Sept 1, 2022 If you Google “railroad enthusiasts” you get 39 million hits! Organizations for railroad enthusiasts, 8.6 million! Marc Pizzuto is one such enthusiast. He has a room full of railroad memorabilia in his Norwood home. He recently came to visit the Medfield Historical Society to conduct some research and share stories and pictures […]
When Trains, Not Automobiles, Ruled Read More »
May 1, 2022 Listed on the National Register of Historic Places* in 1976, First Parish Church on North Street is of course a familiar Medfield landmark. It is the third building erected on the site by colonists who settled on what was the ancestral land of the Wampanoags. The first was put up
Common Practice in 1839; Seems Quaint in 2022 Read More »
Mar 1, 2022 Lowell Mason was Medfield’s most famous and accomplished native son, and it’s somehow fitting that his piano is the biggest artifact in the historical society’s collection. Lowell Mason (1792-1872) was born in Medfield. He is known as the father of public school music education in the United States, and he wrote upwards
The Largest Artifact in Our Collection — Lowell Mason’s Piano Read More »
Feb 1, 2022 Medfield was a center for hat making for over a century, until June 8, 1956. It reached a peak under the ownership of “Col.” Edwin V. Mitchell, who came on the scene about 1877 and retired in 1910. At one point Mitchell’s was the second-largest straw hat factory in the United
Medfield’s Hat Factory in the 20th Century Read More »
January 6, 2022 In 1999 a newly prepared, 130-page Medfield Historic Preservation Plan cited Vine Lake Cemetery as a major but somewhat neglected historic asset in town. In 2002, David Temple, chair of the Medfield Historical Commission, successfully applied to the Massachusetts Historical Commission for a survey and planning grant to hire a consultant
Thanks and Rest in Peace Vine Lake Preservation Trust Read More »
Sept 1, 2021 As work continues the Clark Tavern next to the Peak House, there’s a lot of public concern expressed in comments on Facebook. Below is a response I will post on Facebook. Clarification on the Clark Tavern I’m David Temple, writing about the c.1740 Clark Tavern, next to the Peak House, and I’m
Clark Tavern Update — Better Days Ahead Read More »
May 1, 2021 Every Man a Hero is an engrossing new memoir by 98-year-old Ray Lambert, an Army medic who landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day…before the fighting men got there! I have read many good books about World War II, but what makes Every Man a Hero unique for me is that it
July 1, 2020 A copy of the 50-page 1964 Medfield Civil Defense Operations Plan recently turned up at the historical society. It was prepared by the CD director, Austin Chilson “Buck” Buchanan, Medfield’s CD director from 1958 to 1975 and a Medfield Renaissance man. Much more on the remarkable Buck Buchanan later. The concept of
Feb 24, 2020 Town Historian Richard DeSorgher addressed a packed house Feb. 3 as he explained the causes and events of the deadliest war in New England and Medfield history. The core issues were land disputes resulting in loss of native lands due to what the natives saw as the colonists’ land theft, the population
DeSorgher Spoke to Packed House on King Philip’s Attack Read More »
Jan 19, 2020 With 20-20 hindsight, these plans from the 1960s seem bizarre… “Urban Renewal” for Medfield? In 1964, when Medfield’s population was around 5,000, a new master plan was developed to prepare for future growth. At that time, urban renewal* in blighted areas was controversial but still considered practical and viable by American city
Revisiting Medfield’s 1960s Master Plans Read More »