2023 Programs
Boxborough Grange History Night November 10
Boxborough Grange #131, in conjunction with the Boxborough Historical Society, held a “History Night” on Friday November 10 at 7:00 p.m. This tookplace in the Grange Room of the Boxborough Town Hall, 29 Middle Road.
The Grange is the nation’s oldest national agricultural organization formed in the years following the American Civil War to unite private citizens to improve the economic and social position of the nation’s farm population. Boxborough Grange was founded in 1886 and will celebrate its 138th anniversary next March. Over time the Grange evolved to include non-farm rural families and communities. Its current goal is to bring people together to build stronger communities by encouraging agricultural and environmental sustainability and community service.
Construction of Route 495: October 15
With the exception of the glaciers, the most transformative and disruptive physical event in the history of Boxborough was the construction of Interstate Route 495. When this massive project started in 1960, Boxborough was a small faming town of under 800 people with roads to match, so small that the town didn’t even have a dump. When the Interstate was finished, Boxborough was bisected by a 6 lane highway and the future growth pattern of the town had changed forever. On Sunday October 15, Alan Rohwer of the Boxborough Historical Society discussed the construction of Route 495 and why and how it was built including before and after pictures.
The presentation took place in the Morse Hilberg Room of the Boxborough Town Hall at 29 Middle Road starting at 2:00 PM.
Boxborough Historical Society Annual Meeting October 15
The Annual Meeting of the Society and Election of Officers and Directors took place in the Morse Hilberg room of the Boxborough Town Hall 29 Middle Road on Sunday October 15 at 3:00 PM after the conclusion of the Society’s program on the construction of route 495. At the meeting changes were proposed to the Society’s by-laws.
Why was a Child's shoe hidden in the wall of a House for 300 years?
On Sunday May 21, the Boxborough Historical Society conducted its annual “Hidden Treasures” event. Every May for the last 8 years, Freedom's Way, a consortium of 45 cities and towns that were involved in the events of 1775, has sponsored a "Hidden Treasures" event to highlight notable items and places in each municipality. This year Duncan Brown of the Boxborough Historical Society explained the story of why a child’s shoe was hidden in the wall of a Boxborough house for 300 years and the journey the shoe took to come home to the Boxborough Museum.
The house, owned by James and Hannah Whitcomb, was built in 1721 in a portion of Harvard later incorporated into Boxborough in 1783. During renovations in the 1950’s the small shoe was discovered within a wall in the oldest part of the house. Concealed shoes have a long history throughout Europe and in early New England homes and a single child’s shoe was commonly used.
The presentation took place in the Morse Hilberg Room of the Boxborough Town Hall at 29 Middle Road starting at 1:00 pm.
Click here to view the presentation.
Steele Farm Photo Contest Entries at Boxborough Library in May
In 2018 the Boxborough Historical Society sponsored a Steele Farm Photo contest. There was an encore showing of the entries at the Sargent Memorial Library in Boxborough from May 1 through May 30. People saw an outstanding array of pictures, each capturing a unique aspect of beautiful Steele Farm, submitted by photographers of all ages and experience. The contest was also supported in part by a generous grant from the Acton Boxborough Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
To see “the real thing”, please visit, walk, photo, etc. the Steele Farm and the 1784 Levi Wetherbee (Steele) Farmhouse at 484 Middle Road.