John Ruggles Cotting (1783–1867), clergyman, author, and noted geologist[11]
Robert Creeley (1926–2005), poet, grew up in West Acton[citation needed]
Ted Crowley, NHL professional hockey player[citation needed]
Isaac Davis (1745–1775), Captain of the Acton Minutemen at the Old North Bridge in Concord at the Battle of Lexington and Concord; the first officer to die in the American Revolution[citation needed]
Dan Duquette, former general manager of the Boston Red Sox[citation needed]
Henry Durant (1803–1875), Congregational clergyman, first president of College of California, two-term mayor of Oakland, California[11]
Christian Finnegan, comedian, grew up in the Forest Glen neighborhood of West Acton in the 1980s[citation needed]
Mary Josephine Hannon (1865–1964), maternal grandmother of President John F. Kennedy[citation needed]
Jesse Lauriston Livermore (1877–1940), famous early 20th century stock trader[citation needed]
Ian Moran, NHL professional hockey player[citation needed]
Jeff Norton (b.1965), NHL professional hockey player[citation needed]
Caroll Spinney (b.1933), puppeteer who created the Sesame Street characters Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch[citation needed]
Bob Sweeney, NHL professional hockey player[citation needed]
Madeline Amy Sweeney (1966–2001), flight attendant on American Airlines flight 11 when it was flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks; she was the first person to report the hijacking
Mount Greylock - Adams, MA
Adams
Notable people
Daniel Read Anthony (1824–1904), publisher and militant abolitionist
Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906), women's suffragist
George N. Briggs (1796–1861), Governor of Massachusetts
Lona Cohen (1913–1992) Soviet spy
George P. Lawrence (1859–1917), US congressman
Dale Long (1926–1991) Major League Baseball player
Albert L. Phillips (born 1824), Wisconsin politician
Stacy Schiff (born 1961), author
Alford
Notable People
John W. Hulbert, (1770–1831), born in Alford, lawyer and United States Congressman from Massachusetts[7]
Carolyn Gold Heilbrun, mystery writer, once had a summer home in town.[8]
Susan Smith Anderson, first female graduate (1920) of Massachusetts Agricultural College, now UMass-Amherst
Arnesbury
Notable People
Susanna North Martin, victim of Salem witch trials in 1692
Josiah Bartlett (1729–1795), signer of the Declaration of Independence, first Governor of New Hampshire[5]
Paine Wingate (1739–1838), preacher, statesman
Daniel Blaisdell (1762–1833), United States Congressman from New Hampshire[5]
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892), poet
Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888), American lithographer, Currier and Ives
William Ezra Northen (1819–1897), vice president and engineer of the New York and New Haven Railroad, chief engineer of the Chicago Main Drainage Canal[5]
Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910), founder of Christian Science
Harriet Prescott Spofford (1835–1921), author
William A. Paine (1844–1929), businessman
Jimmy Bannon (1871-1948), outfielder in Major League Baseball
Robert Frost (1874–1963), poet
Jeffrey Donovan (b. 1968), actor; star of television show Burn Notice
Ashburnham
Cushing Academy
Notable Alumni:
His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, the King of Bhutan
Bette Davis
Pete Snyder
Arthur Carewe
Paul Thomas Anderson, film director, screenwriter, and producer
WWE wrestler John Cena
2010 United States Winter Olympians Erika Lawler and Meghan Duggan
NHL players Bobby Allen, Zach Bogosian, Chris Bourque (son of Hockey Hall of Fame member Ray Bourque), Bryan Ewing, Ryan Lannon, John Lilley, Eric Nickulas, Brad Norton, Jeff Norton, Tom Poti, Billy Ryan, and Keith Yandle
NFL players Michael Evans and Kenny Gamble Nate Berkus
Notable People
Bette Davis, Legendary actress of film, television and theater. She lived in Ashburnham while attending Cushing Academy, graduating in 1927. In 1999, Davis was placed second, after Katharine Hepburn, on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest female stars of all time (AFI's 100 Years…100 Stars).
Aldrich Bowker Hollywood actor, performing in the The Major and the Minor (1942) and Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940) among others.
Reuben Rice Conn nationally recognized silversmith and watchmaker.
Ivers Whitney Adams, founder and President of the Boston Red Stockings, Boston's first baseball team; as well as the Boston Base Ball Club, the first professional Baseball franchise in Boston. He also gave to the town its own water supply as well as commissioned Bela Pratt to design the Schoolboy Statue of 1850, now on the corner of Main and School Streets.
Ebenezer Munroe, who fired the first shot on the British on Lexington green, April 19, 1775, was a resident of Ashburnham.
Dr. Amos Pollard, military surgeon who died defending the hospital in the Battle of the Alamo, was born in Ashburnham.
Melvin O. Adams, lawyer for Lizzie Borden, was born in Ashburnham.
Isaac Hill (1788-1851), NH State Representative, NH State Senator, Comptroller of the United States Treasury in the Andrew Jackson administration, U.S. Senator from NH, and Governor of New Hampshire.
Ivers Adams (1808-1890), Mass. State Representative, 1851.
Samuel G. Adams (1825-1886), Superintendant of Police for the City of Boston.
Harrison Carroll Hobart, Wisconsin politician
Ruth Henshaw Bascom - Self-Portrait
Ashby
Notable People
Asa Green (1789-c1837), born in Ashby, noted physician and author.[2]
Ruth Henshaw Bascom (1772–1848), America's premier folkartist and portraitist, lived with her husband Reverend Ezekial L. Bascom in Ashby where both are buried.[2]
Prince Estabrook, enslaved American patriot who fought and was wounded at the battle of Lexington is buried in the graveyard behind the Unitarian-Universalist church. He gained his emancipation following his service to the Continental Army
Ashfield
Ashfield is the birthplace of prominent director Cecil B. DeMille (whose parents were vacationing in the town at the time),
Alvan Clark, nineteenth century astronomer and telescope maker, and
William S. Clark, member of the Massachusetts Senate and third president of Massachusetts Agricultural College (now UMass-Amherst).
Ashland
Notable People
Sarah Cloyes, accused witch during the Salem witch trials - fled to near present day Salem End Road
Sir Charles Henry Frankland, descendant of Oliver Cromwell, Collector of the Port of Boston, (UK) Consul-General to Portugal - former estate near present day Frankland Road
Dave Blass, film & TV art director of Cold Case, ER, Justified, Biggest Loser, Beauty and the Geek
Gregg Carey, contestant on Survivor Palau
Michael Fabbri, prosecutor in Neil Entwistle murder trial.
Emily Kooris, founder of Emily's Brownies
Nathaniel Lombard, inventor of the Lombard General - the first practical water wheel governor
Henry E. Warren, inventor of the machinery necessary for the electric clock
Athol
Notable People
Dave Bargeron, musician
Jimmy Barrett, baseball center fielder
Philip Bezanson, composer and educator
Daniel Francis Feehan, bishop
Gregory Gibson, author
Cailte Kelley, rock musician and singer-songwriter
Lysander Spooner, libertarian, abolitionist, writer and anarchist
Charles Starrett, actor
Laroy S. Starrett, industrialist
Charles H. Sweetser, author, journalist and editor
Ginery Twichell, railroad president and congressman
Robert Goddard and his Rocket - Auburn, MA
Auburn
Robert H. Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket from his Aunt Eiffie's farm in Auburn on March 16, 1926. Goddard is commemorated in Goddard Memorial Park located downtown next to the Auburn Fire Department Headquarters. In this park there is a model of Dr. Goddard's prototype liquid fueled rocket and a Polaris Ballistic Missile (Type A-1). Across the street at the Auburn High School stands a mini version of the prototype. In addition, there is a small memorial commemorating the feat on the actual site where Goddard launched his rocket.[1] (The memorial is located between the 1st and 9th holes on Pakachoag Golf Course.)
Notable People
Jacob Whitman Bailey, biologist, educator
Ayer
Ski jump In - 1935, the largest Nordic ski jump in North America was constructed at Pingry Hill near the Willows. A 700-foot-high wooden trestle build, the ski jump operated for a single winter season amid the hardships of Great Depression-era Ayer. Part of the structure was blown down by the wind in the summer of 1936 and it was never rebuilt. Some of the lumber was salvaged by local residents over the next few years. As of 2009, no trace of the massive structure remains
Notable People
Norbert Wiener, a child prodigy who graduated from Ayer High School at age 11 and became a pioneering electronics engineer and theorist of computers and cybernetics.
The Rev. Angus Dun, vicar at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church.
Robert Frazier, writer of speculative poetry and fiction.
Mike Gillian, Longwood University head men's basketball coach.
Jamie Morris, National Football League running back.
Joe Morris, National Football League running back.
Betty Anne Waters, Esq., lawyer who was able to exonerate her brother and featured in the 2010 film "Conviction"
Barre
Notable People
David Oliver Allen, missionary and author
Stephen Brewer, state senator
Timothy Jenkins, congressman
Walker Lewis, black abolitionist, Masonic Grand Master of African Grand Lodge #1, and Mormon Elder
Joseph B. Plummer, general
Daniel Ruggles, Confederate general
Becket
Notable People
Dr. Oliver Wadsworth Brewster,[7] served in Col. John Brown's regiment in the American Revolutionary War and was the first physician in Becket. His home, built in 1786, is still standing and is currently occupied by the Becket-Chimney Corners YMCA. He was a grandson of Oliver Brewster[8] and Martha Wadsworth Brewster, a poet and writer, one of the earliest American female literary figures.
Hannah Tracy Cutler, abolitionist and women's rights advocate Joseph Plumb Martin, a Soldier in the American Revolutionary War was born in Becket in 1760. He lived there until the age of seven, when he was sent to live with his grandparents in Milford, CT.
Sylvester Smith, early Mormon leader
Michio and Aveline Kushi (http://www.michiokushi.org), leaders of the worldwide macrobiotic movement
Eliza R. Snow, early Mormon historian, poetess, and women's leader.
Fay Kleinman, painter and co-founder of the Becket Arts Center.
Bishop Perkins, politiician, Democratic congressman from New York
Jacob Appel, writer on bio-ethics
Peg Lynch, radio personality ("Ethel and Albert")
Sylvester Smith, Mormon leader
The Bedford Flag
Bedford
The Bedford flag on display at the Bedford Free Public Library is the oldest known surviving intact battle flag in the United States. It is celebrated for having been the first U.S. flag flown during the American Revolutionary War, as it is believed to have been carried by Nathaniel Page's outfit of Minutemen to the Old North Bridge in Concord for the Battle of Concord on April 19, 1775.
Notable People
Member of Korean boyband, 2PM, Ok Taecyeon (옥택연) lived in Bedford, Massachusetts[7].
Member of rock band Puddle of Mudd, Doug Ardito lived in Bedford, Massachusetts
Belchertown
It is the home of the infamous Belchertown State School mental institution (closed in 1992).
Notable People
Porter Rockwell the body guard of Mormon figure Joseph Smith was born in Belchertown on June 28, 1812.
The novelist Raymond Kennedy spent his childhood in Belchertown in the 1930s.
On May 7, 2010, Belchertown was thrust into the national media spotlight when resident Lord Jesus Christ (real name) was hit by a car driven by Brittany Cantarella in Northampton, MA. He suffered minor facial injuries.
Bellingham
Notable People
William Taylor Adams, (1822–1897), author under the name "Oliver Optic Belmont was the home of the headquarters of the John Birch Society from the organization's founding in 1958 until its relocation to Appleton, Wisconsin in 1989. It was located at 395 Concord Avenue, next-door to the Belmont branch of the Post Office
Berkley
Notable People
Tony Gaffney, basketball player. Gaffney played college ball at Boston University and UMass, and played with the Los Angeles Lakers on their 2009 summer league squad. Tony also signed with the Boston Celtics for their post-season in April 2010.
Bernardston
Notable People
Samuel Clesson Allen, (1772–1842), United States Congressman from Massachusetts, Congregationalist minister
Blandford
Notable People
George Ashmun, (1804–1870), born in Blandford, United States Congressman from Massachusetts
Bolton
Notable People
Bill Ezinicki, NHL Hockey Player, Professional Golfer, Won three stanley cups with the Toronto Maple Leafs (47,48,49) Inducted into PGA tour hall of fame New England Section in 1997
Suzy Becker, author
Karen O'Connor
Wilbert Robinson, Baseball Hall of Fame inductee[4]
Hal Gill, current NHL player for the Montreal Canadiens
Jessica Palette, contestant on Scream Queens
The Bourne Stone
Bourne
Bourne is home to an archaeological curiosity known as the "Bourne Stone", a stone featuring markings whose origin and significance have not been conclusively established.
Notable residents
Peter Gammons, sportswriter
Boxborough
Notable People
Ted Crowley, NHL professional hockey player; grew up on Guggins Lane
Bob Sweeney, NHL professional hockey player and brother-in-law of Madeline Amy Sweeney
Madeline Amy Sweeney (1966–2001), flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11 when it was flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks; she was the first person to report the hijacking
Allen Bourbeau, Harvard University, US Olympic and professional hockey player
Boxford
Notable People
Thomas Knowlton (1740–1776), American patriot who served as a Colonel in the Continental Army during the American Revolution
Rufus Porter (1792–1884), painter, designer of the Colt revolver, and founder of Scientific American
Richard Smith (17th Century), Great grandfather of Joseph Smith, founder of Mormon church
Alice Freeman Palmer (1855–1902), American educator and President of Wellesley College
Milton Edward Lord (1898–1985), Director of the Boston Public Library 1932-1965
Norman Hassan (1958-) Drummer in the band UB40
Debra Jo Rupp (1951-), Actress, best known for her role as Kitty Foreman in That '70s Show
Mark Bavaro (1963-), former Pro Bowl American football player for the New York Giants [1]
Carl Yastrzemski (1939-), former member of the Boston Red Sox and a Major League Baseball hall of famer. [2]
Johnny Bucyk (1935-) Boston Bruins - Hall of Fame - Former team captain
Raymond Bourque (1960-) Boston Bruins - Hall of Fame - Former team captain
Cherie Hendrickson (1986-) Professional Hockey Player; defenseman for the Burlington Barracudas of the CWHL
Chris Kreider (1990-) Boston College Hockey player who won US Hockey Under 20 Championships.
Brewster
Notable People
In July 1888, Helen Keller, and her teacher, Anne Sullivan visited Brewster. In the photo, Helen is shown cradling a doll. The photograph was recently discovered almost 120 years after it was taken. The mother of the woman who provided the photograph was Helen's playmate at the Elijah Cobb House.
Minnie Riperton's song, "Alone in Brewster Bay," refers to when Riperton and her husband, producer Dick Rudolph, vacationed on Cape Cod during the early 1970s, prior to the release of her 1975 hit single, "Lovin' You".
Samuel M. Nickerson, president of the First National Bank of Chicago. S. M. Nickerson was one of the most influential business leaders of the time.[5] Mr. Nickerson's shares in First National Bank of Chicago were sold according to the New York Times 9/29/1899 for $2.1M. The syndicate that purchased the shares included J.P. Morgan, E.H. Harriman & Marshall Field. The Nickerson summer house, Fieldstone Hall, in Brewster, MA, is now a condominium resort called Ocean Edge.[6]
The Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod baseball league has been home to many current and former major league baseball stars, such as Mike Aviles, Sean Casey, Chris Dickerson, Bobby Keilty, Aaron Rowand, Gaby Sanchez, Brian Bannister, Matt Herges, Mike Meyers, Billy Wagner and Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn and his son Tony Gwynn Jr.Brimfield Points of interest Brimfield Antique Show - Brimfield is the site of the largest outdoor antiques show in New England. It takes place three times each year, for six days in May, July, and September. Notable residents William Eaton (1764–1811) military adventurer who helped capture the city of Derna on the Barbary Coast during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. Erastus Fairbanks (1792–1864) Whig Politician and Governor of Vermont John Wells Foster (1815–1873) geologist and paleontologist and assisted in organizing Massachusetts Republican Party. Erasmus D. Keyes (1810–1895) Military General and led the IV Corps of the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. Fitz Henry Warren (1816–1878) Whig Politician, Served in the civil war in the United States Cavalry, as an Iowa State Senator and as United States Minister to Guatemala. Richard Nelson Frye (c. 1920) , Scholar of Iranian and Central Asian Studies, and Aga Khan Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Harvard University.Brookfield Notable residents William Appleton, congressman John Brooks, Jr., military officer Asa Danforth, highway engineer Arthur Louis Day, geological physicist William B. Draper, importer and bank president Elsie the Cow, commercial mascot Theodore Foster, politician Mary Jane Hawes, author Albert R. Howe, congressman Pliny T. Merrick, attorney and judge Joseph Read, soldier Bathsheba Spooner, criminal George B. Upham, congressman Jabez Upham, congressman
Buckland
Buckland was the birthplace of Mary Lyon, foundress of the Mount Holyoke Female Semniary, now known as Mount Holyoke College.
