Incorporated as long ago as 1636, Dedham is the seat of Norfolk County, with an historic center commanded by a courthouse from 1820. In Dedham you can visit a residence known to have been built around the time the town was founded. The Fairbanks House dates to around 1637, and preserves a rare amount of …
Incorporated in 1735, Acton is a town made up of five loosely scattered village centers. The oldest of these is Acton Centre, where the local militia company assembled before marching to the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775. Responding to the alarm raised by Paul Revere and relayed by one of his party, Samuel …
Just past the halfway point between Boston and Providence, Mansfield is an affluent town of 24,000 people in Bristol County. For a community of modest size, Mansfield has a lively downtown area, with restaurants and locally-owned stores tracing a long strip of North Main Street. For many people, the name “Mansfield” is a byword for …
A well-heeled seaside town on the South Shore, Hingham is near the southeastern cusp of Boston Harbor and has volumes of colonial history going back to 1635. This heritage shines through in downtown Hingham, where the sights include the oldest church in continuous use in the United States, and the birthplace of General Benjamin Lincoln …
Incorporated in 1717, Westborough is a fast-growing town of 22,000, less than ten miles east of Worcester. Westborough has an upmarket air, reflected in the stately old commercial blocks downtown, and the palatial houses along West Main Street and its intersecting streets. There’s no shortage of town-owned green space, and the many parcels have slowly …
Thirty minutes south of Boston, Easton is a town associated with the Ames Family, one of the oldest and most important dynasties in Massachusetts. The family arrived in Easton in the early 1800s, establishing a shovel factory that supplied the Union Army in the Civil War, and helped build the Union Pacific Railroad. Over several …
Once touting itself as “The Gateway to Cape Cod”, the seaside town of Wareham is much more than a stepping stone. First off, there are 54 miles of shoreline here on Buzzards bay, along a heavily indented coast where public beaches are bathed by gentle, warm waters in summer. The best of these may be …
At the foot of Great Blue Hill, Canton is home to more than 24,000 people, but has a lot of green space comprising reservations, ponds, historic estates and golf courses. The Blue Hills Reservation runs across the northern end of the town, for awe-inspiring views, hiking and a range of visitor attractions, from a working …
Around ten miles northwest of Boston, Stoneham is a commuter town with a large swath of the Middlesex Fells Reservation in its boundaries. This means you’ve got a world of outdoor recreation on your doorstep, whether you’re kayaking on Spot Pond, or hiking in the hills to be met by amazing views of Greater Boston. …
A growing suburban town about 15 miles north of Boston, Wilmington was founded in 1730 and became renowned as a hop-growing center over the next century. On the agricultural theme, the Baldwin apple was discovered in Wilmington around 1740, and a monument to this fruit was erected near the site of the first known tree …