More information on this image is available at the Easton Historical Society in North Easton, MA
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Torrey House, Colonial, 91 Main Street, North Easton, MA, 1830, info, Easton Historical Society
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The development by Oliver Ames and Sons Corporation of the factory and village land use in a rather organic manner with a mix work-related classes created an integrated geographic network. The housing on perimeter edge with factories and business affairs in the center creating the village concept in North Easton. Other important concepts were the Furnace Village Cemetery, Furnace Village Grammar School and the Furnace Village Store, which explains Furnace Village and other sections of Easton.
source: Massachusetts Historical Commission
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Ames Shovel and Tool Company Tenement Housing
Between 1860 through 1870, owner of the Tisdale House at 697 Mountain Road in Sharon, Abijah Tisdale built the three identical double house dwellings at 54-56, 58-60, and 62-64 Day Street. By 1860, history clearly showed Tisdale already owned the land on which these houses were built along with other properties. In 1855, Abijah Tisdale transferred ownership of a one and one-third acre parcel to Thomas, and Hannah Healey that became 28 Lincoln Street. Abijah Tisdale purchased the land to build the three tenement houses to add to his farming income at his homestead in Sharon. Historical records cannot make a determination on the occupants of these three houses until early 1904. Following his passing in 1898, the heirs of Abijah Tisdale’s estate sold the five properties, except 28 Lincoln Street, to Oliver Ames and Sons Corporation which began renting to their workers by 1904. In 1871, the Bristol County map of North Easton Village showed four houses on the west side of Day Street as owned by A. Tisdale. Abijah Tisdale built these houses to take advantage of the need for housing for workers at Oliver Ames and Sons. Later, Tisdale sold these houses to Oliver Ames and Sons Corporation to increase their capacity to provide workers housing. In 1898, Oliver Ames and Sons Corporation owned more than eighty houses, at their peak, that were rented to their workers and to others. Around 1910, the company owned the highest number of houses more than eighty, sixty-two houses in 1861, seventy-eight in 1900, and fifty-nine by 1930. Ames Shovel and Tool Company show workers lived in the three dwellings numbered 54-56, 58-60, and 62-64 from 1904 until 1930. In June 1930, with an eye towards selling its tenement holdings, the company registered two sets of plans delineating lot boundaries for sixty-two properties, including the twelve on Lincoln Street (lot 34 to 45) and others on Pond, Mechanic, Day, Barrows, Main, Canton, Elm, and Oliver Streets and Picker Lane off Canton Street. In 1933, Ames Shovel and Tool Company transferred properties to John F. Neal, a lawyer from Malden as the company owners may simply wanted to pass the burden of individual transfers to an attorney.
source: Easton Historical Society
source; Massachusetts Historical Commission
source: History of Easton, William L. Chaffin, 1886
source: Easton’s Neighborhoods, Edmund C. Hands, 1995
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The building was known as the Old Torrey House. It has quite a history. It was built about 1830 or 1831 by Gurdon Stone. Not much is known about Gurdon Stone personally, but he certainly was one of Easton’ s busiest men. He was a carpenter by trade and built, besides this building, the George Wood home on the corner of Sullivan Ave., the Ellis Randall house on Main St. opposite the First National Bank, and probably many others. In 1831, he bought land on the north side of· Main Street adjoining the pond,. In 1828 he bought a cotton factory from Wm. G. Andrews & Co., conducting it as Gurdon Stone & Co. for two years. Then he linked interests with Elijah Howard and the business was carried on as the Federal Cotton Factory until 1837. This was known as the Red Factory and was located on the south side of Main Street on Stone’s Pond near the Langwater Farm. He also conducted a small store near his house. He died in 1861. Nathaniel Howard lived in the Old Torrey· House in the 1830s and 1840s. He was a selectman for many years. His son, Augustus 0. Howar may have lived there while he was postmaster from 1844 to 1856. The house was owned later by Col. John Torrey. Col. Torrey died in 1864, but his name is still linked with this building. At some time in its history, the house was kept as a sort of boarding house by Aunt Betsy Russell. We are told that a traveling sales-man for a steel firm in Boston said that he used to drive to North Easton with a horse and buggy and stay overnight at this house. When the Old Colony Railroad was put through that property, about 1866,the house was bought by the Ames family and was divided into tenements. Many Easton families have made their home in this building. In 1941, it was purchased by Alphonse Carlson who improved and modernized it. The North Easton Co-operative Bank set up its headquarters here in January, 1942.
