publisher: [Wakefield, Mass.] ; Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department,
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Boat house and ice houses, Lake Quannapowitt, circa 1906 [picture] / Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department.
description- – 1 picture :
- – "Ice harvesting on both Lake Quannapowitt and Crystal Lake was a large part of Wakefield's winter scene, starting in the mid-1800s and continuing until the 1940s. According to a lecture given by Town Historian Ruth Woodbury in 1957, there were some three dozen ice houses operating at one time: the 24-ice house Boston Ice Company on the northwest shore of Lake Quannapowitt; the People's Ice Company on Hall Park; the Whipple-Morrill on North Avenue, east of the Hartshorne House; Morrill-Atwood on Spaulding Street; Nichols Ice Company on the site of the Col. Connelly Park; and three on Crystal Lake. The Morrill-Atwood Ice House, next to the Wiley Boathouse on Spaulding Street, began harvesting ice in the 1870s. Owner John G. Morrill built a storage facility around 1878 before joining forces with Boston hotel owner J. Reed Whipple in 1890. Together they purchased a portion of the Hartshorne Meadow (now Veterans Field) and erected ice houses to supply ice not only to Whipple's three hotels: the Parker House, Young's, and the Touraine, but to other large users in Boston. Whipple sold his shares in 1897 to Frank H. Atwood who was by then a partner in Morrill's ice house on Spaulding Street. Morrill-Atwood sold ice locally while Whipple-Morrill exported their ice to other locations. Atwood remained as the owner of both ice houses following John Morrill's death in 1904. In 1919, Atwood left the wholesale business and sold the Hartshorne Meadow ice-houses to the Porter-Milton Company. The buildings were destroyed by fire in September 1929, and the site was subsequently purchased by the Town. The Morrill-Atwood Ice house was sold to Albert S. Anderson in 1926. In April 1945, the Metropolitan Ice Company of Somerville purchased the property, never intending to harvest ice, but to continue the electric ice manufacturing business started in 1932 by Anderson. Just months after its purchase, Metropolitan Ice Company tore down two of the original buildings, and the final part of the original building was razed in 1960." -- Text from calendar by Jayne M. D'Onofrio.
- – 2008-06-24T18:36:36Z
- – 2008-06-24T18:36:36Z
- – 2005.
- – 2005.
- – 2004
- – Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department calendar 2005 ; April.
- – Wakefield (Mass.) History Pictorial works.
- – Massachusetts Wakefield
Corner of Main and Green Streets, circa 1880 [picture] / Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department.
description- – Photo courtesy of the Wakefield Historical Society.
- – 1 picture :
- – "The horse with its driver approaches the Old Green House at the corner of what is now Main and Green Steets on the easterly side of Main Street, just north of the Greenwood Bridge. The house was built somewhere around 1754, and was one of two homes in the Green family's homestead. The driver and horse plodded along the road during the winter months. Unlike today, the streets were left unplowed and the horse and buggy cleared its own path through the snow." -- Text from calendar by Jayne M. D'Onofrio.
- – 2008-06-24T18:36:37Z
- – 2008-06-24T18:36:37Z
- – 1991.
- – 1991.
- – Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department calendar 1991 ; January.
- – Wakefield (Mass.) History Pictorial works.
- – Massachusetts Wakefield.
65th Annual Banquet, Company A, October 16, 1916 [picture]/ Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department.
description- – 1 picture :
- – "The 65th Annual Banquet of the Richardson Light Guard Company A was held in the armory on Wednesday night, October 18th. Dinner started at 7:45 p.m. and was followed by remarks from the guest speaker, Adjutant General Gardner Pearson. Pearson spoke at length about the need for compulsory service, adding that all young men between the ages of 18 and 21 shold have some military training. The format for the evening was altered considerably from previous years, with the elimination of the speeches and toasts. At the conclusion of the formal remarks, the hall was cleared and the grand march began, the military section led by Captain and Mrs. Connelly, and the fine members led by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Walton. It was followed by a flashlight photograph of the more than 300 people in attendance taken from the balcony. The Military Ball began at 9:30 p.m. For those who did not wish to dance, whist and other games were played in the smaller rooms in the armory." -- Text from calendar by Jayne M. D'Onofrio.
- – 2008-06-24T18:36:40Z
- – 2008-06-24T18:36:40Z
- – 2005.
- – 2005.
- – 2004
- – Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department calendar 2005 ; October.
- – Wakefield (Mass.) History Pictorial works.
Train #26, May 7, 1903 [picture] / Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department.
description- – Photo courtesy of the Wakefield Historical Society.
