Conference 7.286::maynard

    Frank--do you know any history about the apple orchard on
    Summer/Pompositticut St? Has it always been there? 
    

    This doesn't answer your question at all, but I noticed that there is
    now a Maynard Tree Farm on part of the property.
    
    					Steve

    I don't know anything about what is now Derby's Orchard, but I'll
    check with some *older* folks.  It was never as active as it is
    now when I grew up in the 50's and was never open to the public
    until a few years ago.  I do know that the apples are great and that 
    my kids really enjoy picking apples in MAYNARD every fall.  
    This past year we bumped into a resident of Apple Ridge who was
    thrilled to be able to walk down the road to pick apples on a 
    Sunday morning.
    
    I grew up on Thomas Street, near what is now the lower entrance
    to Summerhill Glen.  There was a great apple orchard on the hill
    between Thomas Street and Summerhill Road, which was owned by the
    Drechler family.  They also owned Maplecrest Dairy, and had a
    working dairy farm off Bent Avenue (only a silo remains today).
    They also had a trout pond, stocked by Mr. Drechler, which was 
    destroyed to make room for the Glen.  We used to skate on the
    pond on the winter, and the scene was right out of a Currier and
    Ives print.  Not bad for a few hundred feet off Florida Road, huh?
    
    After Mr. Drechler died the property fell into disrepair during the 
    60's, the dairy folded, and the apple trees went to seed.
    
    Steve, the tree farm is on town land, adjacent to the Town Compost
    Area, and is an attempt by the Boy Scouts to get a system in place 
    to replace dead trees in town at a lower expense than by direct 
    purchase.  The rule of thumb in tree replacement is to replace each 
    tree removed by the town with two new trees.  For obvious reasons, 
    (read: $$$) Maynard has not been able to keep up with this program.  
    Last weekend, the Scouts planted 250 trees on the lot.
    
    When they grow, they will be used to help the town to keep up 
    with the replacement program.  The effort is part of Matt Ronzio's
    (spelling?) Eagle Scout project.  My oldest son, Ross, took part
    in the planting and had a great time, despite the heat.  More than
    50 Scouts took part in the effort.
    
    Personal comment:  I feel very proud of my town and the Scouts every
    time I drive by that sign.  If we could spend more time on the positive
    aspects of Maynard and less on the negative..... well, that's another 
    subject.
    
    By the way, my father used to tell me that there was a working still
    (as in booze) on that farm on top of the hill during prohibition,
    and he and the other kids used to watch the trucks roll out of there
    at night, but that might be a negative, huh?
    
    Frank
                                             

    >There was a great apple orchard on the hill between Thomas Street 
    >and Summerhill Road, which was owned by the Drechler family.
    
    I remember sliding down this hill during the winter on tobogans and
    sleds, then using cardboard boxes during the summer.  Since we don't 
    want to dwell on negatives, I won't mention what a bunch of cardboard  
    boxes were doing in the middle of an apple orchard.  We sat and watched 
    the Maynard Centennial fireworks from the top of the hill back in '71. 
    They were set off over the Mill Pond.  I'm sure that was before the
    lower Thompson St. parking lot existed if I remember correctly.  What 
    a great day that was (hotter than hell though).
    
    >They also owned Maplecrest Dairy, and had a working dairy farm off 
    >Bent Avenue (only a silo remains today).
    
    As you know Frank, we live across from Mrs. Warila who now owns this
    property.  She has one grandson who's builts a house where the dairy
    used to be, and a granddaughter who will also be building one soon in
    that same area.  The last I knew, they couldn't remove the silo for 
    historical reasons.
    
    While I'm on the subject of the Warila family, there is a housing
    development on the right, just before you get to the tree nursery and
    apple orchard we've been talking about.  They used to own this land. 
    Oliver (Swat) wanted to have a developer build all "exclusive" type homes
    there, but ran into some type of trouble with the town (over what I'm
    not sure).  He then said the heck with it, and sold the land to a 
    developer, who in my opinion, destroyed the land by cutting down every
    tree in sight (thus the name of Sun Valley).  I think they built
    roughly 150 houses there.  I remember the number because I used to
    deliver what is now known as the Middlesex News to every house.  This
    paper used to be delivered free of charge and was at the time a weekly
    paper.
    
    					Steve

    re Lower Thompson St Lot.
    
    I hope it was there in '71.
    
    I was watched the fireworks from it...
    
    8)>>
    
    That lot was there at least as far back as '69, though i can't say for
    sure if it was always _paved_.
    
    thanks
    dwp

    Steve, I was on my father's garage roof on Thomas Street the night
    of the Centenial fireworks, just below you as you sat on the top 
    of the hill.  You were next to Musgrave's house, right?
    
    To this day, that night's fireworks were the best I've ever seen
    in my life!!  Must have been 45 minutes of non-stop action. 
    Better than the Boston 4th of July ever was.  The booms echoed 
    down the Assabet River Valley for several minutes.  My poor old
    dog dug a hole under my father's shed to hide and I had to go get
    her and hold her until it was over...
    
    AS FOR SLIDING:
    (Note: we always called it sliding, but my kids now call it sledding)
    We used to get the cardboard boxes for summer sliding at Grubers,
    then we'd go to Maplecrest Dairy for an orange drink called 
    "Greenspot".  I'm still alive so it must have been OK.
    
    The winter sliding was great and when the river was frozen, we could
    actually go from on top of that hill across the river by cutting 
    through my yard.  We'd end up near the Florida Road bridge.  Steve,
    did you ever get that chance?
     
    The lower Thompson Street lot was at one time part of the Mill 
    Pond, as was St. Bridget's School, which explains why the School
    Parking lot is still settling after all these years.  As a matter
    of fact, the Mill Pond at one time came up to the old railroad 
    tracks on Main Street before some filling took place to create
    what is now the Main Street parking lot.  All the filling was 
    done prior to Digital.  For those concerned with Wetlands, the
    Mill Pond is man-made and not subject to Chapter 131.  The 
    parking lot was created in the late 50's to accomodate the
    major Mill tenents, Raytheon and Dennison, who were parking
    all over town at the time. 
    
    While I'm at it, I see that the pond is getting lower again.
    Before it gets any lower, let me explain once and for all that
    the wood pilings that stick up at *low tide* are NOT A RAILROAD
    BRIDGE.  When they were building Building #1 ( the newest Mill
    Building), they had to maintain water power for the rest of the
    Mill, so they put it a pipe cradle and built a small dam which
    sticks up at low tide near the curve at Front Street.  If you 
    look closely at the pilings you will see that they form a V to hold
    a pipe and not rails.  This system fed directly into the power
    turbine system between Buildings 4 and 5, where the sluceway is
    now.
    
      
    Frank
    I think that the fireworks 
    

    Scrub the last line of 215.6 folks.
    
    Operator error

>    While I'm at it, I see that the pond is getting lower again.
>    Before it gets any lower, let me explain once and for all that
>    the wood pilings that stick up at *low tide* are NOT A RAILROAD
>    BRIDGE.  When they were building Building #1 ( the newest Mill
>    Building), they had to maintain water power for the rest of the
>    Mill, so they put it a pipe cradle and built a small dam which
>    sticks up at low tide near the curve at Front Street.  If you 
>    look closely at the pilings you will see that they form a V to hold
>    a pipe and not rails.  This system fed directly into the power
>    turbine system between Buildings 4 and 5, where the sluceway is
>    now.

This is true, but the pilings that bend around the end of Bldg. 1, and which
show up first when the water is lowered are railroad pilings.  This was a siding
to store railroad cars, and supposedly was also used to dump ashes from the
coal boiler into the pond.

The pilings for the water pipe don't show up until the water is really low.

-Mike

    Mike, I'll apologize if I'm wrong, but I disagree.  I only knew of 
    one siding, which went along building 21 and building 1 on the 
    INSIDE.  The rails led to the power house for coal.  Building 21
    was the wool storage building and had cranes hanging out of the
    windows to haul the bales into the building.  There was a second
    split for storage of empty cars, but that was also INSIDE in the
    yard along buildings 2 and 3.  I suppose there could have been 
    another siding on the pond side, but I can't imagine why they 
    would go that expense.  My memory goes back to the early 50's and 
    I remember seeing the inside rails in use.  I never saw any signs 
    of a rail split which would have allowed the outside siding.
    The only rail splits were on the main line and INSIDE the yard.
    
    Remember that the pond went right up to the rail line along Main
    Street and included the present Main Street parking lot.  This
    would have meant a very long trestle from the main line. 
    My grandfather was the Steam Engineer for the Mill for many years 
    and he could settle this but he's long gone.
    
    My guess is that the pilings you're talking about were some kind
    of construction staging for building 1, which was built over the
    pond.  
    
    Let me check with the Maynard Historical Society.
    
    By the way, Building 21 was unheated until 1968, when Ray Stone and 
    I manually removed several layers of pigeon stuff from the floors.
    What a way to spend a summer!!!
    
         Frank

I know of the inside sidings you're talking about, as I've seen old tracks
exposed when they repaved the section between Bldg. 21 and 23.  I also work in
Bldg. 21 and can see the remains of some of those cranes. The comment about the
layers of pigeon wasn't too appetizing...

The siding I am talking about is the set of pilings that curve around the end
of Bldg. 1 at the Bldg. 5 end, they are exposed when the pond is only slightly
low.  It was quite short. They may not have been used as late as 1950 (perhaps
rot weakened them?).  Next time you happen to be in the area between Bldg 1 and
5, look in the water near Bldg. 1, you'll see them if the water is low.  These
are several sets of log pilings set in groups.  At the area where whatever was
on top of them joins the wall near the water inlet, there are 2 indentations in
the wall, at the right spacing for supports underneath railroad tracks.  The
tracks would have joined the main tracks in the area between Bldg 5 and 3 as a
reverse siding, not from the main line near the Main St. parking lot.  The
pilings don't go that far.  It is possible they may be from the construction of
Bldg. 1, but I've always heard they were a short railroad siding.

-Mike

    I understand what you're talking about now it makes more sense than
    what I thought you meant originally.
    
    Next time I bump into Ralph Sheridan of the Historical Society, I'll
    ask him for a ruling.  Ralph has a mind like a steel trap and will 
    know the answer.
    
    However, at least we agree on the pipe cradle, which was my main point
    anyway.
    
    Frank
    

What's the story on Ericson's?  Was it a full working dairy?  What did 
it sell?    How far did the far property reach?  

Am I correct in thinking that now it only sells ice cream?  Or does it 
sell other things in the other building to the left of the ice cream 
stand? 

    Erikson's ("Quality Products since 1937") has always been family 
    owned.  The Erikson home is next to the dairy and Arlene Erikson
    Frazer and her husband Joe now run the business.  Joe is a 
    retired Electrical Engineer who now calls himself a Vice President
    of Manufacturing!
    
    As far as I know, they never owned their own dairy farm, but rather
    bought milk from local farmers.  For many years they had a milk 
    business, and the glass milk and cream bottles are now desirable
    collectables.  I have a few of each.  The building on the left 
    had garage space on the side for those neat old milk trucks.
    The milk business locally was mainly handled by Erikson's, the
    Co-op, and Maplecrest.  Maplecrest was the only one that had it's
    own dairy.  The Co-op was by far the largest in the area.
    
    The building on the left now is used only for ice cream.
    
