98 Arnold Road [ ArnoldRoad98Pelham ]

Other Names:Gray Rocks, The Castle, The Morse Estate
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[42.361942954998,-72.460563313684]
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Dave Boyden , 5/11/2021 :
Some trivia about the "Castle": When I was a kid, it was owned by H.T.U. Smith and his wife Althea. I believe they had two sons. They were not related to Russell and Ruth Smith, who lived on the Daniel Shays Highway in what we know as the Kindahl house. As you may recall, Ruth was the town librarian in the early 50's.
Anyway, back to the Castle. Prior to the Smith's purchase of the place, the property was divided up, and the "Castle barn" was converted into a home where Allen and Merle Barton lived with their 4 children, Dayna, Susan Judy, and Allen, Jr. (Bud). Susan was later married to Barry Roberts. All but Dayna are now deceased. She is married to John Preble. Another tract of the property was purchased by Fred Shepard (son of Sally and our first fire chief) around 1954, and he built a house there. Fred ("Shep" 1916 - 1982) was my father's best friend when they were kids.
 
Dave Boyden, 5/13/2021:
My copies of the 1941 and 1943 Pelham Town Reports show various members of the Morse/Nice families owning the Castle property, consisting at that time of the home lot (45 Acres), house (Castle itself), barn, cottage, shed, and several other lots totaling 157 acres. It must have been sold in 1944 or thereabouts, since the Town Report of that year makes no mention of the Morse/ Nice family. Wikipedia lists Margaret Morse Nice as having been born in Amherst in 1883 and dying in Chicago in 1974 at the age of 90.
 
Joe Larson, 5/10/2021:
Margaret Morse Nice... ...became an internationally known ornithologist, Her early scientific publications were based on birds in Pelham. Her family owned the last house on Arnold Road (known to Pelham old timers as "The Castle") as their summer home. They named their property "Gray Rocks", which is now an official place name on U.S. Geological Survey maps. The original property consisted of somewhere in the order of 300 acres and now is much smaller The house has been a year-round private residence for many years. 
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