The following is the second in a two-part series on the Ponkapoag Fire of 1924. Click here for part 1. The crowd that gathered in front of the house at 2246 Washington Street stood by helplessly and watched as fire engulfed the two-story wooden structure. Trapped inside were seven people who clung to life as […]
The following is the first in a two-part series on the Ponkapoag Fire of 1924. Click here to read part 2. Albert D’Attanasio was in a strange new place. The Comune di Loreto Aprutino is a small village in central Italy in the Abruzzo region. At any other time in the life of a 4 […]
They were called “young hoodlums,” and the newspaper editorial was particularly vicious in the description of these children of Canton. “They are allowed to roam around the village making life almost unbearable for the passer-by on some of our streets during the day and early evening.” It was the heat of that August 1912 that […]
In my hands are several fine pieces of china, remembrances of Canton’s history. Several small white English bone china pieces that have scenes of our history in black etchings. Turning a bowl over, the stamp on the back reads, “Made in England, Unitarian Ladies Sewing Circle.” I have always been drawn to these relics, always […]
The following is an excerpt from “The Bears Arrive,” the latest installment of True Tales by local historian George T. Comeau Bear Pack 77 descended like a pack of small cubs. They tumbled and played on the front lawn of the Canton Historical Society. A warm spring afternoon and a slight breeze caused the light […]
The following is the second in a two-part series on the Burr Lane Burying Ground by local historian George T. Comeau. Click here to read the full text of part one, “Skull and Bones.” The dog was covered in spring mud. After the rains he was always coming home filthy with sticks and old roots. […]
The following is the first in a two-part series on the Burr Lane Burying Ground by local historian George T. Comeau. Click here to read the full text of part two, “A Dog with a Bone.” Running through the woods on Sunday afternoon in September 1969 were two boys from Sawyer Avenue here in Canton. The crisp […]
“Dear sir. — I have never ceased to look back with interest, not to say satisfaction, upon the short six weeks which I passed with you. They were an era in my life — the morning of a new Lebenstag. They are to me as a dream that is dreamt, but which returns from time […]
The following is an excerpt from “The Last Picture Show,” the latest installment of True Tales from Canton’s Past by local historian George T. Comeau. Marion Nay sits in the kitchen of the house she grew up in on Tolman Street. Her eyes sparkle as she brings out several spiral notebooks that she has kept […]
A blog on the Internet called “Massachusetts Bass Fishing Spots” extols the virtues of hidden fishing locales around the state. One entry in particular cites the Silk Mill Pond as a covert spot in Canton that might be of interest to anglers. The source writes of the secluded pond, “It gets pretty deep in the […]
