Have you toured through your own town? There’s a surprising amount of history hidden behind the short stretch of road deemed downtown Bolton. Every year, the Bolton Historical Society gives a Main Street tour to the 3rd grade class. Not only do they desire for the next generation to learn about their home town, but they want the kids to find a connection and feel a positive association with their town center.
This year, I was bestowed with the honor of wrangling 20 or so 3rd graders on a walk around town. I studied up on the script and strove to make it informative yet interesting. Some seemed to really take it to heart; they knew their stuff. But the fact remains: I learned just as much myself reading and rereading the material :). I will impart that knowledge to you too.
I’m positive Bolton is certainly not the only town with a faithful historical society and a captivating history. So here’s your plug to pay a visit to your local historical society. With that, let us proceed to our tour.
Ironically, I forgot to snag some photos, so I will have to add those later.
- Bolton’s Main Street existed way before the town itself
- One general store operated for 150 years
- Dr. Everett was a doctor, photographer, post master, and phone operator.
The Great Road and Pond Park
Route 117, Main Street, the Great Road, they’re all names for the same river of pavement that flows through downtown Bolton. As with most things though, it has changed quite a bit over the years–and there have been many.
Contrary to what you might think, the very early European colonists did not bush wack their way through the wilderness. Using common sense, they traveled along the paths that they Native Americans had already established.
This particular trail was called the Bay Path because the inland natives would use it to travel out to the bay for trade and fishing. When the colonists began to use it, the path was widened and extended. As the Great Road, it served many purposes. Animals of all sorts trod down it: cows, geese, turkeys. On April 19th, 1775, about 700 soldiers marched along its length on their way to Concord.
The road broadened again with the advent of stagecoaches. A local innkeeper, Amory Holman, owned a stagecoach company, bringing visitors and commerce to Bolton.
Another area of commerce for Bolton was its mill district. Present-day Pond Park marks the location of several mills, all powered by the Great Brook. After multiple buildings burned, the Village Improvement Society came together to fund a park. One of those members was Emerson.
Emerson also donated land and money for the town to build a single, larger school for its children. Prior to the Emerson School, Bolton educated its children in several one-room, district schoolhouses that were relocated depended on the number of students in an area. Finally, the town decided to establish three of these district schools on the present location of Emerson School, requiring children to come to them instead of the other way around.
One former student later recalled the duty of hauling buckets of water. Still visible today is the ring forming the well’s lip.
First Meetinghouse and the Old Brick Store
As we walk down the road, strung out along the thin sidewalks, we pass several old homes. Coated in salmon hues, the oldest dates from the 1760’s; its builder served in the American Revolution. At the intersection with Wattaquodock Road sit a Wheeler house. Caleb and Dolly Wheeler moved in soon after their wedding in ____. Later on, they commissioned famed stenciler Moses Eaton to decorate their walls. You can still see his patriotic eagles, pine trees, and flowers.
We crossed the street to stand before what the kids thought was a gravestone. However, the marker actually commemorates the approximate location of the first meetinghouse. -1st mtghouse and its various locations and burnings
Up the road you can just see a red sign advertising for an insurance company. This is the site of Amory Holman’s tavern: the man with the stagecoach company. Several of the houses nearby were converted from harness buildings, a blacksmith shop, and other components of his business.
Backtracking to the intersection, I point out the long red building facing the Great Road. This was the Crackerbarrel, or the Old Brick Store. Featuring all kinds of mercantile, from bottles and brushes, to food and cloth, the store saw over 150 years of business. If they didn’t have what you wanted, it could be ordered from Boston or Worcester, arriving in as little as two days.
Baptist Meetinghouse and Town Pound
How many times can you recycle a building? The First Baptist Meetinghouse has certainly seen quite a few uses. Though it was first constructed as the Baptist meetinghouse, the congregation outgrew it and moved down the street. Its other lives included a schoolhouse, storage for the town hearse, then Bolton quickstep (an early version of a fire engine), and Cemetery Commission. Now, Parks and Recreation uses the building for storage.
For the actual 3rd grader walk, we didn’t go to see it, but I motioned in the direction of the town pound remnants. Made for the purpose of corralling stray animals, a decrepit ring of stones remains. If someone’s pig or cow got loose, the animal would be put in the town pound so that no damage to crops or gardens would be caused. Upon the owner’s arrival, they would be fined to discourage further escapees.
Dr. Everett’s House, Barn, and Store
On the left is the house of Doctor Oliver Everett, a very versatile man. Though a doctor by training, Bolton’s small population wasn’t ill quite enough to make ends meet. So he became the local postmaster. His store (on the far right), boasted his doctor’s office upstairs and the post office downstairs.
Fun fact: a trap door was set in the floor over the Great Brook, which ran under the barn. To keep cleaning easy, the rakings from the barn floor were swept out into the stream.
One of Everett’s passions was photography. His photos are an amazing resource for the historical society today. Back then, Everett sold postcards with his images in the store.
Of great interest to the kids is Dr. Everett’s soda fountain, installed when the drink first became wildly popular. Everett’s store also boasted the first phone in town.
Wrong-Way House and the Church
Take note as you walk along the road and you might notice a house that appears to have two fronts. Dubbed wrong-way houses, there are several in Bolton. This particular one was originally situated to face the Town House Road and the First Parish Church. Once Route 117 became the main byway, the owners wanted their fancy front visible to all. So the first entrance is now mostly overgrown.
Sitting atop the hill is the First Parish Church, formerly the Federated Church. When multiple congregations in Bolton became too small to necessitate their own structures, they combined into the Federated Church.
We tromped upstairs to each be allowed a chance to ring the large bell hanging in the church tower. Feeling the ease and tug of the rope, and listening the outside clanging was very satisfying. I think the 3rd graders would agree.
Our tour continuing with a crawl up into the clock tower. Careful not to bump our heads, we emerged into a small area with high ceilings. A clock movement was mounted inside, and our specialty tour guide demonstrated some of its workings. Though currently out of use, there are plans to restore it in the future.
As they left, some 3rd graders stopped to ask questions, wondering where they could find more of this. Happily, we informed them that they were welcome to visit the historical society anytime. The walk is a splendid way to teach kids about their community; it gives them the stories and the significance behind what they see everyday.
Learning the history behind a landscape – human or natural – can completely change the way you view it. If we want the kids of today to care about what happens to history in the future, we need to plant the seeds now. The Bolton Historical Society is doing their part 🙂