There is a dull patina to the bell that sits on my writing table. The box arrived just last week, and after prolonged negotiations with the seller, I tendered the sum of $50 for a small piece of Canton’s history. What makes this bell special is that taped to the underside is a small piece […]
One of the things that we tend to forget here in Canton is the fact that at one point we were once a small rural farming community. Basic human needs were met, in simpler times, through the use of the resources that existed within a small radius. The trees that were cut down to build […]
This story was written nine years ago. And as time passed, my dear friend embraced aging with an ever-burgeoning family. Grandchildren and great-grandchildren blossomed and this kind man smiled. There is a poignancy in growing old and wise. A day before I learned of Larry’s passing last week, I dreamed of the two of us […]
Canton has certainly come a long way since it was once part of Dorchester in the mid 1500s. And for folks who complain about traffic, here they join in a recurring theme throughout the history of the town. With over 440 public and private ways and perhaps a cumulative length of 115 miles of roadways, […]
Under a threatening sky, 40 children set out from the Dean S. Luce School for a pilgrimage into Canton’s history. The third graders walked past ancient stone walls, over the dam at Reservoir Pond, quite near the Tilden House and up past the Draper home on Pleasant Street. At the intersection of Washington and Pleasant […]
Editor’s note: Below is the second in a two-part series about the robbery of the Norfolk County Trust Company in Canton on July 18, 1957. Part 1 of the series appeared in the Citizen on May 24. As 21 patrons were herded into the vault at the Norfolk County Trust Company, many of them wondered […]
They entered the bank after the morning rush hour had ended. The off-duty police officer had just finished his shift, and business had been especially brisk that day. At 10 in the morning on Thursday, July 18, 1957, one of Canton’s most spectacular bank robberies was just about to take place. By the end of […]
Nellie Crowd is 90 years old, and on a visit to her husband’s hometown of Canton last August she found herself at the door of the Canton Historical Society. The locked door gave her pause, and the mission to Canton remained unfulfilled. Nellie lives in Bloomfield, Connecticut, and these days she depends on her daughter […]
Each week one of the most read sections of the Canton Citizen is the Police Log. The small weekly entries detail the petty crimes, break-ins, and traffic accidents across what is generally deemed a very safe community. There is a certain interest in checking in on the crime logs even to become more aware that […]
Monday is one of those “half holidays,” meaning that half of us get the day off and half of us work. Hardly anyone can fully explain the holiday today — Marathon Monday, Patriot’s Day, or the day when one is absolutely certain that the Red Sox will be playing at home. Patriot’s Day commemorates the […]
