Benson's Wild Animal Farm

[glennbad]

If you grew up in New England, you may have visited a place called Benson's Wild Animal Farm in Hudson, NH. Benson's was open from 1927 to 1987, and had many animals and shows over the years. They had elephants, bears, and Colossus the gorilla, among other animals. Benson's was started as a quarantine site for wild animals brought in to the country. There was so much curiosity, that the owners ended up opening it to the public. In it's heyday, there used to be a train that ran on Sundays from Boston to Hudson to bring visitors up to the park. Here's a website with a bunch of pics and other information regarding the recent revitalization of the property. There are also videos on youtube.

http://www.bensonsanimalfarm.com/

Anyway, the area had been closed since 1987, and had become overgrown. The buildings had fallen into disrepair, and damage from vandals. The state owned the property, and our town was able to buy it back. Since then, there has been a movement to turn the area into a public access area. There are now walking/biking trails, and several of the buildings have been cleaned up. I had even helped a few years back with some growth clearout when my son was in scouts.

This morning I took my mountain bike for a little ride, and took some pictures.

Here is the site map.


I started out on the blue trail.







There were a lot of pond/marsh areas, and the volunteers ahd built small bridges and have maintained the paths. There was not really alot of animal life to be seen, but lots of birds and butterflies. Real nice area to ride through. I am not what I would consider "in shape", and I prefer fairly flat trails. The trail got into the forest, got a little hilly, and the riding got a little rough for me. I stopped to catch my breath, and the mosquitos were all over me. I couldn't even stand still to take a pic, they were so bad. I eventually found my way through to flatter ground.



More pics to follow...

[glennbad]

I eventually made my way back toward the actual park area.



There are also several ponds on the park site.

Here is one of the remaining buildings. This A frame used to be part of a pizza stand and gift shop. It now is a nice picnic area.


There have been some projects by local organizations. This area was done over by the girl scouts, and has nice paths, flowers, and benches.




More pics to follow...

[glennbad]

I took this pic cause there was an American flag there. OLD GLORY!


One of the few animals I saw. A woodchuck, I think.




What would an amusement park be without the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe?



Lady GAGA would love that high heel!

More pics to follow...

[glennbad]

This is the old train station that used to welcome the train in from Boston.


The elephant cage and barn.


The ticket window, now a information kiosk of sort.


The gorilla cage...there are some videos on youtube of this building before it was fixed up. Graffiti everywhere...



Some type of water bird.




There are plans for a playground to be built, as well as a dog park. I suppose it would be nice to keep it as natural as possible, but it's also nice to know that people will be able to enjoy the area.

One of the big projects in the works is the 9-11 memorial. Our town received a steel beam from the towers, and a memorial will be built. We are not allowed to clean, paint, or alter the beam in any way. This will be quite a stoic memorial once completed.


Thanks for looking.

Glenn

[ringergary]

Looks like nice country, good pic's.

Should be more places like that opened up again instead of locked up. Over here in Aust. they have a bad habit
of making National Parks out of them and nobody's allowed to go there.

cheers Gary.

[MITCH RAPP]

Beautiful Thanks for the Pics

[knife7knut]

I remember Benson's very much so as a kid growing up just north of Boston.Remember taking my kids there when they were young;great place.Remember a guy owning a gold colored Cadillac hearse with airbrushed pictures of wild animals all over it(done by a German guy in Melrose who used to do a lot of vans)and the Benson's logo on the doors.Tried to buy it once but my wife threatened to divorce me if I did(Should have bought it(sighs loudly) ).
There was also a place called Clark's Trading Post that featured a trained bear act.Remember being there once and the trainer was working with a cub about 8 months old and it ripped his arm open in front of the audience.He was real calm about the whole thing and quietly got everybody away before having his arm attended to.
There was also an amusement park(Canobie Lake)that we used to go to in the summer.Haven't been in that area in nearly 20 years so I don't know if any of those exist anymore.

[glennbad]

I remember Benson's very much so as a kid growing up just north of Boston.Remember taking my kids there when they were young;great place.Remember a guy owning a gold colored Cadillac hearse with airbrushed pictures of wild animals all over it(done by a German guy in Melrose who used to do a lot of vans)and the Benson's logo on the doors.Tried to buy it once but my wife threatened to divorce me if I did(Should have bought it(sighs loudly) ).
There was also a place called Clark's Trading Post that featured a trained bear act.Remember being there once and the trainer was working with a cub about 8 months old and it ripped his arm open in front of the audience.He was real calm about the whole thing and quietly got everybody away before having his arm attended to.
There was also an amusement park(Canobie Lake)that we used to go to in the summer.Haven't been in that area in nearly 20 years so I don't know if any of those exist anymore.

Yes, Clark's Trading Post and Canobie Lake Park still exist. As a matter of fact, we just went to Canobie a few weeks ago. It's a pretty modern park, and they just finished a new coaster recently.

BTW, go to this link and scroll down. I think that's the hearse you were talking about.

http://www.bensonsanimalfarm.com/images ... onson.html

Glenn

[thehillshaveknives]

hey whered ya get that pic of palin lol