source, Easton Historical Society
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History of Main Street below
The Ames Family & the North Easton Village below
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91 Main Street
By 1835, the Ames Shovel and Tool Company Tenement #72 at 91 Main Street was built, probably by John Torrey. On November 6, 1793, John Torrey was born in Bridgewater to Philip and Mary Derr Torrey. On May 11, 1824, John Torrey married Abigail Williams in Easton. On September 11, 1926, Abigail Williams Torrey passed away in Easton at the age of thirty-two. Between 1827 and 1829, John Torrey married Hannah L. Gilmore in Easton. In 1830, residing in Easton were John and his wife, Hannah L. Gilmore Torrey, with their daughter, Abigail Williams Torrey. In 1840, residing at 91 Main Street were John and his wife, Hannah L. Gilmore, with their two daughters, Mary Dyer, and Abigail Williams Torrey, and their son, John Torrey II. On December 18, 1848, John Torrey’s second wife, Hannah L. Gilmore Torrey passed away in Easton. In 1850, residing at 91 Main Street were widowed John Torrey, a trader, with his two daughters, Mary Dyer, and Abigail Williams Torrey. In 1850, John Torrey owned real estate valued at five thousand dollars. The real estate included three buildings and this property at 91 Main Street and the corner parcel at Two Center Street at Main Street. On July 19, 1853, Abigail Williams Torrey married Anson E. York in Easton, son of Stephen and Artemisia York of Henderson, NY. In 1855, the map of North Easton Village shows the combined parcels at 91 Main and Two Center Street as noted with the name, – J. Torrey. – In 1860, residing at 91 Main Street was widowed John Torrey, a trader, with his two daughters, Mary Dyer, and Abigail Williams Torrey York, and her husband, Anson E. York, a trader. On August 12, 1864, John Torrey passed away in Easton at the age of seventy, with his burial in the South Easton Cemetery. Following John Torrey’s passing, the Old Colony and Newport Railroad Company purchased the combined parcels of 91 Main Street and Two Center Street. In 1867, the Old Colony and Newport Railroad Company sold the parcels historically named the – Torrey place – to Oliver Ames II, who co-owned with his brother, Oakes the family company, Oliver Ames and Sons on Main Street. The transaction included the two parcels, the – Torrey place, – a storage outbuilding, and a woodshed. In 1871, the map of North Easton Village shows the parcel at 91 Main Street, with a dwelling, as noted with the name, – O. Ames. – On the same map, the parcel at Two Center Street with no building in the ownership of Oliver Ames II. In 1877, Oliver Ames II passed away in Easton at the age of 70, with his burial in the Village Cemetery. Following the passing of his father, the combined parcel was passed to his son, Frederick Lothrop Ames. In 1870 and 1880, renting in a multiple unit dwelling at 91 Main Street were Cable, shovel shop, and his wife, Chioe Parker Carr. In 1870, Caleb Carr was working at Oliver Ames and Sons, and the Oliver Ames and Sons Corporation at the age of eighty-two in 1880. Cable and Clara Parker Carr’s sons lived across the street from each other. Henry was residing in the Henry Carr House at 202 Main Street and John was residing in the John Carr House at 209 Main Street. On December 10, 1882, Chloe Parker Carr Passed away in Easton at the age of eighty-one, with her burial in the Washington Street Cemetery. On March 28, 1887, Caleb Carr passed away in Easton at the age of eighty-nine, with his burial in the Washington Street Cemetery. In 1870, renting at 91 Main Street were Charles S., worked on shovels, and his wife, Esther A. Clapp Packard, with their son, Clayton Packard. In 1870, renting at 91 Main Street were Augustus, worked on shovels, and his wife, Mary J. Lothrop, with their daughter, Minerva Lothrop. In 1880, renting at 91 Main Street were Silas M., a shovel shop worker, and his wife, Annie Wood Hunt. In 1871 and 1886, the maps of North Easton Village shows the combined parcels at 91 Main and Two Center Street as noted with the name, – O, Ames. – In 1889, the Easton Massachusetts City Directory listed Silas