Summer Wanderings #4: Shelburne Falls and the Bridge of Flowers

In Amherst we celebrate things we can find locally at places like the farmers’ market. We also relish that in local places, like the Emily Dickinson Museum’s Tell It Slant festival, we can meet people from all over the world in person or online. Our townsfolk take pride in both the “local” and the “international,” especially in the ways these orientations are celebrated by our organizations, businesses, and people. I like living in a place that has a profound sense of identity and feels unique. But we also see localism expressed in our embrace of our county — Hampshire County — which is represented, along with Franklin County, on a Hilltown History Trail this weekend (more below). We also continue to show our love of all things local in the broader catch-all called western Massachusetts. For the purposes of this piece, I see this affection for the local expressed in the Pioneer Valley as a whole, with our local food movement as perhaps the standard-bearer in terms of how it contributes to an overall sense of well-being.

The Bridge of Flowers
In Shelburne Falls, there is a unique landmark known as the Bridge of Flowers. A few months ago, the entire bridge was out of commission, and bare dirt lay there while the gardens — and the bridge itself — were completely overhauled. The bridge, built in 1908 as a trolley bridge over the Deerfield River between Buckland and Shelburne, is 44 feet long, with five concrete span arches. The trolley line ran from Conway up to Colrain and was an essential part of local public transportation in the early 20th century, especially for workers in the local mills and factories.

The bridge has now been made more structurally sound and has been repainted. Plantings were removed while this work was done, and the new garden beds that line each side of the walkway over the bridge have now been completed. There are pops of bright color everywhere in the selection of plants, trees, flowers, and shrubs. While there are more annuals than usual at present, the new perennial plantings will slowly grow in. A small café called the Red Dahlia, operated by one of Shelburne Falls’ best cafés, Mocha Maya’s is open on the Shelburne side of the bridge, while the Buckland side is still anchored by McCusker’s Market in the old Odd Fellows’ Hall building.

The Bridge of Flowers is the only one of its kind in the world. It is localism with bells on, as we say in the old country. The closest thing to it is a bridge in Simsbury, Connecticut, but there, the flowers are suspended from the metal trusses of the bridge in baskets or displayed in window box-type containers — much less ambitious, although still pretty. Shelburne Falls’ trolley bridge became defunct in 1928, when the trolley line fell into disuse amid the rise of the automobile era. A local couple, Antoinette and Walter Burnham, quickly saw a new use for the bridge and spearheaded a campaign with the local Women’s Club to create the planting beds lining each side of the bridge. To this day, the Bridge of Flowers is free and open to the public from early spring to late fall, but donations are always needed to preserve this beloved local landmark.

Baker Pharmacy
Another Shelburne Falls landmark is under threat. It worries me because it is an independent pharmacy rather than a chain like Walgreens or CVS. If you have family or friends living in western Franklin County (also known locally as West County), you should know that residents there are trying to save Baker Pharmacy in Shelburne Falls, the only pharmacy serving all nine West County towns (Ashfield, Buckland, Charlemont, Colrain, Hawley, Heath, Monroe, Rowe, and Shelburne Falls). The pharmacy closed for the second time in six months at the beginning of July with almost no notice, and Sen. Paul Mark’s office wants to hear directly from you. The sudden closure again leaves a major gap in local health care access, with longer drives, delayed prescriptions, and neighbors scrambling to help each other out. If this has affected you or someone you care about, your voice matters right now. Please email or write to staffers in Sen. Mark’s office and share your concerns. Even a few sentences would help call attention to the full impact on this rural community. The pharmacy has been run by local families, such as the Baker family, who have played a longstanding role in the West County towns for more than 170 years. The drugstore has a much-loved ice cream and soda fountain inside the store, with its original fittings and furnishings.

Here are some talking points. You can speak on any or all aspects of this closure, including:

• Health care access: prescriptions, travel time, relying on neighbors, loss of local access
• Community impact: losing a cornerstone business in West County
• History and legacy: Baker Pharmacy’s longstanding role in these towns for more than 170 years

IMPORTANT: Use the subject line below so your message is counted immediately: “Baker Pharmacy Impact — [Your Name, Your Town]”

Address your messages to: Gabrielle.Hanson@masenate.gov and Paige.Dolinski@masenate.gov

The Hilltown History Trail: Aug. 1, 2026
The Hilltown History Trail doesn’t take place in Shelburne Falls, but it happens in many places nearby in both Hampshire and Franklin counties, and it might well be of interest to Indy readers. The Hilltown History Trail: Museums and Culture Tour is happening Aug. 1, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is funded by the Mass Cultural Council. Participating museums include the Browning Bench Tool Factory (Rowe), the Kemp-McCarthy Museum (Rowe), the Old Town House (Heath), the Shelburne Historical Society Museum, the Wilder Homestead (Buckland), the Buckland Historical Society Museum (Buckland), Hawley’s Old Town Common (Hawley), East Hawley Meetinghouse, and the Kingman Tavern in Cummington. Some of these places have specific exhibits celebrating the 250th anniversary.

My “Summer Wanderings” pieces are intended to focus on places of local cultural interest, community investment, and historical significance. When we visit such places, they usually offer a variety of ways to deepen our knowledge, as well as celebrate local history and sites of architectural significance. This commitment feels especially important as the current administration in the White House seeks to limit the ways we tell our histories and learn to be a more perfect union. In the past, local people have cared to protect and preserve sites of historical interest, and we must do the same. Currently, there are major assaults on the Smithsonian Institution and the purview of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, which are extremely worrying for both our appreciation of our histories and our democracy.

Find previous “Summer Wanderings” columns here.