    The Maynard Historical Society has a late 40's/early 50's film taken 
    at the dairy, explaining how milk and ice cream were made.  Very
    interesting.
    
    In the last 50 years, the only significant changes made to Erikson's 
    has been the elimination of the milk business and the replacement
    of the Ice Cream Stand sign!
    
    Frank
    

    Thinking about Erikson's milk made me think about home delivery 
    in the 50's.  I'm sure those of you old enough to remember the
    50's have similar recollections, but here's what we had for home
    delivery in Maynard in the 50's:
    
    Milk- we used Erikson's which may sound strange since we lived 
    next to Maplecrest.  My guess is that price was a consideration.
    At one time we had a little door on the porch, which was replaced
    by a small metal box on the front step.
    
    We also had an egg man, Mr. Grigas, from the end of Glendale Street.
    
    And a tonic man (this is called soda today).  The Maydale Beverage
    Company used to deliver cases of quart bottles every week.  They 
    were located on Glendale Street also, and had a natural spring in
    the barn, which is still standing a few houses down from Acton 
    Street on the left.  My uncle Mike drove the big orange truck for
    many years.  Maydale had a very interesting history in that at 
    one time they covered a large area of New England and were the 
    first to produce an orange tonic called "Orange Dry".
    
    Let's see, we also had a bleach water man, who delivered bleach in
    bottles that looked like Carlo Rossi Wine jugs.
    
    Of course we had the Cushman Baker, who came three times a week.  
    Rouff Tompkins had a local route for many years.
    
    Then there was the vegetable man, who yelled out his specials as 
    he drove down the streets.  And (I know this makes me sound OLD)
    we had an ICE man, Leo Comeau, who drove an old Ford truck and 
    would give us a chip of ice on a hot day.
    
    My favorite was Ruben the junk man, who was the forerunner of 
    recycling.  He'd pick up all the metal and newspapers (the trick
    was to tie a rock in the newspaper bundles to make them weigh more).
    He had all the kids picking up junk for a nickle or so, which 
    helped to keep the river clean.
    
    But some things never change.  We had an ice cream man who, like
    today, always seemed to come around at supper time!!
    
    Frank

    Glad to see this note. I grew up in Bolton(can't afford to live there,
    but visit alot). A Townie without a Town.
                       I spend alot of time out on the Military reservation
    and just had a thought that it might be interesting if the historical 
    society got permission to have a day long hike to some of the historical
    spots out there with lectures. 
                  I try to visualize where the old orchards and farms were.
    Many of the backyards in my neighborhood(Thompson St.) have fruit trees.
    Enuf to make me think it was an orchard 100 yrs ago.
                  Has the Historical society got much info on old houses?
    I have a soft spot for them. If you stand on the Sudbury St. "bridge"
    facing the mill(lower Thompson St. lot to your right) there is a 1 1/2
    story white house first on your left. The lines of this house strike me
    as being older than its neighbors. More like 200 yrs. than 80-90yrs.
    Some features have been obliterated in the past few years thanks to 
    vinyl siding. Does anyone know the house? 
    

Gee, one hint that the Maynard Notesfile may be going away, and suddenly
it's more active than ever!

Thanks for the historical bits on this town, Frank.  I grew up in Maine,
and your picture post card description of growing up here in the '50s
brought back a lot of nice memories for me.  For a minute there, I thought
you were describing my street, with all the separate and unique delivery
and pick up folks who you often knew by first name.

Oh, and "negative" bits, if you so choose to call them, are always an
interesting piece of history as well.  It's just the way things were.  (Like
the still, mentioned earlier.)

Cliff

    Sorry folks, my dial in line justed burped and left me hanging.
    
    Let me try to finish this before the next hiccup.  Happens to me
    every night at 10:00.
    
    Most of the present land belongs to Ft. Devens for war games, usually
    late at night when the windows are opened, right?
    
    Frank

    
    Boy, reading about all these days gone past sure brings a lump to
    my throat...Steve and Frank, I recall those winter days sliding
    at
       Drechslers hill...Snow accumulations seemed heavier then and
    boy could you ever fly down that hill..Steve, remember the jump
    that we made? That thing was treacherous!! Frank the information
    about THE AMMO DUMP was very interesting...Do you remember the area
    that is now sun valley? I believe they use to have a place there
    called the PIGGERY..It was an old run down pig farm as I can recall..
    Also on hot summer days I can still remember tagging along with
    my brother after cops and robs and heading for a GREENSPOT...
    
                                  Doug

    Doug, I remember the Piggery.  I think the Mason family (as in
    Sid's Airport) owned the area at one time.  The entire area was
    so flat and drainage was so poor that all the houses had to be
    slabs.  For those of you who live there, the Durant/Dix Road area
    was a subdivision known as Sun Valley by the developer.  It had
    absolutely NO trees when it was built and when you came over the
    hill from the Stow end of Summer Street, all you could see were
    roofs.  Locals dubbed the area Slab Valley or Camp Maynard because
    it looked a sea of Army barricks. 
    
    Now the trees have grown, the lawns look great and the owners have
    outdated and kept up their homes to make it a very nice area.
    
    Drechsler's Hill was a tremendous sliding hill.
    
    Frank

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Note 219.0                     HUB OF THE UNIVERSE                     6 replies
SENIOR::IGNACHUCK                                    80 lines   8-MAY-1990 23:13
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Before the birth of the shopping center in the 50's an 60's
    Maynard was the local shopping hub for our "smaller" neighbors
    in Acton, Sudbury and Stow.  Street trollies and the B&M line
    in addition to auto traffic made Maynard a boom town on Thursday
    and Friday nights.
    
    At one time in the 50's there were four major grocery stores in
    downtown Maynard:  Bachrachs (the present Auto Parts store in the
    K of C building), The A & P (now the Outdoor Store), First National
    (now the BayBank) and the Co-op (now Mailboxes/Shawmut).  In 
    addition, Jacob's Market (Lou's Express), Salamone's (still there,
    but under new ownership),Buscemi's (recently Crimson Travel) and
    a smaller Co-op (now Murphy and Snyder) all operated at the same
    time.
    
    There were also two movie houses, the Fine Arts and the Peoples
    (where Century 21 is now located).  Four hardware stores, a 
    feed a grain (Sedar and Richmond- now a vacant lot on Nason Street
    next to the Maynard Shoe Service), two 5 & 10's (J.J. Newberry's
    was where the Slenderizers is now, plus at least one other vacant
    store next to it), and three soda fountains (Mannings, when it
    was in the old True Value location, Johnson's, which was in part
    of the present Outdoor Store, and Maynard Pharmacy, now a vacant
    lot next to the Masonic Building).
    
    Long before there were Cumberland Farms, there were many variety
    stores, mostly located near schools for obvious reasons.  Weir's
    was located where Cumberland Farms is now on Acton Street and 
    served northbound kids from Roosevelt School.  Southbounders,
    like me, stopped at Grammo's (later Valeno's) on the corner of
    Summer and Nason where Candyland is now.  Green Meadow had 
    Canella'a, the location is hard to spot on Great Road between
    O'Moore and Espie.  The Coolidge kids had the Corner Store, Phil's
    Variety now has a new name on Main at Harriman, and Schnair's is
    still in the same building, next to Amory's.
    
    I can't even begin to list to barber shops, cause there were a 
    least ten, with names like Columbo's, Tarney's, Sundo's, Dan's,
    Cordy's, Joe's, etc., scattered in all parts of town often
    connected to homes.
    
    Then there were the bars....  You can't tell now, but at one time
    it was a contest to have ONE drink in each of the various drinking
    establishments in town and SURVIVE.  Let me see if I can list them
    all:
    
    Starting at the lights at Rte. 62 and 27, there were two.  Soko's
    Bug House Corner (yep, that was the name) was at the corner where
    the Auto Upholstery Shop is now.  Soko's had great steamers, and
    eventually became the original home of Tory's famous Steak Subs.
    On Waltham Street was Speedy's (now La Grange).  Travelling up
    Main Street, the Pleasant and Stretch's were always there, and
    by the entrance to the Copper Kettlwas a single RED DOOR with
    no sign which led down the stairs under street level to a bar 
    by the same name.  If you went up Nason Street, Priest's Cafe
    was where the China Ruby is now.
    
    Further up Main Street the action started in earnest.  Just
    over the bridge was the Old Timer's Cafe, where the package store
    is now.  Amory's was the American Social Club.  The present Maynard
    Pizza House was Jimmy's Cafe.  The recent Red Door was the Polish
    American Club, the Sit'N'Bull was the Avalon, and Ray and Sons
    was Millstreams Cafe.
    
    If after 11 stops you were still thirsty, there were the clubs:
    The Elks were located upstairs above the present T.C. Lando's,
    The Eagles Club are still above Masciarelli's (I think), the
    Rod and Gun, the Maynard Country Club, the American Legion, and
    the Italian Social Club all had working bars. 
    
    For the high priced nightcaps, you could stop (walking) at Russo's
    (now May Ling) and Uncle Pete's Twin Tree Cafe (the present Elks).
    
    That's 18, and I may have missed a couple.
    
    Through the years the character of the town changed, and with it
    went many of these businesses, and the need for them...  
       
    Frank
                        
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Note 219.1                     HUB OF THE UNIVERSE                        1 of 6
AKOV11::THORP                                         7 lines   9-MAY-1990 11:54
                              -< One more grocer >-
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    Frank, you forgot Russo's Grocery/Variety on Waltham Street in the same
    building with the restaraunt.  They were in operation until the
    mid-60's when the lounge was added.
    
    Chris
    
    P.S. I love this stuff, especially your Ammo Dump story.
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Note 219.2                     HUB OF THE UNIVERSE                        2 of 6
ASABET::K_HAMILTON "New grandmother"                 10 lines   9-MAY-1990 15:26
                         -< There were three theaters >-
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    Don't forget the third movie theater; the Colonial.  Upstairs over
    Woolworths.
    
    It was before I was old enough to go by myself.  My grandmother would
    pay my older brother to take my cousins and me.  
    
    Anyone else remember Lash LaRoe movies?
    
    Karen
    
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Note 219.3                     HUB OF THE UNIVERSE                        3 of 6
BIZNIS::MARINER                                       7 lines   9-MAY-1990 16:29
                                -< Salamone's >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    You say Salamone's is under new ownership.  Is this recent?  I used to
    love their meat.  Is it still the same high quality?
    
    I've lived in Sudbury longer than I care to remember but haven't bought
    the meat for awhile.
    
    Mary Lou
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Note 219.4                     HUB OF THE UNIVERSE                        4 of 6
SENIOR::IGNACHUCK                                    37 lines   9-MAY-1990 23:54
                               -< Misc. Replies >-
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    RE: .2:  Karen, my intent was to list the businesses in operation
    at the same time.  I can't remember if the Colonial was in use
    at the same time as the People's and the Fine Arts.  Was it?
    
    If you mean movie houses in total, there were four (if you count
    the two Fine Arts theaters as one movie house).  The Riverside
    Theater was the first Hall dedicated to movies.  It was above
    Grubers and when the building partially burned down in the 30's
    (plus or minus), they capped the building off which explains why
    it has such an odd shape today.  The Riverside also had vaudeville
    shows and was used for many years for town meetings.
    