- – 1 picture :
- – "Train travel to and from Boston was a necessary method of transportation in the mid-1800's and early 1900's. In 1840, the Boston and Maine Railroad built a service from Boston to Wilmington which began operating the following year. Eventually, Wakefield was on the main line from Boston to Portland, with 31 inbound and 34 outbound trips running daily. At one time, Wakefield served as an important railroad junction with three active stations and two flag stations. The present train station was built in 1890. The old depot was moved to the junction on North Avenue and was used as a freight office." -- Text from calendar by Jayne M. D'Onofrio.
- – 2008-06-24T18:36:42Z
- – 2008-06-24T18:36:42Z
- – 1991.
- – 1991.
- – Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department calendar 1991 ; May.
- – Wakefield (Mass.) History Pictorial works.
- – Massachusetts Wakefield.
Office force, carriers and sub, Wakefield Post Office, 1892 [picture] / Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department.
description- – Photo courtesy of the Wakefield Historical Society.
- – 1 picture :
- – "The first 'regular' post office in Wakefield was established in 1812 in a small building on Main Street. John Rayner served as the town's first Postmaster. In 1852, or soon after his appointment, Postmaster Samuel Kingman built a new home for the post office at the corner of Main and Albion Street, now known as Bourdon's Block. According to Wakefield history, Postmaster Kingman also initiated the first 'free delivery' of mail in town. Each Sunday morning he went to the post office and took some mail to various sections of town. There he waited for the churchgoers and presented them with the mail he carried in his hat. The post office was later moved to the corner of Main and Richardson Streets, to the building at 9 Albion Street (now home of the Wakefield Municipal Light Department), and to its present home at the corner of Main Street and Yale Avenue." -- Text from calendar by Jayne M. D'Onofrio.
- – 2008-06-24T18:36:42Z
- – 2008-06-24T18:36:42Z
- – 1994.
- – 1994.
- – Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department calendar 1994 ; December.
- – Postal Service (Wakefield, Mass.).
- – Wakefield (Mass.) History Pictorial works.
Highway Department garage, North Avenue, 1930 [picture] / Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department.
description- – 1 picture :
- – "The Highway Department was one of several public works-related departments that operated independently of one another. In 1812, there were three Surveyors of Highways and by the end of the 1800s, the Town was separated into sections, with one person responsible for repairs and maintenance of the streets in each section. By the early 1900s, the work was overseen by the Superintendent of Streets. A metal building, manufactured and erected in 1928 by the Wakefield Garage Manufacturing Company, was located at the rear of the highway lot on North Avenue and used for storage purposes. In 1930, the wagon shed at the yard was converted into a six-stall garage, and the lantern room at the end of the wagon shed was made into an office. The second floor of the barn was altered with an office built in the front part of the building and a stock and tool room in the back. On June 12, 1950 a special election was held to elect the first Board of Public Works, a board created by an Act of the Massachusetts Legislature which stated that a 'Board of Public Works was to officially take over the operations, duties and obligations of the Moth and Tree, Park and Cemetery, Water and Sewer, and Highway Departments, as well as all Town buildings under the supervision of the Selectmen, the care of the dumps, and the collection of garbage' by September 1, 1950. An Engineering Department was also created. The members of the first Board of Public Works, R. Francis Shea, R. Lee Lillie, and Richard J. Volpe met each week to familiarize themselves with the duties of each division and to hire a Director, Joseph H. DeFeo of Winthrop." -- Text from calendar by Jayne M. D'Onofrio.
- – 2008-06-24T18:36:43Z
- – 2008-06-24T18:36:43Z
- – 2005.
- – 2005.
- – 2004
- – Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department calendar 2005 ; September.
- – Wakefield (Mass.) History Pictorial works.
Departing for war, Company A, Richardson Light Guard, May 6, 1898 [picture] / Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department.
description- – Photo courtesy of the Wakefield Historical Society.
- – 1 picture :
- – "The United States declared war against the Kingdom of Spain on April 26, 1898, in response to Spain's oppressive treatment of Cuba and the February 15th destruction of the US battleship 'Maine' in Havana Harbor. More than one-million volunteers answered President McKinley's call to help the 25,000 men in the US Army. A meeting of Company A, Richardson Light Guard was called on April 28, at which time 69 men enlisted. The following day, the number increased to 84. On May 5th, the night before the Guard's departure, the citizens of Wakefield held a grand farewell reception at the Town Hall. At 7:30 a.m. on May 6th, the assembly signal, 12-12, was given on the fire alarm, calling the townspeople to escort the men to the train station. Thousands assembled at the station, and schools were closed for the day. The members, clad in fatigue uniforms, with leggings, canteens, haversacks, overcoats and cartridge belts, boarded the Boston-bound train at 9 a.m. A train from Boston took them to the state campground at Framingham where they were inspected and accepted by the US Army." -- Text from calendar by Jayne M. D'Onofrio.
