Preserving the Past
Every historical society has an interesting story to tell about their beginnings, locations, founding members, and the like. Ashland is certainly no exception. The title of today’s story is the Wilson Room. What does a room’s name have to do with the Ashland Historical Society? At first glance, many would think it was named in honor of a prominent figure […]
» Read moreWhen you hear the word “peddler” what comes to mind? Looking at it from today’s perspective it would probably be someone who sells beverages or hotdogs at a ballgame, or possibly a dealer surrounded by empty boxes displaying his or her wares at a flea market. But over the centuries there were many other varieties of peddlers. One of the […]
» Read moreA common name around Middlesex County is Eliot. You would be hard pressed not to see a signpost in Ashland, Natick, or any other of our neighboring communities that didn’t have “Eliot” in it somewhere. Most of us remember John Eliot as the Puritan that “converted the heathens and ministered the settlers” around the middle of the 17th century. A […]
» Read moreIt comes as no surprise that the descendants of our early settlers stayed in the area. Travel wasn’t as convenient as it is today, and families were probably apt to stay in the homestead or nearby unless called for war or attending school. Today, along with others, we are looking at David Whiting Eames who was a descendant of Captain […]
» Read moreAshland has no shortage of notable people, past and present. What would the electric clock look like if not for Henry Warren? Would diabetes research and treatment be where it is today without the help of Dr. Priscilla White? For today’s luminaries, all one has to do is look at the Wall of Fame at Ashland High School. There are […]
» Read moreAshland has no shortage of notable people, past and present. What would the electric clock look like if not for Henry Warren? Would diabetes research and treatment be where it is today without the help of Dr. Priscilla White? For today’s luminaries, all one has to do is look at the Wall of Fame at Ashland High School. There are […]
» Read moreIt is a local tradition across America to name buildings after people who have made a difference in our way of life, and Ashland is no different. In our community, the elementary schools that were originally named after the streets they were built on changed their names to honor prominent citizens like Henry Warren, David Mindess, and William Pittaway. Growing […]
» Read moreOccasionally, I like to take a look around Ashland and try to envision what the town looked like “way back when.” We all know that Ashland is a relatively new town compared to Framingham, Holliston and Hopkinton, but we also know that Ashland is comprised of these three elder towns: equal parts of Framingham and Hopkinton, and a smaller part […]
» Read moreI was sorting through the volumes of Ashland Directions when I ran across an article by Kay Powers from 1998. It was about a former Curator of the Ashland Historical Society that was overlooked in a previous Stories of Ashland that listed all the former Curators. Leon Warren Davis was not born in Ashland, but spent the majority of his […]
» Read moreUnless you are a dyed-in-the-wool running fan or an Ashland resident, most people know the Boston Marathon as a 26.2 mile run from Hopkinton to Boston. For the locals, we know it all began in Ashland on Pleasant St. across from Metcalf’s Mill in 1897. With all the “repurposing” going on lately it comes as no surprise that the line […]
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