Melrose's Giant Toboggan
Written and Photographed by Nancy Clover
With the sun shining and fresh snow on the ground, you’ll find plenty of Melrose kids flying down neighborhood hills on sleds and saucers.
But did you know that Melrose was once home to the largest double runner toboggan in New England — seating up to 30 children at once?
Famed local architect Lewis A. Dow (1872–1946) — yes, the same Lewis Dow who designed the Central Fire Station, Lincoln and Warren Schools, the Linden, Colonial & Ionic apartments, and many stunning Melrose homes — built something epic at the top of Upham Street during the winter of 1899-1900.
Picture this a colossal double-runner, wooden plank toboggan... steered with a wheel attached to a steel cable... complete with an 18-inch gong bell and gas lights in front and a powerful steel brake in the rear ... and capable of “enormous speed.” It could race all the way down Upham Street, crossing Lebanon Street, reaching Main Street, and even making the turn opposite City Hall!
In Growing Up in Melrose, Brooks Atkinson wrote:
“Coasting was pure exultation. It set us free. Serious coasting was considered the steep hill of Upham St.”
Atkinson says, “Some of the boys who lived there poured buckets of water in a track down the middle of the street at night to make an icy surface the next day.”
“Dragging it back up hill was exhausting. But the excitement of sliding downhill at high speed with the gong clanging and the passengers screaming was sufficient compensation.”
One historic photo from the winter of 1899–1900 shows 25 bundled-up riders packed onto Dow’s legendary sled — pure winter joy captured in time.
And the fun didn’t stop there. In the 1930s, Mount Hood Park became a true winter sports hub thanks to a WPA-built recreation area featuring a wooden toboggan run, skiing, a ski jump, and a rope tow. Melrose didn’t just sled — we celebrated winter.
So the next time you see kids racing down a snowy hill, just imagine the sound of a gong ringing and 30 laughing riders flying toward Main Street. Now that’s Melrose winter magic.
Thank you to Scott Macaulay & the Melrose Public Library.