    Today town meetings are at the high school, and some would say they
    are still vaudeville shows at times!  And they say we have no
    traditions in Maynard.
    
    By the way, the last use of the Colonial theater was as a recording
    studio (I think the Great Northern sign is still there).  It was
    the LARGEST recording studio in New England in the 60's and 70's
    and might still be today if it were still in operation.  The Esty's
    Boys recorded there and the Cars recorded an album there a few
    years ago.
    RE: .3:  Debbie, you're right about the hill and access from the
    Alto's. 
    
    The Aho family lived next door to us and had a two room sauna when 
    I was young.  The Helin's lived in an old sauna on Florida Road, 
    which is now the site of the house they relocated from Powdermill 
    Road last year.  They were many others throughout town, as you know, 
    since Maynard was rich is Finnish history.  It was sad to see the
    Elmwood Street bath house go...
    
    And finally, I was in the SECOND graduating class from the "new"
    High School.  The class of 65 was first, 66 was second.  
    
    
    Frank
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Note 219.5                     HUB OF THE UNIVERSE                        5 of 6
SENIOR::IGNACHUCK                                    12 lines   9-MAY-1990 23:58
                              -< Salamone's sold >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Darn, got my replies mixed up.  Sorry everyone.
    
    If you can follow what I meant, thanks.  
    
    Mary Lou (the real .3), Salamone's sold out last year.   The store
    has been totally renovated, but the Salamone's passed on the 
    secret sausage recipe.  Don't know about the quality of the rest
    of the meat section.
    
    Again, sorry for the numbers game on the replies.
    
    Frank
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Note 219.6                     HUB OF THE UNIVERSE                        6 of 6
ASABET::K_HAMILTON "New grandmother"                 18 lines  10-MAY-1990 09:53
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    re. 4 & 5.
    
    I remember the Colonial and the Peoples theaters both being open at the
    same time.  The Peoples usually showed movies for "grown-ups" so I only
    remember being there once or twice.  They had ushers with flashlights
    and my brother and the other boys used to tease them.
    
    The Colonial may have closed before the Fine ARts opened but I'm not
    sure.  I remember when they showed "Love Me Tender."  The manager
    warned that if there was any squealing we'd be put out "without a
    refund."
    
    
    The meat dept. at Salamone's is still the excellent quality it was when
    Peter & Sal were there.
    
    Karen
    

    In 1977, Digital published a brochure entitled " Digital's Mill 
    1847-1977"  It is an excellent history of the Mill, the workers
    and the Town of Maynard.  It is long, but since many of you may
    not have access to it, and/or are not familiar with the history
    of the Mill, I thought I'd type it into this note.  So, sit back
    and enjoy!
    
    
    
    The mill buildings occupied by Digital Equipment Corporation in 
    Maynard, Massachusetts, are modern examples of two old New England
    traditions.  One is the classic mill town pattern: the development
    of industry and the growth of a community around it.  The other is
    the "make it do" principle: the idea that it's better to get the
    most from what you have than to abandon it and buy something new and
    expensive.
    
    The site of the mill was once part of the town of Sudbury, while the
    opposite bank of the Assabet River belonged to Stow.  The present town,
    formed in 1871, was named for the man most responsible for its 
    development, Amory Maynard.
    
    Born in 1804, Maynard was running his own sawmill business at the age
    of sixteen.  In the 1840's, he went into partnership with a carpet
    manufacturer for whom he'd done contracting.  They dammed up the
    Assabet and diverted water into a millpond to provide power for a
    new mill, which opened in 1847, producing carpet yarn and carpets.
    Only one of the original mill buildings survives: it was moved 
    across Main Street and now is an apartment house familiar to many
    DIGITAL people.
    
    Amory Maynard's carpet firm failed in the business panic of 1857.
    But the Civil War allowed the Assabet Manufacturing Company, organized
    in 1862 with Maynard as the managing "agent", to prosper by producing
    woolens, flannels and blankets for the army.  This work was carried
    on in new brick mill buildings.
    
    Expansion of the mill over many years is evidenced by the variations
    in the architecture of the structures still standing.
    
    The oldest portion of Building 3 dates from 1859, making it the
    oldest part of the mill in existence today, but several additions
    were made afterwards.  Buildings constructed in the late 1800's 
    frequently featured brick arches over the windows, and at times
    new additions were made to match neighboring structures.
    
    The best-known feature is the clock donated in memory of Amory
    Maynard by his son Lorenzo in 1892.  Its four faces, each nine
    feet in diameter, are mechanically controlled by a small timer
    inside the tower.  Neither the timer nor the bell mechanism has
    ever been electrified; DIGITAL employees still climb 120 steps
    to wind the clock every week- 90 turns for the timer and 330 turns
    for the striker.
    
    Amory Maynard died in 1890, but his son and grandson still held
    high positions in the mill's management.  The family's local
    popularity plummeted, however, when the Assabet Manufacturing
    Company failed late in 1898.  Workers lost nearly half of their
    savings which they had deposited with the company, since there
    were no banks in town.  Their disillusionment nearly resulted in
    changing the town's name from Maynard to Assabet.
    
    Prosperity returned in 1899 when the American Woolen Company, an
    industrial giant, bought the Assabet Mills and began to expand them,
    adding most of the structures now standing.  The biggest new unit
    was Building 5, 610 feet long which contained more looms than any
    other woolen mill in the world.  Building 1, completed in 1918, is 
    the newest; the mill pond had been drained to permit construction of
    its foundation.  These buildings have little decoration, but their
    massiveness is emphasized by the buttress-like brick columns between
    their windows.
    
    The turn of the century saw a changeover from gas to electric lights
    at the mill.  Until the 1930's the mill generated not only its own
    power but also electricity for Maynard and several other towns.  For
    years the mill used 40-cycle current.  Into the late 1960's power 
    produced by a water wheel was used for outdoor lighting, including 
    DIGITAL's Christmas tree near Main Street.  The complex system of 
    shafts and belts once used to distribute power from a central source
    was rendered obsolete by more efficient small electric motors, just
    as inexpensive minicomputers have often replaced terminals tied to
    one large processor. 
    
    As the mill grew, so did the town.  Even in 1871, the nearly 2,000 
    people who became Maynard's first citizens outnumbered the people
    left in either Sudbury or Stow.  Maynard's first population almost
    doubled in the decade between 1895 and 1905, when reached nearly 
    7,000 people.  Most of the workers lived in houses owned by the
    company, many of which have been refurbished and are used today.
    The trains that served th town and the mill, however, are long
    gone- the depot site is now occupied by a gas station.
    
    Most of the original mill workers had been local Yankees and Irish
    immigrants.  But by the early 1900's, the Assabet Mills were
    employing large numbers of newcomers from Finland, Poland, Russia
    and Italy.  The latest arrivals were often escorted to their relatives
    or friends by obliging post office workers.  The immigrants made
    Maynard a bustling, multi-ethnic community while Stow, Sudbury and
    Acton remained small, rural villages.  Farmers and their families 
    rode the trolley to Maynard to shop and to visit urban attractions
    then unknown in their own towns, including barrooms and movie houses.
    
    Wages were low and the hours were long.  Early payrolls show wages of 
    four cents an hour for a sixty hour week.  Ralph Sheridan of the 
    Maynard Historical Society confirms that in 1889 his eldest brother
    was making 5 1/2 cents an hour in the mill's rag shop at the age of
    fourteen, while their father was earning 16 1/2 cents per hour in the
    boiler room.  (As of 1891 one-eighth of the workers were less than 16
    years old, and one-quarter were women.)
    
    Sheridan's own first job at the mill, in the summer of 1915, paid 
    $6.35 for a work week limited to 48 hours by child labor laws.  The
    indestructible "bullseye" safe still remains in the old Office
    Building.
    
    Sheridan remembers the bell that was perched on top of Building 3:
    
    	"...the whistle on the engine room gave one blast at 
    	quarter of the hour, and then at about five minutes
    	of the hour the gave one blast again.  And everyone
    	was supposed to be inside the gate when that second
     	whistle blew.  And then at one minute of the hour
    	this bell rang just once, a quick ring- and we 
    	referred to it as "The Tick" because of that.....
    	everybody was supposed to start work at that time,
    	at that moment."
    
    A worker was sent home if he'd forgotten to wear his employee's
    button, marked "A.W.Co.,Assabet".
    
    The millhands really had to work, too.  Sheridan recalls one winter
    evening when there was such a rush to get out an order of cloth for
    Henry Ford that the men were ordered to invoice it from the warehouse,
    now Building 21, instead of from the usual shipping room:
    
    	"There was no heat in the building, never had been.  
    	And it was so cold that I remember that I had to cut 
    	the forefinger and the thumb from the glove that I 
    	was wearing in order to handle the pencil to do the
    	invoicing....the yard superintendant at the time brought
    	in some kerosene lanterns and put 'em under our chairs
    	to keep our feet warm."
    
    
    Building 21, built out over the pond, remained unheated until DIGITAL
    took it over.
    
    
    As in most Northern mill towns, labor relations were often troubled.
    In 1911 the company used Poles to break the strike of Finnish workers.
    When no longer able to play off one nationality against another,
    management for years took advantage of rivalries between different
    unions.  The Great Depression hit the company hard, however.  In 1934
    it sold all the houses it owned, mostly to the employees who lived in
    them; and New Deal labor laws encouraged the workers to form a single
    industrial union, which joined the C.I.O.
    
    World War II brought a final few years of good times to the woolens
    industry.  The mill in Maynard operated around the clock with over 
    two thousand employees producing such items as blankets and cloth
    for overcoats for the armed forces.  But when peace returned, the
    long-term trends resumed their downward drift, and in 1950 the 
    American Woolen Company shut down its Assabet Mills entirely.  Like
    many New England mills, Maynard's had succumbed to a combination of
    Southern and foreign competition, relatively high costs and low
    productivity, and the growing use of synthetic fibers.
    
    'Til then a one-industry town, Maynard was in trouble.  In 1953,
    however, ten Worcester businessmen bought the mill and began leasing
    space to tenants, some of which were established firms, while others
    were just getting started.  One of the new companies which found the
    low cost of Maynard Industries' space appealing was Digital Equipment
    Corporation, which started operations in 8,680 square feet in the
    mill in 1957.
    
    While the present mill buildings were constructed over a period of 
    nearly sixty years, DIGITAL grew so fast that only seventeen years
    after its incorporation it bought the whole mill complex.  After 
    becoming sole owner in 1974, DIGITAL moved to take over space still
    occupied by other firms once their leases had run out.  As of early
    1977, only two tenants remain.
    
    Now that DIGITAL owns the mill, it has found that improving the 
    property can pay.  DIGITAL's business is computers, not renovations
    for the sake of renovating.  Thus, large areas of the original 
    brickwork, which for years had been hidden by paint, have recently
    been exposed.  And where before all had been battleship grey, dirty
    off-white and powder blue, now pipes and utility cables stand out
    in bright contrast to the massive beams and columns.
    
    Since the buildings had to provide large interiors for textile
    machinery, they offer flexibility to meet DIGITAL's changing
    requirements.  Use of new "modular" office furniture and improvements
    to the telephone wiring system will make future moves and
    rearrangements within the mill even easier, faster and cheaper.
    
    The cost of redoing portions of the mill to produce comfortable,
    modern workplaces remains far lower than that of building equivalent
    new facilities, let alone trying to duplicate the mill at today's
    prices.
    