Bill Burr
Canton
In addition to being a prominent Canton citizen, Elijah Dunbar was also the first President of the Stoughton Musical Society from 1786 to 1808. This is now the oldest choral society in the United States [1].
Paul Revere built the nation's first Copper Rolling Mill there in 1801 and wrote the poem entitled Canton Dale about his affection for the town.
Canton is also the birthplace of the Rising Sun Stove Polish Company founded by Elijah Morse, a wealthy merchant, creator of the pot-belly stove.
Notable People
Bill Burr Comedian
Commodore John Downes, U.S. Navy officer who fought in the War with Tripoli, the War of 1812 and commanded a punitive expedition to Sumatra in the 1830s, was born in town.
Paul Revere Revolutionary
NHL 1986 Stanley Cup Champion Steve Rooney of the Montreal Canadiens
MLB first baseman and American League MVP Mo Vaughn
NBA basketball great Dave Cowens
NBA Basketball player Dana Barros
NFL Football player Randy Moss
Stephen Schnetzer Actor
Rob Mariano, a.k.a. "Boston Rob" reality TV personality
Paul Guilfoyle Actor, CSI:Crime Scene Investigation
Charton
Grave of John "Grizzly" Adams in Bay Path Cemetery
Chatham
Notable People
Zered Bassett, pro skateboarder, grew up in Chatham
Shirley Booth, actress
Louis D. Brandeis, Supreme Court justice
Bernard Cornwell, best selling author
Franklin Cover, late actor
Jamie D'Antona, professional baseball player
David Drumm former CEO of Anglo Irish Bank[4]
Todd Eldredge, champion figure skater
Bobby Hackett, famous musician
Julie Harris, actress
Joseph C. Lincoln, author of Cape Cod Stories
Joseph Lord, Puritan pastor
Martha MacCallum, Fox News Channel anchor
Sandra Day O'Connor, Supreme Court Justice; has a residence in Chatham
Sara Pennypacker, children's book author
Christopher Seufert, film director/photographer
Archelaus Smith, Nova Scotia pioneer
Bob Staake, cartoonist & illustrator
Tisquantum (Squanto)died in Chatham,MA and is buried in an unmarked grave on Burial Hill, overlooking Ryder's Cove.
Chesshire
Notable People
Dale Long, Major League Baseball player
Chester
Notable People
Rowland Day, congressman Capt. David Shepard, American doctor and soldier; an early proponent of inoculation to prevent small pox
Chilmark
Cultural references
On the television show The X-Files, Fox Mulder was raised in Chilmark. It was in Chilmark that his younger sister Samantha's alien abduction happened on November 27, 1973.
Clinton
Notable People
Clarence Brown
Tim Fortugno
Joe Penna
Joseph L. Gormley
Mal Kittridge,[9]
Agnes Moorehead, actress
Jimmy Ryan,[9]
Sydney Schanberg
Scott Young
Vincent Milburn, owner of Burning Mill Records[10]
David Walsh, former Massachusetts governor
Cohasset
Notable People
Kate Bosworth (b. 1983) — Actress
Michael Kennedy (1958–1997) — son of Robert F. Kennedy, nephew of President John F. Kennedy
Brooks Orpik (b. 1980) - NHL ice hockey player
Zealous Bates Tower (1819–1900) — Union army general
Steve Bowen (b. 1964) — US Navy submariner and NASA astronaut
Nancy Carell (b. 1966) — actress and is also married to Steve Carell
Trivia
Movies filmed in Cohasset: The Witches of Eastwick (1987), starring Cher, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Jack Nicholson. HouseSitter (1992), starring Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin.
Colrain
Notable People
William Apes, Native American writer, preacher, and politician[6]
Joseph Denison, first President of Kansas State University, abolitionist minister
The Battle of Lexington and Concord was the initial conflict in the American Revolutionary War. On April 19, 1775, a force of British Army regulars marched from Boston to Concord (pausing for an early-morning skirmish at Lexington, where the first shots of the Battle were fired) to capture a cache of arms that was reportedly stored in the town. Forewarned of the British troop movements, colonists from Concord and surrounding towns repulsed a British detachment at the Old North Bridge and forced the British troops to retreat.[4] The battle was initially publicized by the colonists as an example of British brutality and aggression: one colonial broadside decried the "Bloody Butchery of the British Troops".[5] A century later, however, the conflict was remembered proudly by Americans, taking on a patriotic, almost mythic status in works like the "Concord Hymn" and "Paul Revere's Ride".
Concord has a remarkably rich literary history centered in the mid-nineteenth century around Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), who moved to the town in 1835 and quickly became its most prominent citizen.[8] Emerson, a successful lecturer and philosopher, had deep roots in the town: his father Rev. William Emerson (1769–1811) grew up in Concord before becoming an eminent Boston minister, and his grandfather, William Emerson Sr., witnessed the battle at the North Bridge from his house, and later became a chaplain in the Continental Army.[9]
Emerson was at the center of a group of like-minded Transcendentalists living in Concord.[10] Among them were the author Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) and the philosopher Bronson Alcott (1799–1888), the father of Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). A native Concordian, Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), was another notable member of Emerson's circle. This substantial collection of literary talent in one small town led Henry James to dub Concord "the biggest little place in America."[11] Among the products of this intellectually stimulating environment were Emerson's many essays, including Self-Reliance (1841), Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women (1868), and Hawthorne's story collection Mosses from an Old Manse (1846).[12] Thoreau famously lived in a small cabin near Walden Pond, where he wrote Walden (1854).[13] After being imprisoned in the Concord jail for refusing to pay taxes in political protest, Thoreau penned the influential essay "Resistance to Civil Government", popularly known as Civil Disobedience (1849).[14]
The Wayside house, located on Lexington Road, has been home to a number of authors.[15] It was occupied by scientist John Winthrop (1714–1779) when Harvard College was temporarily moved to Concord during the Revolutionary War.[16] The Wayside was later the home of the Alcott family (who referred to it as "Hillside"); the Alcotts sold it to Hawthorne in 1852, and the family moved into the adjacent Orchard House in 1858. Hawthorne dubbed the house "The Wayside" and lived there until his death. The house was purchased in 1883 by Boston publisher Daniel Lothrop and his wife, Harriett, who wrote the Five Little Peppers series and other children's books under the pen name Margaret Sidney.[17] Today, The Wayside and the Orchard House are both museums.
Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and the Alcotts are buried on Authors' Ridge in Concord's Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.[18]
Ephraim Bull developed the now-ubiquitous Concord grape at his home on Lexington Road, where the original vine still grows.[19]
Welch's, the first company to sell grape juice, maintains a small headquarters in Concord
Notable People
Seth Abramson, poet[23]
Bronson Alcott, teacher and writer
Louisa May Alcott, novelist
Laurie Baker, USA Hockey gold medalist[24]
Ephraim Bull, inventor of the Concord grape
Steve Carell, comedian
Darby Conley, cartoonist
Patricia Cornwell, contemporary American crime writer and author[25]
Harrison Gray Dyar, chemist and inventor
Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist, poet and philosopher
Will Eno, author and playwright
Daniel Chester French, sculptor
John Hoar, redeemer of famed captive
Mary Rowlandson during King Philip's War
Kevin Garnett, NBA player
Hal Gill, NHL player[26]
Doris Kearns Goodwin, historian and writer[27]
Richard Goodwin, advisor and speechwriter to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson Nathaniel Hawthorne, novelist and short story writer
Dick Hustvedt, software engineer
Alan Lightman, physicist, novelist and essayist[28]
Gregory Maguire, author[29]
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau, author, naturalist and philosopher
Andrew McMahon, musician and lead singer of Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin
Russell Miller, author and historian
Robert B. Parker, author[30]
Uta Pippig, marathon runner[31]
Sam Presti, NBA executive[32]
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, novelist
David Allen Sibley, ornithologist and author
Margaret Sidney (Harriett Mulford Stone), author
Samuel Willard, 17th century colonial minister
Gordon S. Wood, historian and author
Conway
Notable People
John Avery, (1837–1887), educator, first citizen of the United States to be admitted to the Royal Asiatic Society[6]
Marshall Field, Marshall Field and Company founder
Holly Hobbie, author of children's books and the creator of the fictional character that bears her name.
Archibald MacLeish (May 7, 1892 – April 20, 1982) American poet associated with the modernist school of poetry, writer, Librarian of Congress, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner
Erin McKeown, musician Noted poet and newspaper editor
William Cullen Bryant was born in Cummington, and returned for many years to summer in the town. His house is now a museum.
Cummington
Notable residents
Rachel Maddow, MSNBC host
Richard Wilbur, poet
William Cullen Bryant, poet
Worcester Reed Warner, Engineer
Sergei Isupov, artist
Dalton
Notable People
Dan Duquette, former general manager of the Boston Red Sox
On February 29, 1704, during Queen Anne's War, joint French and Indian forces attacked the town in what has become known as the 1704 Raid on Deerfield. Under the command of Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville were 47 Canadiens and 200 Abenaki, Kanienkehaka and Wyandot, as well as a few Pocumtuck. They struck at dawn, razing Deerfield and killing 56 colonists, including 22 men, 9 women, and 25 children. They took as captives 109 survivors, including women and children, and "carried" them away on a months-long trek to Quebec. Many died along the way or were killed when they could not keep up
Dennis
The Cape Playhouse, in northern Dennis, is the oldest summer theatre in the United States, and among the best known. The actress Bette Davis was 'discovered' there while working there as an usher.
The area of Scargo Lake and Scargo Hill in Dennis are associated with ancient Native American folklore. The legend of the lake's creation was the inspiration for a children's book and an American folklore tale, the Legend of Scargo. When viewed from the tower atop Scargo Hill, Scargo lake appears to be in the shape of a fish.
Notable People
author Mary Higgins Clark
actress Amy Jo Johnson, who grew up in Dennis.
Edward Gelsthorpe, (1923–2009), marketing executive called "Cranapple Ed" for his best-known product launch.[8]
Amy Jo Johnson, actress
Gertrude Lawrence, actress
Mike Sherman, Former coach of the Green Bay Packers & coach of the Texas A&M Aggies.
Chris Lambton, the "Bachelorette" contestant
Dover
Notable People
E. F. Hodgson, founder of the E. F. Hodgson Co
Amelia Peabody, artist and philanthropist, donated Noanet Woodlands (also known as Miss Peabody's Woods)
Matthew A. Reynolds, Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs
Leverett Saltonstall, U.S. Senator
Francis W. Sargent, Governor
Kenny Florian, UFC Fighter
Don MacTavish, Stock Car Driver and winner of the 1966 NASCAR Sportsman Series Championship
Dunstable
Notable People
Isaac Fletcher (1784–1842), United States Representative from Vermont
Amos Kendall (1789–1869), United States Postmaster General during the administration of Andrew Jackson
Amos Lawrence (1786–1852), merchant and philanthropist
Samuel Parris (1653–1720), Puritan minister during the Salem witch trials
Ellen Swallow Richards (1842–1911), chemist, first woman admitted to MIT
Duxbury
Notable People
Ichabod Alden, (1739–1778), officer in the American Revolution[8]
John Alden, a Mayflower immigrant and one of the founders of Duxbury[8]
Love Brewster, a founder of the town of Duxbury.
Elder William Brewster (pilgrim), (c. 1567 - April 10, 1644), the Pilgrim leader and spiritual elder of the Plymouth Colony and a passenger on the Mayflower. He was also and one of the founders of Duxbury.
Captain/Deputy Governor Myles Standish, (1584–1656) a Mayflower settler and founder of Duxbury.
Bill Curley, former NBA center for San Antonio Spurs basketball team
Captain Amasa Delano (b. 1763), became fictionalized as a character in Herman Melville's 1855 novella Benito Cereno
Bobby Farrelly, screenwriter, director; with brother Peter wrote and directed popular films including Dumb and Dumber, There's Something About Mary, and Shallow Hal
Juliana Hatfield (b. 1967), indie rock singer
Pat Leahy, NHL hockey player for the Boston Bruins
Philip Parlier, former shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team
George Partridge, a representative to Continental Congress and the First United States Congress
Joe Perry
Joe Perry, guitarist for Aerosmith
George Soule, a Mayflower Pilgrim, signer of the Mayflower Compact and one of the founders of Duxbury[9]
Mike Sullivan, former coach of the Boston Bruins
Ezra Weston, Jr., referred to colloquially as King Caesar.
Weston's shipbuilding enterprise dominated Duxbury in the early 19th century with a large portion of the population employed in the Weston shipyards, farms, wharves, mill, ropewalk, or aboard Weston’s fishing schooners and merchant fleet. The King Caesar House is now a tourist attraction in town.
East Bridgewater
Notable People
Manny Delcarmen, Red Sox pitcher.
Tom Everett Scott, Actor
East Brookfield
Points of interest
The Hodgkins School, also known as the Lashaway Middle School, was at the time of its closing in 2002, the oldest operating public school in the nation. It is now the home of the East Brookfield Historical Museum, the Quaboag Valley Railroaders Club, and the Massasoit Art Guild. It is also the meeting place for Boy Scout Troop 238.
Also, East Brookfield contains (according to Cecil Adams of The Straight Dope) the location of "Podunk", the archetypical "backwater" town.
Notable People
Connie Mack Marina Re, actress in the film The Women (Helene)
East Longmeadow
Notable People
Tim Daggett - Olympic gold medalist
Kim Adler - Professional bowler, 15 national PWBA titles including the 1999 U.S. Women's Open
Erik P. Kraft - Writer, grew up in East Longmeadow, and his novel Miracle Wimp is set there
Eastham
It was in Eastham that Henry Beston wrote The Outermost House. The town is discussed at some length in Henry David Thoreau's Cape Cod as the somewhat rugged site of one of New England's largest summer "camp-meeting" evangelistic gatherings in the mid-19th century. The gatherings were at times attended by at least "one hundred and fifty ministers, (!) and five thousand hearers" at a site called Millennium Grove, in the northwest part of town. (The area is now a residential neighborhood, the only reminder being Millennium Lane.)
Easthampton
Notable People
Lloyd Cole,
English singer, songwriter, known for his role as lead singer of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions from 1984 to 1989
Jeph Jacques, writer, artist of webcomic Questionable Content
Jeffrey Rowland, author and artist, creator of web comics Wigu and Overcompensating.
Amy Gardiner, animator and fine artist, creator of the short animation Space Beavers and comic Starshine.
Easton
In 1803, the Ames Shovel Company was established and became nationally known as having provided the shovels which laid the Union Pacific Railroad and opened the west
Notable People
Oakes Ames, (1804–1873), manufacturer, United States Congressman[2]
Oliver Ames, (1831–1895), governor of Massachusetts[2]
Jim Craig, goaltender for the gold medal winning 1980 "Miracle on Ice" U.S. Olympic hockey team
Erik Vendt, 3 time Olympic Medalist for swimming (2 silver, 1 gold) 2000, 2004, 2008 Olympics
Metacom, leader in King Phillip's War, born near present day Furnace Village
Oakes Ames (botanist), specialist in orchids
Blanche Ames Ames, wife of above, socialite and painter/inventor. Maiden name was Ames, marrie dan ames and kept both names, although no relation
Kristian Alfonso, Soap Opera Star
In July 2009, Easton was named #14 on CNN Money Magazine's Best places for the rich and single list [3], and #37 on its Top 100 Best Places to Live list, moving up from #48 in July 2007
Essex
Fried Clams - Essex
The fried clam was reportedly "invented" in Essex by Chubby Woodman early in the 20th century
The feature film The Crucible, starring Winona Ryder and Daniel Day-Lewis, was filmed in Essex. Winona Ryder stayed in a private home on Western Ave. during the filming of The Crucible.
Essex serves as a former residence to physicist Daniel Faraday (Jeremy Davies) on ABC's series Lost, during the episode "Confirmed Dead".
Grown Ups, starring Adam Sandler was filmed almost entirely in Essex during the summer of 2009 primarily at Chebacco Lake. The movie also shot at Woodman's restaurant in Essex, and in Southborough, Massachusetts. The movie was released on June 25, 2010.
Notable People
Rufus Choate, (1799–1859), lawyer, orator, US Congressman, Senator. A close friend of Daniel Webster, Choate was chosen to serve out his unfinished term in the US Senate. Choate is considered today to be one of the fathers of traditional American conservatism. Choate St, named after the Choate family, connects John Wise Ave to Chebacco Rd.
