Man About Canton: Welcome to Canton

DID YOU KNOW …

As MAC is out of town in Florida, this week’s column will consist of facts and information contained in Canton’s History and Demographic Report, which is full of basic town information that you may or may not know but should.

For instance, today’s Canton was originally part of the large colonial grant of Dorchester, settled in 1630 and set off as Ponkapoag in 1650. It was separated from Dorchester as the town of Stoughton in 1727, and in 1797, when Samuel Adams was governor of Massachusetts, Precinct 1 of Stoughton separated to become the town of Canton.

The total area of Canton is 19.6 square miles, which includes 18.9 square miles of land and 0.6 square miles of water, and our elevation above sea level has been measured at 100 feet at Town Hall.

Our 2011 population is approximately 21,000, which results in a density of 1,111.1 persons per square mile. There are 8,254 households, 5,579 families, 1,278 condos, and 34 apartment complexes in Canton. Presently, there are about 14,500 registered voters.

Canton is bounded by the towns and cities of Milton, Randolph, Stoughton, Sharon, Norwood, Westwood, Dedham, and Boston. Our town lies at the foot of the Great Blue Hill. The Canton River flows through the center of town, linking a chain of small ponds and lakes – including Bolivar and Forge ponds – and flows into the Neponset River.

Canton has the open town meeting form of government, and each spring all registered voters of the town may attend the town meeting to discuss such matters as construction, schools, public works, recreational facilities, the budget, taxes and bond issues.

The five elected members of the Board of Selectmen serve as the chief executive officers of the town to oversee the day-to-day operations, and they are assisted by a town administrator, a title formerly known as executive secretary.

The first elected selectmen in the town of Canton were Deacon Benjamin Tucker, Nathan Crane and Elijah Crane. They were elected on March 6, 1797.

Several elected or appointed boards, commissions, and committees carry out a number of administrative town functions throughout the year and advise the voters at the town meetings.

Interstate routes 93 and 95 diverge in Canton, and state routes 128, 138 and 24, as well as nearby Route 27, also serve the town.

The town of Canton is served by the MBTA commuter rail service between Boston and Stoughton and Attleboro, and the rail line crosses the Canton River on the Viaduct, a prominent local landmark. Amtrak trains, including the Acela Express high-speed train, also pass through Canton from the Route 128 Station, but do not stop here.

Some years ago, Tsar Alexander II of Russia sent workmen to draw extensive diagrams of Canton’s world-famous Viaduct so it could be copied, and now there are only three in the world. The other two are on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The closest airport serving Canton is the Norwood Memorial Airport, and for scheduled air service, Canton residents must travel to Logan International Airport in Boston or to the T.F. Green Airport in Rhode Island.

Canton High School’s athletic teams are known as the Canton Bulldogs, and the school’s official colors are green and white. Five years ago, the high school underwent a $40 million expansion and renovation.

There are two public golf courses in town and three private courses, and there is one ski area located on Blue Hill.

Revolutionary War hero Paul Revere (1735-1818) lived in Canton from 1801 until his death in 1818 on what today is Revere Street, and he started his rolled copper and bell foundry business here at what is today the former Plymouth Rubber Company industrial plant property on Revere Street. The company, which is now known as the Revere Copper & Brass Company, moved from Canton many years ago. Revere affectionately called his home “Cantondale” and composed a poem about his love for the town.

Canton was also the birthplace of Commodore John Downes (1784-1854), who sailed on the first cruise of “Old Ironsides” as a 14-year-old waiter and made the Navy a career. He was a hero of the war with the Barbary pirates at Tripoli and also the War of 1812. He later commanded a punitive expedition to Sumatra in the 1830s and became the commanding officer of the Boston Navy Yard.

Revolutionary War hero Roger Sherman (1721-1793) grew up in Canton before moving to Connecticut as a young man; and as a member of the Second Continental Congress, he was part of the elite five-member committee — along with Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Robert Livingston – to draw up the Declaration of Independence. Roger Sherman has the distinction of being the only person to sign all four of the most important documents in early American history: the Articles of the Continental Association (1774); the Declaration of Independence (1776); the Articles of Confederation (1777); and the United States Constitution (1787).

And finally, the naming of the town of Canton was the whim of one individual – the town’s first moderator and part-time surveyor, the Honorable Elijah Dunbar, who said that Canton was directly antipodal to Canton, China, and “for that reason should be so called.” On the 23^rd of February, 1797, Canton was made a separate town from Stoughton, and it was approved by then governor of Massachusetts, Samuel Adams.

Today, there are 23 Cantons in the United States. Canton, Massachusetts, shares its name with the Cantons in Arkansas, Connecticut, North Dakota, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Canton, Massachusetts, was the first named Canton in the United States.

On to other news, the Scott Herr Charity Hockey Game will be held on Saturday, April 2, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Canton Metropolis Rink. The game will have the CHS varsity hockey team facing off against a group of Canton legends (parents, CHS coaches, youth hockey coaches, and some special guests). The game is played to raise money for the Scott Herr Fund, and more importantly, is a way to remember Scott, a Canton athlete who passed away in a motor vehicle accident in 2010, and bring the Canton hockey community together.

Canton resident Kelly West McGowan will be running her first Boston Marathon this year to support Mass General Hospital for Children. She is specifically running to honor the memory of a friend of her family, David Goldstein, who lost his battle with cancer in 2005 at the age of 21. Kelly and her family are holding a fundraiser from 7-11 p.m. on April 2 at the Canton Town Club to raise money, and Kelly has committed to raise a minimum of $5,000 for this great cause. Tickets are $10 per person at the door, and there will be music, a cash bar, raffles, and silent auctions. For further information or to donate, please visit Kelly’s webpage, give.massgeneral.org/kellymcgowan. Any questions regarding the fundraiser can be directed to Katie West Zack at 781-801-2965.

Leadership must be demonstrated not announced.

That is all for now folks. See you next week.

Joe DeFelice can be reached at manaboutcanton@aol.com.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=3732

Posted by Joe DeFelice on Mar 17 2011. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.