    Moreover, the very age of the mill makes possible certain operational
    savings which more recent construction has in many cases unfortunately
    precluded.  Once deteriorated sashes are fixed or replaced, breezes
    from the windows, helped along at times by fans, can save energy-
    and money- on all but the hottest days.
    
    The relatively large size of the mill's windows allows reduction
    of lighting costs.  Some areas, such as the third floor of Building
    12, have skylights that provide the same benefit.  Standards for
    rearranging offices require that, so far as possible, partitions
    not interfere with natural light and air circulation.
    
    DIGITAL has left the exteriors of its buildings largely unaltered.
    In some ways, though, the mill area looks better than ever.
    American Woolen's huge and dirty coal pile by the boiler house is
    gone.  And while the Assabet River once was colored with the residue
    from the mills dyeing plant, DIGITAL is painstakingly careful with
    the leftovers from its electroplating operations.  Sophisticated
    antipollution equipment not only keeps the river water clean, but
    also saves money by recovering precious metals.
    
    Savings from another sort of recycling, the reuse of paper, is also
    encouraged.
    
    As a company, DIGITAL has found that making full use of the old 
    buildings that were its birthplace to be well worthwhile.
    
    ------------------------------------------------
    Regards,
    Frank
    	
    

    Frank, when I would drive by the Mill with my grandmother in the car
    she would often remark, "It must be nice to work there now that they
    have electricity."  She also liked the way the area was planted where
    the coal pile used to be (by the gate on Walnut St.).
    
    Karen
    

    The following is taken from the "History of Maynard, 1871-1971"
    
    Origin of Street Names:
    
    "Dean, Warren, and Walcott Streets were named for persons who were
    the first to build on them.  Pine Street was so named on account of
    a growth of pines on the west side; Harriman Court for the Harriman
    family, who owned considerable property on the court; Thompson Street
    for Aaron S. Thompson, who owned most of the land in the vicinity;
    Parker Street for William T. Parker, who owned the Paper Mill and
    other adjacent property; Elm Street because of a large Elm Tree in
    front of No. 9, the old Parker homestead; Brooks Street for Silas
    P. Brooks, who owned the land before it was cut into house lots.
    Tremont and Brown Streets were named by Warren A. Haynes, who 
    purchased and cut up a section of the Ezekial Brown place; and
    Haynes Street was named for himself.  Everett Street was named by
    Hiram Curtis of Everett, owner of the land, and a former representative
    of the General Court.  Percival Street was named for John Percival from
    whom Amory Maynard purchased the land for building purposes.  Florida
    Road was named by Luke S. Brooks, owner of the land, and perhaps in
    memory of his pleasant winters in Florida.  The streets on Maynard's
    hill were given their names by C.F. Monks, the real estate dealer who
    purchased the property and laid out Bancroft, Chandler, Dartmouth,
    Elmwood and Fairfield Streets.
    
    In 1901, the Reardon farm and in 1902 the Mahoney farm were purchased
    by the American Woolen Company, it erected one hundred and twenty 
    tenaments, with their own sewerage system.  The streets were named 
    after Presidents of the United States - Harrison, McKinley, Roosevelt,
    Cleveland, Hayes, Arthur, Grant and Garfield.  This section of the
    town was at one time known as "Reardonville" and "Mahoneyville", but
    with the laying out of streets and building houses it became known
    as the "New Village".  In 1918, the Gorham Brown farm was purchased 
    by the American Woolen Company, tenaments built, and one of the new
    streets named for Frank J. DeMars, the first Maynard man to fall in
    battle in World War 1.  Forrest Street was named for Forrest Holt,
    son-in-law of Gorham Brown.
    
    In 1921, a new section of the town was opened up on the south side
    of Great Road, on the old Augustus P. Newton property.  Five of the
    streets were named for persons who were old residents in that section
    of town- Espie, Driscoll, O'Moore, Sheridan and White."
    
    As an added note, I grew up on Thomas Street, which I understand was
    named for the lawyer who worked for Silas Brooks.
    
    As for Sherman Street, the "History of Maynard" seems to say that
    the street was named for a man named Sherman who regularly brought
    moving picture shows to Maynard in the 1903-1909 period.
    
    There is no reference to Burnside Street or it's origin.
    
    Frank

    During the process of building the addition to the Green Meadow
    School, the Town had the opportunity to add a much needed recreation
    field to accomodate the increased enrollment in the Green Meadow
    Facility.  As a member of the School Building Committee, I paid
    particular interest in the construction of this field, which is
    located to the left of the school, up the driveway leading to the
    town well.
    
    It was decided to name this field for Don Lent.  A monument,
    similar to the Father Crowe Park monument, has been designed,
    manufactured, and delivered to the town.
      
    Since the date for installation of the monument and dedication of 
    the field may occur during the summer, and may be missed by some,
    here is my dedication which will be part of the ceremony:
    
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    
    DONALD A. LENT
    1896-1978
    
    Don Lent graduated from Maynard High School in 1916.  An outstanding
    athlete and student, he is today, 74 years later, still regarded as 
    the FINEST athlete in Maynard High School history.  Period.
    
    He graduated from the University of Massachusetts in 1921, where he
    earned FOUR varsity letters and was named the All New England Football
    Player of the year in 1920.
    
    After graduation, he played professional and semi-pro baseball in 
    the American Association, the Eastern League, the New England League
    and for the Maynard Town Team.
    
    In 41 years of service to the Town of Maynard, Don Lent served as
    Selectman, School Superintendent, Public Works Superintendent,
    Teacher and Coach.  In 1933, he headed the local Community Garden
    effort in the height of the Depression.  Using the Town's Steam
    Roller for cooking, over 6,000 cans of vegetables were produced that
    first year for the winter use of the needy of the Town.
    
    Don Lent was appointed coach of the Maynard High School football,
    baseball, and basketball teams in 1925, in addition to teaching
    math, science and biology.  He continued to serve as both Coach and
    Teacher until 1932, leading all three teams to Midland League and
    Middlesex League Championships.
    
    As Selectman, he was instrumental in the establishment of the first
    permanent Police Department and Public Works Departments.  He directed
    the improvements in the Town's water and sewer systems and, using
    WPA workers, restored the White Pond watershed.
    
    In 1928, he headed an effort that resulted in the construction of 
    Alumni Field, the Field House, the Rink, and the Tennis Courts.
    Utilizing students (including my father), Don Lent built the track
    around the Football field using cinders from the Mill.  He oversaw
    the construction of the Crowe Park Bandstand and the layout of the
    Glenwood Cemetery.
    
    As a Selectman, he directed the purchase of 95 acres of land from
    the Eveleth Estate on Great Road.  Today, Maynard High School,
    the Green Meadow School and Don Lent Field now stand on this land.
    
    It is both fitting and long overdue that the citizens of Maynard
    thank Don Lent for his lifetime achievments and dedication to the
    of Maynard by naming this field in his honor and his memory.
    
    Someday, may another DON LENT play on this field. 
     
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    
    Just thought you'd like to know.
    
    Frank

    What about Hillside St,Oak and Summit.
    
    
    Also whatwas the out come of the trestle that runs next to building 1?
    

    Why was Pomciticut St. (off of Summer) given its name? Summer St. turns
    into Pompositticut as you enter Stow. (Pompositticut Plantation was the
    early name for Stow.) It looks like the Maynard sign painters couldn't
    spell the whole name!

    My question too!!
    
    Now that I live on that side of town, in jogging on Summer Street
    I notice that spelling is different in Maynard than in Stow.
    
    From the "History of Maynard" it says that " the portion of Maynard
    which was formerly part of Stow was probably a section of of a tract
    mentioned as 'Pompasittakutt' (which means "a land of many hills")."
    
    So there appear to be three different spellings.  This is not unusual
    given the difficulty in translation from the long standing Indian
    words to English.  As examples, Nashawtuc/Nashawtuck are variations 
    used in Concord and Sudbury, and the spelling and origin of the 
    Assabet River (Assabeth, Assabaeth, Asibeth, Isabeth, Elsebeth,
    Assobet, Elizabeth, Elzibeth, Elzibet) are all found on early 
    maps and deeds.
    
    By the way whatever the name of the River that flows through Maynard,
    the original Indian meaning seems to be from the Alqonquin word which
    meant " the place where materials for making fishnets grows".
    
    Must have had an algae problem before we got here!!
    
    That's how Green Bay Wisconsin got it's name, too.
    
    Frank
    

    Frank, 
    
    How about a history of the old homes in Maynard?  I've seen many
    interesting older homes and often wondered what their history is.
    You're such a great resource I'm sure you could speel if off in
    no time!!!!???
    
    Debbie             
    

    I don't know much about the old homes in Maynard so I'll cheat 
    by using the "History of Maynard" as reference.
    
    It seems that everyone in Assabet Village (the original name of
    Maynard) was named Smith.  The John Smith family owned much of
    what is now Maynard in 1655.  His family built homesteads all
    around the present town.
    
    Of the houses still standing, perhaps the most significant is 
    the Asa Smith house, 84 Summer Hill Road, just up from Mill Street.
    This is where Amory Maynard first lived when he moved to Maynard 
    from Marlboro, his birthplace.  Amory was a direct descendant of
    John Smith.
    
    A few other Smith houses still standing include the Levi Smith house 
    on Great Road, the large yellow house between Thompson and Louise 
    Streets (the Mayes family lived there when I grew up); the William
    Smith House across from the Alumni Field Field House; the Dexter 
    Smith House on Concord Street (I think it's next to Fowler Kennedy's
    Funeral home); The Haman Smith House on Great Road ( we knew it as
    Irv Manning's House, now owned by the Bailey family); the George
    Smith House next door on the corner of Summer Hill Road ( I think
    the Hebert's live there).
    
    Other old Maynard Houses include the Brigham Farm on Great Road
    (this is known as Asparagus Farm and was owned by the Barber 
    family for years); the Silas Brooks House in the corner of Summer
    Street and Summer Hill Road ( built in 1764 and owned by Herb
    Torppa) and the George Brown House on Acton Street (which was 
    owned for many years by Sam Wade).
    
    Most of the earliest houses in what is now Maynard were in the
    present Government Land onLancaster Road and Puffer Road and
    are sadly long gone. TIt seems that were two routes through
    "Maynard", one being on the southern side from Sudbury Center,
    past Voses to the Stow Lower Village and including the first 
    bridge across the Assabet (now known as Russell's Bridge).  
    The other route did not involve a river crossing and was on the
    northern side of town using what is now Concord Street.  Most
    of the earlier houses were along these two routes before the
    Mill and downtown Maynard were established.
    
    Frank

    Today, Maynard has one new car dealership in Town- Great Road
    Dodge.  At one time, when I was young, there were five in the
    1950's.
    
    	Anderson Ford was started in 1947 as Honest Andy's and was 
    a used car lot at first at the site of the present McDonald's
    on Main Street.  Eventually a full service dealership was built
    on Glendale Street and the lot was moved to what is now Avis
    Rent-A-Car on Acton Street.  
    
    	Boeske Brothers had a Nash/Rambler/AMC dealership on Brown
    Street across from Shorettes for many years.
    
    	Barber Chevrolet was on the site Jarmo's near the Police
    Station.  This franchice eventually combined with Laffin's
    Chevrolet in Acton to form AC Chevrolet.
    
