… Some say “Tra-PELLo”, some say “TRAP-elow,” but only in Lincoln
In Lincoln’s earliest history, the road was known simply as Middle County Road. Lincoln lore has it that the name “Trapelo Road” derived from “traps below,” referring to the beaver traps that were set along the Beaver Brook in northeast Waltham, near today’s border with Belmont.
But that is probably myth, and a dive into archives offers an alternate explanation.
According to noted Waltham historian Edmund Sanderson, the road from Beaver Brook to the Lincoln border was known for its steep hills. It was the custom to have horses stationed at the foot of such hills that could be temporarily hooked up to assist wagons with heavy loads.
The word trapelo in Italian means “to drag by hooks or by extra horses,” so this practice in Italy is called “going trapelo.”
So, while some in Lincoln pronounce the name of the road as “TRAPelo,” in light of the Italian derivation of the word, the proper pronunciation would be “TraPELo.” One of the early destinations along the road in Waltham was the Harvard farms, where food was grown to supply the college. What better way to show off a Harvard education than with an Italian word derived from Latin.
All the towns through which Trapelo Road runs pronounce it “TraPELo.” Lincoln remains the outlier.
(Edmund L. Sanderson, Waltham as a Precinct of Watertown and as a Town, Waltham, MA. Waltham Historical Society, 1936, p. 80.)
Sara Mattes
The Lincoln Historical Society
December 2020