- – 2008-06-24T18:36:43Z
- – 2008-06-24T18:36:43Z
- – 2000.
- – 2000.
- – Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department calendar 2000 ; January.
- – Wakefield (Mass.) History Pictorial works.
July 4, 1889 [picture] / Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department.
description- – Photo courtesy of the Wakefield Historical Society.
- – 1 picture :
- – "This gentleman was captured by the photographer in 1889, under the South Reading town banner which was originally carried in the July 4th, 1844, birthday celebration. The banner reads, 'Protection to our manufacturers - razor straps (strops) - shoe tools - bitters - boots - shoes - tin ware.' The musket and powder horn were originally carried in the Revolutionary War, while it is claimed that the tin lantern was one of the lanterns which hung at the Old North Church on the night of April 18, 1775, for Paul Revere's signal to 'Ride and spread the alarm through every Middlesex village and farm.' The present Wakefield town seal was adopted in 1878." -- Text from calendar by Jayne M. D'Onofrio.
- – 2008-06-24T18:25:35Z
- – 2008-06-24T18:25:35Z
- – 1991.
- – 1991.
- – Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department calendar 1991 ; July.
- – Wakefield (Mass.) History Pictorial works.
- – Massachusetts Wakefield.
Main Street and Rockery, circa 1909 [picture] / Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department.
description- – 1 picture :
- – "Proposed in 1883 and built in 1884, the Rockery was erected as part of the $10,000 bequest from Cornelius Sweetser and through private donations. A Parks Commission was created by the Town to oversee the project which included the laying out of the common and the building of the bandstand. The grotto-like structure, with its pyramid of rocks surrounded by ivy, shrubbery and a fountain, was proposed by Parks Commissioner James H. Carter. An attempt to remove the Rockery failed in 1898. The tablet at the front of the Rockery was donated by 'one hundred of the townspeople' in 1909. The watering trough was erected in 1892 and was removed in 1921. The YMCA, at left, was built in 1908 at the site of the former home of Burrage Yale and the Thomas Emerson&Sons Shoe Manufacturers." -- Text from calendar by Jayne M. D'Onofrio.
- – 2008-06-24T18:36:21Z
- – 2008-06-24T18:36:21Z
- – 2005.
- – 2005.
- – 2004
- – Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department calendar 2005 ; December.
- – Wakefield (Mass.) History Pictorial works.
Wilkins Shoe Store, circa 1912 [picture] / Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department.
description- – 1 picture :
- – "Owned by Fred I. Wilkins, Wilkins Shoe Store was located at 443 Main Street at the site of the homestead of Samuel Wiley, and one of three parts of the Quannpowitt House later moved to the corner of Avon Street and North Avenue. Prior to Wilkins, the building had been owned by Greeley Merrill and Richard Britton. Wilkins was proprietor of the Britton Shoe Store before he became owner of the establishment in the early 1900s. A sign on the right side of the building notes 'Established in 1875.' Newspaper advertisements of 1910 proclaimed '40 years - Home of Good Shoes.' The building was later purchased by Charles J. Klapes of the Colonial Spa. Fred I. Wilkins placed the fund-raising clock for the Melrose Hospital Association during its $100,000 inter-city fundraising campaign in 1912 to build a new 75-bed hospital at the corner of Lebanon and Porter Streets in that city. A vigorous nine-day fundraising campaign that began on March 23, 1912 raised over $126,243. The hospital moved into its new home in May 1913. Wakefield's efforts to build its own hospital began with the creation of the Wakefield Hospital Association in 1929. Lloyd Thayer and Junius Beebe purchased a 12-acre tract of land on Hopkins Street from Bear Hill Associates with the intention of working with Reading (which had a $150,000 grant to build a hospital) to erect two 30-unit hospital buildings on the site, half in Reading, half in Wakefield. After several public meetings, definite plans for the hospital never materialized." -- Text from calendar by Jayne M. D'Onofrio.
- – 2007-12-20T21:41:44Z
- – 2007-12-20T21:41:44Z
- – 2005.
- – 2005.
- – 2004
- – Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department calendar 2005 ; February.
- – Wakefield (Mass.) History Pictorial works.
- – multiple URL identifiers
Opening of Route 128, August 1951 [picture] / Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department.
description- – Photo courtesy of the Wakefield Daily Item.
