The Great Hurricane of 1938

Hello everyone! Before we start today’s discussion I want to touch on a couple of subjects that affect the Ashland Directions and the Ashland Historical Society. First of all, the Directions is quickly approaching a critical crossroad. We have a volunteer staff of highly dedicated members who manually assemble the newspaper for publication. It is what is known as a […]

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Ashland Day Honorees

Every September the Ashland Day Committee and the Citizen Award Committee chooses a Grand Marshall and a Citizen of the Year. While I am overstating the obvious, these are people who have dedicated their time and resources to make Ashland the premier community it is today. I was sifting through the Ashland Historical Society’s collection of Ashland Directions to find […]

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Ashland Day Honorees, Part II

Welcome back! Last month we visited the honorees from the first Ashland Day through A’Day 1991. Everyone I mentioned had contributed, and in a lot of cases still contribute to the town in a variety of ways. This installment starts with A’Day 1992. Ben Montenegro – 1992 Grand Marshal. Many of the honorees returned for another tour of duty. Ben […]

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The Magunco Tub

There’s a long standing rivalry between Ashland and Hopkinton that spans generations. Most will recall it as the annual Thanksgiving Day football game, but this event dates back to our incorporation in 1846. August 13th, 1846 to be exact. From our earlier visits we know that Ashland was the result of land from Hopkinton, Framingham, and Holliston. When Ashland incorporated […]

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Then and Now

I thought it would be fun to spend some time visiting places in town that either no longer exist, or have changed significantly over the years. These places are in no particular order or timeframe, and many have come from townsfolk like you who’ve asked, “Do you remember…?” Romeo’s Plaza, located on Union St. (Rt. 135) between Metropolitan Ave. and […]

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The Train

“What goes around comes around.” It’s an old saying that is particularly appropriate when we look at the changing modes of transportation today. With gasoline prices going through the roof, it doesn’t come as a big surprise that there is renewed interest in riding the train. Whether for commuter use, or to take in a show in Boston or Worcester, […]

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The Train Wreck of 1888

With all the advances in technology today we really take a lot for granted. Whether it’s your cell phone, GPS system in your car, or just the remote for your TV, we can communicate instantly. Of course it wasn’t always that way as we all well know. I remember the only person to have a phone in his car was […]

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Unionville

Where’s Unionville? Well, if you are a home recipient of the Directions you are probably sitting within its boundaries right now. Unionville became Ashland when the town was incorporated in 1846. More on that in a minute, but let’s look at the composition of Unionville. The village was equal parts of Framingham and Hopkinton, and 20% Holliston, give or take […]

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Water Woes

Concerned about the ability to effectively fight fires, Ashland was looking into some form of municipal water system as early as 1875. A committee was appointed to study the needs and resources that existed in town, and this was their recommendation: “The cheapest supply of water for the town, to put out fires, will be obtained by putting a pipe […]

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