    	Yash Sokolowski had a Pontiac dealership on Powder Mill Road
    (now Ace Quick Oil Change).
    
    	By the way, Great Road Dodge is the oldest Dodge Dealer in 
    New England, having been in continuous business since 1924, and
    is still owned by the Coughlin Family.  And, yes, that's me and
    my family in the TV ads!  No plug intended....I paid for the
    Caravan!
    
    Frank

    As a member of the Maynard Charter Commission, I have done
    a fair amount of research into the history of the Town and
    thought it might be of interest to post the original Town
    Charter in this note.  Of particular interest might be the
    names of the original officers of the Town as they might
    just tie to some of our present street names:
    
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    			Town of Maynard
    		       Town Warrant No. 1
    
    
    I, Joseph W. Reed, one of the Justices of the Peace within and
    for the County of Middlesex, do issue the following warrant:
    
    
    "In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts you are hereby
    required to warn and notify Inhabitants of the Town of Maynard,
    qualified to vote in town affairs, to meet at Riverside Hall in
    said Town on Thursday, the twenty-seventh day of April current at
    one of the clock in the afternoon to act on the following articles,
    to wit:-
    
    	"First, to choose a moderator to preside at said meeting."
    
    	"Second, to choose all such town officers for the year ensuing,
    	as towns are by law authorized and required to choose at their
    	annual meeting."
    
    MAYNARD
    
    27 APRIL, 1871
    
    
    Mr. Asahel Balcom was unanimously chosen as Moderator.
    
    
    The following Town Officials were chosen:
    
    SELECTMEN:  Asahel Balcom, Henry Fowler, Jonathon Bent
    
    CLERK:  Eli Chase
    
    TREASURER AND COLLECTOR:  Lorenzo Maynard
    
    ASSESSORS:  Asahel Balcom, Artemas Whitney, Benjamin Conant
    
    CONSTABLES:  Fred Fletcher, Artemas Whitney, Benjamin Conant
    
    SCHOOL COMMITTEE:  John Vose, John Hillis, William Harding
    
    FIELD DRIVERS:  Benjamin Smith, Hollis Balcom
    
    FENCE VIEWERS:  Joel Abbott, Jonathon Bent, Silas Brooks
    
    HIGHWAY SURVEYORS:  Thomas Brooks, Artemas Whitney, Henry Fowler
    
    SURVEYORS OF LUMBER:  Abel Haynes, Asahel Balcom, B.R. Moore,
    	Samuel Potter, J.H. Allen
    
    FIRE WARDENS:  George Cutting, J.K. Harriman, William Cullen.
    
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    
    Sad to say, the second charter, which we are now writing, will
    be a tad more complex than the first (over 1100 hours of research
    and development so far, and still going!!)
    
    Frank  

    A couple of observations:
    
    It looks like Mr. Balcom was a busy man.  Also, I could see how some
    people could have fun with his first name, if he wasn't well liked!
    
    Field drivers?  Anyone know what their primary function was?  Was this 
    the beginning of the DPW?
    
    Fence viewers!  Would these have been the equivalent of the planning
    or zoning board?
    
    Surveyors of Lumber - Building inspectors?
    
    It's kind of a shame that life today couldn't be as simple as it appeared
    with this example of town government, but obviously there is a price to
    pay for progress.
    
    Thanks for putting this info in, Frank.  Interesting stuff.
    
    					Steve
                                             

re .33:    
>    Fence viewers!  Would these have been the equivalent of the planning
>    or zoning board?
    
    Have you ever wondered whether your neighbor's fence is really on his
    property or yours?  It is the job of a fence viewer to decide.

    Did you notice that William Cullen was one of the original Fire
    Wardens? I wouldn't have guessed he was that old...  He should have
    made use of this information when he ran for selectman.
    
    Let's all show up a library trustees meeting and give Bill a hard time
    about it.
    
    -Steve

    Frank, Any mention of Guyer Fowler in your History of Maynard? 
    I know he was a well known person in Maynard, as you probably know
    he has a street & school named after him.  He owned quite a bit
    of land in Maynard, my parents & their neighbors purchased the land
    for their homes from him.
    
    Also is "History of Maynard" still available, this would be a perfect
    gift for my father. 
                       
    Debbie

    RE: .35
    
    During the Junior High School Achievement Awards Night Ceremony, Bob
    Brooks, Principal of the Junior High, announced that effective July
    1, 1990, the Fowler Junior High would be renamed the Fowler Middle
    School. (In case you were wondering where the School sign went, the
    Industrial Arts class is using the back of the sign to engrave the
    new name, and the Shop teacher took it home for the summer to complete
    the work).
    
    Mr. Brooks offered the following brief history of Guyer Fowler, for
    whom the School is named.  
    
    	"Guyer Weston Fowler was a prominent Maynard businessman 
    	and servant of the community.  He was one of the first 
    	commanders of the Frank J. DeMars Post, American Legion,
    	and he also held many town offices which included Board
    	of Health, Assessors, and Cemetary Commissioner.  He was
    	a member of the Board of Managers of the Middlesex County
    	National Bank and was Director of the former Maynard Trust
    	Company.  He served eight years as President of the Assabet
    	Institution of Savings.  He was very active in Boy Scout
    	work and many other youth related programs.
    
    	Mr. Fowler was one that rediated cheer and friendship every-
    	where and his interest in the well-being of his fellow man
    	knew no bounds and his acts of generosity were known far and
    	wide.  He always displayed a keen interest in the youth of 
    	the town who were desirous of furthering their education and
    	assisted many in securing their college education.  He was a
    	true citizen who was always ready to lend a helping hand and 
    	through his lifetime gave freely of his time and energies with
    	only one thought in mind, that of making his home town a better
    	place in which to live"
    
    From the "History of Maynard" come these notes about Guyer Fowler:
    
    	His grandfather, Henry Fowler, was one of the original signers
    of the petition requesting incorporation for the Town of Maynard.
    The top of the petition reads "Petition of Henry Fowler and others
    for Incorporation of a new Town to be called the Town of Maynard".
    
    	On Memorial Day, 1929, a permanent Honor Roll was dedicated to
    for the Maynard men and women who served in World War 1.  It was
    donated by Guyer Fowler and his brother Henry.  This is now part
    of the Memorial Park.  
    
    	His mother, Mrs. Orrin Fowler, was the first president of the
    American Legion Ladies Auxiliary, in 1920.
    
    	During World War II, Guyer Fowler was the Chief Air Raid Warden
    for the Town.  This was a VERY important position at the time.
    
    	In 1934 the Maynard Tennis Association was formed and played on
    Guyer Fowler's tennis court at the end of Brooks Street.
    
    Frank
    
    	   

    The "History of Maynard" that I refer to now and then was published 
    by the Maynard Historical Committee in 1971, on the occasion of the
    centennial of the incorporation of the Town.  It is a great book,
    full of pictures and facts about the town from the first grant to
    the town of Sudbury in 1658 up to the preparations for the 1971
    celebration.  It was published in a limited, numbered edition of
    four hundred hard bound (I am fortunate to have #393) and 600 soft
    bound copies.  Therefore, sadly, there are no copies available for
    purchase today.
    
    HOWEVER, I believe the Maynard Library has at least one copy in the
    Reference Section.  
    
    If Maynard History interests you, and you have some time, there is
    an unmarked, file cabinet in the Library, around the corner on the
    left side of the main door, that is chock full of Maynard history,
    including town reports, studies, history books, etc.  I have spent
    many hours digging through old records as part of my Charter Commission
    mission, researching various departments and town meeting actions.
    Be advised that once you start looking, you can get carried away,
    and end up looking up who was born on your birthday, what your
    sister looked like in her yearbook, or what your house was assessed
    at in 1946....  (I've done all of these).  Bring a fist full of 
    change, since the items in the cabinet cannot be loaned out, but 
    can be copied on the Library machine at 15 cents a page.  The other
    day, I was researching a Charter Commission issue in the old Town
    Reports and ended up reading the history of the Maynard, Concord
    and Hudson Street Railway.  The car barns, by the way, still exist
    and are known as the Mill Pond Building and St. Casimar's Church.
    
    Sorry, got carried away again.
    
    Frank 

    Among the items I inherited from my Father was the following article
    from the Boston Herald, dated November 4, 1956, which, yellowed and
    crumpled as it may be, is a reminder to me that our future is but a
    mirror of our past.  All the problems that we now face in Maynard 
    in the Prop 2 1/2 era have been seen before by our parents and grand
    parents and, given that we today have the same community spirit and
    fight that our ancestors had, there is no reason why we cannot both
    survive and prosper in the future, in spite of the present fiscal 
    problems confronting our Town and all towns in the Commonwealth.
    
    		  " SEEING IT THROUGH OURSELVES" 
                      PUT MAYNARD BACK ON FEET
    
                        BOSTON SUNDAY HERALD
                          NOVEMBER 4, 1956
    
                         By Arthur Stratton
    
    
    MAYNARD, Nov. 3- This is one of the smallest towns in the state-
    5.35 square miles- with the biggest of industrial achievements.
    
    Three years ago it was flat on its economic back, its principal 
    industry, a giant xtile mill, closed tight and all hands out of
    work.
    
    Today 94 percent of that mill space is humming with 40 diversived
    industries and nearly 2200 men and women have year round employment.
    
    The ups and downs of a single industry no longer can make or break
    this Middlesex County community.  Its economy is cushioned nicely 
    with diversified products ranging from plastics to electronics,
    from paper to chemicals.
    
    Steady, well-filled pay envelopes, not only for residents of this
    town but for those in the nearby communities such as the Actons,
    Stow, Sudbury, Boxboro and Concord, are reflected in the bustling 
    shopping and trading area, in the spacious parking lots and in the
    new schools and other public buildings.
    
    It now has a traffic problem and it revels in it.  The memory of 
    once barren streets, as the townspeople drove elsewhere for jobs,
    and there was no money with which to go down town shopping nights
    and Saturdays, still lingers.
    
    HOW IT HAPPENED
    
    How was it all accomplished?  Not by having the federal government
    declare the town a distressed labor area.  Not by sitting around 
    waiting for unemployment checks.  It was accomplished, as Maynard
    residents now relate"By deciding to see the thing through our-
    selves."
    
    The town was plunged into unemployment and adversity when the gates
    of the Assabet Mill, the economic mainstay of the community, were 
    closed for good as a textile plant.  Here were 1,100,000 square feet 
    of manufacturing space idle.
    
    The only solution to returning industry to Maynard seemed to be to 
    gain possession of the mill property.  It was attractively laid out
    for newer industries, as its big floor space was distributed over
    20 odd buildings.
    
    A private corporation was formed, mostly by Worcester interests who
    possessed the necessary capital.  Headed by Louis P. Pemstein, the
    group organized the Maynard Industries Inc.  It purchchased the mill
    property for $200,000.
    
    About July 1, 1953, it gained its first tenant.  This was after all
    hands "sold" the town's location.  It was midway between Boston and
    Worcester, they stressed. Transportation was good.  There was adequate
    water and power.  About 70,000 persons lived within a 10-mile radius
    and skilled workers were in abundance.   Rentals were low.
    
