Thoreau’s 2-Year Quest for a Simple Life Started at This Quiet Massachusetts Pond

Walden Pond, Massachusetts

In 1845, a young writer named Henry David Thoreau built a tiny cabin by Walden Pond and lived there for two years.

He grew his own food, wrote in his journal, and tried to live as simply as possible. His bold experiment became one of the most famous acts of simple living in American history.

Here’s what really happened during those two years in the woods.

Why Thoreau Went to the Woods

Thoreau felt restless working in his family’s pencil manufacturing business in Concord.

He wanted to escape what he considered “over-civilization,” the growing consumerism and materialism of American society in the 1840s.

This sparked Thoreau’s vision for his own woodland sanctuary, somewhere he can focus only life’s true necessities.

Building the Cabin by Hand

In March 1845, Thoreau borrowed an axe and ventured into the woods near Walden Pond.

He began cutting tall white pines to construct the foundation of his new home. He built a small rectangular structure measuring just 10 by 15 feet , roughly the size of a modern garden shed.

Rather than buying all new materials, Thoreau purchased and dismantled a railroad worker’s shanty.

Friends helped raise the roof in traditional New England community fashion. The entire cabin cost just $28.12, equivalent to about $1,000 today.

Simple Furnishings for a Simple Life

A bed for sleeping, a desk for writing, a table for eating, and three chairs were the only things inside his cabin.

The three chairs served specific purposes.

Thoreau explained he had “one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.”

Growing Food to Sustain Himself

Though Walden Pond offered plentiful fish, Thoreau rarely ate meat.

So Thoreau planted approximately 2.5 acres with beans, peas, corn, potatoes, and turnips on land he borrowed near his cabin.

He sold surplus vegetables to earn money, and supplemented his garden harvest by foraging wild fruits and berries from the surrounding woods.

Daily Life at the Pond

Thoreau often began each day with a swim in Walden Pond. He described this morning ritual as “a religious exercise.”

His days also included approximately four hours at his desk devoted to reading philosophy, poetry, and religious texts from various cultures.

Another four hours each day went to walking through the surrounding woodland.

In his journal, Thoreau recorded detailed observations about plants, animals, and seasonal changes. He noted when ice formed on the pond, when birds migrated, and when wildflowers bloomed.

Not a Hermit, but a Deliberate Life

Despite popular misconception, he regularly walked into town to visit family and friends.

Thoreau also entertained numerous visitors at his cabin. Friends like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Bronson Alcott, father of “Little Women” author Louisa May Alcott, often stopped by for conversation.

His annual watermelon party, featuring melons grown in his garden, became popular among neighbors and friends from Concord.

Writing His First Book at Walden

Thoreau used his time at Walden to write his first book, “A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.”

The book served as an elegy to his brother John, who had died of lockjaw in 1842. This painful loss partly motivated Thoreau’s retreat to Walden, where he could process his grief through writing.

Thoreau struggled to find a publisher for the completed manuscript. Eventually, he self-published 1,000 copies.

Fewer than 300 copies sold during his lifetime, leaving Thoreau with a stack of unsold volumes and financial debt.

Civil Disobedience and Social Activism

In July 1846, midway through his Walden stay, Thoreau spent a night in the Concord jail for refusing to pay his poll tax. He was protesting against both slavery and the Mexican-American War.

This experience inspired his famous essay “Civil Disobedience,” where Thoreau argued that individuals should not permit governments to overrule their consciences.

During this time, Thoreau also actively helped fugitive slaves traveling on the Underground Railroad with his cabin as a station.

Leaving Walden Pond

Thoreau departed Walden Pond on September 6, 1847 because, as he said, he had “several more lives to live.” At Ralph Waldo Emerson’s request, Thoreau moved back to Emerson’s household.

After leaving the pond, Thoreau resumed work in his family’s pencil manufacturing business.

He also established himself as a land surveyor in Concord.

Visiting Walden Pond

Walden Pond is now part of the Walden Pond State Reservation in Concord, Massachusetts.

In 1945, archaeologist Roland Robbins discovered the original chimney foundation, confirming the precise spot where Thoreau lived. Today, you can view a replica of Thoreau’s cabin near the pond.

Following a tradition begun in the 1870s, visitors often add stones to this pile as a tribute to Thoreau’s legacy.

Read More from wheninyourstate.com

• Meet Old Ironsides, Stop by Paul Revere’s House, and More in This Boston Park Network
• This Boston Art Museum Displays Rembrandt and Titian in a Venetian Palace With a Year-Round Garden
• The Celibate Sect That Danced Until They Shook Left Behind This Amazing Massachusetts Village You Can Visit Today