Hudson site has storied – and beloved – history
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Dean Shalhoup
Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of wide-eyed visitors from away, often way away, arrived every day in the nice weather, their excitement boiling over as they entered the gilded gates and embarked on a trek that promised more celebrity sightings than they’d ever seen in one place.
With little box cameras and super-8 windup movie cameras strapped around their necks, the adventurers paused often to gawk at the larger-than-life sights, staring in awe at lifestyles that, thanks to TV and Life magazine, they knew existed but never thought they’d see up close and personal.
They heard tales of a daring heist that once played out on the very spot on which they were standing; the day a moody tiger challenged a man to an all-out wrestling match, and how both lived to tell about it; and the time a rather jumpy Australian fugitive, captured after his escape from a traveling circus, was caged and detained there for a time.
And, of course, they learned the hardly believable, but true, legend of the agoraphobic, 550-pound one-time presidential candidate that lived “in that house right over there” for 20 years.
Hollywood? Hah, they wish.
Nope, these little dramas, and plenty more, were played out right here in Hudson, all occurring within a 250-acre former “health farm” that became one of mid-20th-century America’s most popular family destinations, called Benson’s Wild Animal Farm
READ MORE AT:http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/856632-196/hudson-site-has-storied--and-beloved.html
IF YOU GO
Benson Park, a 165-acre passive recreation site developed at the former Benson’s Wild Animal Farm property in Hudson, is hosting a grand opening celebration next weekend.
WHEN: 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 25 (rain date is Sept. 26)
WHERE: Enter from Kimball Hill Road just up the hill from the intersection of Central Street (Route 111).
MORE: No admission charge. Brochures and volunteer guides will be available for information; some refreshments.
Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of wide-eyed visitors from away, often way away, arrived every day in the nice weather, their excitement boiling over as they entered the gilded gates and embarked on a trek that promised more celebrity sightings than they’d ever seen in one place.
With little box cameras and super-8 windup movie cameras strapped around their necks, the adventurers paused often to gawk at the larger-than-life sights, staring in awe at lifestyles that, thanks to TV and Life magazine, they knew existed but never thought they’d see up close and personal.
They heard tales of a daring heist that once played out on the very spot on which they were standing; the day a moody tiger challenged a man to an all-out wrestling match, and how both lived to tell about it; and the time a rather jumpy Australian fugitive, captured after his escape from a traveling circus, was caged and detained there for a time.
And, of course, they learned the hardly believable, but true, legend of the agoraphobic, 550-pound one-time presidential candidate that lived “in that house right over there” for 20 years.
Hollywood? Hah, they wish.
Nope, these little dramas, and plenty more, were played out right here in Hudson, all occurring within a 250-acre former “health farm” that became one of mid-20th-century America’s most popular family destinations, called Benson’s Wild Animal Farm
READ MORE AT:http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/856632-196/hudson-site-has-storied--and-beloved.html
IF YOU GO
Benson Park, a 165-acre passive recreation site developed at the former Benson’s Wild Animal Farm property in Hudson, is hosting a grand opening celebration next weekend.
WHEN: 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 25 (rain date is Sept. 26)
WHERE: Enter from Kimball Hill Road just up the hill from the intersection of Central Street (Route 111).
MORE: No admission charge. Brochures and volunteer guides will be available for information; some refreshments.
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