M. Hunt working at Oliver Ames and Sons Corporation boarding with the Frederick S. Russell family. In 1880, renting at 91 Main Street were Frederick, a boot shop worker, and his wife, Betsey Maria Antoinette Smith Russell, with their daughter, Eveline Dunham Russell Clark, a boot shop worker, and her son, Joseph R. Clark. In 1889, the Easton Massachusetts City Directory listed Frederick S. Russell as a boarding house keeper residing at the corner of (Two) Center and (91) Main Street. On September 13, 1893, Frederick Lothrop Ames passed away in Manhattan, NY at the age of fifty-eight, with his burial in the Village Cemetery. In 1895, the map of North Easton Village shows the combined parcel of Two Center Street and 91 Main Street as noted with the name, – Mrs. Frederick Lothrop Ames. – (1835-1893) On January 20, 1903, Rebecca Caroline Blair Ames passed away in Boston at the age of sixty-five, with her burial in the Village Cemetery. Following the passing of their parents, the parcels were passed to the children of Frederick Lothrop, and Rebecca Caroline Blair Ames. In 1917, the Easton Massachusetts City Directory listed Emil E. Jacobson residing with his wife, Ida E. Jacobson on Main Street at the corner of Center Street working in a machine shop. In 1920, renting at 91 Main Street were Emil E., a machine shop machinist, and his wife, Ida E. Jacobson, with their two daughters, Enid I., and Tilly Linea Jacobson. and their son, Carlton S. Jacobson. In 1930, renting at 91 Main Street were Emil E., a machine shop proprietor, and his wife, Ida E. Jacobson, with two daughters, Enid I., a machine shop bookkeeper, and Tilly Linea Jacobson, and their son, Carlton S. Jacobson, a rubber shop laborer. In 1942, the heirs of Frederick Lothrop, and Rebecca Caroline Blair Ames’ property at 91 Main and Two Center Street sold the property to Attorney Alphon, and Avis Eleanor Carlson. In 1942, the North Easton Co-operative Bank moved from the residence its Treasurer, William H. Clements at 36 Center Street. In 1917, the Easton Massachusetts City Directory listed William Henry Clements under the Real Estate and Insurance, a display ad for North Easton Insurance Agency and Mortgages, a Conveyancer. The Clements’ residential listing show M. Eva Clements as William’s wife, residing at 22, now, 34 Center Street, as an insurance agent, and treasurer of the North Easton Co-operative Bank, now, the Bank of Easton. In 1917, Clements was listed as one of seventeen Justices of the Peace in Easton with commissions generally renewed. In 1920, residing at 22, now, 34 Center Street were William Henry, a bank treasurer, and his wife, Mary Eva Pearce Clements. In 1889, The North Easton Co-operative was organized, chartered, and started holding meetings for payments on shares at the Spooner’s Hall, the upper hall of the building at Ten Center Street. The North Easton Co-operative Bank moved to the unit on the eastern end of John Torrey House, later, known as the Ames Shovel and Tool Company Tenement #72 at 91 Main Street. In 1938, a new telephone building was built for the modern telephone switching equipment serving as the connector of the Town’s phone system. In 1943, the map of North Easton Village shows the parcel at Two Center Street as noted with the words, – telephone exchange. – In 1957, the first call was made on the new dial telephone system by some of the most prominent citizens in the Town, including John S. Ames who was one of the first subscribers when the telephone came to Easton. Making the first calls in Easton were John H. Buckley of the telephone company, and Mr. Ames’ son, David Ames, president of the First National Bank of Easton. Richard H. Southworth, Chairman of the Board of Selectman, was receiving the call. Present and watching were the telephone company district manager, William Gustin, Selectman Richard Kent and Harland Almquist and conversion supervisor, Arthur F. Sumption. In 1962, the Easton Co-operative Bank purchased the parcel at Two Center Street. In 1962, the Easton Co-operative Bank moved from the John Torrey House, later, known as the Ames Shovel and Tool Company Tenement #72 located next door towards the east, at 91 Main Street to Two Center Street.