    In 17 months more than 30 industries occupied 72 per cent of the space
    and employeed 600 to 800 persons.  The new tenants comprised a plastics
    concern, a wool bag company, a hose and rubber concern, a corporation
    making containers, a mill work, a publishing compy, an upholstery
    firm and others.
    
    While local organizations pushed and promoted, Maynard Industries,
    Inc., with its vigorous manager, Irving Burg, took care of the 
    management, and an up-and-coming industrial real estate agent, A.I.
    Rome, assumed the job of exclusive agent.
    
    It was Rome who leased the 94 per cent of the space.  He arranged 
    leases with such firms as Bradley Container Corp., Draper Wool,
    Raytheon Manufacturing Co., Admiral Shoe, Capital Plastics, and
    others equally well-known in the business world.
    
    The Massachusetts Department of Commerce joined th fight, briefing
    various industries here and outside the state at every opportunity
    about the excellent prospects in Maynard.
    
    Now 1,024,000 of the 1,100,000 square feet of floor space is occupied.
    
    Of course, the town had a highly co-operative attitudetoward new
    industry.  It was willing to spend money to improve services to the
    mill.  The welcome mat really still goes out to any prospective 
    industry.
    
    The Chamber of Commerce went after the parking lot.  It was responsible
    to a substantial degree for the fostering of the favorable attitude 
    toward industry.  It sponsored an essay contest: "How Can We Aid The
    Progress of Industry In Our Town?".
    
    When the new industries got settled in their local quarters, the 
    Chamber of Commerce sponsored an industrial week,  It invited the
    town's new leaders to a big dinner in appreciation for their coming
    to Maynard.  
    
    Druggist Irving Manning told them "to let those individual new
    businessmen know Maynard is glad they came here and to tell them that 
    if there is anything we can do help them, we want to do it."
    
    
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    
    Frank

    I have been talking about Watering Troughs lately and can't seem
    to spot any others in neighboring towns, so I dug into my trusty
    "History of Maynard" book to get some background on our beautiful
    monuments:
    
    	"On March 14, 1881, a committee of two, Joseph Hapgood 
    	and George Flood, was appointed to consider the matter
    	of public watering troughs.  Since then the town has
    	received four.
    
    	In 1888, Lorenzo Maynard erected one at the corner of
    	Nason and Main Streets.  This was presented to the town
    	in 1891.  In 1915, Nason Street was widened from Main
    	Street to Summer Street and the watering trough was
    	relocated to the foot of Walnut Street, where it remained
    	until parking meters were installed in 1951, at which
    	time it was removed to the public works garage.  At the
    	request of the Maynard Historical Society, and with the
    	full support of the board of selectmen, fire department,
    	police department and public works department it was
    	re-located in front of the Fire and Police Station on
    	June 25, 1969.
    
    	Mrs. Asahel Balcom had one erected in 1892 at the crossroads
    	at Great Road and Parker Street where it stands today.  Also
    	in 1892, Thomas H. Rafferty was given permission to erect 
    	one on Main Street near the Sudbury Street railroad crossing.
    	According to Gutteridge's "History of Maynard" this one was
    	first made spherical for one of the battlefields, but before
    	leaving the shop was damaged and Rafferty obtained it.  In	
    	April 1894, the town voted to accept the gift of this 
    	memorial fountain, together with a sum of $200.00 for its
    	maintenance.  (This sum now amounts to approximately $600.00
        according to the 1969 Town Report).
    
    	At town meeting on June 27, 1904 it was voted to accept the
    	watering trough, the gift of the late Warren A. Haynes; to
    	remove a watering trough owned by Mr. Haynes at the corner 
    	of Cornord and Tremont Streets and re-locate it at the 
    	corner of Concord and Acton Streets.  Today only the base
    	of this one remains at the site.
    
    	While these watering troughs no longer serve the purpose 
    	for which they were originally intended- for horses, dogs
    	and human beings to quench their thirst- they still stand
    	as mementos of the past, and as memorials to the families
    	who donated them to the town."
    
    It seems to me that another trough base sits at Great Road and
    Mill Street.  Another question in a growing list for the 
    Historical Society.........
    
    Frank  

    As a footnote to .39 about the watering throughs, after typing
    in the note, I had to check out one part that was bothering me.
    Sure enough, there is more than just the base at the Haynes 
    Memorial.  Sure looks to me like a complete monument.....
    
    Not sure what's going on.  How did the top of the monument show
    up after being reported gone in the 1971 book???
    
    Stay tuned.....
    
    Frank
    
    

    On the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of the death of
    Amory Maynard, which was missed by everyone on March 5, 1990,
    I am entering a brief history of the Maynard family, taken from 
    the "History of Maynard" published by the Maynard Historical
    Society in 1971:
    
    	" Amory Maynard was born in the northeast part of
    	Marlborough, at the foot of Fort Pond, February 28,
    	1804, son of Isaac and Lydia (Howe) Maynard.  He
    	left school at the age of fourteen to enter the
    	sawmill owned by his father at Fort Meadow, and also
    	helped on the farm.  The father died when Amory was
    	sixteen and the boy took charge of the business,
    	carrying it on successfully.  He also took on building
    	and contracting, and within a short time was employing
    	about sixty men.  When the City of Boston took over 
    	Fort Meadow Pond for water supply, the sawmill lost its
    	rights, and Amory turned to Assabet Village for further
    	operation.
    
    	On January 26, 1826 he married Mary P. Priest, daughter
    	of Benjamin and Phebe Priest of Marlborough.  He was 
    	called to his reward on March 5, 1890, and his remains
    	together with those of his wife lie in the family tomb,
    	which was erected in 1880 near Elmwood Cemetery.
    
    	When he first came to the village he resided on Summer 
    	Hill Lane, now Summer Hill Road.  Later, he resided at
    	what is now 145 Main Street, and his son Lorenzo at 147
    	Main Street.
    
    	In 1873, Amory built a fine residence on the hill, at 
    	first called Beechmont Avenue, now Dartmouth Street.
    	Soon after, Lorenzo built nearby on the same street.
    	These fine residences with their spacious grounds made
    	a beautiful picture.  The estates have long since been
    	cut up into house lots and covered with dwellings.  The
    	residence of Amory was destroyed by an early morning 
    	fire on July 29, 1965.  The barn to this estate is now
    	an apartment house at 7-9 Elmwood Street.  Lorenzo's
    	residence is still standing near the lower end of 
    	Dartmouth Street.  This also has been made into an
    	apartment house, as is the barn nearby.
    
    	Lorenzo was associated with his father in the conduct 
    	of the Assabet Mills, and became Superintendent in 1885
    	when his father retired because of illness.  He was 
    	active in town affairs and held several town offices.
    	He moved to Winchester after the failure of the mills
    	and died there March 13, 1904.  He had one son, William H.
    
    	William, the second son of Amory, was assistant superintendent
    	of the mill until 1885, when he became ill, and upon 
    	recovery travelled to California.  Following his return
    	he settled in Worcester where he died November 6, 1906.
    	He had two sons, Amory and Harlan, and four daughters,
    	Nettie (Mrs. E.C. Van Etten), Lessie (Mrs. Paul Morgan),
    	Susan (Mrs. Warren S. Peters) and Grace.
    
    	Mary Peters, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Warren S. Peters,
    	and a granddaughter of Amory Maynard, married Frank E.
    	Sanderson who served as town clerk of Maynard for thirty-
    	six years.  Mr. Sanderson retired in 1949.  The Maynard
    	influence in town affairs had been carried on for more
    	than one hundred years.
    
    	There are no members of the Maynard family now living
    	in Maynard"
    
    Footnotes:
    
    1.  When I lived on Thompson Street, all the houses in the
    neighborhood smelled of smoke on hot, humid nights.  A long
    time resident said it was because of the fire that destroyed
    the Amory Maynard residence nearby.
    
    2.  Bill Hughes used to conduct wonderful tours of the Mill
    until his recent retirement.  One of his favorite Mill stories
    was about the day an elderly man walked into 5-4 and asked to
    take a look around.  After a couple of questions from June
    at the desk, Ken Olsen was called and the man was given a
    personal tour.  Turns out that the man was either the younger
    Amory or Harlan Maynard (Bill was not sure which).  In any
    event, after the lengthy tour, Mr. Maynard told Ken that his 
    grandfather would have been very thankful for what had been
    done for his Mill.
    
    3.  I had thought that the Mill had somehow retained the rights
    to Fort Meadow and that Digital had, in the past few years,
    given water rights back to Marlborough and Hudson.  I know that
    Digital still has rights to the Ben Smith Dam and perhaps all
    the way to Lake Boon.  Anyone have more accurate information?
    
    4.  Lorenzo Maynard's most significant accomplishment, in my
    opinion, has to be the construction of the "Town Clock" which
    was dedicated to the people of Maynard in honor of his father
    in 1892.
    
    Frank 

The way I heard it, coal cars would be rolled out onto this siding and
the coal would be dumped into the pond.  It seems that when coal is
stored in an environment of air, it tends to burn.  So to reduce the
possibility of an accidental fire, the coal was stored under water.  
When needed, it would be scooped up and rolled on down to the powerplant.

    To tie the notes together, 2.* discusses the Millpond.
    
    Re coal in air.
    
    I grew up in a house heated by coal, "pea" coal, about the size of
    a garden pea.  It was stored loose, in a coal bin.  Coal is just not
    that flammable.  Trust me.  Relighting the furnace was a job, even
    with a propane torch...
    
    About the only time there is a risk is with finely divided coal dust,
    but ANY finely divided dust is a hazard.
    
    Literally hundreds of trains, up to a hundred cars each, of coal, are
    in motion at any time in the US.  Never heard of any fires.  The most
    likely explanation, as noted,  was that the pond spur allowed receipt of
    more cars at once, with resulting "cheaper in bulk" pricing.
    
    A secondary benefit to having the cars out of the mill yard was less
    coal dust to dirty the product.  Its possible that the cars were kept
    watered down, to "lay the dust".
    
    thanks
    dwp
    (ex Millrat & Railfan)

    I know that I have an action item to get an answer to the "rail
    siding" along Building #1, and I have not forgotten, just haven't
    been able to round up Ralph Sheridan (local historian) to get the
    answer as to what it was for.  It sure is there, however, as you
    can see it from the sluceway/dam and from the upper floors of 
    Buildings 1 and 21.  The pipe cradle that goes from the sluceway to 
    the makeshift dam is not yet visible, but may be soon, as the pond
    will be going down further as work on the foundation of Building
    21 begins.
    
    I have serious doubts that coal or ashes were dumped into the pond.
    Since the pond was the source of water power for the mill, dumping
    anything into the pond, and potentially plugging up the sluceway
    would be like dumping your lawn clippings into your swimming pool.
    
    There are many known ash dumps in Maynard that were owned by the 
    Mill, including land behind the Green Meadow School.  The dirt road
    that runs between the Green Meadow and Don Lent Field to the present
    Town Well was an old cart road and there are still traces of both
    cinders and wool along the roadway.  If anyone wants a souvenir of
    the Mill, take a noon-time walk up the road and pick up a piece
    of coal or wool from the roadway.  The dumping of wool sludge stopped
    in the early part of the century after some of the wool caught fire
    and burned for days and days underground.  When we were building Don 
    Lent Field we found a lot of wool along that road that had spilled off
    the carts.
      
