East Bridgewater Historical Commission

07/23/2021

https://www.enterprisenews.com/story/news/history/2021/07/23/easton-wedding-certificate-1875-east-bridgewater-historical-commission-society-randall-dewitt/7962398002/?fbclid=IwAR1zuRoHUB0uxzrEyOIKIJjXnRE27Ady-d1mKfmO7H37HoUch7O7wuGJgOc

The certificate was for George H. DeWitt and Lucy E. Randall who married Aug. 17, 1875. Their descendants live in the area and around the country.

09/20/2019

Sending a quick shout out to Historical Commission member Lexie Waugh for attending the annual MA Historic Preservation Conference in Plymouth today. We’re excited to hear what she learns throughout the day. Feel free to ask questions!

08/17/2019

This is a difficult post to share as Margaret Alexander has been a pillar of our community for so many decades. She served our community for many years and in many different ways. Those of you who knew Margaret, knew her passion for local history and preservation. She served on the Historical Commission for almost 25 years, from 1994-2017. This is only one small example of her dedication to East Bridgewater.

Margaret led and participated in numerous efforts and events celebrating East Bridgewater’s history, including over 50 years of service to the Central Cemetery where she served as superintendent for five years, and spent many more documenting historical graves and obtaining markers for veterans of the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. She also participated in the Old Bridgewater Sesquicentennial, Civil War 100th Anniversary, and 150th Anniversary of the Incorporation of East Bridgewater. Margaret was a deeply passionate and skilled historian and a knowledgeable genealogist; she always seemed to know the answer to anything and everything pertaining to our local history. She was named Honorary Historian of the Town of East Bridgewater by the Board of Selectmen in 1998.

On behalf of the East Bridgewater Historical Commission, we are honored to have known Margaret as a colleague and a friend. She was a wonderful person to work with; her passion for and commitment to our town was always front and center. We send our love and sympathy to Margaret’s family and friends. She will always be a pillar of this community.

07/05/2019

Check out this Civil War recruiting poster for volunteers from our town!

This was recently reframed and put on display near the circulation desk at the ‪East Bridgewater‬ Public Library. For many years this amazing artifact has been in the historic room at the library in a mismatched frame. The Historical Commission worked with the library to have it reframed in the interest of preservation and to hang it in a more prominent location.

Please stop by the library and take a look at this town treasure! While you are there - did you know that there is a digital database on the EBPL website with historical documentation from the town? Take a look!
http://eastbridgewaterlibrary.org/historycollection/index.html

06/08/2019

Hi everyone! We are continuing our series of posts where we introduce you to each of the members currently serving on the Historical Commission. We hope you enjoy getting to know our team!

Lois Nelson has lived in East Bridgewater since 1970. She grew up in Brockton (formerly North Bridgewater), graduated from Bridgewater State College with a degree in history and did some teaching, including substitute work in East Bridgewater. Having a lifelong interest in genealogy and local history, she served as a researcher for the East Bridgewater Sesquicentennial Historical Book and on the 1970s Growth Policy Development Committee. She has been a poll worker for the town for over 40 years. Currently she is in her third term on the East Bridgewater Historical Commission and is serving as secretary.

04/23/2019

Hi everyone! We are embarking on a new series of posts where we introduce you to each of the members currently serving on the Historical Commission. We hope you enjoy getting to know our team!

First up is Lexie Waugh. Lexie has lived in East Bridgewater for five years and works as a Senior Program Manager for JFF, a national nonprofit working to transform the country's workforce and education systems. Why is she interested in the Historical Commission? Lexie has always been interested in New England's history and archaeology. In fact, her husband is a professional archaeologist. In addition to serving on the Commission, she is also a member of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society and just began volunteering at the Robbins Museum in Middleboro.

03/31/2019

Carver Cotton Gin Company: Bridgewater native Eleazer Carver (1785-1866) organized the E. Carver Company and bought a factory here in 1842. A new Carver Company factory was built in 1872. The company employed nearly 2,000 workers and was a world-renowned marker of Carver's "patent cotton gin" and other machines. The cotton gin was used to separate seeds from cotton fibers to make clothing and linens. The Carver Company factory was an important industry in East Bridgewater until it closed in 1992. A dam on the Satucket River next to the factory provided power for the manufacturing operations. For thousands of years before the dam was built, Wampanoag Native Americans used the river for fishing and hunting. In 2017, the dam was removed to restore a free-flowing river system and improve the habitat for migratory fish, including river herring and American eel.

The effort to remove the dam in 2017 was led by the MA Division of Ecological Restoration, in partnership with the Town of East Bridgewater's Historical Commission, the Nature Conservancy, NOAA Restoration Center, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the MA Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Dam and Seawall Repair or Removal Program, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Plymouth County League of Sportsmen. Check out the new marker documenting the importance of this site as part of our town's industrial, ecological, and cultural history.

02/26/2019

If you're driving down Route 106 look for this stone that marks the home site of Robert Latham, East Bridgewater's 4th settler. Robert Latham set up a saw mill on the Satucket River near his family's home. That home was the first of fourteen local homes that would be burned by Native Americans during King Philip's War. This marker is located on Plymouth Street between the Carver Cotton Gin and Sachem Rock Farm.

Keep your eyes out for other historical markers around town!

02/24/2019

It's that time again! The Historical Commission meets at 7:00pm on the fourth Monday of each month. Tomorrow's meeting is in the Conservation Hearing Room on the second floor of Town Hall. Feel free to join us to learn more or ask questions.