who are curious about Reverend Paine’s mysterious poem. The Solitude Stone has become one of the main places to see within the “Bridgewater Triangle.”