    I could buy the theory of the rail siding for car storage or the
    theory of a staging trestle being built for construction of Buildings 
    #1 and 21 (remember that the pond had to be drained and work along the 
    pond side would be rather difficult in the muck), but the dumping of 
    anything into the pond seems improbable to me.  
    
    The end of the rail line led to the boiler room and stopped near
    the area now covered with shrubs beside the chimney.  There was 
    a triangular bumper as a stop in this area.  A chute for the bottom 
    dumping cars created a large pile of coal near the chimney.  My 
    grandfather, Hugh McGovern, operated the steam shovel that fed the 
    coal into the boiler house.  Since the railroad ran regular schedules, 
    I can't see why the Mill would clog up the yard with coal cars that 
    would interfere with incoming wool and outgoing finished goods. Also
    remember that they would have had to pay for the rental of the cars,
    which doesn't seem to be in the Yankee tradition.
    
    By the way, when the United Co-Op ran their Coal business, they
    had a five bay barn along side the tracks exactly where the Dunn
    Building is now.  Cars would be sided into the barn and their contents 
    bottom dumped into one of the bays, by category of coal and/or coke.  
    The metal chutes were fun to slide down after school, until you
    realized that your mother would kill you for coming home rotten dirty....
    
    Further down, the Maynard Coal Company ran a much smaller, open
    chute system, across the parking lot from the presently idle
    Assabet Village Mall.  The Maynard Coal Company Office, where
    John's Tuxedo Rental is today, used to have a huge hunk of coal,
    probably a 200 pound chunk, in their window for years.  Anybody
    else remember it?
    
    When I get the answer to the Mill siding, I'll publish it here.  
    This is beginning to become a priority rather than a curiosity...
    
    Frank
                                             

    I talk to Ralph Sheridan about the siding. An he told me that it was
    used to hold the empty coal cars after they where dumped where the AC
    units are by the boiler room.
    art

    
      RE: .44  200-pound chunk of coal
    
        You could probably ask the owner of the package store in that
    block, I believe he owns that block or at least owned the space
    where the oil company was located.  He may know what happened to
    it,  or put you onto a good trail.  I believe his name is Frank.
    
        Mark
    

    Mark, thanks for the note.  I wasn't looking for the chunk of 
    coal, just wondering if anyone else remembered it.  As a kid,
    it was awesome.
    
    The owner of the package store is John Zancewicz.  His late 
    brother, Walter, operated the Maynard Coal Company.  Their
    father ran the Old Timers Cafe on the site.  John traded the
    liquor license for a package store license tt belonged to
    Tom King's Package Store, which was located in the Gruber 
    Furniture Building.  I don't know where the liquor license ended
    up.  
    
    Frank

    The name Sheiks may be a strange one to many, but in the early 
    part of this century, the Sheiks nickname was as familiar to 
    Maynard residents as the name Tigers is today.  The name Sheik,
    meaning an Arab King, was used many times in the 20's as a 
    nickname for Maynard's semi-pro baseball, hockey and most
    importantly, football teams.  
    
    From the "History of Maynard" comes the following:
    
    	" Town football under the aegis of the Sheiks, organized by
    Adolph Chysus and Albert Cowles, became a reality in 1927.  This
    was followed by the Sheiks' baseball team the following year.  
    Albert Lerer and Aarne "Bummy" Frigard coached the football team.
    That year also a Sheiks' hockey team was hosted on the Mill Pond, made
    up of Adolph and George Chysus, William, Peter and John Johnston,
    Harold Morgan, Andrew Fardy, Ralph Sheridan, and John Crotty.  The
    Sheiks disintegrated during the great depression".
    
    For a kid growing up in Maynard in the 20's and 30's the Sheiks 
    were larger than life, much like our Red Sox and Patriots are today.
     
    Frank
    

    For those who did not get a chance to receive a program book at the
    100th Anniversary Parade & Muster, inside was a Brief History of the
    Maynard Fire Department.  Here it is......
    
    Prior to the organization of a Fire Department the only firefighting
    equipment owned by the Town were a couple of ladders stored in a shed
    owned by the Mill, located on the site of the present Post Office. 
    These were chained and padlocked together to prevent unauthorized use.
    
    Special Town Meeting of January 1, 1890, voted to formaaly organize a
    Fire Department and voted to expend $6,000 dollars for a building and
    $2,000 dollars for equipment.  The orginal appropriation was to equip
    the Fire Department with a Hose Wagon and a Ladder Wagon, fully
    equipped, both fitted out to be drawn by ahnd or with horses.
    
    March 19, 1890, a Hose Company was organized consisting of 15 men.
    
    April 29, 1890, a Hook and Ladder Company of 20 men were organized.
    
    May 30, 1890, the Hose Wagon was delivered.  As the station was not
    ready, it was stored in a shed owned by the Mill, located on the site
    of the present Post Office.
    
    On August 29, 1890, when the Ladder Wagon was delivered the Hose Wagon
    was moved to a shed in the rear of the Congregational Church and the
    Ladder Wagon was put in the shed owened by the Mill.
    
    The new station on Nason Street was occupied on January 29, 1891. 
    Present site of the Paper Store.
    
    During the first few years, the wagons were pulled by hand with ropes. 
    Gradually, livery stable horses were hired.  By 1900, a single horse
    pulled the Hose Wagon and a pair of horses for the Ladder Wagon. 
    Drop harnesses were installed in the station at this time.
    
    In 1903, Tony Collins was appointed permanet driver of the Hose Wagon
    and the horse was bought for $250 dollars.
    
    On February 4, 1914, our first motor fire truck was delivered at a cost
    of $5,158 dollars.
    
    On January 2, 1924, the motorized ladder truck was deliverd at a cost
    of $6,500 dollars.
    
    In 1934, the Farrar Company (Hopkinton, MA) delivered a 1934
    International Pumper with a 400 gallon-per-minute front mount pump.
    
    On November 19, 1937, a 1938 Peter Pirsch Ladder truck with a 60 foot
    aerial ladder was delivered.  This was one of the first metal aerial
    ladders ever built.  The cost was $9,800 dollars.  On October 23, 1963,
    this truck was sold to Lyndonville, Vermont for $3,000 dollars.
    
    On August 8, 1949, the Farrar Company delivered another International
    Pumper with a 600 gallon-per-minute front mount pump.  This truck was
    sold to Digital Mill Complex in 1972 for $1.00 dollar.  To this date,
    the truck belongs to a private collector in Northboro, MA.
    
    Town meeting on November 15, 1954 appropriated $166,000 dollars to
    build a new building to house the Fire and Police Departments.  Total
    cost when finished was $144,115.44 and was dedicated on October 4,
    1955.
    
    In 1957, the Farrar Company delivred another Internation Pumper with a
    750 gallon-per-minute midship pump for $14,475 dollars.  In 1978, this
    truck was donated to the Massachusetts Fire Academy in Stow, MA.  It
    survived the fire at the Academy in the early 80's.  Its whereabouts is 
    unknown today.
    
    On October 17, 1963, the Peter Pirsch Company delivered a Ladder Truck
    with a 85 foot aerial Ladder.  The cost was $40,900 dollars.  In 1986,
    the ladder was traded to Greenwood Aparatus of Middleboro, MA and then
    re-sold to the Town of Sudbury, MA.  This was Sudbury's first Ladder
    Truck.  Today it is housed at the Route 20 fire station.
    
    On May 8, 1968, George F. Whalen was appointed the first permanent Fire
    Chief of the Maynard Fire Department.
    
    On November 21, 1968, the Farrar Company delivered a 1968 Ford with a
    1000 gallon-per-minute midship pump for $19,933 dollars.  Today this
    truck is called Engine 3 and it is stationed in the bay along Acton
    Street.
    
    On January 10, 1972, the Peter Pirsch Company delivered a custom made
    Pumper with 1,250 gallon-per-minute midship pump for $42,000 dollars.
    Today this truck is called Engine 2, and it is mostly seen with the 
    ambulance on medical emergencies.
    
    On May 29, 1976, the Maynard Fire Department began providing emergency
    medical services with a fully trained Emergency Medical Technicians and
    placing a 1976 Ford Modulance Class 1, Type 1 Ambulance.  This vehicle
    was replaced with a 1983 Ford and again with a 1989 Ford Wheeled Coach
    Ambulance.
    
    On June 28, 1978, the Farrar Company delivered a 1,500 gallon-per-minute 
    Pumper built on a Hendrickson chassis for $78,000 dollars.  Today this
    truck is called Engine 1, and responds to most of the calls.
    
    On September 8, 1980, a 1980 Ford one-ton, four-wheel drive pick-up
    truck with a slide-in portable pump with 250 gallon tank unit for 
    fighting grash and brush fires was placed in service.  This truck was
    replaced on August 8, 1988, with a GMC Chassis and reusing the slide-in
    mount.  Today the 1980 Ford is used by the Maynard DPW, and the GMC is
    called Engine 4.
    
    On May 20, 1986, Emergency One delivered a Ladder Truck on a custom
    chassis with a 100 foot aluminum aerial ladder for the sum of $240,900
    dollars.  Today this truck is called Ladder 1.  This makes the fourth
    motorized ladder truck in Maynard's history.
    
    As of August 1, 1990, all Emergency Medical Technicians have been
    trained and approved to use our new semi-automatic defibrillator used
    in life-saving treatment of cardiac patients.  The funding to purchase
    this valuable piece of lifesaving equipment was provided by the Digital
    Equipment Corporation.
     

    I have been very impressed by Digital's efforts to document the
    history of Maynard by naming the Conference Rooms in the Mill after
    Maynard citizens who have served our community.
    
    For the benefit of this note, can anyone provide us with a list of
    the Conference Rooms and the descriptions on the plaques?
    
    
    Thanks in advance,
    Frank
    

    Frank, a confrence room book of the mill is published periodically and
    is distributed through inter-office mail.  It lists the building & pole
    location, name of comfrence room. contacts, and other vital
    information.  For an updated copy call Customer service 223-2700.  This
    will give you all the names of Maynard citizens.
    
    Hope this will help.
    
    Pat
    

    Now that the elections are over, and the Charter has been approved,
    I am trying to exorcise myself, and get back into Maynard History.
    
    Last weekend we attended a going away party for my ex-neighbors on
    Thompson Street, Phil and Gale Teri.  We were neighbors for 15 years
    before we moved to Howard Road, and the Teri's just sold their home
    and are headed for Arizona.  In their hallway, the Teri's had a 
    beautiful full color lithograph of the Mill, titled " Assabet 
    Manufacturing Company, Maynard, Mass."  On each side of the title
    was the date "1879".  I had long coveted this thing, and at the 
    party, Phil presented it to me, to keep in Maynard.  It is now
    proudly displayed in my hallway, for all to admire, mostly me!
    
    I know that there are several black and white versions around
    town, including one in Paul Boothroyd's office at Century 21,
    but I am not aware of another color version (and Paul concurs).
    By the way, Paul got his lithograph from his brother, who picked
    it up at a flea market in San Diego!
    
    During the party, I was talking to Joe Starr, another ancient 
    Maynardian, and he amazed me with an account of all the Maynard 
    memorabilia that he has collected through the years.  He picked
    up a commerative plate depicting the Coolidge School from 
    a flea market in New Hampshire.  
    
    I asked him if he had considered donating any of his stuff to the 
    Maynard Historical Society, and his reply was "why, so it can rot
    in the basement of the Town Hall?"
    