source: Easton Historical Society
source; Massachusetts Historical Commission
source: Ancestry
source: History of Easton, William L. Chaffin, 1886
source: Easton’s Neighborhoods, Edmund C. Hands, 1995
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The Ames Family & the North Easton Village
One of the well-known Ames properties, Sheep Pasture estate, was owned by Oliver Ames (1864-1929), son of Frederick, (1835-1893), and Rebecca Caroline Blair Ames, (1838-1903), and Oliver’s wife, Elise Alger West Ames, (1867-1945) Oliver was born on October 21, 1864. Oliver was a great-grandson of Oliver Ames, (1779-1863), whose father, Captain John Ames, started making shovels just before 1774, older than the United States, in West Bridgewater. In 1803, Oliver came to Easton, purchasing a forge, a nail-making shop, a house and the Shovel Shop Dam with surrounding land on Pond Street. Oliver’s siblings were Helen Anglier Ames Hooper, (1862-1907) who married her husband, Robert, and residing in Manchester, MA, Mary Shreve Ames Frothingham, (1867-1955), later at Wayside, Frederick Lothrop Ames, (1876-1921), later at Stone House Hill House and John Stanley Ames, (1878-1959) later at Langwater. Henry Shreve Ames died in infancy. Shortly after his graduation from Harvard University in 1886, Oliver joined the Oliver Ames & Sons Shovel Works, becoming a director of various business, railroad and trust companies. Oliver and Elise were married in Boston on December 3, 1890. Their children were Elise Ames Parker, (1892-1979), Olivia Ames Cabot, (1893-1978), Richard Colwell Ames, (1897-1935) and Oliver Ames, Jr., (1895-1918). Their older son, Oliver Ames, Jr., was killed in service to his Country in France during World War I. Oliver’s father, Frederick Lothrop Ames became a member of the firm of Oliver Ames & Sons Shovel Works in 1863, and when it was incorporated in 1876 as Oliver Ames and Sons Corporation, became the Treasurer. After the passing of his father, Frederick Lothrop Ames, (1835-1893), Oliver became one of the trustees of his father’s estate and following in the footsteps of his father, becoming Director and Treasurer of the Oliver Ames and Sons Corporation. From 1860 through 1930, the Ames Shovel and Tool Company at 28 Main Street owned buildings on the north side of Lincoln Street between Day Street and Reardon Way. These buildings provided housing for workers at the shovel shops, shoe shop workers, worker and domestic helpers for the Ames family and other factories in North Easton. The earliest tenement houses for employees were built close to the factories near ponds using the water resources. Example of housing were The Island and along Pond and Mechanic Streets, and south on Andrews Street and north to Oliver Street. The mixture was a combination of single- and multiple-family dwellings and boarding houses for unmarried workers. The elevated status in the social and economic factory hierarchy was shown by single dwellings which were inhabited by supervisory and skilled workers. Smaller housing units with two or more households were used by families of unskilled laborers. The houses had very basic accommodations, most houses were shared with strangers. The initial industrial development focused on improved ponds that provided motive power to the factory buildings. Eliphalet Leonard had a nail manufactory at The Island on the east side of Shovel Shop Pond and Asa Waters had a hoe factory on the south end of Hoe Shop Pond. In 1803, Oliver Ames came to Easton as this area around the Langwater Pond became the initial location for the shovel works. Later, Oliver Ames purchased the water privilege at the south end of Langwater Pond and expanded the water resource. By 1815, Oliver Ames and Asa Waters built a cotton mill on the current housing site of the Ames Shovel Works at 50 Main Street powered by canal dug from Hoe Shop Pond. In 1852, a devastating fire on The Island burnt down the wooden constructed shops which were replaced by the construction of the stone shops on the western side of the Shovel Shop Pond. The properties #55, #59, #63, #71 and #73 Lincoln Street were built for laborers similar in construction and style. Records show another four properties #45, #49. #85 and #89 Lincoln Street were moved from the shovel shop area. The parcels #41, #79 and 81 Lincoln Street were built on or moved onto properties on Lincoln Street. In 1815, the Easton Manufacturing Company, a cotton cloth factory, owned six-acre of land on the north side of Lincoln Street. In 1839, the Easton Manufacturing Company was dissolved which paved the way for David Macomber to purchase the six-acre parcel which he sold to Howard Lothrop. Later, Howard Lothrop sold the land to same parcel Oakes Ames (1804-1873), the son of company founder of the Oliver Ames and Sons Corporation, Oliver Ames Sr., (1779 -1863). In 1845, Oakes Ames, (1804-1873), transferred ownership of the parcel to his father, Oliver Ames Sr., (1779-1863) followed by Oliver Ames Sr., and deeded the parcel to Oliver Ames and Sons. In 1875, the six-acre property and other parcels of land were deeded to Frederick Lothrop Ames (1876-1921) and moving ownership back to Oliver Ames and Sons. In 1850, this area of Lincoln Street was woodland owned by the Ames family. In 1901, Oliver Ames and Sons Corporation transferred all of its real estate to the newly named Ames Shovel and Tool Company. The Ames family owned large parcels of land north, east and west of the factories. The Ames family built their residences in the middle of the work area on the west side of Main Street with two of those houses, Unity Close at 23 Main Street and Queset House at 51 Main Street near the shops. This was typical of factory village development in the period. During these times, owners and laborers interacted with each other in work and daily life where private locations were limited. The social status was shown in the size and styles of architecture, but they would be near or part of the work settings. The fancy iron fencing on the western side of Main Street was the only separation between the owner and employees. Later, the Ames family started create estates outside, but close to the North Easton Village. The estates featured large buildings called mansions, gardens, farm, other small buildings, passive conservation spaces, and recreational areas within their estates. In 1820, the Oakes Ames, Sr. owner of the O. Ames, began building worker testament housing for their workers. In 1820, the first two houses Oakes Ames, Sr. built were for the manager of his shop in Braintree. In 1832, Oakes Ames, Sr. built his second testament house for the workers in his shops in West Bridgewater. The house of Oliver Ames Jr., (1807-1877), was northeast of this area, facing Main Street. In 1886, historian William L. Chaffin, in his book, History of Easton, wrote that forty-five Roman Catholics, most from Ireland, lived in Easton in 1849, 150 by 1852, and 400 by 1860. In 1850, at least thirty-five of ninety-seven Irish-born males were working in Easton, or 36 percent, worked at the shovel shops. Seven were furnace workers at the Ames shops or iron forges. In 2002, historian Gregory J. Galer wrote in his book, Forging Ahead: The Ames Family of Easton, Massachusetts that by late 1820s, the shovel shop company, O. Ames found out that this area could not meet the need for labor at the shovel shops. By the 1840s, the workers who immigrated from Ireland helped to meet the need of labor. In 1836, Oakes Ames built a boardinghouse big enough for twenty workers. In 1845, Oliver Ames and Sons built twenty houses for their workers. By 1861, building and owning thirty houses and ninety houses for workers by 1884. From the historical area of Canton, Massachusetts called South Canton. In 1847, the Ames Shovel Shop began operating at 160 Bolivar Street in Canton, Massachusetts at a location between Bolivar and Forge Pond. In 1792, a corn mill was built followed by a cotton factory in 1812. In 1841, the Bolivar Mill burned to the ground. In 1845, the property was purchased by Lyman Kinsley for purposes of operating a iron forge followed by Oliver Ames and Sons taking over operations in 1848. In 1847, the land was used by Lucius Buck as a hammer shop to help in the expansion of the shovel shops in North Easton. In 1844, the expansion happens when Oakes and Oliver Ames, Jr., took over as operatives from their father Oliver Ames. In 1845, the Stoughton Branch Railroad allowed the Ames Shovel Shop to shipped stamped shovels for finishing from Canton to Easton. In 1852, a fire destroyed the Ames factory in North Easton and the shop in Canton was in heavy use until the factories were rebuilt with stone in 1853. In 1901, Oliver Ames and Sons Corporation transferred all of its real estate to Ames Shovel and Tool Company, a merger of the Ames company and several other shovel and handle companies. In June of 1930, as part of selling its tenement properties, Ames Shovel and Tool Company submitted and registered two sets of plans detailing lot boundaries for sixty-two properties including the twelve on Lincoln, Pond, Mechanic, Day, Barrows, Main, Canton, Elm, and Oliver Streets and Picker Lane off Canton Street. Ames Shovel and Tool Company contracted Samuel T. Freeman and Company, an auction handler, from Boston and Philadelphia, to auction forty-one of its properties in Easton. The auction list consisted of eighteen cottages, sixteen with two-family houses, three with four-family dwellings, two stores, and two building lots. In 1933, Ames Shovel and Tool transferred properties to John F. Neal, a lawyer from Malden for individual disposal of the properties to future owners.
