Events

Historical Commission Fall Update

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This fall the Historical Commission participated in Medford Community Day at Andrews School. Visitors to our table looked at maps of Medford from  1875, 1900, and 1936 to get a general idea of when their house may have been built, which was then visually represented by different color pins in a map of modern Medford.
Thank you to everyone who stopped by to chat, tell us about their houses, and explore Medford’s architectural history and development!

This fall we also bid a fond farewell to long-time commissioner, Claire Dempsey. We thank her for her years of service to the commission – her knowledge of city history and architecture will be missed!

Medford Hillside Walking Tour – Saturday, July 18

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SATURDAY: Medford Hillside Walking Tour
10 a.m., meet at Wesley United Methodist Church, 100 Winthrop Street

Each summer, Medford author and local historian Dee Morris presents a free walking tour featuring a particular Medford neighborhood. This year, Dee will be presenting the tour “Some Exceedingly Capable People of Medford Hillside.” Dee’s tour description:

“Do you want a home of your own?” was the rallying cry of Leavitt & Woodworth, two premier real estate agents from Medford Hillside in the early 1900s.

Living in the Chester or Greenleaf Avenue area offered the commuter about 48 streetcars or trains to and from Boston. The comfortable homes built on the fine dry soil provided a healthy environment in which to raise a family.

Near to Tufts College, this socially-minded neighborhood loved entertaining by presenting amateur theatricals put on by the “None-Such Comedy Club.” Yet in 1903 the peace was shattered when one of the local girls was shot while walking up her front stairs.

There are many untold stories in this ideal community.

Dee will repeat her walk at 10 a.m. on Saturday, August 8, and Saturday, September 12.

Presented by the Friends of the Medford Public Library.