    This comment should be the subject of another reply about using
    one of vacant schools for a museum, but let me continue.
    
    I got to thinking about all the other Maynard historical material
    that must be squirreled (sp) away in homes.
    
    I have a few Maydale and Erikson bottles and a neat little Allen's
    Cafe' wall thermometer, which has the note "House of Matchbook Covers".
    
    Does anyone have any other Maynard Memorabilia hanging around?
    
    
    Frank                                           

    Hi -
    
    I tend to be a small collector of Maynard Memorabilia.  I have a very
    unique beer bottle (Julius Lowe Beer, Maynard, MA).  I know of only
    one other that my Dad (Henry Hanson) contributed to the Historical
    Society.  
    
    Since my Dad (when he was alive) was President of the Committee I
    really don't agree that it is "squirreled away" in the cellar of
    the Town Building.  The Historical Society is very active, hold very
    interesting and informative meetings - we have taped some of them -
    an extremely interesting narative by Ralph Sheridan.  I do agree that
    we should find a better home (room is needed desparately).  I can
    understand wanting to keep some of the memorabilia.  I have a poster
    from the old Maynard Theatre and one from V-J Day celebration at
    Crowe Park, and the sundry assortment of Maydale, Eriksons, Coop
    bottles, not to mention glassware from Russo's and the Powdermill,
    etc. etc.
    
    I have a daughter, son-in-law and grand-daughter that also attend the
    meetings still and my Mom is Secretary.  As long as some member of my
    family wants me to pass on my "artifacts" I will probably keep them in
    the family.  However, I hope their ultimate destination is the
    historical society.
    
    I also have some really good movies of the Centennial Parade and the 
    opening day at St Bridget's School.
    
    Glad to hear I am not the only one that collects pieces of Maynard
    past.  

    Alice, I knew your father and the last time I got to talk to him 
    I was amazed at how much he knew about my family, particularly my
    grandfather, Hugh McGovern.  They had quite a few "adventures" in
    their days!
    
    I might have implied that the Historical Society "squirreled" stuff,
    but if you read my note again, you will see that I said that many
    people in Maynard have stuffed squirreled away in their homes.
    
    Do you happen to know anything about the history of the Julius Loewe
    Brewery?  
    
    There are many references to Julius Loewe, who owned a tavern on 
    Harriman Court.  He was very prominent in Maynard history, and was
    on the committee that acquired and built Crowe Park.  He was also
    one of the petitioners seeking to change the name of the town from 
    Maynard to Assabet in 1902, after the Mill failed.
    
    Joe Starr has one of the Julius Loewe bottles. 
    
    Frank

    Hi Frank -
    
    Thats what I get for reading a note without printing it and answering
    it from memory!  I really meant to respond to the quote "so it can
    rot in the basement of the Town Hall".  Obviously, I squirrel around
    quite a bit of Maynard Memorabilia myself.  I certainly didn't take
    offense to your remark.  Guess in someways I feel bad that we
    don't have an adequate place for Historical Society.  
    
    I have another interesting piece.  I graduated in 1955 and I have the
    very large picture of the class that was put together by Samuels. 
    Not sure if they were still doing it when you graduated but Samuels
    used to take individual pictures of each student, place pictures of
    the Class Officers, Class Advisor, and Principal in the center of a
    VERY LARGE board, surround them with the individual pictures of the
    student body.  He then took a picture of the board and made 8" x 11"
    copies for each student to have.  I have the original VERY LARGE 
    board which I took to our last reunion.  And, of course, all pictures
    were placed in Mannings Window.  Obviously I still have the small
    8" x 11" picture also!  (Have you ever seen the class picture Bob White
    has of his class in his "barn"?)
    
    At our class reunions (usually a week-end down the cape) I arrange to
    have a large bulletin board in our courtesy suite.  Classmates bring
    pictures from high school and past reunions and the board is always
    surrounded with people "remembering".
    
    Guess I better get back to work, I am "hooked" on this conference
    since I started reading the regionalization issues and I must admit
    I still don't know which way to vote!!
    
    Have a good day,
    
    Alice
    
    

>     During the party, I was talking to Joe Starr, another ancient 
>     Maynardian, and he amazed me with an account of all the Maynard...
    
    I can't help but wonder if you would refer to Joe in this way, if he
    was still employed by DEC  :-)
    
>     I asked him if he had considered donating any of his stuff to the 
>     Maynard Historical Society, and his reply was "why, so it can rot
>     in the basement of the Town Hall?"
    
	Now THAT is the Joe I know!! He doesn't pull any punches, does he?    
    
>    I got to thinking about all the other Maynard historical material
>    that must be squirreled (sp) away in homes.
    
    Now that you mention it, being a fourth generation Maynardite, my family
    MUST have stuff "squirreled" away some where in the house. I remember
    the Erikson's truck delivering milk to the door, but I've never seen a
    old bottle around the house. We must have been "honest folks" and
    returned them. :-)
    
    Norma (Dwinells) Donahue
    daughter of Marion (Veracka) Dwinells
    daughter of Frank and Marion (also known as Aldona) Veracka
    son of Adam and Eva Veracka

    I was thinking about entering a note about how the Town of Maynard
    almost changed the name of the Town in 1902, out of anger over the
    closing of the Assabet Manufacturing Company, and the loss of many
    thousands of dollars of workers savings held in a credit union type
    fund.  My intent was to type in the related section of the "History
    of Maynard" which was published in 1971 by the Maynard Historical
    Committee, but the book is copyrighted, (yes, that's the correct
    use of the word) and I don't have permission.
    
    Then I got to thinking.  The "History of Maynard" was a limited
    edition, numbered book, and only 400 hardbound copies and 600
    softbound copies were printed (I have a hardbound copy).  This 
    book is a great treasure.  IF it could be re-printed, maybe the
    Town could make some money to help fund A) a permanent Historical
    Society site in one of our vacant Schools, or B) help bail out the
    Library.     
    
    Since the book was published in 1971, a great many new Maynardians
    have joined us.  I think the demand for this book would be high.
    
    Frank

    Here are a few "DID YOU KNOW" teasers from the "History of Maynard"
    and other sources:
    
    The present St. Casimir's Church was originally a street car service
    building for the Concord, Maynard and Hudson Street Railway Company.
    The car barn is now the Mill Dam Building next door.  By the way,
    the dam, known as the Ben Smith Dam, was built by Amory Maynard in
    order to store the Assabet River waters for the Mill.  A canal was
    dug from just above the dam to the Mill to feed the Mill Pond.
    
    At one time or another, we had a:
    	Maynard Cricket Club
        Maynard-Acton Kiwanis Club
    	Maynard Checker Club
    	Maynard Garden Club
    	Maynard Grange
    	Maynard Fife and Drum Corp
    	Maynard Hebrew Association
    	Maynard Milk Producers Co-operative
    	Maynard Motorcycle Club
    	Maynard Roller Polo Club
    	Maynard Tennis Club
    	Maynard Poultrymens Association
    	Maynard National Band
    	Maynard Military Brass Band 
    
    The now vacant Gas Station on Main Street was the site of the Maynard
    Train Depot.
    
    Like Roebuck is to Sears and Anheuser is to Busch, there hasn't been
    a Synder involved in Murphy and Synder for over 60 years.
    
    In the early part of this century, Maynard High once lost a basketball
    game to Marlboro High by a score of 100 to 13.
    
    Lorenzo Maynard installed the Town Clock (real Maynardians never refer
    to it as the Mill Clock) in 1892, and dedicated to the people of 
    Maynard in memory of his father Amory, who died in 1891. 
    
    Football started at Maynard High in 1902.  In the early 20's George
    Savikoski caught the first forward pass in MHS history.  I don't
    know who threw it, or why.
    
    The first baseball team in Maynard was known as the Maynard Mutuals,
    and in 1873 they played their games where Walker Street is now
    (opposite Glenwood Cemetery on Parker Street.
    
    The Lodge of Masons started in Maynard in 1872, the Knights of 
    Columbus Council in 1920, the Elks in 1929, the Rod and Gun Club 
    in 1915 and the Italian Social Club in 1934.
    
    Frank

    I was told a story by my grandmother, Mary Boothroyd about the Maynard
    crickett club.  I do not know if it is true but here it goes.  It seems
    the crickett club was very active and the men of Maynard use to play
    every Sunday.  Well the wives of these men got mad and burned down
    the clubhouse which was somewhere by Crowe park. This was the end of
    the crickett club.
    
    Can anyone else remember when crow island was an island?
    
    

    Paul, see 221.38 and 221.41 (Maynard Trivia) for a little more 
    information on the Cricket Club.
    
    Frank

    
     Reference 215.24- Origin of Street Names
    
    
     The topic of street names has been getting some action in the 
    Trivia note lately, so I thought I'd toss in a note about a 
    few newer streets in Maynard, and where the names came from.
    
    I'm sure that everyone with some Maynard background can figure out
    the origins of Tobin Drive and Barilone Circle.
    
    However, the Vose Hill development has two street names that may
    not be so familiar.  Dettling Road is named for the old Felix
    Dettling farm that was on much of the site of the present development.
    I can recall an old farmhouse at the foot of the hill when I was a 
    tad younger. This was the Dettling House.  Cutting Drive refers to the 
    Cutting family, which has owned Sudbury Nurseries for many years and 
    still owns a great deal of land in the area.
    
    Frank

    This is a tad early, but in 1992, we will be celebrating the 
    centennial of our beautiful Town Clock, which was erected in
    1892 by Lorenzo Maynard in honor of his father, Amory, and 
    dedicated to the people of Maynard.
    
    There has been some discussion within Digital about a centennial
    celebration and I have asked the Maynard Historical Commission to 
    participate in this event.
    
    More later, I'm sure.
    
    Frank
     

    I've been working on an index for a collection of oral histories of the
    Town of Arlington and I noticed a reference to Maynard.  Back in the
    early days of this century when Arlington and most of the towns around
    it were "dry", people used to come out to Maynard to buy liquor.  The
    other town cited was, I think, Waltham.
    
    So, was Maynard the local mecca for non-Temperance types?
    

    Although some would argue, I'm not old enough to remember back that
    far.  However, if I could offer an opinion, it would be related to
    the Mill.  
    
    Maynard in the late 19th century and until the late 50's of this 
    century, was the shopping hub of this area.  It was (and still
    is) the only town in the area with a central business district.
    People in those days did their shopping as an event and as a family.
    It was a full day project to get all the groceries, booze and perhaps
    a movie or two within walking distance.  
    
    My suggestion would be to call the Maynard Town Administrator, Mike
    Gianotis (508-897-1001), mention my name and explain your interest.
    Ask if you can get in touch with Ralph Sheridan, our beloved Town
    Historian.  Ralph is 92 years young (just got his driver's license
    renewed), and can recall everything including his actual birth!!!
    He's by far the most remarkable person I've ever known.  Crystal 
    clear recollections by day and by year of all that he has seen and 
    observed.  
    
    As an aside, The Maynard Historical Society has been taping Ralph for
    over a year for their Oral History Program.  They run out of tape now
    and then, but Ralph never runs out of history.  

    Name the beer once bottled in Maynard? Alice nofare you answering.

    OK, since I wasn't excluded from your disclaimer, I suggest that 
    Julius Loewe was the brewer.
    
    Frank