source: Easton Historical Society
source; Massachusetts Historical Commission
source: Ancestry
source: History of Easton, William L. Chaffin, 1886
source: Easton’s Neighborhoods, Edmund C. Hands, 1995
source: Forging Ahead: The Ames Family of Easton, Massachusetts, Gregory J. Galer, 2002
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Main Street
In North Easton Village, was first laid out in 1744. It began a little south of Joseph Crossman’s (now Thomas Randall’s), passed between the gravel bank and the hill just west of it, came out where the road now runs east of Frederick Lothrop Ames’ farm-house, kept through the Village, and was continued nearly to the Stoughton line just above the Solomon R. Foster place. Those residents who had houses on this street in 1744 were Joseph Crossman, at the east end; Eliphalet Leonard, near the Red Factory, where he had a forge; Samuel Randall, near the railroad bridge; John Randall, near the machine shop, Richard Williams, on the Unity Church location; James Stacy, at the now Simeon Randall place; and Daniel Manley, on the east side of the Sol, Foster Road, so called. In 1812 Main Street was straightened at its east end, and continued to the then new Stoughton Turnpike, this extension being continued in 1850 to the North Bridgewater (now Brockton) line. The Solomon Foster end has not fared well. Voted in 1744, voted again in 1772, it has had but little done to it. It is no longer a thoroughfare to Stoughton, and was in fact very early superseded in that respect by the other two roads to that town.
source: History of Easton, William L. Chaffin, 1886
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Main Street
According to local historian William Ladd Chaffin, Main Street was laid out in 1744 and had at that time at least seven dwellings on it. Its east end was straightened in 1812 and extended to what is now Washington Street, and in 1850 it was extended again to the Brockton (then North Bridgewater) town line. The road curves north at Lincoln Street and becomes North Main Street north of Elm Street. From the start it has been a mixed-use area of homes, businesses, and some factories. Much of the land north of Lincoln Street was owned by members of the Ames family, which built its world-renowned shovel factory complex on the east side of Main Street and several of the family’s earliest estates on the west side. The Oliver Ames and Sons company store and several tenements were located on the east side of Main Street south of Pond Street, and on family land on the east side the Ames Free Library and Oakes Ames Memorial Hall, designed for Frederick Lothrop Ames by his Harvard classmate Henry Hobson Richardson, were built in the early 1880’s. Between the Rockery on the west where Lincoln, Barrows, Centre, and Main Streets meet and where Williams and Mechanic Streets intersect it on the east, Main Street, particularly its north side, is a commercial district.
source: Massachusetts Historical Commission
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Main Street
Main Street, in North Easton Village, was first laid out in 1744. It began at Dailey Corner, passing between the gravel bank and the hill just west of it, came out where the road now runs east of Frederick Lothrop Ames’ farmhouse, kept going through the village and was continued nearly to the Stoughton line just above the Solomon R. Foster place, near the Red Factory, where he had a forge: Samuel Randall, near the railroad bridge; John Randall, near the machine shop, Richard Williams, on the Unity Church location. In 1812, Main Street was straightened at its east end and continued to the then new Stoughton turnpike. In 1850, from Dailey’s Corner the extension was continued to the North Bridgewater (now Brockton) line. Prior to the printing of the new map, the 1852 map did not show the extension east of Dailey’s Corner. The 1855, 1871 and the 1895 maps showed Main Street with the extension to the Brockton line.
source: History of Unionville, Carl B. Holmander, 2014
Easton Historical Society
80 Mechanic Street
North Easton, Massachusetts 02356
