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QUINCY, Mass. - After one year of proposals and hard work, a
group of 8th grade students from Broad Meadows Middle School have
been able to add the Passanageset Knoll directly into the Geographic
Names Information System (GNIS), which is the official geographic
names database for the federal government. The “History Girls” as
they are known had been trying to rename the Board meadows Marsh in
Quincy, Massachusetts to the Passanageset Knoll after discovering
that the area was a Native American Site.
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Broad Meadows Environmental Restoration Project in Quincy, Mass., on Sept. 9, 2011. The site is now recognized as recognized as Passanageset Knoll. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
courtesy photo)
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They recently received correspondence from the U.S. Board
on Geographic Names. regarding their proposal. “The Board is
responsible for approving any new name for an unnamed
geographic feature before it can be shown on federal maps
and other products,” said Jennifer Runyon of the U.S.
Geological Survey in a letter to the girls. “However, most
of its decisions are made for features that are natural,
such as mountains, rivers, valleys, bays, lakes, and so on.
‘Administrative' or man-made features, including
parks, are usually named by the agency that manages them.
So, in this case, it is not necessary for the Board to make
a formal decision on the name Passanageset Park at Broad
Meadows Marsh.”
According to Runyon, because there
was already support for the new park name from the Mayor of
Quincy, the Quincy Park and Recreation Board, the Quincy
School Committee, the Massachusetts Tribe, and the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, the Board was able to add the park name
directly into the Geographic Names Information System
(GNIS), which is the official geographic names database for
the federal government. Therefore, the name is official
immediately for use by any federal department or agency.
The new GNIS entry is available for view at the Board's
public website. The entry can be found by going to
http://geonames.usgs.gov/domestic/index.html, clicking
Search Domestic Names, and entering the new name into the
Feature Name box. Select Massachusetts from the drop-down
State list, and click the Send Query button. The name will
be displayed, along with the geographic coordinates of the
park, and on the right side of the page, links to various
mapping services.
The New England District restored
the Broad Meadows Marsh and the city is maintaining the
uplands as a public park. Wendy Gendron, the District's'
Planning Study Manger, was contacted by the girls early in
their efforts and she referred them to Marc Paiva, the
District's Archaeologist and Tribal Liaison. Paiva met with
the girls and their teacher Ron Adams in June 2015.
“The History Girls” proposed to recognize a significant
Native American site known as Passanageset Knoll, which is
located behind the Broad Meadows Middle School within the
salt marsh, which they discovered through research about the
area,” said Paiva. “This relatively unknown site was the
location of the Native American Massachusetts Tribe's summer
village or “sachem's seat,” before they were forced by
disease and epidemic to move to the more well-known
Moswetuset Hummock located at the northern end of Wollaston
Beach.”
The New England District provided its support
in consulting with the various Tribal entities and
individuals and assisted in arriving at proper signs and
wording to recognize and commemorate the Native American
history of Quincy, particularly at this significant
Passanageset Knoll site.
Broad Meadows was a tidally
influenced salt marsh prior to a Corps navigation
improvement project placing dredged material in this area in
the early 1950s, which increased its elevation above that of
regular tidal flooding converting it to a lower value,
non-tidal habitat dominated by the reed species known as
Phragmites australis. Broad Meadows was recognized as a
potentially valuable marsh restoration project implemented
through the Corps Section 1135 of the Water Resources
Development Act of 1986 authority to modify projects to
improve the environment.
The District, together with
the city of Quincy completed the salt marsh restoration at
Broad Meadows Marsh in 2013. A portion of the project was
partially funded by the Neponset River Watershed
Association. The restoration replaced the low value common
reed (Phragmites australis) with salt marsh, wet meadows and
grasslands, improving habitat for fish and wildlife. A major
milestone was reached on Dec. 21, 2011 when the marsh was
flooded by tidal water for the first time after being buried
under dredged material for more than 80 years. The District
and city improved the walking paths in the summer of 2014
and will continue to manage Phragmites throughout the site.
By AnnMarie Harvie, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2015
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