- – 1 picture :
- – "During the 1920s and 1930s, Route 128 consisted of a series of streets which formed a circumferential route from Hull to Gloucester. Wakefield's Route 128 ran along Albion Street, North Avenue, Water Street, Vernon Street, New Salem Street, and Salem Street where it connected to Lynnfield. The idea for a 'circumferential highway' that would connect radial routes around Boston came from Massachusetts Department of Public Works Commissioner William F. Callahan in 1934. Because of the Depression, he could do little more than create a patchwork of existing roadways. A change in administration in 1939 left the project uncompleted in Danvers, until Callahan was reappointed as a DPW Commissioner in 1949. The project was re-christened as the Yankee Division Highway. The Federal Highway Act of 1944 paid for half the cost of the new MA 128, while state and local governments paid the rest. In its original design, the highway was to have four 12-foot lanes (two in each direction) separated by a 24-foot wide grassy median. In 1951, Massachusetts DPW completed a 22.5 mile stretch of MA 128 from Wellesley (MA 9) to Lynnfield (US Route 1 and MA 129). The new section connected the Lynnfield to Danvers section which was built in the late 1930s. The route was extended to the north from Danvers to Gloucester in 1953, and to the south from Wellesley to Dedham in 1955. The highway extended to the Braintree-split, connecting it to the Southeast Expressway in 1958, and to the Rockport rotary in 1959. By the time it was completed, the Yankee Division Highway was said to have cost $63 million in construction and right-of-way expenses. The job was awarded in seven sections. Callahan traced the roadways through farms, fields and wetlands to avoid the center of town. The official opening of the highway featured ribbon-cutting ceremonies in Waltham, Burlington, Woburn and at the Main Street overpass in Wakefield with Governor Paul A. Dever, Highway Commissioner Callahan, and Traffic Engineer Edgar Copell. A dinner for 800 state officials, members of the legislature, contactors [sic], town and city officials, and others was held at the Suntaug Inn, Lynnfield." -- Text from calendar by Jayne M. D'Onofrio.
- – 2007-12-20T21:41:32Z
- – 2007-12-20T21:41:32Z
- – 2003.
- – 2003.
- – Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department calendar 2003 ; August.
- – Massachusetts Route 128 (Mass.) History Pictorial works.
- – Wakefield (Mass.) History Pictorial works.
- – Massachusetts Boston Metropolitan Area
- – multiple URL identifiers
Company A, Sixth Regiment Armory (Richardson Light Guard), Main&Water Street, circa 1895 [picture] / Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department.
description- – Photo courtesy of Frank Ripa.
- – 1 picture :
- – "The Richardson Light Guard has a long and colorful history in Wakefield. Chartered in 1851, Company A, Sixth Regiment M.V.M. took as its local name 'the Richardson Light Guard' in honor of Dr. Solon O. Richardson. Historical references note that he had been 'zealously interested in the formation of the company and practically helpful in its membership.' The Richardson Light Guard was without a permanent home until 1894, when an armory was built by the Town just south of the corner of Main and Water Streets. Prior to that the company occupied quarters in several places, with the Town of Wakefield paying rent with a portion reimbursed by the state. On May 1, 1894, Town Meeting voted to appropriate $12,000 to build an armory. Soon after, a lot of land near the Town Hall and next to the Cutler Bros. grocery and grain stores was purchased. The building, complete with an attached drill shed, was dedicated on February 15, 1895. This armory was short-lived, however; its demise the result of a fire which occurred on July 6, 1991 after a lightning bolt struck wires at the street corner, setting fire to Cutler Bros.' The flames spread quickly to the armory, but were kept from destroying the Town Hall and the Henry F. Miller&Sons Piano factory by the diligent efforts of firefighters. Total damage was set at $60,000. The armory fire did not 'burst out in real earnest' until the Cutler building was 'practically' flat. This allowed Company A members to rescue guns, live ammunition, uniforms, trophies, pictures and furnishings. When the fire spread to the upper story of the building, more than 2500 rounds of ammunition (all blank cartridges) exploded with the sounds of battle. After the fire, the company used the old Town Hall auditorium as a drill hall until a new armory was put into service aftr its dedication in January, 1913. The old armory is now the site of the Hodgdon Building. " -- Text from calendar by Jayne M. D'Onofrio.
- – 2007-12-20T21:41:40Z
- – 2007-12-20T21:41:40Z
- – 1998.
- – 1998.
- – Wakefield Municipal Gas&Light Department calendar 1998 ; October.
- – Wakefield (Mass.) History Pictorial works.
- – multiple URL identifiers
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