North Quabbin historical societies are offering the opportunity to travel back in time through the first North Quabbin History Tour.
The tour gives visitors a chance to visit seven North Quabbin-area historical societies on Sunday, Sept. 22, from 1 to 4 p.m. There will be classic vehicles, historic art and maps on display, along with a look at Shays’ Rebellion from different perspectives.
Beth Gospodarek, secretary for the Royalston Historical Society, said that on the day of the tour, all participating historical societies will be open during the same hours.
“If the tour is popular, it might become an annual event,” she added.
Participating historical societies include Athol, Royalston, Orange, Petersham, Phillipston, the Narragansett Historical Society in Templeton and the Swift River Valley Historical Society in New Salem, which houses the history of New Salem as well as the lost Quabbin towns of Dana, Enfield, Greenwich and Prescott.
Those with a love of historic vehicles can get their fill at multiple exhibits from different organizations. The Narragansett Historical Society will hold its Motorpolooza car show.
“Over 70 cars, bikes and motorcycles are expected to be in attendance,” said Narragansett Historical Society President Brian Tanguay.
To see a locally made, steam-powered car, visitors can stop at the Orange Historical Society and see the Grout automobile, manufactured in Orange in 1904. Phillipston will offer a look at the recently acquired Doodlebug, a tractor created by the Phillipston Highway Department as a winter project in the late 1930s or early 1940s. When the vehicle was assembled, parts from several different vehicles were used.
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Train aficionados can visit the Swift River Valley Historical Society, which has a diorama of the Rabbit Run Railroad. The railroad was incorporated in 1871 as the Athol and Enfield Railroad, then bought by the Boston and Albany Railroad. It was often referred to as the Rabbit Run because the number of stops it made were similar to a rabbit hopping from town to town, according to the diorama’s creator, Ken Levine of Petersham.
The diorama depicts the train running through North Dana, Enfield, Greenwich and Prescott, the towns lost during the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir. Those more interested in horse-drawn vehicles can see an authentic 1860s Hack Passenger Wagon Stage Coach at the Petersham Historical Society.
Art and music fans also have plenty of museum displays to choose from. The Royalston Historical Society will have the “Women in Royalston” exhibit, which includes an 1885 signature quilt created by women in South Royalston.
“We have researched a lot more on the names of the women who sewed this quilt,” Gospodarek said.
She added that among the names was Addie Beals, a church organist who served on the Royalston School Committee for 15 years before women could vote.
Portrait miniatures by Sarah Goodridge will be on display at the Narragansett Historical Society. Goodridge was a painter who came from Templeton but moved to Reading and worked in Boston, training under Gilbert Stuart.
Orange was once the home of New Home Sewing Machines, and the town’s historical society is the place to see an exhibit of those machines.
Athol will have its pipe organ on display. The organ was installed in 1848 in the Town Meetinghouse/Unitarian Church, which now serves as the home of the Athol Historical Society.
Petersham will tell the story of Shays’ Rebellion. Daniel Shay and his followers were routed from Petersham on Feb. 4, 1787 by Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, with Shay and about 300 of his followers escaping, according to “The History of Petersham Massachusetts.”
The Phillipston Historical Society will have an original land grant map to view. The map is part of a land grant research project the society is working on to try to identify where the town’s original settlers lived and worked.
Carla Charter is a freelance writer from Phillipston. Her writing focuses on the history of the North Quabbin area. Contact her at cjfreelancewriter@earthlink.net.