Michael G. Ford (born 1950), eldest son of U.S. President Gerald R. Ford lived in Essex at the same time his father occupied the White House. Ford made Essex his home while studying at nearby Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Jonathan Knight, member of 80's-90's boy band New Kids On The Block, which was based out of nearby, Dorchester, MA
John Wise (1652–1725), pastor of Chebacco Parish (when this parish remained part of the neighboring town of Ipswich), who spoke out against "taxation without representation" more than a half century before the American Revolutionary War. John Wise Ave (a section of MA Route 133) is named for him.
Evan Dando, founder and frontman of the popular alternative rock band The Lemonheads, is an Essex native.
Lucille Blackwood, (1929–1981) antiques auctioneer, dealer, appraiser, teacher. Credited with seeding Massachusetts with hundreds of dealers and collectors as a result of her college courses and professional lectures. Thought to be the first female auctioneer in Massachusetts.
Edward H. Saltzberg, (1921–1995) antiques dealer and appraiser. Last of an old school of dealers in Essex County, Massachusetts whose merchandise was almost entirely garnered from the region and subsequently sold from a traditional shop (without exercising auctions, show circuits, or the Internet). Son of Joseph Saltzberg of adjacent Ipswich, a cabinetmaker and antiques dealer.
Arthur Dana Story, (1854–1932), shipbuilder credited with constructing nearly 430 vessels including the Adams, Warwick, the famous Gertrude L Thebaud (considered the last of its kind) and the famous Columbia, widely regarded as the most beautiful schooner ever built. The Essex Shipbuilding Museum occupies his old shipyard by the Essex River.
Fairhaven
Notable People
Henry Huttleston Rogers (1840–1909), who was a United States capitalist, businessman, and philanthropist. Rogers was one of the key men in John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil trust
Joseph Bates (1792–1872), co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist movement.
John Cook Bennett (1804–1867) was an American physician and a ranking and influential (but short-lived and controversial) leader of the Latter-Day-Saint movement, who acted as second in command to Joseph Smith, Jr. for a brief period in the early 1840s.
World-renowned marine painter and photographer William Bradford (1823–1892) lived and worked in Fairhaven.
John Cooke, the last surviving male Pilgrim from the 1620 voyage to found the Plymouth colony (and who was, with Thomas Delano, one of the original buyers of the land from the Wampanoags).
Captain Paul Delano (1775–1842), a sea captain, moved to Chile in 1819 where he became an important part of that country's early Navy.
Warren Delano II, grandfather of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Lemuel D. Eldred (1848–1921), a talented marine painter, who depicted New England’s dramatic seascapes, rocky beaches, and quiet coastal villages in the manner of the Hudson River School’s second generation.
William H. Hand, Jr. (1875-1946), was one of the most prolific yacht designers of the twentieth century. Hand’s office was in Fairhaven, Massachusetts.
William Le Baron Jenney (1832—1907), an American architect and engineer who became known as the "Father of the American Skyscraper", was a Fairhaven native.
"John" Manjiro Nakahama (1827–1898), the first Japanese person to live in America.
Albert Pike (1809–1891) was an attorney, soldier, writer, and prominent Freemason. Pike is the only Confederate military officer or figure to be honored with an outdoor statue in Washington, D.C. (in Judiciary Square). A Massachusetts native, he taught school in Fairhaven as a young man.
Christopher Reeve (1952–2004), of Superman fame, kept a sailboat, the 40-foot sloop-rigged "Chandelle", at a Fairhaven shipyard and sometimes flew into New Bedford Regional Airport to pick it up or to stay in town during a stopover en route to Martha's Vineyard.
Gil Santos is the longtime radio play-by-play announcer for the New England Patriots of the National Football League and morning sports reporter for WBZ radio in Boston.
Frances Ford Seymour (1908–1950), wife of actor Henry Fonda and mother of actress Jane Fonda and actor Peter Fonda, lived in Fairhaven for several years with family members, and attended Fairhaven High School.
Captain Joshua Slocum (1844–1909), the first man to sail alone around the world, and his ship, the Spray. The Spray originally belonged to Captain Eben Pierce of Fairhaven, a whaling captain, who gave the derelict boat, slowly deteriorating in a ship cradle in a meadow on Fairhaven's Poverty Point, to his friend, Captain Slocum. Slocum spent thirteen months in Fairhaven while working on the Spray, making her fit for open-ocean sailing. Fairhaven oak formed much of the boat's refitted structure. The Spray and her one-man crew returned after nearly three and a half year to the very cedar spile that was used for her launch. Today, the student newspaper at Fairhaven High School is called "The Spray".
Foxborough
The town is best known as the site of Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots of the National Football League and the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer.
Notable People
Jayson P. Ahern, Deputy Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Seth Boyden, born in Foxborough, later became one of Newark, New Jersey's foremost citizen-inventors, responsible for inventing patent leather, malleable iron and other processes as well as one of the first to develop daguerreotype.
Frank Boyden, headmaster of Deerfield Academy[4]
Matt Leonard, WAAF radio personality
Ha Jin, author.
Joanna Levesque, professionally known as JoJo, an R&B singer-songwriter and actress
Tom Nalen, professional football player for the Denver Broncos[5]
Chris Sullivan, musician, actor, cast member of The Electric Company[6]
Nguyen Van Thieu, (died in US exile in 2001) President of South Vietnam from 1967 to 1975.[7]
Madame Nguyen Van Thieu, the last serving First Lady of South Vietnam from 1967 to 1975.
Freetown
Freetown is one of the oldest communities in the United States, having been settled by the Pilgrims and their descendants in the latter half of the 17th century
One Massachusetts governor, Marcus Morton, has hailed from Freetown
Gardner
A filming location for the 1992 movie, School Ties.
Swimming team Gardner High School is noted for its swimming program. The female team has won 15 consecutive championships under coach Don Lemieux, from 1994 through 2008. The program was home to 2000 Olympic gold medalist Samantha Arsenault, a 1999 graduate.
Notable People
Jacques Cesaire, NFL Defensive End for the San Diego Chargers
Mark Gearan, former head of the Peace Corps under President Bill Clinton and current president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Hadassah Lieberman, wife of U.S. Senator from Connecticut and 2000 Democratic nominee for Vice President Joseph Lieberman
Lucy Stone, women's rights activist, whose house still stands on Elm Street.
Georgetown
Notable People
Brian St. Pierre (former standout quarterback at St. John's Preparatory School and Boston College. He was drafted to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2003)
Terry O'Reilly (former hockey player for the Boston Bruins)
John Updike, American novelist, resided at 58 West Main Street, Georgetown, Massachusetts from 1976 to 1982. His jogs through Georgetown provided backdrop for his 1981 novel Rabbit is Rich, which won him the National Book Critics Circle Award, the American National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction [2].
Paul Harding (author), best known for his debut novel Tinkers (2009) which won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Georgetown recently served as the filming location for Diane English's movie The Women (2008)[3]. The movie stars numerous Hollywood leading ladies, including Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Annette Bening, Jada Pinkett Smith, Candice Bergen, Bette Midler and Debra Messing. Primary filming location was at Camp Leslie, along the shore of Pentucket Pond
The campus of Northfield Mount Hermon School is located in the Mount Hermon section of the town.
Gosnold
As of the 2000 census, the town population was 86, making it the least populous town in Massachusetts
Grafton
The Willard House and Clock Museum
In the 1930s, a movie, Ah, Wilderness!, was filmed in the town North Grafton
It is the home of the Wyman Gordon Company. Wyman Gordon installed the largest metal forge in the free world at the time it was built. This forge is used to form strategic metals used in commercial and military aircraft for turbine disks, shafts, and blades, landing struts and other aircraft parts where light weight and extreme strength are needed. The entire undercarriage of the space shuttles were forged in Grafton, MA. of magnesium.
Notable People
Bethany Hart, 2006 women's USA Olympic Bobsled team member[5]
Joel Hills Johnson (1802–1883), Mormon pioneer, published poet and gospel hymn writer, Utah politician, founded the Utah towns of Enoch and Johnson
Simon Willard and his brothers, clock makers
John Adams Whipple, pioneer photographer and inventor
Marc Orrell, Former guitarist for the band Dropkick Murphys
Steve Spagnuolo, Head Coach of the St. Louis Rams
Frank O'Hara, avant-garde poet and playwright
Granby
Notable People
Madeleine Blais, journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner, Zepp's Last Stand
Jesse Richards, artist, photographer and filmmaker (remodernist film) and former member of the Stuckism art group.
Andrew Cook, former drummer for the band Receiving End of Sirens (now A Rocket to the Moon)
Chris Waddell, Four-time Paralympian ( Albertville , Lillehammer , Nagano , Salt Lake City)
Groveland
Notable residents
Pat Badger, Bassist for the Boston band Extreme
Larry Dorr, Life long resident. Manager of Blood Sweat & Tears for 26 years,
Chuck Negron, Three Dog Night,
Paula Cole. Toured with Jesus Christ Superstar in the 70's. Also worked with Firefall, Orleans, Marvin Gaye.
Hadley
Notable People
William Goffe, English parliamentarian and regicide
Edward Whalley, English parliamentarian and regicide
Joseph Hooker, Civil War general
Halifax
Notable People
Joshua Cushman, congressman
Alexander Parris, architect
M4 Tank - Patton Park - Hamilton, MA
Hamilton
Notable People
General George S. Patton, known for his exploits in World War II, resided in Hamilton. This is the reason for Patton Park, a park made famous by the installation of an M4 Sherman full-sized World War II tank on which many children and young adults play. Longtime resident and native Sandra Klein (née Phippen) remembers being able to be able to play inside the tank in the late 40s until a fire was set inside - after this the hatches were welded shut
Chief Masconomet, the last Sagamore (Chief) of the Agawam tribe of native Americans. The Agawam tribe once numbered in the tens of thousands and controlled what is modern day Essex County. By the early 17th century their numbers were reduced to several hundred by European diseases. Masconomet befriended the white settlers and eventually ceded all the tribe's land to the state in exchange for a small sum of money and protection from enemy tribes. Masconomet died a ward of the state, penniless and without land and was buried on Sagamore Hill in Hamilton in 1658.").[6]
George S. Patton IV. In the years after his 1980 retirement from the Army with the rank of Major General, Patton turned a Hamilton estate owned by his late father into the 250-acre (1.0 km2) Green Meadows Farm, where he named the fields in honor of Vietnam soldiers who died under his command.
Actor David Morse was born in Hamilton.
David McWane of the ska band Big D and the Kids Table is originally from Hamilton.
Emily Fitzpatrick from MTV's The Real World: Cancun is from Hamilton
Famous internet comedian Bo Burnham resides in Hamilton.
Hancock
In 1790, the Shakers established Hancock Shaker Village. The Shakers were a religious order which believed in pacifism, celibacy and communal living. Worship could take the form of singing and ecstatic dance, which is why they were called the "Shaking Quakers," or "Shakers." The utopian sect is renowned today for its plain architecture and furniture. After reaching peak membership in the 1840s, with 19 "societies" scattered from Maine to Kentucky, and west to Indiana, the Shaker movement gradually dwindled. Today, only one village remains in the control of the last Shakers, located at Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in New Gloucester, Maine. Hancock Shaker Village, now operated as a museum, is famous for its "Round Stone Barn", built in 1826.
Hanover
The town was the site of the invention of the first tack-making machine,
Notable People
George Washington Carver lived in a small cabin on the North River in Hanover for several months, while he worked on his autobiography.
Nichole Hiltz,actress.
Hanson
Ocean Spray was first started by several bogs in Hanson
Notable People
Rear Admiral Albert C. Read (1887–1967) Commander/Navigator of the NC-4, The first aircraft to complete a transatlantic flight in 1919,
Jason Delaney, minor league baseball player for the Pittsburgh Pirates
John Delaney, minor league baseball player for the Milwaukee Brewers
Tiffany Scott, 2002 Olympic Figure Skater.
Bruce Young, noted musical historian, and contributor to the Grammy nominated CD, "Actionable Offenses: Indecent Phonograph Recordings from the 1890s".
Rocky Marciano, a professional boxer who had a summer house located on Main Street in Hanson.
Jimmy Slyde (b.James T. Godbolt 1927-2008), World renowned Tap Dancer, famous for his innovative tap style mixed with jazz. Danced in films The Cotton Club, Tap, and Round Midnight. Received Tony Award nomination for his Broadway Debut in the Musical Black & Blue.
It has been home to several non-traditional communities, such as Harvard Shaker Village and the utopian Transcendentalist center Fruitlands.
The Shakers - The town was site of Harvard Shaker Village, a utopian religious community established in 1791, one of 19 scattered between Maine and Kentucky, and as far west as Indiana. The sect, renowned for plain architecture and furniture, reached its peak membership in the 1840s. But greater employment opportunities introduced by the Industrial Revolution would entice away some potential and practicing Shaker members. Some became disaffected with the church's insistence on celibacy, self-abnegation, and communal ownership of property. Indeed, Mary Marshall Dyer, a onetime believer, became an outspoken Anti-Shaker. The flock dwindled, and like others, Harvard Shaker Village eventually closed. Today, only one church "society" remains open, run by the last Shakers at Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in New Gloucester, Maine.
Fruitlands
Amos Bronson Alcott relocated his family, including his ten-year-old daughter, Louisa May Alcott, to Harvard in June, 1843. He and Charles Lane attempted to establish a utopian transcendentalist socialist farm called Fruitlands on the slopes of Prospect Hill in Harvard. The experimental community only lasted 7 months, closing in January, 1844. Fruitlands, so called "because the inhabitants hoped to live off the fruits of the land, purchasing nothing from the outside world,"[2] saw visits from the likes of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.[3] Louisa May Alcott used her experience at Fruitlands as an inspiration for her novel Little Women.[2] Clara Endicott Sears, whose summer estate was also situated on Prospect Hill,[3] restored Fruitlands and opened it as a museum in 1914.[2] On the grounds of Fruitlands Museum there is also a Shaker house, that was relocated there from Harvard's Shaker Village, by Sears, in 1920. It is the first Shaker museum ever established in the United States.[3] In addition, Sears opened a gallery on the property dedicated to Native American history. Sears became interested in Native Americans after Nipmuck arrowheads were found around her property on Prospect Hill, which the Nipmuck Indians had called Makamacheckamucks.[4] Originally, Sears Fruitlands property spanned 458 acres (1.85 km2), but in 1939, 248 acres (1.00 km2) were seized by eminent domain for expansion of Fort Devens. As of 2010, that land is now part of the Oxbow Wildlife Refuge.[2]
Fiske Warren Tahanto Enclave - Fiske Warren, a follower of Henry George, attempted to establish a single tax zone in Harvard in 1918. The enclave bought up land communally and attempted to manage the land according to George's principles. The enclave failed soon after Warren died in 1938.
Notable People
Amos Bronson Alcott – teacher, writer and Transcendentalist, Fruitlands founder
Louisa May Alcott – novelist, daughter of Amos Alcott
Tabitha Babbitt – tool maker
Toni Chandler – voice actress
Adam Dziewonski – geophysicist
Jonathan Edwards – musician
Fannie Farmer – cookbook author
Lynn Jennings – Olympic runner
Charles Lane – Transcendentalist, Fruitlands founder
Ann Lee – Shaker founder
Keir O'Donnell – Australian actor
Clara Endicott Sears – founder of Fruitlands Museum
Ted Sizer – educational reform leader
William Channing Whitney – architect
Harwich
The town is considered by some to be the birthplace of the cranberry industry, with the first commercial operation opened in 1846.
Notable People
Shawn Fanning - Class of 1998, Creator and Owner of MP3 music downloading application, Napster. Graduated from Harwich High School.
Cody Crowell - Class of 2003, Baseball pitcher for Harwich, attended Vanderbilt University, Drafted by Toronto Blue Jays in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft
Hatfield
The high school, Smith Academy, is grades 7-12 With just a little over 190 students, it is the smallest public school in the state of Massachusetts.
Notable Alumni:
Jack Hubbard, College Football Hall of Fame inductee[3]
Judy Strong, Olympic field hockey
Heath
Notable People
H. P. Lovecraft spent time in Heath exploring the rocky hills. It is believed that he used the landscape as a reference for some of the scenes in his stories.
Rev. Jonathan Leavitt, first minister of Charlemont, longtime resident of Heath
Reinhold Niebuhr made his summer home in Heath, where, in 1934, he first delivered the famous Serenity Prayer.
Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter made his summer home in Heath.
Garden designer Elsa Bakalar.
America's Next Top Model Cycle 9 contestant Sarah Hartshorne.
Holbrook
Notable People
Elihu Adams - Brother of President John Adams and a Minuteman in the Continental Army
Andrew Card - Former White House Chief of Staff under George W. Bush (Jan. 20, 2001 - April 14, 2006)
Kevin Robert Hammond - Labor union leader
George Mason Lovering - Recipient of the Medal of Honor
James Joseph Mann - Professional baseball player
Michael Sullivan - Former United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts.
Holliston
The town was once the largest producer of shoes in the United States.[3] Although many of the shoe factories have been lost by fires and other problems, the largest company, the Goodwill Shoe Company, still has remaining empty factories on Water Street, many of which are now used as artists' studios. Competition from overseas factories is largely to blame for the loss of the industry.[citation needed]
Holliston's Mudville neighborhood claims to be the location of the 1888 Ernest Lawrence Thayer poem, "Casey at the Bat", and maintains an ongoing rivalry with Stockton, California, which makes the same claim regarding the poem's setting.
Balancing Rock Before It Fell
The Legend of Balancing Rock
On the north side of Route 16 heading into Milford sits a large rock, some 20 ft (6.1 m) in length, 10 ft (3.0 m) in width, 6 ft (1.8 m) thick, and weighing easily over 5 tons (4.5 metric tons). The rock appears to be balanced precariously on an outcrop of granite ledge. In 1776, after the evacuation of Boston by the British troops, General George Washington led his army to New York via this route. Legend has it that, as the army came across this "Balancing Rock," many of the troops took the opportunity to have some fun and tried their best to tip over the rock. It is said that the General himself, quite amused at the spectacle, added his muscle in an attempt to push the rock off its natural pedestal. Their efforts — and those of many others over the years — were to no avail as Balancing Rock still stands today
Notable People
Arthur Judson Brown, clergyman, missionary, author
Joe Fish (baseball player), Holliston's first professional baseball player, signed by the Boston Red Sox
Mike Grier, forward for San Jose Sharks hockey team[citation needed]
Hannibal Hamlin, U.S. Vice president under Abraham Lincoln (1861–1865)
Michael Mantenuto, actor (Jack O'Callahan in Miracle)
John Krause, professional soccer player
Greg Mauldin, center for NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets, played for the University of Massachusetts Minutemen[citation needed]
Jo Dee Messina, country music singer
Andrew Natsios, Director, United States Agency for International Development
Albert P. Rockwood, Mormon missionary, Danite, member of the secret Council of Fifty
John Sencio, National Television Personality - HGTV, NBC, MTV
Bryan Greenberg, Actor, Ben Epstein in How to Make it in America.
Mark Sweeney, first baseman for Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team
Kara Wolters, professional basketball player and Olympic medal winner.
Paul Loscocco, former Republican state representative, who aborted a run for Lt. Governor as an independent with gubernatorial candidate and State Treasurer Tim Cahill
Adam Green, actor, writer and director for "Frozen" and other films
Hopedale
Notable People
Dana Gould, comedian, voice of Gex
Joe Perry of Aerosmith
Ruth Pointer of The Pointer Sisters
Kevin Nee
Jason Myles Goss, singer songwriter
Howard Maurer, Golf Course Architect
Daniel Madden of Daniel Striped Tiger
Michael Rodrigues CEO of Triangle
Hopkinton
The town is best known as the starting point of the Boston Marathon
Notable People
George V. Brown (1880–1937), sports organizer in United States, 30-year starter of Boston marathon, and Hockey Hall of Fame inductee
Walter A. Brown (1905–1964), founding owner of the Boston Celtics and inductee into the basketball and hockey halls of fame
William Chamberlain (1755–1828), United States Representative from Vermont
Miles Davis (1987- ), Actor in Camp Daze
Dennis Eckersley (1954- ), Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher
Richard Egan (1936–2009), founder of EMC Corporation and former US Ambassador to Ireland
Robert Falcione (1955- ), Founder of Hopnews, Hopkinton's version of Perez Hilton
Mike Grier (1975- ), son of Bobby Grier and NHL hockey player Steve Nicol (1961- ), Scottish-born coach of soccer team New England Revolution
Emilie Poulsson (1853–1939), Children's book author, early proponent of the Kindergarten Movement
Hudson
Notable People
Lewis Dewart Apsley - Founder of Apsley Rubber Company; U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts from 1893 to 1897[10]
Nuno Bettencourt - Rock musician; lead guitarist for the band Extreme
Paul Cellucci - Former Governor of Massachusetts, from 1997 to 2001; and former U.S. Ambassador to Canada, from 2001 to 2005
William D. Coolidge - Physicist who invented an improved X-ray tube, developed the tungsten filament for the incandescent light bulb, was vice-president of General Electric, and was elected to the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1975
Hugo Ferreira - Rock musician; singer-songwriter for the band Tantric[11]
Tony Frias - Professional soccer player; has played for the New England Revolution, C.S. Marítimo, and S.C. Lusitânia[12]
Charles Hudson - A childhood resident, the town of Hudson is named after him, after he offered the town $500 towards the construction of a public library, but only if the town was named after him; U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts from 1841 to 1849; purportedly a good friend of President Abraham Lincoln
Charles Precourt - Retired U.S. astronaut[13]
Wilbert Robinson - Born in Bolton but raised in Hudson; was a catcher for various Major League Baseball teams; known best for being manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1914 to 1931; inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945
Thomas P. Salmon - Former Governor of Vermont, from 1973 to 1977; born in Cleveland, Ohio, raised in Stow, attended Hudson High School
William C. Sullivan - Former head of the FBI intelligence operations
Burton Kendall Wheeler - Former U.S. Senator from Montana, from 1923 to 1947
Hull
Hull has been the summer home to several luminaries throughout the years, including former Boston mayor John F. Fitzgerald (a.k.a. "``Honey Fitz"), the father of Rose Kennedy;
President Calvin Coolidge;
Joseph Kennedy, Sr.
Ipswich
The town is famous for its clams, celebrated annually at the Ipswich Chowderfest and also for Crane Beach, a barrier beach near the Crane estate.
Notable People
Anne Bradstreet, poet
Simon Bradstreet, governor
Nathan Dane, lawyer
Arthur Wesley Dow, artist
Thomas Dudley, governor
Dennis Eckersley, Hall-of-Fame Pitcher
Ed Emberley, artist of children's drawing books
John Norton, Puritan divine, author, minister at Ipswich 1636
John Updike
John Updike, author
Nathaniel Ward, clergyman & jurist
Melissa Ferrick, musician
Dick Berggren, motorsports announcer and magazine editor
James Madison founding father, politician
John Proctor, victim of the Salem witch trials
Kingston
Notable People
William Bradford, governor
Joseph Ripley Chandler, congressman
Neil Cicierega, internet personality and musician
Chris Cooper, actor
Marianne Leone Cooper, actress
Rich Cronin, singer, songwriter (LFO)
Percy Keese Fitzhugh, author
Adam Haslett, writer
John Holmes, congressman and senator
Christopher Prince, merchant, farmer and political figure
Marshall Strickland, basketball player
Peleg Wadsworth, military officer
Lancaster
Notable People
Luther Burbank, botanist, horticulturist and a pioneer in agricultural science
Ezra Butler, United States Representative from Vermont
Charles F. Chandler, chemist
Henrietta Swan Leavitt, astronomer
Mary Rowlandson, colonial Indian captive, author
Jared Sparks, historian, Harvard University President (taught at a private school in Lancaster 1815-1817)
John Thayer, ornithologist
Dr. Samuel Willard, representative to the Massachusetts ratification of the United States Constitution
Lanesborough
Notable People
Humorist Josh Billings was born here.
Birthplace of Henry Shaw Briggs, brigadier general during the American Civil War
Actress Bette Davis attended the Crestalban School on Summer Street for three years.
It is also the home of writer and internet scholar Ethan Zuckerman
Lee
The town was also famous for the quality of its marble, with the first quarry established in 1852. Almost 500,000 cubic feet of marble was excavated and shipped in 1867 on the Housatonic Railroad. Buildings constructed of Lee marble include a wing of the Capitol in Washington and St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.
Notable People
Nathan B. Bradley, congressman
Henry Billings Brown, justice
Martha Coakley, attorney general
Frank Dwyer, baseball pitcher
Elisha Foote, judge, inventor and mathematician
Henri Gosselin, politician
Addison H. Laflin, congressman
Wayne Larrivee, sportscaster
Debra Jo Rupp, actress
Augusta Read Thomas, composer
Leicester
Eli Whitney, the man who invented the cotton gin and devised the idea of interchangeable parts, went to school at Leicester Academy, which eventually became Leicester High School.
Ebenezer Adams, who would later be the first mathematics and natural philosophy professor at the Phillips Exeter Academy, was the academic preceptor in Leicester in 1792.[1]
Leicester's Pliny Earle helped Samuel Slater build the first American mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, by building the first carding machine. This began the American Industrial Revolution.
Charles Adams, United States military officer and foreign minister, born in town;[1]
Emory Washburn, governor of Massachusetts from 1854–1855
Samuel May, a pastor and active abolitionist in the 1860s, whose house was a stop on the underground railroad. He also served as secretary of the Massachusetts Anti-Slave Society. This house has also become a part of the Becker College campus
Lenox
It was a filming location for Before and After (1996) and The Cider House Rules (1999), which was shot at Ventfort Hall.
Notable People
Astor family
Henry Ward Beecher, clergyman & social reformer
Andrew Carnegie, industrialist
Nathaniel Hawthorne, writer
Fanny Kemble, actress & writer
George M. Landers, congressman
Rose Hawthorne Lathrop, social worker
Yo-Yo Ma, musician
Nicole Miller, fashion designer
John Paterson, general & congressman
Catharine Sedgwick, writer
Maureen Stapleton, actress
Anson Phelps Stokes, financier
James Taylor, musician
Vanderbilt family
George Westinghouse, industrialist
Edith Wharton, writer
Robert Shaw
Sturgis Whitman, Episcopal clergyman
Charles Henry Parkhurst, Congregational minister
New England Peace Pagoda
Leverette
In 1985, a Buddhist monastic order called Nipponzan Myohoji erected a large monument in Leverett. This structure, known as the New England Peace Pagoda, is considered the first of its kind in North America.
Notable people
Erastus Salisbury Field, nineteenth century painter, whose works are held in Historic Deerfield, the D'Amour Museum of Fine Art in Springield, and the National Gallery in Washington DC
James Rolfe, Wisconsin farmer and legislator
Leyden
Notable People
John Leonard Riddell (1807–1865), noted scientist, author and politician, invented the binocular microscope[5] and was melter and refiner at the New Orleans Mint during the American Civil War.
Henry Kirke Brown (1814–1886), American sculptor, most notably for the equestrian statues of Winfield Scott in Scott Circle, Washington, D.C. and George Washington at Union Square in New York City.
Lincoln
Paul Revere was captured by British soldiers in Lincoln on the night of April 18, 1775. Minutemen from Lincoln were that first to arrive to reinforce the colonists protecting American stores in Concord. Col Abijah Pierce of Lincoln led his troops armed with a cane. He upgraded his weapon to a British musket after the battle. Several British soldiers who fell in Lincoln are buried in the town cemetery.
Notable people
Bradford Cannon, pioneer in reconstructive surgery
David Herbert Donald, professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning Author
Susan Fargo, Massachusetts state senator
John Farrar (scientist), Harvard scientist
John Flansburgh, musician from the alternative rock group They Might Be Giants
Diana Golden (1963–2001), disabled ski racer
Harriet Louise Hardy, first woman professor at Harvard Medical School
Maggie Hassan, Senator, New Hampshire Governor
Greg Hawkes, keyboardist for The Cars
Charles Kindleberger, Economic Historian and author
John Linnell, musician, co-founder of They Might Be Giants
Nicholi Rogatkin, Professional Bike Rider
Joseph M. Sussman, MIT professor
Ray Tomlinson, computer programming pioneer, inventor of e-mail
Lester Thurow, Dean of MIT Sloan School, author
Patricia Warner, spy
Frank Wood, Tony Award-winning actor
Robert Coldwell Wood, political scientist, Under Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development
Littleton
Notable People
Ron Borges (journalist), sports writer for the Boston Herald
Levi Conant, mathematician and developer of the Number Concept in 1896
Ed Fletcher, politician who served as California State Senator until 1947
Greg Hawkes, keyboardist for the 1970s-1980s
New Wave group, The Cars, lived in Littleton during the band's early years before moving to Lincoln.
Sean McAdam, sports writer for ESPN and The Providence Journal
John Hanson Mitchell, author and editor of the award-winning magazine Sanctuary, published by the Massachusetts Audubon Society
Harrison Reed, governor of Florida until 1899
Peleg Sprague, New Hampshire politician who served as a US Senator until 1835 and a US District Court Judge until 1865
Johnny Appleseed
Longmeadow
Notable People
Johnny Appleseed once lived here, and Louisa May Alcott mentions a place called Longmeadow in Little Women.
Longmeadow was also the home of Dr. Nathan Cooley Keep, a pioneer in the field of dentistry and the founding Dean of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.
Craig E. Campbell also hails from Longmeadow. He served as Alaska's Lieutenant Governor and commanded the Alaska National Guard, retiring in the grade of Lieutenant General (AK).
actress Bridget Moynahan,
actress Erinn Bartlett,
former Total Request Live host Damien Fahey,
New England Revolution defenseman Jay Heaps.
Aaron Lewis of the band Staind graduated from Longmeadow High School.
Joey Santiago of the band Pixies graduated from Longmeadow High School.
Author Anita Shreve
Lacrosse
Longmeadow is widely known for their storied high school lacrosse tradition in both the boys' and girls' programs. Since 1970, the first year of varsity play for the Boy's Lacrosse program at Longmeadow, the team has established a tradition of excellence and earned a position as one of the top programs in the State, winning Massachusetts State Championships (a total of 17) in 1970, '74-'75, '77, '79-'81, '83-'86, '88-90, '92 and '97 and most recently 2008 (Boys), a win over Medfield (14-10). The 1981 team was legendary coach Dan Stockwell's final year at the helm; the team went undefeated.
Football
Longmeadow High School's Football team has gone to twelve straight Western Mass-Central Mass Super Bowls under Head Coach Alex Rotsko. Longmeadow has won 8 of the 12 Western Mass-Central Mass Super Bowls (which began in 1997) and 10 overall since 1972. These Super Bowls can be broken down by: two Western Mass Super Bowls, three Division II Super Bowls, one Division IA, and four Division I Super Bowls. Four out of the last five seasons, the football team has gone undefeated, including back to back to back perfect seasons. The 2005 football (12-0) team beat Leominster in the Division 1 Super Bowl 21-20 in Holyoke. The 2006 team (12-0) beat Leominster again, but in a more dominant fashion, 42-0 at Worcester State College . The 2007 team finished 13-0, a school record due to the new playoff system, and beat Leominster 21-0 in the Division 1 Super Bowl at Westfield State College.
Boys Tennis
- Longmeadow's Boys Tennis program has won twelve straight Western Mass titles (D1). In 2006, the team ended a 9 year losing streak to St. Johns (All 9 loses came in the state semi-final). Recently, the program proves to be a contender every year. Meadow fell short in 2006 against Sharon, 2008 against CC, and lost 3-2 in 2009 against CC
Other Notable High School Sports - In 2006 Longmeadow High School's Hockey Team was the Division III state champions, and again in 2010. They were the 2009 Western Mass Champions, and in 2007, they lost to East Longmeadow in the semifinals and in 2008 lost to Westfield in the Western Mass finals. In 1980, the team went to Boston Garden for the first time, losing the Division II State Final to Barnstable in overtime. The 2004 Girls Lacrosse were Division I State Champions. The girls lacrosse team currently holds a streak of more than 100 games won against Western Massachusetts opponents. The 2005, 2006 (Framingham), 2007 (Framingham), and 2008 (West Wood) teams have all been State Finalists. The 2004 Girls Soccer team were Division I Western Massachusetts Champions. Truly an underdog going into the finals and seeded 6th, they beat Cathedral to earn the spot against Minnechaug, the number one team. The team beat Cathedral in a shoot out and beat Minnechaug 1-0. Longmeadow went on to State Semi-Finals, losing to Nashoba 1-0.
