In the corner of my kitchen is a tube of reproduced historic maps of Canton. I use these maps regularly to help me write these stories. The best is dated 1855, a copy of an original that hangs framed in a back corner of the Historical Society. The map is actually a picture, a sketch, […]
We trace the arc of the seasons across the years, and the old adage quickly points out that the more things change, the more they remain the same. Looking back at Canton exactly 100 years ago, the year 1911, the observer is struck with the normalcy of life and the fact that things really don’t […]
The quintessential New England road is one that is overarched with gracious old trees and dotted with ancient stonewalls. There are a few notable candidates that spring to mind: Elm Street, Green Street, Chapman Street and certainly York Street. Of these, York Street is one of the oldest and most developed, and is considered a […]
Last Saturday was a beautiful day, and to be outside was especially wonderful. Wally Gibbs, the chairman of the Canton Historical Commission, convened a meeting in an unlikely place. We met under the arching leaves of an ancient oak tree on a winding path inside the Canton Corner Cemetery. The purpose of the meeting was […]
What happens when time and architectural tastes shift and a historic building becomes so transformed as to actually lose all integrity and fall out of its historical importance? For several weeks I have been watching the work at the small
This story originally appeared in the Canton Citizen on November 3, 2011 and was reprinted in this week’s edition. ~ Just about every day since 1834, for more than 177 years, trains have been part of Canton’s landscape. The sounds of bells gave way to horns, and smells of coal have given way to diesel. […]
Ed Bolster was a good man. The question always remains: how do you measure the life of a good man? Recently, while going through a box of papers, I came across five neatly typed pages with the heading “What I did for love.” Edward Bolster, one of Canton’s favorite lifelong residents, wrote the short essay […]
This story originally appeared in the Canton Citizen in October 2011. As the leaves fall and autumn returns to New England, there is one house that stands apart as a silent reminder to the pilgrims from England. Three hundred seasons have come and gone, leaves fallen on the roof, snow at the lintels, wind against […]
On the subject of collecting, I have had plenty of experience and much of it began at a fairly young age. I must have been in the fourth grade, perhaps as young as 9 when I picked up my first piece of Canton memorabilia. It came from a classmate: a small round box with a […]
This story originally appeared in the Canton Citizen on September 1, 2011. For more than a week the warnings had been coming, forecasting the hurricane that just passed us this weekend. For many of our generation, we shrug at the warnings — perhaps buy extra water or batteries, but do we really take the forecasters […]
