Massachusetts
Recent Articles
Mayor Kevin White
Walking near Faneuil Hall, it is easy to focus on the history you expect to find: Revolutionary sites, early American stories, the familiar markers of the city’s beginnings. Just beyond that, is a figure that is hard to ignore: the life size bronze statue of Kevin H. White. Located at street level and captured mid-stride, the sculpture immediately […]
Norman Lear Statue
Heading back to our car, I stopped to grab this photo in the alley near Emerson College. It is one of those narrow Boston passageways that I might have easily walked past without a thought but tucked into this space is something special: a life-size bronze statue of Norman Lear. Lear attended Emerson in the early 1940s, enrolling […]
George Washington Marker
Driving through the town of Wayland, there is the round stone monument that sits along the roadside. Unlike grand statues that make historic events, this one is modest, a cylindrical stone pillar with a bronze marker identifying it as part of the George Washington Memorial Highway. The roadside marker reflects an interesting moment in American history when […]
The Embrace
On Boston Common stands a powerful and modern tribute to Dr Martin Luther King, Jr and Coretta Scott King. The memorial is called: The Embrace. Unveiled in 2023, the sculpture does not depict faces in full figures. Instead, it focuses on a moment, an embrace. Two sets of arms, joined together, rising in bronze. The design […]
Star of War of 1812
Walking through a local cemetery, I noticed something that made me pause: a five-pointed metal star planted beside a grave holding an American flag. Cast into its surface are the words: War of 1812 I have come to recognize the familiar markers for Revolutionary War patriots and Civil War soldiers. Those appear often in New England cemeteries. But […]
Thomas Eames Sign
Driving along a road in Framingham is this roadside sign that marks the location where the home of Thomas Eames once stood. There is no remaining structure, only the sign indicating that this was the site of a 17th century homestead. On February 1, 1676, during the King Philip’s War, the Eames house was attacked. At […]
Samuel Colburn
As I was walking through downtown Dedham, I came across a simple rock monument honoring Samuel Colburn. I must admit I was not aware of the Crown Point Expedition. That unfamiliar name immediately caught my attention. I was excited to take a photo and look up more information later. There is something satisfying about discovering a small marker and realizing it opens […]
Millmore’s Confederate Statue
Standing outside the Framingham History Center is a powerful piece of the town’s history: a Civil war memorial sculpture created by the noted nineteenth century artist Martin Millmore. Millmore, an Irish-born sculptor who became one of Massachusetts’ more prolific creators of war memorial, is known for honoring ordinary citizens who answered extraordinary calls to service. His works appear in communities across […]
Vault Alarm
Looking up, above the street level to the second floor of the Citizens Bank in Natick, I noticed a small metal box mounted on the exterior wall. It reads: Vault Alarm This is a relic from a time when security was mechanical. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, banks were designed to safeguard […]
Henry Knox in Framingham
In Framingham, Massachusetts, there stands a granite block bearing an inscription that is easy to pass by without a second glance. Yet the words carved into this stone marks one of the most daring feats of the American Revolution: “Through this place passed Henry Knox in the winter of 1775–1776 to deliver to General George Washington […]
Gibson House Museum – Baker’s Breakfast Cocoa
When visiting the Gibson House Museum in Boston, this colorful tin caught my eye in the kitchen. Baker’s Breakfast Cocoa, the title sparked my curiosity. The tin was produced by Walter Baker & Co, the oldest continuously operating chocolate manufacturer in the United States. Founded in the late 1700s, in Massachusetts, Baker’s became a household […]
Alexander Hamilton Statue in Boston
I love walking the Commonwealth Avenue Mall and pausing to take in the sculptures that line the path. Each one is placed not just to decorate the boulevard but also to invite reflection. One of the most prominent is the statute of Alexander Hamilton. I found myself wondering why Hamilton, who never lived in Boston. […]
