Every historian worth their salted butter knows that the redcoats (a.k.a. “lobsterbacks”) were the scourge of the Continental Army, but did you also know that lobsters themselves were looked down upon just about as harshly by 18th century New Englanders? We’ll find out more in today’s colonial crustacean cooking adventure! In addition to their well-documented…
Author: tabermorrell5yahoocom
Historical Happy Holidays!
All across Townsend, trees are being decorated, cookies are baking, people are strategically hanging up mistletoe, and last week’s blizzard and this week’s impending heat wave are sparring to decide whether it’s going to be a white Christmas! It’s that jolly time of year again when we create what Charles Dickens might have called the…
18th Century Election Cake!
Election Day is here and that means one thing: 18th century cake! To celebrate our hard-earned right to vote, we’ll be baking an Election Cake, a New England tradition going back to the 1700s! In fact, these cakes have been part of our region’s dessert menu for so long that before we even had elections,…
Historian Lee McTighe’s Virtual Tour of the Old Burying Ground, October 24th!
Last October, for local historian Lee McTighe’s tour of Riverside Cemetery, we welcomed dozens of guests (as well as dozens of cider doughnuts!) We’re fortunate to be working with Lee once again this fall for a brand new historical tour of Townsend’s Old Burying Ground! On October 24th at 2:00 P.M., we’re all invited to…
Upcoming Program – “Virtually Vintage: A Live, Online Antique Appraisal Event” – October 10th
The Townsend Historical Society is excited to be bringing back one of our most popular types of programs! On Saturday, October 10th from 10:00 – 1:00, the Townsend Historical Society will be hosting “Virtually Vintage: A Live, Online Antique Appraisal Event”. We’re thrilled to be partnering once again with Wayne Tuiskula of Central Mass Auctions,…
Atlatls, Ancient Hunting Tools of the Nashoba Valley
Hold onto your atlatls because today we’re venturing back to see what the Nashoba Valley was like 13,000 years ago! The two-mile-high ice sheets from the last ice age have just receded, and the land is a wild tundra filled with big game like moose, caribou, and… WOOLLY MAMMOTHS! If you’ve had a chance to…
Atlatls, Ancient Hunting Tools of the Nashoba Valley
As promised, we’re venturing back in time to the very earliest human habitation of the Nashoba Valley to take a look at the technology of the paleoindians 13,000 years ago! The land which would become Massachusetts looked much different at that time. Most noticeably, there were many fewer Dunkin’ Donuts compared to these days. Furthermore,…
Memorial Day, 2020
In honor of Memorial Day yesterday we’d like to share a photograph from a Memorial Day nearly a century ago, when the Military Band gathered on May 30th, 1927 in a West Townsend cemetery to remember those who had fallen in service of our country. We’re thinking this must be Riverside Cemetery where our friend…