Anniversary Thinking …

Settled in 1639, established as the town of Redding in 1644, re-established as the new town of South Reading in 1812, the town changed its name in 1868. All anniversaries, but which is most significant?

Civil War Memorial Tablets

By Nancy Bertrand In the spring of 1867, the citizens of the Town of South Reading wanted to erect some sort of memorial to the brave men who had fought and died in the ‘War of the Rebellion.’ The town’s finances were especially strained at that time because of debts incurred during the war…

The Wakefield Rattan Industry

written by John Wall and published in Wakefield: 350 Years by the Lake published by Wakefield 350, 1994, Copyright The history of the Wakefield Rattan Company and its successor, the Heywood-Wakefield Company is a story told in two parts. Part I is the rags-to-riches tale of Cyrus Wakefield, a poor New Hampshire farm boy…

The Remarkable Mr. Wakefield

by Jim Wulff a biography, excerpted from Wakefield: 350 Years by the Lake (copyright 1994, Wakefield 350). (*To see Wakefield’s history on WCVB’s CHRONICLE program, and hear the story of how the town got its name, click here.) Upon the death of Cyrus Wakefield, the Wakefield Banner said, “The death of Cyrus Wakefield has cast a gloom over the community…