The Boy's basketball team won their first ever Western Massachusetts championship over West Springfield in 2008 under head coach Tim Allen (a former standout at Longmeadow) The 2007 Girl's Volleyball team won their first ever Western Mass championship over Amherst, Massachusetts. In 2008, they repeated, and beat East Longmeadow in the Western Mass Finals. Both teams lost in the State-Semifinals, the 2008 team to Central Catholic. In 2004 and 2005 the Golf team won back-to-back Division I state championships.
Notable People
Eric W. Bascom III, Professional jazz musician, leader of the band Eric Bascom Trio
Meghann Fahy - One Life to Live character Hannah, understudy for Natalie on Broadway's Next To Normal
Jay Heaps - Professional soccer player for the New England Revolution and walk-on to Duke men's basketball team, where he played from 1996–1999
Aaron Lewis - guitarist and vocalist for the band Staind
Kathryn Bridget Moynahan - Longmeadow High School class of 1989. Model and movie star known for her performances in Coyote Ugly (2000), I Robot (2004) and her connection to Tom Brady, New England Patriots QB. Gave birth to Brady's baby John Edward Thomas Moynahan August 22, 2007.
Steven Purugganan
Anita Shreve - an award winning American writer.
John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) - an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
Damien Fahey - MTV VJ and host of TRL. Moved to Longmeadow in 1992 and attended Longmeadow High School, attended college at Northeastern University. Began his career/internship at Boston's KISS108 FM. He's been linked and or dated Lindsey Lohan and Lydia Hearst.
Joey Santiago - Lead Guitarist for the influential alternative rock band Pixies. Grew up in Longmeadow and attended Longmeadow High School.
Craig E. Campbell, Alaska's Lieutenant Governor and retired National Guard Lieutenant General (AK).
Ludlow
Notable People
Ludlow High graduate Maura West of "As The World Turns" won the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series at the 34th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles in 2007.
Dean Lombardi, a 1976 graduate of Ludlow High and star hockey player for the high school and Springfield Olympics, is the current president and general manager of the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League.
Matt Trusz, a 2003 graduate of Wilbraham & Monson Academy in Wilbraham was also a Springfield Olympics standout hockey goaltender; he is currently playing professionally in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL)and the Eastern Professional Hockey League (EPHL).
Tom Matera, a 1994 graduate of Ludlow High School, went on to become World Wrestling Entertainment Superstar Antonio.
Steve Gonsalves, of Ghost Hunters
Gabriel Gonzaga, (1979-) UFC Fighter, Ludlow resident.
Mike Lima, (1985-) professional soccer player
Dean Lombardi, (1958-) general manager of the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League
Mike Martin, (1980-) guitarist for the band All That Remains
Tom Matera, (1981-) World Wrestling Entertainment Superstar, known as Antonio Thomas
Mike Mushok, (1969-) guitarist from the rock band Staind
Fred Pereira, (1954-) professional soccer player
Stephanie Santos, (1983-2002) High School Soccer player, star soccer player. Played in UMass untill her tragic death in a car crash in neighboring Granby, Massachusetts.
John F. Thompson, (1920-1965) Massachusetts state representative, served as Massachusetts Speaker of the House
Maura West, (1972-) actress, know for role in the soap opera As the World Turns
Jay Willis, (1981-) professional soccer player, head men's soccer coach at Worcester State College
Lunenburg
Notable People
Zabdiel Adams, minister
William Austin, author
Earle Brown, composer
Frederick Cushing Cross, Jr., naval officer
Derek Kerswill, musician
Josiah Litch, preacher
David Pelletier, figure skater
James Reed, soldier
Abel Stearns, trader, landowner and cattle rancher
Asahel Stearns, congressman
Eleazer D. Wood, army officer
Lynnfield
Notable People
Dwight "Dewey" Evans - Boston Red Sox Outfielder 1972- 1990.
Ken Hodge - Boston Bruins Right Winger 1967- 1976.
Sib Hashian - drummer, formerly of the band Boston
Nancy Kerrigan - ice Skater, present
Andy Moog - Boston Bruin Goalie
Dave Reid - Boston Bruin
Mike Milbury - former Boston Bruin
Coach Chris Ford - former Boston Celtic Coach and player
Brad Park - former New York Ranger
Hank Finkel - former Boston Celtic Center
Rico Petrocelli - former Boston Red Sox player
Garnet Bailey - former Boston Bruin player
Phil Esposito - Boston Bruins 1967–76
Carl Yastrzemski - Boston Red Sox Outfielder. Major League Baseball's last Triple Crown winner.
Ken Harrelson - Boston Red sox Outfielder and sportscaster
Billy Costa - host of Boston Radio station Kiss 108's morning show, Matty in the Morning, also host of New England Cable News TV Diner and of the annual Federal Reserve Cup of Boston
Manchester-by-the-Sea
Film references
The town provided the backdrop for these films: The Love Letter Mermaids State and Main Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon What's the Worst That Could Happen? (standing in for Marblehead, Massachusetts) The Good Son The Proposal Edge of Darkness It was also featured in a season of the TV series This Old House, and was featured in a "Main Streets and Back Roads" episode of Chronicle.
Notable People
Gardner Read, composer (1913–2005)
Susan Minot, author
Joe Lloyd, professional golfer
Ray Ozzie, software entrepreneur
George Putnam III, trustee of Putnam Investments
Sprague Grayden, actress
Jay Severin, radio talk show host on WTKK
Josh Gates, host of Destination Truth—former resident
Marblehead
Marblehead is both the birthplace of the American Navy and a yachting capital of the United States
A large percentage of residents became involved early in the fight for American freedom, and the sailors of Marblehead are generally recognized by scholars as forerunners of the American Navy. The first vessel commissioned for the navy, the Hannah, was equipped with cannons, rope, provision (including the indigenous "Joe Frogger" molasses/sea water cookie)—and a crew from Marblehead. With their nautical backgrounds, soldiers from Marblehead, under General John Glover were instrumental in the escape of the Continental army after the Battle of Long Island, and Marblehead men ferried George Washington across the Delaware River for his attack on Trenton. Many who set out for war, however, did not return. Indeed, the community lost a substantial portion of its population and economy. After the conflict, fishing would remain important, with 98 vessels (95 of which exceeded 50 tons) putting to sea in 1837. But a gale or hurricane at the Grand Banks of Newfoundland on September 19, 1846 sank 11 vessels and damaged others. With 65 men and boys lost in the storm, the town's fishing industry began a decline.
Herreshoff Castle
Notable People
Keith Ablow, psychiatrist, writer and was host/executive producer of the The Dr. Keith Ablow Show
Frank Black, contemporary musician
Sheldon Brown, bicycle mechanic.
W. Starling Burgess, yacht designer & aircraft manufacturer
Uriel Crocker, publisher, businessman
Susan Estrich, lawyer, professor, author, political operative
Shalane Flanagan, American-record holding distance runner and bronze medalist at the 2008 olympic games in Beijing
J.O.J. Frost, primitive artist
Elbridge Gerry, 5th Vice President of the United States
Julia Glass, novelist
John Glover, Revolutionary War general
Tyler Hamilton, cyclist
Ted Hood, yachtsman, America's Cup winner
Katherine Howe, novelist
Ada Louise Huxtable, architecture critic
Willard Bramwell Jackson, sailing photographer
Ruth Edna Kelley, author
Harry Kemelman, novelist
Peter Lynch, investor, author
John Nestor, blog author, boatbuilder
Rhod Sharp, BBC Radio presenter of Up All Night
Joseph Story, Supreme Court justice
Cory Schneider, Vancouver Canucks top-prospect goaltender
Dan Taylor, pro race car driver in the 1980s
Arts Movies filmed in Marblehead include:
Home Before Dark (1958) Coma (1974) The Good Son (1993) Hocus Pocus (1993) Autumn Heart (2000) Treading Water (2001) Moonlight Mile (2002) The Witches of Eastwick What's the Worst That Could Happen? (although filmed in Manchester-by-the-Sea, scenes are said to be set in town) The Company Men (2010) Grown Ups (2010) H. P. Lovecraft based his fictional Massachusetts town Kingsport on Marblehead.
The real Marblehead, as well as Lovecraft himself, appears in the 1985 Richard A. Lupoff novel Lovecraft's Book. It also features in the eponymous 1978 Marblehead by Joan Thompson. Lovecraft once visited Marblehead in December 1922 and described his voyage as: "…the most powerful single emotional climax experienced during my nearly forty years of existence. In a flash all the past of New England--all the past of Old England—all the past of Anglo-Saxondom and the Western World—swept over me and identified me with the stupendous totality of all things in such a way as it never did before and never did again. That was the high tide of my life.".[5] Author Ben Sherwood set his novel The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud in Marblehead, featuring the Waterside Cemetery. Harry Kemelman wrote a series of mystery novels around a character, "Rabbi Small", who solves various murder cases in a town very similar to Marblehead, nicknamed "Barnard's Crossing". Kemelman lived in Marblehead for 50 years. Robert B. Parker supposedly based the fictional town of Paradise on Marblehead in his Jesse Stone book series, going so far as to include the annual Race Week yachting event.
Mantague
Notable People
Christopher Baldwin, illustrator and author
Rico Brogna, first baseman
Eric Chester, author, activist and professor
Cornelia Clapp, zoologist
Philip H. Hoff, governor of Vermont
Howes Brothers, photographers
Samuel L. Montague, politician
Isaac Morley, religious leader
Charles Boudinot Root, silversmith and businessman
Sidney Root, businessman
Luther Severance, congressman
Doug Smith, relief pitcher
Marion
Notable People
Geraldo Rivera
Andrew A. Harwood
Dom DiMaggio
James Spader
President Franklin D. Roosevelt (frequent visitor)
President Grover Cleveland Mrs. Grover Cleveland
Mashpee
Notable People
Jamaal Branch - NFL Football Player, graduated from Falmouth High School in 1999, attended Colgate University and won the Division 1AA player of the year in 2005, was a running back for the New Orleans Saints from 2006–2008.
Sam Richmond - Played football for University of Colorado-Boulder. Mid-Atlantic Prep League Player of the Year for 2001.
Willie Ford - NFL football player for Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs and Indianapolis Colts. Graduate of Falmouth High School in 1997 and Syracuse University in 2002.
Rachael Ray - Famous TV show host on The Food Channel, family owned and ran a rstaurant called "The Carvery" in Mashpee.
Carlo D'Este - Distinguished military historian and New Seabury resident
Erik Erikson - A developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst known for his theory on social development of human beings.
Robert Kraft - Owner of the New England Patriots, owns a residence in the Popponesset Island area of Mashpee.
William Rosenberg - Founder of Dunkin' Donuts, died at his home in Mashpee in 2002 at the age of 86 from bladder cancer.
Dana Mohler-Faria - President of Bridgewater State College, resides in Mashpee.
A fictitious future Mattapoisett features largely into the 1976 novel Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy.
Mattapoisett, Massachusetts is the only known town in the world with the name Mattapoisett
Notable People
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., United States Supreme Court justice
Robert Brink, violinist (b. 1924)
Jim Craig, Olympic hockey goalie, 1980
Eunice Randall, broadcast radio pioneer
Geoff Smith, Boston Marathon winner, 1984–85
Peter Uihlein, Number One Ranked Amateur Golfer
Irving Vermilya, broadcast radio pioneer
Medfield
Medfield State Hospital Medfield State Hospital, located at 45 Hospital Road, opened in 1896 and originally operated on 685 pastoral acres. At its peak in 1952, it housed 1,500 patients. By 2001, it was down to about 300 acres (1.2 km2) and employed 450 people (including four psychologists) to care for a maximum of 147 patients. The cost to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was $21.5 million. On April 3, 2003, the doors were closed
The film Shutter Island started prepping February 2008 and started filming at Medfield State Hospital in March 2008 [8]. The film The Box was filmed at the hospital in December 2007
Notable People
Hannah Adams (1755–1831), Medfield native and Christian author; the first female professional writer in America.
George Inness (1825–1894), artist, some of whose paintings are of Medfield in the Nineteenth century. A street in town, near the vantage of one of his paintings, bears his last name.
Donald E. Booth, American Diplomat and the US Ambassador to Ethiopia.
Lowell Mason (1792–1872), a composer of hymns and pioneer of music education in American public schools. A street in town bears his name. His birthplace was saved from demolition in 2010 (and relocated to Hinkley Pond) and houses the Lowell Mason Museum and a music center.
Charles Martin Loeffler (1861–1935), a German-born American composer. A street in town off South st. on the development of Southern Acres bears his last name.
John Preston (1945-1994), author of gay erotica and editor of gay non-fiction anthologies.
Curt Schilling, of the Boston Red Sox. His family lives on Woodridge Road in a 26-acre (110,000 m2) estate formerly occupied by another athlete, Drew Bledsoe. Schilling bought the home in 2003 for $4,500,000.[13] In 2008 a baseball field, behind the Middle School was dedicated "Schilling Field". The event was complete with a softball game between Red Sox wives and the Medfield High School softball team. Several Red Sox players were in attendance to watch the game.
Peter McNeeley, boxer. In 1995, Peter McNeeley fought former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson after Tyson's release from prison. The fight lasted a mere 83 seconds. T.K.O.
Tom McNeeley, boxer who has been KO'd by Sugar Ray Robinson in the first round of their fight years before his son Peter's fight with Mike Tyson.
Pete Carroll
Pete Carroll, coach of the Seattle Seahawks, former coach of USC and the New England Patriots also lived in Medfield. He donated money to keep the high school weight room open all season long during the summer for the football players. Carroll also help start the Middle School football program by getting a $30,000 grant from the NFL. He also volunteered to be a referee when the hired one failed to appear.
Drew Bledsoe, retired NFL quarterback, formerly quarterback of the New England Patriots, resided in Medfield when he was the quarterback of the Patriots. He bought the entire Medfield football team cleats before he moved out of Medfield. His house was later purchased by Curt Schilling when he came to play for the Boston Red Sox.
John Hannah, former New England Patriots guard and Hall of Famer.
Raymond Berry - Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver for the Baltimore Colts, former head coach of the New England Patriots
Rich Gotham - president of the Boston Celtics
Ted Johnson - Former linebacker of the New England Patriots lived in Medfield. Ted played for the patriots from 1995–2004
Rick Lyle - Former defensive end for the New England Patriots lived in Medfield. Rick played for the patriots from 2002-2003.
Medway
Notable People
James "Grizzly" Adams
William Taylor Adams, (1822–1897), author under the name "Oliver Optic". Born in Medway.[3]
Allie Moulton, (1886–1968), Major League baseball player for the St. Louis Browns. Born in Medway.[4]
Pete Carmichael, Jr., offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints
Dennis Crowley, Creator of the Ipod application "Foursquare" and a member of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people of 2010.
Mendon
Notable People
Benjamin Adams, (1764–1837), born in Mendon, United States Congressman[6]
Adin Ballou, (1803–1890), social reformist, pacifist, and Unitarian minister, lead Mendon’s Unitarian Church from 1831 to 1842, immediately before his founding of The Hopedale Community.
Ezra T. Benson, Mormon pioneer (birthplace)
Joseph Daniels, (1724–1779), Revolutionary War officer.
Albert Harkness (1822–1907), Scholar and educator
Alexander Scammel, (1747–1781), Revolutionary War officer.
The Tafts of Mendon and Uxbridge, a prominent American political family Lydia Taft America's first woman voter (birthplace) Eli Thayer, (1819–1899), abolitionist United States Congressman and founder of Oread Institute, was born in Mendon.
George Aldrich, the immigrant ancestor of the American Aldrich family, (another political dynasty)
Merrimac
Notable People
Richard P. Gabriel, computer scientist
Ephraim Morse, developer of San Diego
George W. Weymouth, congressman
William Wheelwright, steamboat & railroad developer
Cranberry Capitol of the World - Middleborough, MA
Middleborough
Once the shoe capital of the world[citation needed], Middleborough has since become the cranberry capital of the world, hosting the corporate headquarters of Ocean Spray Cranberries.
