Historic Signs of a Job Well Done

The signs of history are all around us in the Commonwealth, including nearly 300 historical markers erected in 1930 by the Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary Commission in the 300th anniversary of the Colony's birth.   

The Commission promised that "travellers who shall pass by the many storied ways through the
lands of the Puritan occupations in the ancient days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, may now read on tablets set by roadsides or in city streets the tales which the ocean shores, the hills, the fields, the churches, the garrison houses and the old hearthstones, have to tell of the heroism, of the romance and of the tragedies, and of the unfaltering faith, of the ancestors of our Commonwealth."

The legislation called for the highway department to maintain the signs.  One such marker at the corner of Adams Street and Churchill's Lane in Milton needed TLC. 

Earlier this year, MassHighway District 4's Larry Glazebrook personally restored the sign, in the before and after photos at left, one of approximately 30 he has refurbished in providing service to the Commonwealth and ensuring that the tales of our ancestors will live on.   

If you see a marker in need of upkeep, let us know or contact MassHighway.

 

Comments

[Robert Briere]

H have inventoried each marker as listed in Samuel Eliot Morison's book describing the Historical Markers. I have contacted Representative Todd Smola and Senator Stephen Brewer on several occasions and had the honor of appearing before a legislative committee trying to get funding for the refurbishing and/or replacement of markers. The Bills seem to get no further than Committee due to lack of funds even though the Resolves of 1930 says this SHALL be done. I would be interested to receive a list of the markers refurbished by District 4s Larry Glazebrook so that I may revisit and record the 30 markers he refurbished. It would be a monumental job to do them according to the standards as set by the State.
Thank you. Robert J. Briere, President, Sturbridge Historical Society.