Visting Governor Hutchinson's Field, 2023

What now is an open field in Milton, Massachusetts – just about 9 miles south of the center of Boston, Massachusetts – once belonged to Thomas Hutchinson, the last royal governor of Massachusetts. Hutchinson was a loyalist who truly became the person to blame for the revolutionary fervor that hit the colony in the 1760s and 1770s. Samuel and John Adams blamed him for doubling-down on British rule, while Lord North, the British Prime Minister, blamed Hutchinson for not successfully dealing with the patriots in Massachusetts.

Before all of this, however, in 1734, Hutchinson built an estate on this property. In 1765, as Lt. Governor, his house in Boston-proper was ransacked and destroyed, escaping to this property in Milton. In 1774, he sailed to England – believing he would return to North America – but he never did. By then, revolution was fully aflame and a bigger British military presence began arriving in the colonies. The time for politics was over. Hutchinson died in England in 1780.

What is left of his estate in Milton is a field, which was an orchard, and a ha ha (a sunken wall which permits unblocked views, usually for the purpose to keep livestock in a certain area). But the views of modern day Boston and Quincy are quite something to behold. It's easy to see why Thomas Hutchinson decided this spot to build an estate.