The Rockery
Wakefield’s iconic Rockery began life as a European-style “sylvan grotto,” which was as controversial as most public improvements here….
The Hiker Memorial Statue
One of the most misunderstood of Wakefield’s monuments, many call this statue ‘the minuteman,’ although the truth is very different…
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…
Wakefield’s Soldiers and Sailors Monument
by Nancy Bertrand The desire to honor the men of South Reading who fought in the Civil War gave birth to the South Reading Monument Association in 1867. This committee, chaired by Lilley Eaton, and including such luminaries as Solon O. Richardson, James M. and P.H.. Sweetser and Cyrus Wakefield, yielded a unusual result. Local…
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…
Wakefield Historical Society 