Each year, over half a million tourists make a pilgrimage to Walden Pond, where Henry David Thoreau conducted his famous experiment in living simply. Many visitors will duck their heads inside the replica of Thoreau’s home, or traverse the path to the site where the original house stood. But few realize that Thoreau’s cabin was almost lost in the century following the writer’s departure. And it might have been swallowed by nature entirely if it weren’t for the efforts of an amateur archaeologist named Roland Wells Robbins.

Robbins, who was born in Worcester in 1908, was an unlikely candidate for an esteemed archaeologist. He dropped out of high school around age 16 and worked a string of odd jobs including office boy, painter, and window-washer. Reliable employment became increasingly difficult at the onset of the Great Depression, but Robbins was a scholar of Thoreau. He moved to Lincoln, Massachusetts, embraced Thoreau’s ideals of living simply, and even tried his hand at becoming a writer. Robbins published a collection of poems, Thru the Covered Bridge, in 1938.

His next book delved into the history of a beloved local landmark: Daniel Chester French’s “Minute Man”. In the patriotic fervor surrounding World War II, the image of the Minute Man was frequently reproduced, but the history behind the Concord memorial was lesser known. Robbins revived the statue’s legacy with The Story of the Minute Man in 1945.

1945 was also the one hundredth anniversary of Thoreau’s first day at Walden. In honor of the July 4th centennial, Robbins began scouting the banks of the pond, investigating a rumored location of Thoreau’s derelict cabin. He studied notes by Thoreau and William Ellery Channing intensively, and by November of that year, he had unearthed the cabin’s chimney foundation.

The discovery launched Robbins into the public eye. He presented his findings to The Thoreau Society in 1946, and published a third book, Discovery at Walden, in 1947. Soon, Robbins had established himself as a premiere archaeologist. He went on to excavate over 60 sites, including the Saugus Iron Works and the John Alden House.

In spite of his growing influence, Robbins kept coming back to Thoreau. He built several Thoreau replica cabins, including the model at the Walden Pond Visitors Center. He was named the eleventh president of The Thoreau Society, and worked with both the Thoreau Lyceum and Walden Forever Wild.

Robbins also began collecting negatives by the photographer Herbert W. Gleason, who specialized in capturing the landscapes, flora, and fauna that Thoreau had visited and written about. Eventually, Robbins offered his 6,000 piece collection for sale to the Concord Free Public Library. The Library Trustees purchased about 700 of the Concord-related negatives, which remain in the archives today.

Those archives, and the many historic sites uncovered during Robbins’ career as an archaeologist, are a testament to his widespread influence. Robbins immersed himself in some of the most the iconic historical and cultural landmarks that our heritage area has to offer — and without any formal training. For Robbins, it all started with a just seed of curiosity, and the willingness to dig deep.

Sources: nps.gov, thoreausociety.org, concordlibrary.org

Image Caption: Roland W. Robbins, seen here in 1945, is responsible for finding and excavating Thoreau’s cabin site at Walden Pond. Courtesy of The Roland Wells Robbins Collection in The Thoreau Society Collections at the Walden Woods Project’s Thoreau Institute Library in Lincoln, Massachusetts