Yankeetowns

02/07/2026

On February 5, we visited the Veterans Memorial Auditorium to see a concert. It is one of the few places once can see the names and seals of all the towns in one place, in a ceiling mural. Robert Haun was the artist who completed the murals in 1949.

Rhode Island, of course, is the smallest US state by land area that has the fewest municipalities.

The auditorium known as the VETS was originally opened in 1951 and restored in 1990. The seating capacity is about 2,000. The project started much earlier in 1928 by the Masons, who constructed a Masonic Lodge next door. They used the architect Osgood & Osgood, known at the time for designing Masonic buildings. The Lodge is now the Renaissance Downtown Providence Hotel. The RI state capital is nearby.

01/26/2026

We stopped by the Shutesbury Community Church at the Town Common. We noticed the new elevator and we could not duplicate one of our favorite winter photos from nine years earlier.

01/15/2026

01/15/2026

The Bear's Den park was toured. There is a gorge for a brook, the Middle branch of the Swift River before entering the Quabbin Reservoir. There is the ruins of an old grist mill. The rock outcroppings can be up to 40 feet tall. The park is located at Nielsen road in the northern reaches of New Salem. It is not far from Route 2 below Orange and Athol.

A short walk but slick and dangerous for people who hike infrequently, the Bear's Den provides the chance to experience the some of the best scenery one can find. Per Wikipedia, the park was acquired by the Trustees in 1968.

01/10/2026

On Saturday January 4, 2026, we visited North Orange, MA. The Royalston Road is unpaved, and it is a nice 20 MPH drive through the pines in midwinter.

North Orange was the town common for Orange which is now Goddard Park. Per the history of the Community Church online, the town center was moved to the Millers River in 1810. Thus we have a scene that appears way back in time.

Yankeetowns has previous posts on Orange, including a post in 2018 that had the Schlitz mural used in Hulu's "Castle Rock." See our own Schlitz light from a grandparent of ours.

01/10/2026

Royalston, MA is one of the closest towns to Boston where there is a true rural feel. The town is a few miles from the New Hampshire border.

The Town Hall was completed in 1867. It is an Italianate, Mansard-style building.

The Congregational church is dated from 1851.

The Library was acquired by the town in 1946 after being constructed by a private owner in 1911.

Royalston is a town to find winter, which has been a disappearing season in recent years.

A place for contemplation is Doane's Falls Reservation, located on Doane Hill Road off Athol Road.

01/23/2025

Sandwich, MA is the oldest town on Cape Cod. It has over 300 historical sites per the list from the Sandwich Historical Commission. It is at the east entrance of the Cape Cod Canal. The town has beaches on Cape Cod Bay. The Heritage Museums have an antique car collection plus a famous garden of Rhododendrons to be seen in the late Spring.

The First Church (Congregational) is historic, featured on Elvis Presley’s gospel album “How Great Thou Art”. The First Church is worth a tour, having a great organ, 350 year old bell, and other artifacts.

The Melitiah Bourne House is named for a member of a family that founded the nearby town of Bourne.

Sofia and William Weston donated $45,000 to build the Library that opened in 1911.

The First Parish (Unitarian Church) from 1833 is now a private residence.

The Dan’l Webster Inn has a history on the site since 1694. The building had a fire and was rebuilt in 1973.

The Fessenden House offers more detail on the predecessor to the Dan’l Webster Inn.

The Spotted Cod was the 1830 Apothecary.

At the corner of Main and Jarves Street is the old Post Office 1664.

161 Main Street (1865) is the St. John’s Episcopal Church thrift shop.

Down the Jarves Street Historic District is the Former Third Catholic Church building from 1901.

The renovated George Drew House (1881) is now home to a burger bar.

Next featured is the 1883 Block. Beth’s Teas was in the home of the Puritan Congregational Church.

Russell’s Corner is a nice connection between two historic roads, Jarves Street and Route 6A.

A popular tourist site is Dexter’s Grist Mill, where work started in 1637 at the site. In the summer, corn meal from the mill can be purchased. The building behind the grist mill is the Sandwich Town Hall.

A popular restaurant across the street from the mill at 1 Water Street is the Dunbar, known as a tea room, on the right in the final photograph. The First Church is on the left side.

01/14/2025

Brant Rock is a seaside village in Marshfield, MA.

The Union Chapel (1896), Comfort Station (1928) and the Shoppes were featured. The Dennis Crowley storefront was from the 2017 movie Equalizer II, featuring Denzel Washington.

Across from Dennis Crowley, a condemned building has been painted by Shane Leonard.

The Tower is the 1943 World War II Fire Tower.

The photo of the two gulls overlook the Brant Rock outcropping in the open Atlantic Ocean.

Nearby in South Marshfield is the 1699 Isaac Winslow House and Blacksmith House and Schoolhouse.

01/03/2025

Duxbury, MA was visited on January 1, 2025 for the first time by Yankeetowns. The rain just ended, and we notice the three cents postage was on the post office because that was the cost of a stamp in the year it opened in 1951.

The post office and Sweetser's General Store (sign only) is in the Shipbuilder's Historic District.

The Mattakeeset Court Town Landing has a beautiful pier and a boat launching ramp.

The Myles Standish Monument park was closed but the statue is impressive at 116 feet tall located on Captain's Hill 200 feet above sea level, obviously having great ocean views for park visitors who can climb up the stairs to the top. Myles Standish was the military leader of the Plymouth Colony from 1621.

Duxbury Beach is six miles long, having exposure to Atlantic Ocean swells. George Wright sold the land containing the beach to the Duxbury Beach Association in 1919.

The Powder Point Bridge is 2,200 feet long, first built in 1892, and was updated in 1987. The bridge speed limit is 10 miles per hour. It once had the Guinness record for longest wooden bridge in the world.

There is a school district in Duxbury and the 1909 Wright Library is presented. There is a nice reading room where people can research the town by appointment at what is now known as the Drew Archival Library.

We liked the side view of the Ellison Center for the Arts, Duxbury branch of the South Shore Conservatory.

12/18/2024

We took a quick drive on November 2, 2024 through Petersham, Hardwick, and Phillipston, MA. These are some of the towns near the Quabbin Reservoir whose historic districts have been preserved. It is an opportunity to view the post for contemplation.

Per Wikipedia, the Petersham town green dates from 1733. The stone Library from the early 1890's. You readers can judge whether the close up picture is better than the one from a distance. It was sad to find out that the Nichewaug Inn that we featured in prior posts was torn down.

All three of the towns have been visited by us before. We photographed the Winery and Mimi's in Hardwick, and the town hall, church, and orchard in Phillipston.

12/15/2024

Newton Upper Falls from 2016 & 2017

12/09/2024

New Braintree, MA was visited on November 2, 2024.

The highlight of the town was the Joseph Bowman 1816 brick structure. It is across from the Congregational Church. The center is on a hilltop. History here: https://newbraintreehistoricalsociety.org/center-tour

The town was founded in 1751 by people who were from Braintree, MA.

The town center is near 1,000 feet above sea level and has about 1,000 people. Located on the western edge of Worcester County, the town is less than two hours from Boston but one can have the feeling of being in a remote Northern New England place.

The Ashland Farm has a stand and views of nice valley fields.

On another side of town is June's Bakeshop which sells cookies and other baked goods.