Notable People
Isaac Backus, Baptist pastor and founding father during Revolution Joseph Barker, minister and congressman
Samuel Breck, general
Wayne Maurice Caron, sailor - Medal of Honor winner
Corey Carrier, child actor
Howard A. Coffin, congressman
Jeff Corwin, television host and conservationist
Rick Fuller, professional wrestler
Daniel J. Kelleher, banker and businessman
Erik Lindgren, composer
Count Primo Magri, also a dwarf celebrity with P. T. Barnum
Gabriel Mercier, soccer player
Enoch Pratt, businessman, industrialist, banker and school founder
Patrick Regan, army officer
Deborah Sampson, cross-dressing soldier during Revolution
Cephas Thompson, portrait painter
General Tom Thumb, stage name of Charles Sherwood Stratton, dwarf celebrity with P. T. Barnum
Glenn Tufts, football player and scout
Lavinia Warren, dwarf with P.T. Barnum who married Gen. Tom Thumb and later Count Primo Magri
Minnie Warren, dwarf with P.T. Barnum
Middlefield
Notable People
Ebenezer Emmons, geologist
Middleton
Notable People
Coco Crisp - Boston Red Sox, Center Fielder (2006–2008)
Tim Thomas - Boston Bruins
Brian Rolston - Boston Bruins
P. J. Axelsson - Boston Bruins
Sergei Samsonov - Boston Bruins
Ray Bourque - Boston Bruins
Kyle McLaren - Boston Bruins
Jo Jo White - Boston Celtics
John Tudor - Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals
Rasheed Wallace - Boston Celtics
Millbury
President William Howard Taft spent many summer vacations in Millbury as a young boy, attending the public schools for a season.[5] When he grew older, he visited his grandparents most summers. He visited his aunt, Delia C. Torrey, during his presidency for the occasion of Millbury's 100th birthday. The Torrey House, where President Taft stayed during his visit, is commonly called The Taft House today
Notable People
Ron Darling, baseball pitcher
George A. Sheridan, congressman
George E. White, congressman
Howie Winter, felon
Millis
Notable People
Christian Herter, U.S. Secretary of State under Dwight D. Eisenhower. It is recorded that one day a rural letter carrier was stopped by the FBI because President Eisenhower was supposedly visiting Christian Herter and strict security measures were in place.
John Kerry, U.S. Senator. Senator Kerry lived in Millis until the age of 7, when the family moved to Washington, D.C.
Misha Defonseca (Monique De Wael), author. Misha claimed to be a Holocaust survivor. She is famous for her book Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years which recently she admitted was a hoax.
Trivia
Millis is the home of the nationally famous "Millis Lights". The "Millis Lights" are a display of Christmas decorations and lights on the 40-acre (160,000 m2) Causeway Street estate of Kevin Meehan, the owner of several car dealerships. In 2004, Al Roker traveled to Millis for a segment centered around the "Millis Lights". After the publicity of the The Today Show, an estimated 7,000 cars traveled to the "Millis Lights" daily during the Christmas season.[2]
On Sunday, July 4, 2004, the CBS show CBS Sunday Morning aired a segment on the upcoming Presidential Election between George W. Bush and John Kerry. In this segment, Millis was featured as John Kerry's hometown.
Millville
In the first two decades of the 20th century, baseball great Gabby Hartnett, born in Woonsocket, grew up in Millville, played youth baseball in the Blackstone Valley League, and played for the Chicago Cubs, beginning in 1922
BASH BISH FALLS
Mount Washington
The town is home to Bash Bish Falls State Park, which is centered around its eponymous falls.
Nantucket
According to Forbes Magazine, in 2006, Nantucket had the highest median property value of any Massachusetts zip code
Nantucket was formerly the world's leading whaling port[5] (and still serves as home port for a small fishing industry).
Herman Melville comments on Nantucket's whaling dominance in Moby-Dick, Chapter 14: "Two thirds of this terraqueous globe are the Nantucketer's. For the sea is his; he owns it, as Emperors own empires." The Moby-Dick characters Ahab and Starbuck are both from Nantucket
Nantucket has a high concentration of artists and galleries, and have created an ongoing art colony since at least the 1920s. They have come over the decades to capture on canvas and in other media the natural beauty of the landscape, the seascapes, the flora and the fauna. On Friday evenings during the summer season, many of its galleries have open houses and special exhibits. Notable artists who have lived on, or painted in, Nantucket include Frank Swift Chase and Theodore Robinson. Numerous authors followed the influx of specialists in the visual arts. Well-known writers who are or were residents of Nantucket include Herman Melville
Disasters
Major disasters on or near Nantucket, include: On July 25, 1956, 51 people were killed in the collision of the Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria with the MS Stockholm in heavy fog 45 miles (72 km) south of Nantucket. On December 15, 1976, the oil tanker Argo Merchant ran aground southeast of Nantucket. Six days later, on December 21, the shipwreck broke apart, causing one of the largest oil spills in history. On October 31, 1999, EgyptAir Flight 990, traveling from New York City to Cairo, crashed off the coast of Nantucket, killing all 217 on board.
Notable People
The man from Nantucket, a legendary figure in limericks.
17th, 18th & 19th centuries
Abiah Folger, Benjamin Franklin's mother, was born on Nantucket. Her birthsite is marked by a plaque and is known to locals as "The Bench." In 2002 Nantucket High School seniors staged a celebration of her birth at the site—a tradition which has continued every year since.
Absalom Boston, the first African American to serve as captain of a whaling ship with an all-black crew.
John B. Macy, U.S. Representative from Wisconsin, was among the victims who died aboard the palace steamer Niagara.
Rowland Hussey Macy, founder of Macy's, was born on the island and learned the retail business in a small shop on Main Street (which is marked by a plaque).
Lucretia Coffin Mott was born in 1793 on Nantucket. Mott was an American Quaker minister, abolitionist, social reformer, and proponent of women's rights. She is credited as the first American "feminist" in the early 19th century but was, more accurately, the initiator of women's political advocacy.
Maria Mitchell, native of Nantucket, first American female professional astronomer and a Vassar professor (of astronomy) is buried in Prospect Hill.
Cyrus Peirce, first principal of Nantucket High School and later first president of what is now Framingham State College, married Nantucket native, Harriet Coffin. They are both buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery.
Cyrus Peirce Middle School is named for him.
Joseph Gardner Swift, a Nantucket native, was the first graduate of the United States Military Academy; he attained the rank of Brigadier General.
Tristram Coffin, born in Plymouth, England around 1610, married Dionis Stevens (for whom Dionis beach is named). He is among the group who purchased the island from the Wampanoag Indians in 1659, for the sum of thirty pounds and a pair of beaver-skin hats. In 1671, Coffin was appointed Chief Magistrate of Nantucket. His stately brick mansion still stands on Upper Main Street, and many of his descendants still live on the island.
20th & 21st centuries
G. Robert Ayd, former SVP of QVC owns a home on the island
Russell Baker, former New York Times columnist, has a summer home on the island.
Bill Belichick, Head coach of the New England Patriots owns several homes in 'Sconset.
Peter Benchley, Author of Jaws, Beast and other novels, lived on the island.
A. J. Cronin, novelist, resided on the island.
Kevin Flynn, comedian,actor, producer is a summer resident.
Bill Frist, physician, author and former Republican Tennessee Senator has a home on the Island.
Charles Geschke, co-founder of Adobe Systems
Frank and Kathie Lee Gifford have a house on the island.
David Halberstam, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and historian had a summer home on the island.
Kerry Hallam, artist of international reputation who released Nantucket Notables, a collection of watercolor sketches of Nantucket's residents, lives in a cottage off Bartlett Road.[18]
Dorothy Hamill has a home on the island.
Teresa Heinz and John Kerry own a summer residence on Brant Point.
Tommy Hilfiger, retail giant of the eponymous clothing label, owns a summer home on the island. The country house was featured in the MTV reality show Rich Girls, which starred his daughter Ally.
Judith Ivey actress, has a home in the village of Siasconset
Seward Johnson, sculptor, has a summer residence on Brant Point.
Frances Karttunen, academic linguist, historian and Mesoamericanist scholar, grew up and resides on the island
Frank Lorenzo, aviation pioneer, has a home on the north shore of the island.
Chris Matthews, NBC correspondent, has a home on the island.
Jim Pallotta of Tudor Investments and co-owner of the Boston Celtics has a house on Eel Point.
Nathaniel Philbrick, best selling author of In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex and The Mayflower.
Fred Rogers, Mr. Rogers of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood (PBS television) lived in Madaket.[19]
Ned Rorem, Pulitzer Prize winning composer of classical music owns a home on the island.
Tim Russert, NBC correspondent, owned a home on the island.
Richard Mellon Scaife, billionaire publisher who underwrote investigations into President Bill Clinton has a home on Nantucket.
Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, and wife Wendy have a home on Cliff Road.
John Shea, actor has a home on the village of Siasconset
Frank Stallone, actor/musician, is currently building a multi-million dollar estate in Surfside.
Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara have a home at Children's Beach.
Louis Susman, financier of Kerry '04 and Obama '08 and U.S. Ambassador to Britain, has a home on the north shore of the island.
Jack Welch, retired General Electric CEO, has an estate on the east side of the island near 'Sconset.
Bob Wright, chairman of NBC Universal, and Suzanne Wright are founders of 'Autism Speaks' and have a home on Medouie Creek.
Vice President Joe Biden, celebrates his Thanksgiving Holiday on the island.
References in popular culture
Television
The television series Wings was set in Nantucket. The Seinfeld episode "The Andrea Dorea" depicted George Costanza's conflict with a survivor of the eponymous Nantucket shipwreck. KRAMER: The Andrea Doria collided with the Stockholm in dense fog 21 miles off the coast of Nantucket. (...) 51 people died. GEORGE: 51 people?! That's it?! I thought it was, like, a thousand! KRAMER: There were 1,650 survivors. GEORGE: That's no tragedy! How many people do you lose on a normal cruise? 30? 40?! GEORGE: Ahoy! Mr. Eldridge. I understand you were on the Andrea Doria. ELDRIDGE: Yes, it was a terrifying ordeal. GEORGE: I tell ya, I hear people really stuff themselves on those cruise ships. The buffet, that's the real ordeal, huh, Clarence? ELDRIDGE: We had to abandon ship. GEORGE: Well, all vacations have to end eventually. ELDRIDGE: The boat sank. GEORGE: (Holding up Kramer's book) According to this, it took.. 10 hours. It eased into the water like an old man into a nice warm bath - no offense. So, uh, Clarence, how about abandoning this apartment, and letting me shove off in this beauty? ELDRIDGE: Is that what this is all about?! I don't think I like you. GEORGE: It's my apartment, Eldridge! The Stockholm may not have sunk ya, but I will! Ha, ha![20] This Old House devoted most of the 1996 season to a Nantucket house renovation at 3 Milk St. In the Boston Legal episode "The Mighty Rogues", Nantucket engages the firm to get permission to build a nuclear bomb for self-defense. In The Simpsons episode Diatribe of a Mad Housewife, Marge writes a boating novel that takes place in Nantucket. The Weather Channel filmed an episode of Road Crew with Jeff Mielcarz titled Take a Seal Cruise.
Film
The 1971 film Summer of '42 was set in Nantucket. The 1986 Warner Brothers film One Crazy Summer, was mostly filmed and took place on the island. The 1996 Columbia Pictures movie To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday was filmed and took place on Nantucket. The 2004 Universal Studios movie Along Came Polly had a boating trip scene over to Nantucket. The 2007 Weinstein Co movie The Nanny Diaries was partially set in Nantucket. The 2007 20th Century fox film 27 Dresses had its ending filmed on Nantucket. The 2009 Universal Pictures film "Inglourious Basterds" has its main antagonist state his desire to retire to Nantucket Island.
Literature
Nantucket is home to the mythopoeic "Man from Nantucket" made famous in the opening line of countless limericks (some of which are vulgar). In Edgar Allan Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, the protagonist is from Nantucket. One of Robert Lowell's most famous early poems, "The Quaker Graveyard in Nantucket", with rich allusions to whaling and death at sea, is set here. One of the most famous lines from Dylan Thomas's play Under Milk Wood mentions Nantucket; "FIRST DROWNED: I lost my step in Nantucket". Nathaniel Philbrick's book, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex describes the sinking of the Essex, a ship based in Nantucket. In Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick, Nantucket is the port of departure for Ahab's whaling ship, the Pequod. In the Island in the Sea of Time trilogy by S. M. Stirling, Nantucket is cast backward in time some three thousand years and eventually becomes the capital of the world-spanning Republic of Nantucket. Author David Halberstam's work is celebrated locally, owing to the fact that he spent many years writing on the island. The island is the setting for Joan Aiken's Night Birds on Nantucket, which borrows themes from Moby Dick. Yellow Dog Nantucket is a children's book about the Yellow Dog, also known as Nantucket's Original Fog Warning. Author Jane Green's novel, The Beach House, is set on Nantucket. Author Sena Jeter Naslund's novel, Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer, is set, in part, in Nantucket. Una, the main character, interacts with the astronomer, Maria Mitchell. In the book, Gossip Girl, the Carlyles (Owen, Avery and Baby) were from Nantucket, but they later moved to New York. Chapter 11 of the New York Times book Class Matters describes the spending habits, status struggles and lifestyles of the rich in Nantucket. All of author Elin Hilderbrand's novels are set in Nantucket. She is a resident of Nantucket. Additionally, Nancy Thayer, another resident of Nantucket, has published nine novels, "Nell" (1985), "Morning" (1987), "Spirit Lost" (1988), "Belonging" (1995), "Between Husbands and Friends" (1999), "The Hot Flash Club Chills Out" (2006), "Moon Shell Beach" (2008), "Summer House" (2009), and "Beachcombers" (2010), all of which take place on Nantucket. Jake Cazalet, President of the United States of America in Jack Higgins' "Edge of Danger", has a private estate on Nantucket.
Comics
The background of the Japanese comic Chibi-san Date by Hidekaz Himaruya, the author of Hetalia: Axis Powers, is set in Nantucket. [1] Also, the character of America in Himaruya's Hetalia: Axis Powers has a wild strand of hair that represents Nantucket.
New Braintree
It has been the home of the Massachusetts State Police Academy since 1992
Notable People
Charles Allen established a law practice in New Braintree
Charles Delano US Representative from Massachusetts was born in New Braintree
Alexander DeWitt US Representative from Massachusetts was born in New Braintree
Jonathan Fisher was born in New Braintree
Rufus Putnam lived in New Braintree
New Salem
Notable People
William Stacy (1734–1802) and Benjamin Haskell are two noted New Salem patriots of the American Revolutionary War, honored by the New Salem sesquicentennial commission.[2]
Elisha Hunt Allen, (1804–1883), member of the United States Congress from Maine; Consul to Hawaii[3]
Miss Hattie E Giles, co-founder of Spelman College in Atlanta, GA.
Newbury
Notable People
Richard Dummer, settled in Newbury in May 1635
William Dummer, Lt. Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Theophilus Parsons, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Joshua Coffin, American antiquary and abolitionist
Rev. John Woodbridge, Settled in Newbury, Massachusetts in 1634 and married Mercy Dudley, daughter of Governor Thomas Dudley. He served as Town Clerk of Newbury from 1634 to 1638 and as Deputy to the General Court, 1639-40-41. He was ordained over the church in Andover, 24 October 1645.
Samuel Moore settled in Newbury in 1634, and then emigrated to Woodbridge, New Jersey where he held many offices in the fledgling colony
Moses Little, Colonel of the 12th Continental Regiment during the American Revolution
Newburyport
Notable People
Raymond Abbott (1942-), author
John Quincy Adams (1767–1848), president, resided in Newburyport 1787-88
Caleb Cushing (1800–1879), diplomat and politician
"Lord" Timothy Dexter (1748–1806), eccentric
Andre Dubus III (1959-), novelist
Cameron Doyle (1915-1989), World War II commander, played a major role in the Battle of the Bulge
William Lloyd Garrison (1805–1879), abolitionist
Adolphus Greely (1844–1935), polar explorer
Charles Tillinghast James (1805–1862), early consulting mechanical engineer, designer and promoter of the early cotton steam mills. He designed the Bartlett, James, and Globe cotton steam mills in Newburyport and resided on High St. from 1839-1846. He was later a US Senator from Rhode Island.
