GRAFTON – On Brigham Hill Road, in the midst of houses and neighborhoods, there’s a parcel of land that has always belonged to Native Americans.
Near the front is a plaque installed in 1930, when the commonwealth celebrated its 300th anniversary.
“This four-and-one-half acres have never belonged to the white man,” reads the marker, “having been set aside in 1728 as an Indian reservation by the forty proprietors who purchased the Indian town of Hassanamesit.”
Now known as the Cisco Homestead, the parcel at 80 Brigham Hill Road – which includes two buildings, a shed and a yard – is owned by the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Tribal Council and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The homestead has been closed for several years, as the site undergoes restoration work.
At the Annual Town Meeting in May, residents approved an appropriation of $194,000 from the Community Preservation Budgeted Reserve toward the homestead’s renovation.
The project will include stabilizing the structure’s foundation and interior restoration of all the rooms.
The interior project will complement the exterior renovations that have been taking place over the past few years.
Rae Gould, a member of the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band of Massachusetts who has overseen the restoration project, said that once work is completed at some point in the future, the council hopes to reopen the homestead as a museum, open to tribal members and the public.
After the museum reopens, the site will be maintained by the tribal leadership and the Nipmuc Indian Development Corp.
According to its grant application to the Grafton CPC, the project will start within the next 18 months.
History of the homestead
The Native Americans’ connection to Grafton dates from the beginnings of the colonial era in the 1600s. Rev. John Eliot founded his third Praying Indian village in Hassanamesit, which became Grafton. One of the Native Americans, James Printer, printed Eliot’s Indian Bible – the first Bible to be printed in America.
The site of the homestead is the last remaining parcel of Printer’s land. The Cisco family is descended from Printer.
The Ciscos maintained strong connections to the town; Sarah Cisco Sullivan and her daughter, Zara Cisco Brough, were active in municipal committees, including the Cemetery Commission and the Board of Selectmen.
The homestead serves as a focus for Nipmuc groups to celebrate pow wows and other cultural events.
The house itself was built in 1801; it has served as a tribal museum since 1962, and as tribal headquarters for most of the 20th century.
For information about the tribal council, visit https://www.nipmucnation.org/
Donations toward the project, and tribal programs, are always welcome.
“We need as much support as we can get,” said Gould.
For information on how to donate, email [email protected].
