In 1644, John Winthrop the Younger, son of the first leader of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, “purchased” the area now occupied by the reservation from the Nipmuc and began a commercial mining operation.

The mine stayed in the hands of the Winthrop family until 1784 despite difficulties extracting minerals and its poor financial return.

Although forest has since reclaimed the area, mine cuts, ditches, tailings piles and several shafts are still visible.

Tantiusques was acquired by The Trustees of Reservations in 1962 through land donated by Roger Chaffee, given in memory of his professor, George H. Haynes, of Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Professor Haynes, a Sturbridge native, published The Tale of Tantiusques - An Early Mining Venture in Massachusetts in 1902.

Among the customers of the mine during the time it was operated by Crowd was the pencil factory of Henry David Thoreau better known as author of Walden; or, Life in the Woods.

Crowd's house measured 20 by 25 feet (6.1 by 7.6 m) and was constructed circa 1815 by a newlywed couple, John Davis and Rhoda Vinton.

With the death of John Davis in 1820, Rhoda moved back into her father's home and the house she and her husband built became a rental property.

Town records show that the Crowds continued to increase the size of their land holdings, but seem to have made few improvements to the house itself.

This is the lower portion of a post hole located between the house and the well, part of whose contents seem to be sandwiched into the occupation years of the Crowd family.

These include raptors and larger birds such as turkeys and pileated woodpecker which roam over hundreds of acres as well as smaller species, which only nest in large blocks of habitat.

Neotropical migrant species that typically require large patches of forest to support viable populations are well represented and include ovenbird, black-throated blue warbler, eastern wood pewee, red-eyed vireo, scarlet tanager, eastern wood pewee and veery.

The non-native insect hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) has the potential to severely alter forest species competition and structure.

The property is open year-round, sunrise to sunset, for hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, cross country skiing, and hunting (in season).

Visitors can view the foundations of the house and barn of the African-American and Native American man who worked at the mine in the 1850s A trailhead is located on Leadmine Road in Sturbridge.