Mark Johnson (1912–1989), writer
Rufus King (1755–1827), diplomat and politician
Thomas B. Lawson (1807–1888), artist
Francis Cabot Lowell (1775–1817), manufacturer
John Lowell (1743–1802), congressman and federal judge
John P. Marquand (1893–1960), author
Donald McKay (1810–1880), shipbuilder
Johnny Messner (1970-), actor
Theophilus Parsons (1750–1813), jurist
James Parton (1822–1891), biographer
Edmund Pearson (1880–1937), librarian and true crime writer
Jacob Perkins (1766–1849) early American inventor
Timothy Pilsbury (1789–1858), congressman from Texas
Harriet Prescott Spofford (1835–1921), writer
Larry Russell (1950-), college quarterback at Wake Forest University (North Carolina), led team to first ever ACC Championship in 1970
Matthew Thornton (1714–1803), signer of the Declaration of Independence
William S. Tilton (1828–1889), Civil War brigade commander at the Battle of Gettysburg
Peter Tolan (1958-), television/film producer and writer
William Wheelwright (1798–1873) sea captain, US consul in Chile, steamship and railroad promoter in South America
North Adams
Best known as the home of the largest contemporary art museum in the United States, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
Notable People
Martha Coakley, Massachusetts attorney general
Caitlin Kittredge, author
Caleb Atwater, archeologist, politician
Andrea Barrett, novelist
Daniel Bosley, state representative
Grover Chester Bowman (1884–1959), educator, MCLA president
Jack Chesbro (1874–1931), Hall of Fame pitcher
Jeremiah Colegrove (1758–1836), city founder
Howard Cruse, cartoonist
John M. Darby, botanist, chemist
William James Durant, philosopher, historian
Paul Farmer, physician, anthropologist
Joseph F. Finnegan (1904–1964), labor mediator
Van Hansis, actor, As the World Turns
Peter Laird, comic book artist
Amy Lee, saxophonist
Martin Melcher, film producer and husband of Doris Day
Harrison Potter (1891–1984), classical pianist
Allan Rockwell McCann, vice admiral
Hiram Sibley, industrialist, philanthropist
Frank J. Sprague electrical engineer, inventor
Jane Swift, governor
Oswald Tower, basketball official
Frank Vincent, actor
Ashley B. Wright, U.S. congressman
Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong of The Books
John Henry Schwarz, theoretical physicist
Jonah Bayliss, baseball player
Jana Christy, children's book illustrator
Jarvis Rockwell, artist and son of Norman Rockwell
Richard Ziter, Medical Doctor, Classical Pianist
North Brookfield
Notable People
George M. Cohan, entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer, director
Richard B. Johnson the author of Abominable Firebug (ISBN 0-595-38667-9) which details his childhood in North Brookfield, attending the “Yellow School" across from the “Asbestos Shop." Later he writes about the Lyman School for Boys, the reform school he attended.
Frank Cooke, prominent optics designer and manufacturer
Big Al Downing, country and rockabilly musician.
Marty Bergen, Boston Beaneaters player, triple murderer
Bill Bergen, National League baseball player with the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers, younger brother of Marty Bergen
Tryphosa Bates-Batcheller (1876–1952), writer, socialite and singer
North Reading
Notable People
William Taylor Adams, (1822–1897), author under the name "Oliver Optic"[2]
Jon Favreau (speechwriter), (1981–Present), Director of Speechwriting for Barack Obama
Tom Fitzgerald, Assistant General Manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins
Northborough
Notable People
Joseph Henry Allen[4]
William Francis Allen[4]
Mark Fidrych, former pitcher for the Detroit Tigers and 1976 American League Rookie of the Year
Richard Herrick, recipient of first kidney transplant
Luther Rice, Baptist minister and founder of George Washington University
Mike Sherman, former Head Coach of the Green Bay Packers
Daniel Wesson, co-founder of Smith & Wesson guns
Dr. Gregory Pincus, one of the 3 "fathers" of the birth control pill
Northbridge
Notable People
Colonel John Spring, who led the Uxbridge militia training Company in the American Revolution
Samuel Spring, John's son, who served as a Revolutionary War Chaplain
Phoebe Fillmore, 19th century, President Millard Fillmore's Mother
Ezra T. Benson (1830), Mormon pioneer and Territorial Legislator
Lou Lucier (1918), Major League Baseball player
Glenn Adams (1947), Major League Baseball player
Marcus Spring 1810, New York City Cotton Merchant; founded Utopian community at Perth Amboy, New Jersey
Col. Paul C Whitin 1767, Textile machine founder, manufacturer
James Whitin, Whitin Machine works
Phil Vandersea, Green Bay Packers players, 1960s
Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams Head Coach
Northfield
Much of Northfield's development in the late nineteenth century was spurred by the work of evangelist Dwight Lyman Moody, a native of Northfield who established the Northfield Seminary for Girls in 1879 on a sweeping hillside in East Northfield. The school was the site of Moody's religious conferences, which attracted thousands of visitors to Northfield each summer
The town is the home of Wheaton College
(wiki art for notable alumni)
Notable alumni Mary Ellen Avery, 1948 - pediatric physician and researcher Elaine Meryl Brown, 1977 - novelist and HBO executive[21][22] Chris Denorfia, 2002 - San Diego Padres outfielder[23] Diane Farrell, 1977 - Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress from Connecticut Fourth District Jean Fritz, 1937 - Newbery Honor-winning author of children's books Robie Harris, 1962 - children's book author [24][25] Emily Susan Hartwell, 1883 - Congregational Christian educational missionary in China Debbie Jamgochian, 1974 - amateur golf champion, winner of 2007 Senior Women's French Open and 2007 Women's Western Senior Championship[26][27] Trish Karter, entrepreneur Catherine Keener, 1983 - Academy Award-nominated actress[28] Nancy Mairs, 1964 - poet and essayist[29] Alexandra Marshall, 1965 - writer[30] Ellen Moran, 1988 - former White House Communications Director, current chief of staff to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke[31] Esther Newberg, 1963 - literary agent and co-creative director of ICM Prince Chad Al-Sherif Pasha of the Hijaz and Turkey [32] Barbara Richardson, 1971 - New Mexico first lady Catherine Filene Shouse, 1918 - researcher and philanthropist Lesley Stahl, 1963 - broadcast journalist[33] Callie Thorne - actress Amanda Urban, 1968 - literary agent and co-creative director of ICM Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck - King of Bhutan Christine Todd Whitman, 1968 - former Governor of New Jersey and former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
Films
The following films have been filmed, at least in part, on the Wheaton campus or feature Wheaton students. Soul Man (1986) Prozac Nation (film) (2001) Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
Norton
TPC Boston is a private golf club located in Norton, Massachusetts, approximately 25 miles south of Boston. The Gil Hanse designed championship golf course is a member of the Tournament Players Club network operated by the PGA Tour. It is the venue for the tour's annual Deutsche Bank Championship, a tournament that is part of the end of season FedEx Cup playoffs.
In elementary school, students were told the story of the "Devil's Foot Print," where James Wetherall sold his soul to the devil. The devil's foot print can be seen at the JCS elementary school
Norwell
Notable People
Jennifer Bond Reed, children's author, teacher
John Cheever, author of Falconer and The Wapshot Chronicle, is buried in Norwell.
John Updike gave his eulogy at First Parish Church in Norwell, just across the street from Cheever's burial site.
Jennifer Coolidge, actress
Jeff Corwin, naturalist, television show host on Animal Planet
Susan Tedeschi, blues musician
Jan Brett, children's author/illustrator
Sam Horrigan, actor
Oak Bluffs
In 1884, the Flying Horses Carousel was brought to Oak Bluffs, where it remains the oldest platform carousel still in operation.
On November 16, 2006, MTV announced that they were going to make a new TV show called "The Bluffs," about African-Americans going to Oak Bluffs for summer, but these plans never materialized after vocal public criticism in Island newspapers.
Notable People
Ron Brown, attended Martha's Vineyard Regional High School, the Tight Ends Coach for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, and a Fellowship of Christian Athletes personality.
Orange
North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival [4]
Notable People
Robert Dexter Conrad, naval captain
Orleans
Orleans, being on Cape Cod, and thus an exposed portion of the coast, has been a target in wartime despite its lack of strategic significance. In 1814 its residents repelled an invasion of British marines from the HMS Newcastle. Nauset Beach was also the only US site hit by foreign munitions during World War I, although these shells were apparently aimed at barges close off shore. This was the first time a foreign entity fired upon American soil since the War of 1812.Oxford It was also the birthplace of Clara Barton, the first president and founder of the American Red Cross
Notable People
Clara Barton, American teacher, nurse, humanitarian best remembered for organizing the American Red Cross during the Civil War
Douglas Henry Caves Junior UMass Lowell track and field athlete, 7 time All-American
Nelson H. Davis, Brigadier General during the American Civil War
Elliott P. Joslin, Doctor, pioneer in diabetes research
Ebenezer Learned, General in the American Revolution
Pembroke
Notable People
Meg Lee Chin, singer & songwriter
Thomas Humphrey Cushing, Revolutionary War officer and Adjutant General of the U.S. Army
Ben Edlund, creator of The Tick and TV producer
Eric Flaim, Olympic silver medalist in Speed skating
Duane Joyce, professional hockey player
Joseph Leavitt, Revolutionary War conscientious objector
Alexander Parris, architect
Dwight E. Sargent, journalist
Pat Seltsam, Olympic speedskater, 1990 national champion and World Cup medalist in 1989
Dave Shea, former Boston Bruins play-by-play announcer
Josiah Smith, United States Congressman
Kevin Stevens, National Hockey League All-Star left winger
Buddy Teevens, football coach for Dartmouth College
Harry Irving Thayer, United States Congressman
Luke Vercollone, professional soccer player
Harry M. Woods, lyricist and composer of "When the Red Red Robin Comes Bobbin' Along"
Pepperell
Notable People
Henry Adams Bullard, congressman from Louisiana
John Wesley Emerson, founder of Emerson Electric Company
Barzillai Lew, soldier, fifer and drummer
Colonel William Prescott, officer in the American Revolution led colonial forces at the Battle of Bunker Hill
Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, priest
Herman Osman Stickney, admiral
Hermon F. Titus, radical newspaper publisher and Socialist Party factional leader
Petersham
Notable People
Lewis Bigelow, congressman
Yodelin' Slim Clark, musician
Austin Flint, physician
James Hawkes, congressman
Emmeline B. Wells, journalist & activist
Plainfield
Notable People
John Brown (1800–1859), abolitionist who played a role in starting the civil war
William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878), poet, philosopher
Ralph Ellison, novelist, essayist.
African-American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer. Born in Oklahoma City, Ellison was best known for his novel Invisible Man, which won the National Book Award in 1953.
Reverend Moses Hallock, first minister (1792–1837) of the Congregational Church. He Conducted classical school for 30 years; students included John Brown, Marcus Whitman, William Cullen Bryant, Dr. Samuel Shaw. Many students went on to Williams College and became missionaries.[3]
Martha J. Lamb author, historian
Charles McCarry (born 1930), author of more than ten novels and numerous works of non-fiction; Author of Citizen Nader, first authoritative biography of Ralph Nader. Served in the intelligence services of the US which provided the basis for many of his later successful spy-themed novels.
James Naismith, inventor of basketball. Three 19th-20th century encyclopedias (Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Encyclopedia, Everyman's Encyclopaedia, E.P. Dutton & Co., The New International Encyclopedia, Dodd, Mead & Company in the possession of the Plainfield Historical Society document that basketball was actually played in Plainfield before it was played in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Tom Patti, an artist, working primarily with glass, whose work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan, the MFA Boston and other collections worldwide.[4]
Talcott Seelye, former United States Ambassador to Tunisia and Syria, Arabist
June Nash, Anthropologist; Previously Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at City College of New York (CCNY) and the Graduate School of the City University of New York (CUNY) . Author of numerous articles on Latin America.
Irene Jordan Caplan, American opera singer; dramatic coloratura soprano, born in Birmingham, Alabama. Long teaching and singing career including the Metropolitan Opera, New York Married to violinist Arnold Caplan, also at the Metropolitan Opera.
Frank Reynolds, retired Chair of Department of Religion, University of Chicago. Specialist in SE Asian cultures and religions.
Charles Dudley Warner, born Plainfield September 12, 1829, author, editor Hartford Courant
Marcus Whitman (1802–1847), missionary physician who in 1843 convinced President Tyler that Oregon, and what is now the state of Washington, should be secured for the United States not Great Britain.
Luna Pearl Woolf, American composer, educated at Oberlin College and Harvard University. Composer of the first major work of classical music to commemorate the flooding of New Orleans, "Après Moi, le Déluge", for solo cello and a cappella choir. Co-founder of Oxingale records.
Plainville
Notable People
John Timothy Botka, Screen Actors Guild (actor) (Raised in Plainville)
Lofa Tatupu, Seattle Seahawks Linebacker (Raised in Plainville)
Jim Renner. PGA golfer
Jeff Kinney (writer)
Hon. Emory A. Rounds III JD Ret Cmdr.USN, Associate Council White House 2003-2008 (Raised in Plainville)
Beverly Loew, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Assistant General Counsel (Raised in Plainville)
Mike Lyon, Staten Island Yankees Third baseman (Raised in Plainville)
Scott Maloney, Motivational Speaker (Raised in Plainville)
Sean O'Connor, founder of ratingworld.com (Raised in Plainville)
Julie Halpin, Deputy Press Secretary U.S. Senator Schumer (Raised in Plainville)
Tim Flanagan, author of For Molly ISBN 978-1-4523-7920-3 (Raised in Plainville)
Plympton
The United States senator William Bradford was born here
The town's most famous resident was Deborah Sampson, born in the town in 1760. She is best known for pretending to be a man to fight in the American Revolution
Mary Rowlandson was ransomed upon Redemption Rock, now within the town of Princeton, by King Philip.
Notable People
Ward Nicholas Boylston (1747–1828), gentleman, businessman, and philanthropist, lived in Princeton from September, 1804 until his death. He bequeathed $1000 to the town of Princeton for its church and minister and the support of indigent and deserving widows and orphan children.[3]
Edward Savage (1761-1817), portrait artist, engraver, and early museum proprietor
The Rt. Rev. James DeWolf Perry (1916–1947) Rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Fitchburg MA; Episcopal Bishop of Rhode Island; Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church; chief of Red Cross chaplains in Europe during World War I
Provincetown
In the mid-1970s members of the gay community began moving to Provincetown. In 1978 the Provincetown Business Guild (PBG) was formed to promote gay tourism. Today more than 200 businesses belong to the PBG and Provincetown is perhaps the best-known gay summer resort on the East Coast. The Atlantic House in Provincetown is a contender for the oldest gay bar in the United States and Frommer's calls it "the nation's premier gay bar
Provincetown was mentioned, along with various other Cape Cod locations, in the Vampire Weekend song 'Walcott', which featured on their 2008 debut album Vampire Weekend.
Notable People
Tennessee Williams,
Eugene O'Neill, and
Susan Glaspell Former United States Poet Laureate
Stanley Kunitz International journalists
Mary Heaton Vorse, John Reed, and Louise Bryant Visual artists
Charles Hawthorne,
E. Ambrose Webster,
Marsden Hartley,
Robert Motherwell,
Hans Hofmann,
Franz Kline,
Willem de Kooning,
Jackson Pollock,
Henry Hensche
Photographers
Joel Meyerowitz,
Norma Holt,
Charles Fields[citation needed]
Arctic explorer Donald B. MacMillan
Norman Mailer, author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and co-founder of the Village Voice
Mary Oliver, poet and winner of the Pulitzer Prize
John Waters, filmmaker
Harry Kemp poet of the dunes and author ""Tramping on Life" and "More Miles" Michael Cunningham, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Hours
David Drake, Obie Award-winning playwright, stage director, actor and author.
Andrew Sullivan, author, columnist for the Atlantic Monthly, and blogger
Andy Towle, poet and founder of Towleroad.com
Al Jaffee, cartoonist for MAD Magazine
Mark Doty, poet and author
William J. Mann, author and historian
Kate Clinton, comedian and writer
Prescott Townsend, early LGBT activist
Nancy Whorf, artist/painter, daughter of National Academy watercolor artist John Whorf[citation needed]
Mark Protosevich, screenwriter of The Cell, Poseidon and more recently, the 2007 adaptation of I Am Legend
Herman Maril, artist
Howard Mitcham, artist, poet, cook
Alice Brock, subject of Arlo Guthrie's 1966 song "Alice's Restaurant," owns an art gallery in town
Marc Jacobs, fashion designer Entertainer and playwright (a Huntington Theatre Fellow)
Ryan Landry
Raynham
Notable People
Toby Gilmore - a black and a former slave, volunteered in 1776 to serve in the Continental Army in place of his master who had been drafted. He served under General George Washington as tent master and is believed to have crossed the Delaware with him and spent the winter at Valley Forge.
Bill Russell
Reading
Basketball player Bill Russell lived in Reading in the 1960s next to a gas station on Main Street, but later moved to another part of town. Due to his race, vandals broke into the basketball player's home and damaged his property, and his residency was petitioned against by a small group of townspeople. Russell left Reading after several years.
The roof of the St. Athanasius Parish, on Haverhill St., was designed by Louis A. Scibelli and Daniel F. Tulley, and is one of the largest hyperbolic paraboloids in the Western Hemisphere
Notable People
Joshua Eaton, farmer, who died in the Revolutionary War, at the Battle of Saratoga, lived his entire civilian life in Reading.
