Charlton History Group

Local history is our focus but all history interests us. So if you see it here it has struck our fancy!

[Charlton History Group @CharltonHistory]

You may have noticed the lack of posting on Twitter recently. If you would like to continue seeing Charlton History see CharltonHistoryGroup on Instagram until further notice.

[Charlton History Group @CharltonHistory]

This is #CharltonCity in 1910 & today. Get your bearings from Maple St which connects Stafford & School/Rt 20. St Joseph's church was at the Mobil station with Charlton City Grammar School next door & on Gillespie Rd then called South Rd you see the big Trolley Car Barn. #history

[Charlton History Group @CharltonHistory]

Amasa Stone Sr, the father of the wealthy bridge builder & RR industrialist, Amasa Stone Jr was himself born in Charlton in 1779 & lived to be 96 years old. He's buried in Bay Path Cemetery with first wife Esther Boyden, mother of Amasa Jr & 9 other children. #charltonma #history

[Charlton History Group @CharltonHistory]

a bit as needed but the districts held steady with their 1 room schoolhouses well into the 20th century. #history #schooldistricts #maps

[Charlton History Group @CharltonHistory]

When #charltonma separated from Oxford as a district in 1755 they voted to have 2 schools, 1 in the northern half & 1 in the southern half. The number of district schools grew to a max of 15 in 1819 but was consolidated back down to 13 in 1836. The number in use fluctuated 1/

[Charlton History Group @CharltonHistory]

of products, including furniture,wagons,sleighs,chaises,various iron works & farm implements. From the hill he expanded operations into the Southbridge center district in 1828 to include a cotton mill. Overwork brought him to an early grave in 1835 at age 46.#charltonma #history

[Charlton History Group @CharltonHistory]

Before the railroad came thru Charlton, Dresser Hill was the main business center of the town. Harvey Dresser, son of Maj. Moses Dresser and grandson of a town founder Richard Dresser, was a very successful businessman. Born in 1789 he became a manufacturer of a wide variety 1/

[Charlton History Group @CharltonHistory]

marriage. By 1919 because her husband's whereabouts were unknown, the courts awarded Lena full ownership.
The wholesale dairy farm was more recently known as the Nelson Farm and this photo of their barns, now gone, was taken in 1976. #charltonma #history #farms #dairy

[Charlton History Group @CharltonHistory]

In district 10 on Town Tour Tues we're cruising H Foote Rd named after Harry W Foote, who deserted his wife Lena J Foote about 1915. Though she inherited the 135 acre dairy farm from her father George Brown, who died intestate, her husband would have become property owner thru /1

[Charlton History Group @CharltonHistory]

If you were touring District 9 on Carpenter Hill in winter 1935, you might wave to the Savoie family who farmed on T Hall Rd, as they were coming up the hill in a sleigh after church. #charltonma #history #THallRd #CarpenterHill

[Charlton History Group @CharltonHistory]

@CurtMeskus heading south on Dresser Hill Rd at the intersection of Baylies Rd, the farm is up on the hill to the left

[Charlton History Group @CharltonHistory]

Town Tour Tuesday is back and continuing where we left off in District 7. Surprisingly there are no historical signs located here, though its history is rich and goes back to Charlton's colonial settlers. #charltonma #history #dresserhill 1/

[Charlton History Group @CharltonHistory]

Town Tour Tuesday has us back in District 8 at the southeast corner of McIntyre and Blood roads in 1905 looking at this rare photo of the old schoolhouse which closed in 1930. #charltonma #history #schoolhouse

[Charlton History Group @CharltonHistory]

who we profiled in an earlier post, actually served. He was a wealthy, 34 year old mill owner. So it is possible he paid for a substitute. #charltonma #history #civilwar #draft 2/2

[Charlton History Group @CharltonHistory]

The Southbridge Journal newspaper published a list of Civil War draftees in July 1863. The war had been raging for 2 years at this point & so there were older men, some of whom did not ultimately serve. For example, there seems to be no evidence that Edwin Phillips, /1

[Charlton History Group @CharltonHistory]

He was the father of their mother Hannah Searle. This undated photo is one of the earliest taken of the farmhouse looking NorthEast. 4/4

[Charlton History Group @CharltonHistory]

Once owned by Comfort Searle Baylies originally from Sturbridge with his wife Eliza of Woodstock. He bought it from his brother Albert in 1836 who had acquired it in the estate sale of Comfort Searle who bought it in 1818. 3/

[OldSturbridgeVillage @oldsturbridge]

The Freeman Farmhouse was built in 1815 right here in the town of Sturbridge. It was moved to OSV grounds in 1951 and then relocated to its current location in 1956. In the early 20th century, before the Village acquired it, what was the building being used for? #TriviaTuesday

[Charlton History Group @CharltonHistory]

and if the service continues to Pittsfield, Chester will also get a new station. Perhaps someday Charlton will get back in the mix for commuter rail! #charltonma #history #railroad 3/3

[Charlton History Group @CharltonHistory]

Charlton had a beautiful passenger station built in 1892 by the architectural firm Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge. One of a series designed for the Boston & Albany railroad; to see a similar station still standing, beautifully maintained & refurbished, take a scenic drive to Warren. 1

[Charlton History Group @CharltonHistory]

The east-west rail study has been looking at restoring passenger rail service thru Mass & the $275 million allocated from the congressional infrastructure bill will help bring that to fruition. Palmer is in the original plans for a new train station. 2