The 5th annual Trails & Sails: A Weekend of Walks and Water is nearly here! Join us to celebrate the remarkable heritage resources found throughout Essex County on September 23 & 24, 2006 when 85 sites, throughout the Area will open the doors to more than 150 special programs free of charge!

There will be something for everyone in 2006 – 60% of the events this year are new (with lots of favorites back for you to try or try again!). The weekend will feature two new types of events: Art Escapes and Doors Open. Visit TrailsandSails.org for complete information, to download the 2006 schedule of events, and to listen to the radio spots running on North Shore 104.9. The 2006 schedule of Trails & Sails events can be picked up at participating Essex County TD Banknorth branches. Trails & Sails 2006 is generously sponsored by TD Banknorth, North Shore 104.9, Eagle Tribune Publishing Co., and Eastern Bank. We appreciate their continued support.

Promoting local enthusiasm for Trails & Sails ‘06 has been made possible with the assistance of ENHC Commissioner, Todd Tanger, the Owner/President of North Shore 104.9 FM Radio. Serving the North Shore by providing comprehensive local, national and international news, North Shore 104.9 FM is also the home of the Boston Red Sox. Along with its greatest hits format of music programming, North Shore 104.9 FM and its sister station, Legends 1450 WNBP, in Newburyport keep you in the know with community happenings and local forecasts.

When approached to structure a radio campaign to promote Trails & Sails ‘06, Todd and his creative staff quickly structured a comprehensive package of 150, 60-second advertisements to run on their flagship station 104.9FM and Legends 1450 WNBP, during the first three weeks of September. Listen for featured interviews with DJs Charlie Curtis and Jackie Ankeles, highlighting unique Trails & Sails offerings available this year. “We were excited to be a sponsor of Trails & Sails,” said Todd. “We hope people enjoyed the events that truly highlighted what great treasures we have in our own backyard here on the North Shore!"

Listen to North Shore 104.9 FM Radio spots, #1, #2, #3!

In July, the Using ESSEX History program (UEH) offered the weeklong institute, “America in Conflict” 30 teachers from 21 different schools around Essex County attended. The institute focused on identifying primary resources and local sites and thematically linking them to national history. Six ENHA sites hosted the institute’s daily seminars including, the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology at Phillips Andover, Salem Maritime National Historic Site, the Schooner FAME, Lynn Museum and Lynn G.A.R. as well as The National Archives and Records Administration, Northeast Division and UMass Boston/JFK Library. The 2006-2007 UEH program will offer monthly, daylong seminars throughout the school year. The first seminar, “Women and Abolition in Massachusetts” will be held October 11, at the Amesbury Cultural Center and the Whittier Home. For more information or to apply to an upcoming seminar, please visit UsingEssexHistory.org.

Using ESSEX History is a project of the Beverly Public School System in partnership with the Essex National Heritage Commission (ENHC), the National Archives and Records Administration and Salem State College.

On June 29, 2006 the Coastal Trails Coalition (CTC) celebrated its third anniversary with an advocacy luncheon designed to highlight its accomplishments and thank the many organizations, elected officials, and municipal and businesses leaders who have supported its efforts to create more bikeable/walkable communities in the lower Merrimack Valley.

With leadership and support from ENHC, the National Park Service Rivers and Trails Program, and others during the past three years, the CTC has seen major advancement toward the realization of the Coastal Trails Network, a 30-mile network of trails connecting Amesbury, Salisbury, Newbury and Newburyport. These achievements include securing long-term licenses and easements for railroad rights-of-ways in Newburyport, Amesbury and Salisbury; development of approximately one mile of the two mile-long Salisbury Point Ghost Trail; creating 4.5 miles of dedicated bike lanes along the Plum Island Turnpike that will increase safety and provide access to Plum Island's popular recreational amenities; and the publication of "Coastal Trails: 10 Self-Guided Trails for Hiking, Biking, and Paddling." To learn more about the CTC achievements and supporters, visit CoastalTrails.org.

The Nevins, Tenney and Searles families played a significant role in Methuen’s history and development. These families built many of the landmark structures found in Methuen today, including the Nevins Memorial Library, the Searles Building (Methuen City Hall), and the Methuen Memorial Music Hall. The families competed to build the most architecturally extravagant buildings in town.
In 1991, the city established the Searles Tenney Nevins Historic District to highlight these unique structures and other historic buildings related to the families in and around downtown. Unfortunately, many important structures were not included in the district. In 2004, with help from an ENHC Partnership Grant, the Methuen Historical Commission began the process of expanding the district. They completed building survey forms and created a database to store this data. Currently, the city is presenting findings to the Massachusetts Historical Commission for approval of the expanded historic district. And in 2006, Methuen received an ENHC Partnership Grant to fund a preservation survey designed to identify and recommend strategies for preserving Methuen’s historic archives and collections.

The National Coal Heritage Area (NCHA) is one of only 27 nationally designated heritage areas in the United States. It represents a part of the growing effort by the National Park Service to develop resource protection initiatives for areas of national importance that rely on partnerships and private ownership rather than the traditional methods of Federally owned parklands. The mission of the National Coal Heritage Area is to preserve, protect, and interpret lands, structures, and communities associated with the coal mining heritage of West Virginia. The NCHA encompasses 11 counties in southern West Virginia: Boone, Cabell, Fayette, Logan, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Raleigh, Summers, Wayne, and Wyoming. An initiative of Congressman Nick Joe Rahall II, the idea of the NCHA began in the early 1990's when the National Park Service was directed to complete a study to evaluate significant "historic, cultural, natural and recreational resources" to determine the "feasibility of protecting coal mining and related resources in southern West Virginia". In November 1996, the US Congress passed into law the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act which officially designated the region as the National Coal Heritage Area.