Mark Erelli, folk musician
Dr. John Hart, This highly respected and eminent surgeon originally from Ipswich (born Oct 13, 1751), served as a Regimental Surgeon during the American Revolution.
Moses Nichols, officer during the American Revolutionary War
Eddie Peabody, banjo player
Lennie Merullo, a professional baseball player who played for the Chicago Cubs starting in 1941. He was a professional baseball scout for major league baseball for years.
Bill Russell, professional basketball player and coach, once lived in Reading.
Tom Silva, general contractor for This Old House on PBS.
Brad Whitford, guitarist for Aerosmith, a member of the RMHS class of '70
Fred Foy, radio and television announcer for Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, Sgt. Preston of the Yukon, Dick Cavett shows.
Chris Pizzotti - Football Quarterback at Reading Memorial High School, Harvard College
Rehoboth
It is the site of Anawan Rock, where Captain Benjamin Church surrounded and captured Anawan, a Wampanoag sachem and advisor to King Philip, and his men, effectively ending the campaigns in Southeastern Massachusetts of King Philip's War
Rehoboth also has a claim to one of the birthplaces of public education in North America. Upon incorporation, the Newman Church in modern-day East Providence elected to support a teacher for the congregation's children. Because of the lack of separation between church and state at the time, Rehoboth claims one of the earliest known education systems in America. One of the town's landmarks is also education related; the Hornbine School located in the southeast corner of town was built in 1845 as one of the town's nine one-room schoolhouses
Trivia
Rehoboth was once listed in the Guinness Book of Records for the town with the most golf courses in the United States. Today there are seven: Rehoboth, Crestwood, Sun Valley, Pine Valley, Hidden Hollow, Hillside and Middlebrook.
Rehoboth had the first recorded tornado in the United States by European colonists in August 1671
Richmond
Notable People
Deval Patrick - Governor of Massachusetts (2007- )
Edward Aylesworth Perry - Confederate General and post-bellum Governor of Florida
Rix Robinson - Michigan politician
Rockdale
Notable People
NASA astronaut Brian Duffy Rockland High School Class of 1971
Actor Jonathan Togo from the series CSI: Miami Rockland High School Class of 1995
Crime novelist George V. Higgins Rockland High School Class of 1957
Author Maria Louise Pool
Science Fiction and Fantasy author Lou Antonelli Rockland High School Class of 1975
Professional Skateboarder PJ Ladd is originally from Rockland but now lives in Los Angeles, California
Professional hockey player Josh Hennessy
Rockport
The revolt against rum - In 1856 a gang of 200 women led by Hannah Jumper swept through the town and destroyed anything containing alcohol in what is called "Rockport's revolt against rum" and banned alcohol from the town. Except for a period in the 1930s the town remained one of 15 Massachusetts dry towns. The town did remain dry for many years until recently, when it was voted that alcohol could be served at restaurants, but liquor stores are still illegal
Notable People
Nelson Bragg (b. 1961), percussionist/vocalist for Brian Wilson Band
Paula Cole (b. 1968), singer/songwriter
Otis Cook (1900–1980), painter
Halim El-Dabh (b. 1921), Egyptian-born composer
Rick Hautala (pseudonym A. J. Matthews) (b. 1949), author
Maria Lekkakos Miss Massachusetts USA 2004
David Robinson, drummer for The Cars and the Modern Lovers
Julian Soshnick Civil Rights Lawyer.
Andrew Stanton (b. 1965), writer/director for Pixar
Helen Van Wyk (1930–1994) is recognized by thousands of artists as the host of PBS's Welcome to my Studio television show.
Films set or filmed in Rockport
Last Harbor Working Title was Hatteras Hotel filmed in Rockport 2008-2009 Edge of Darkness (2010 film) The Proposal (standing in for Sitka, Alaska) Mermaids Coma The Good Son The Next Karate Kid The Love Letter Stuck on You The 1957-1958 adventure/drama television series, Harbourmaster, starring Barry Sullivan, is set in Rockport
Rowley
Literature
Rowley is the town that the protagonist flees to from Innsmouth in the H. P. Lovecraft short story "The Shadow Over Innsmouth". In the story, Innsmouth is located to the southeast of Rowley.
Notable People
Elizabeth Howe was born in Rowley and was executed during the Salem witch trials
Bruce Kimball, retired NFL football player for the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants.
Salisbury
Notable People
Horatio Balch Hackett, biblical scholar
Bob Corkum, hockey center
Caleb Cushing, congressman
Hannah Webster Foster, novelist
Josiah S. Johnston, congressman and senator
Susannah Martin, witch trial victim
Justin Gagnon, journalist, Wheel of Fortune contestant
Amos Morrill, judge
James Pike, congressman
Redford Webster, apothecary, politician and antiquarian
John Wheelwright, clergyman
Sandwich
Notable People
Sam Brown (comedian), comedian and writer of the sketch comedy group The Whitest Kids U Know, grew up in Sandwich.
Charles H. Bridges, Adjutant General of the United States Army from 1928-1933.
Aimee-Lynn Chadwick, actress and musician
Jeffrey Adam "Duff" Goldman, the star of the Food Network's Ace of Cakes, moved to Sandwich as a child.
James Jackson Jarves, was an American newspaper editor, art critic and art collector
Scituate
Rebecca and Abigail Bates, known as the "American Army of Two," fended off the British army near the Scituate lighthouse with a fife and drum during the War of 1812
George William Casey Jr., Chief of Staff of the United States Army (2007–)
Claire Cook, author of several novels, including Must Love Dogs, which was adapted as a 2005 feature film starring John Cusack and Diane Lane
William Cushing, one of the original six justices on the US Supreme Court.
Ted Donato, former Harvard hockey captain with a 13-year NHL career, who won an NCAA championship; played in the Olympics
Henry Dunster, first president of Harvard University, Puritan/Baptist minister
Nick Flynn, a writer and poet whose autobiographical Another Bullshit Night in Suck City currently has director Paul Weitz attached to adapt into a film
Jacques Futrelle, journalist, author, who died in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912
Mark Goddard, actor known for his role as "Major Don West" in the series Lost in Space
Mike Hoffman, AHL player for the Chicago Wolves
Charles Kerins, artist, illustrator, known for Red Sox yearbook covers and paintings of small town American childhood in the 1950s and 1960s.
Bruce Laird, former NFL football player for Baltimore Colts, 1972–1981 (Pro Bowl 1972), and San Diego Chargers, 1982–1983
Thomas W. Lawson, stock promoter, financial reformer, built his Dreamwold estate in Scituate
Jim Lonborg, Cy Young Award-winning former Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox.
Joseph D. Malone, former Massachusetts treasurer
Tom McCall, Governor of Oregon from 1966–1974, was born in Scituate. A Trailblazing environmentalist who was a pace setter for conservation in the '70s and '80s by instituting many novel ideas such as the bottle bill, odd-even gas rationing and the banning of electrical outdoor signs during the energy crisis.
John McDonald (baseball), Shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays
Scott McMorrow, award-winning playwright and poet
Dave Silk, former NHL ice hockey forward known for being a member of the Miracle on Ice 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal
Scott Snibbe, media artist, grew up in Scituate.
Billy Tibbetts, former NHL player, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins Peter Tolan, writer, director [8]
Mike Wankum, weatherman for WCVB-TV News Channel
Ryan Whitney, NHL defenseman for the Edmonton Oilers
Sharon
In front of the Sharon Public Library stands a statue of Deborah Sampson, Sharon's town heroine. Sampson disguised herself as a man to fight in the Revolutionary War. She married Benjamin Gannett, a farmer, after she fought in the war and lived in Sharon until the end of her life. She is buried in the local Rockridge Cemetery. A street in Sharon is named Deborah Sampson Street in her honor.
The Unitarian and Congregational churches in Sharon Center both have a church bell manufactured by Paul Revere.
Holocaust
Sharon currently has the largest concentration of Holocaust death camp survivors in North America with the number of survivors hovering around 500.
Notable People
Mildred Allen, physicist
Leonard Bernstein, composer (summer resident)
Matt Cassel, football quarterback
Etan Cohen, screenwriter
Arthur Vining Davis, industrialist and philanthropist
Tommy Harper, baseball player
Amasa Hewins, portrait, genre and landscape painter
Roland James, football defensive back
Ty Law, football cornerback
Jack Levin, famous criminologist
Bruce Pearl, basketball coach
William G. Pierce, engineer, small business owner, and politician
Deborah Sampson, Revolutionary era heroine
Pete Seibert, ski resort founder
Andre Tippett, football linebacker
Charles Q. Tirrell, congressman
Terrence Wheatley, football cornerback
Nick Zinner, guitarist
In popular culture
In Jhumpa Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth, Hema's family in the story "Once in a Lifetime" lives in Sharon. Daytime footage for Shutter Island (film) was taken in Borderland State Park; a property shared with the neighboring town of Easton The well-known 1973 film "The Friends of Eddie Coyle" starring Robert Mitchum includes a scene filmed in Sharon. The following NYT film criticism excerpt shows the Sharon commuter rail station circa 1973
Sheffield
Notable People
Ethan Allen, revolutionary
Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard, scientist & educator
John G. Barnard, army engineering officer
John C. Crosby, politician
Orville Dewey, minister
Grandison Fairchild, college founder
John Z. Goodrich, politician
David Joyce, industrialist
Charles Kellogg, congressman
George Frederick Root, songwriter
Wanda Toscanini, daughter of Arturo Toscanini and widow of Vladimir Horowitz
Bill Cosby
Shelburne
Notable People
Bill Cosby, comedian, actor, and author.
Sherborn
Notable People
Dan Itse, an engineer and inventor who serves in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, was reared in Sherborn and graduated in 1976 from Dover-Sherborn High School.
Stan McDonald the well known jazz clarinetist and recording artist lives in Sherborn and regularly performs with his band The Blue Horizon Jazz Band at the Sherborn Inn.
Chad Urmston, the former lead singer of Dispatch and frontman for State Radio attended Dover-Sherborn High School.
Lewis Randa, activist, humanitarian, and founder and director of the Peace Abbey and creator of the Pacifist Memorial.
Shirley
Notable People
Benton MacKaye, forester who proposed the Appalachian Trail
Earl Tupper, founder of Tupperware company
Jerry White, former Major League Baseball player
Hermann Field, coauthor (with Stanislaw Mierzenski) of the novel "Angry Harvest", basis of the movie Angry Harvest
Somerset
It is the birthplace and hometown of Clifford Milburn Holland (1883–1924), the chief engineer and namesake of the Holland Tunnel in New York City.
Notable People
Greg Gagne, former major league baseball player, known as starting shortstop of the Minnesota Twins' two world championship teams
Jerry Remy, "The RemDawg", former major league baseball player for the California Angels and Boston Red Sox, and Red Sox color commentator for NESN
Shaun Hague, session guitarist known for playing guitar for artists such as Amos Lee and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. He is also a writer for Acoustic Guitar and Fretboard Journal magazine.
Clifford Milburn Holland, chief engineer and namesake of the Holland Tunnel in New York City
Nancy Pimental, A famous writer known for her movie, The Sweetest Thing
Pamela Bustin, 1996 Olympic field hockey player
Stephen Rebello, a writer and screenwriter known for such books as Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho and for the screenplay of a forthcoming (in 2009) movie based on that book.
Shirley May France, attempted to swim the English Channel, achieving world wide fame.
Conor Murray, Author, The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem and Robbie O'Connell, The Men behind the Sweaters, a biography of the internationally famous Irish musicians responsible for the resurgence of traditional Irish music.
South Hadley
Bullying incident - South Hadley High School came to the attention of the national and international news media as the result of the suicide of freshman student Phoebe Prince on January 14, 2010. A recent immigrant from Ireland, Prince had been taunted and bullied for several months by at least two separate groups of students at the school reportedly because of disputes with other girls over her brief relationships with a senior high school football player and a second male student. After an entire day of harassment and taunting, followed by a final incident where a student threw a can at her from a passing car as she walked home from school, Prince committed suicide by hanging herself in the stairwell of the family apartment. Her body was discovered by her 12-year-old sister. Following her death, many crude comments about her were posted on her Facebook memorial page, most of which were removed. Her parents chose to have Phoebe interred in Ireland
Notable People
Daniel T. Barry, retired NASA astronaut; contestant on the CBS reality television program Survivor: Panama-Exile Island.
Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge (1739–1819) was a doctor, a colonel of the Massachusetts militia during the American Revolutionary War, and a member of the Massachusetts legislature.[8][9]
A. Bartlett Giamatti (1938–1989) was the seventh commissioner of Major League Baseball and former president of Yale University.
Joseph E. O'Connor, Massachusetts State Police; Joseph O'Connor was the first state trooper in Massachusetts and therefore, the first state trooper in the United States. When Boston police riots broke out in 1921, Governor Calvin Coolidge called upon General Alfred Foote and Joseph O'Connor to form a state police force (then located in Framingham). Mr. O'Connor served as an assistant to General Foote in the First World War and on the Mexican border. Many relatives of O'Connor continue to live in South Hadley today.[citation needed]
Gerald Warner Brace (1901–1978) was an American writer, educator, sailor and boat builder.
George Herbert Mead (1863–1931) was an American philosopher, sociologist and psychologist, primarily affiliated with the University of Chicago, where he was one of several distinguished pragmatists. He is regarded as one of the founders of social psychology.
Southampton
Southampton was rated having the best tasting tap water in the country in 2008 by the National Rural Water Association[2].
Ted Kennedy crashed his plane here
Southborough
Southborough was named Number 31 in the nation on CNN Money's 100 Best Places to Live in 2009
Notable People
Marty Barrett, former Red Sox second baseman, who now resides in Las Vegas
Warner Oland (1879–1938), actor and star of sixteen 'Charlie Chan' movies from 1931–1937
Rico Petrocelli, former Red Sox third baseman
Mike Port, former Red Sox General Manager and Executive
Robert H. Thayer (1901–1984), lawyer, naval officer and diplomat
Luis Tiant,[4] former Red Sox pitcher
Michael Weishan, former PBS host
Tom Barnes, former frontman of popular electro-folk-ska project band "Grapes of Wrath"
Storm Large, musician and actress[5]
Chris Grenier,[6] Professional snowboarder
E. C. Spykman, children's novelist and journalist
Ramiro Torres, Radio personality
Southbridge
Southbridge has a long history of manufacturing optical products, earning it the unofficial title "Eye of the Commonwealth," in reference to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Under the Wells family, The American Optical Company ("AO") became the world's largest manufacturer of ophthalmic products, and at its height employed more than 6,000 people around the world. Many of its workers were exempted from the draft during World War II since they were doing vital defense work, including making Norden bombsights and even some work on the Atomic Bomb.
Optical Heritage Museum
Notable People
George Thorndike Angell - founder of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Jeff Belanger - author, public speaker and paranormal investigator
Sidney Clarke - congressman
Kenny Dykstra - professional wrestler
Michael Earls - Jesuit priest, writer, poet and teacher
John Fitzgerald - football center
Félix Gatineau - historian and state legislator
William L. Marcy - senator and governor of New York, secretary of war, and secretary of state
Calvin Paige - businessman and congressman
William Tremblay - poet, novelist and professor
Southwick
Notable People
Matthew Laflin, (1803–1897) an American Businessmen, Philanthropist, and a founder of Chicago, Illinois.
Rebecca Lobo, television basketball analyst and former player in the professional Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Amasa Holcomb, First telescope fabricator and manufacturer in the United States of America.
Samuel Israel III, notable fugitive involved in investor fraud scam, hid in the town before turning himself in to Southwick Police
Spencer
Notable People
Elias Howe (1819-1867), American inventor of the Sewing Machine
Phineas Jones (1819–1884), represented New Jersey's 6th congressional district from 1881-83.[2]
Paul D'Amato, actor from The Deer Hunter (Green Beret veteran), Slap Shot (Tim "Dr Hook" McCracken) and Suspect (Michael), also featured in Destination Anywhere: The Film
2007 Public Water Lye Accident
On April 25, 2007, it was discovered early in the morning that there was a malfunction at one of the town's water treatment facilities where a hazardous amount of sodium hydroxide (lye) was released into the town's water supply. The official cause was a malfunction of the system that regulates the amount of lye released. According to local news reports, dozens of people received medical treatment for "burning sensations and skin rashes
Sterling
Notable People
Adam Aijala, progressive bluegrass guitarist and singer
Ebenezer Butterick (29 May 1826 – 31 March 1903), inventor of tissue paper dress patterns, which revolutionized home sewing. The town's municipal building is located in the old Butterick School, which was named after Ebenezer Butterick's daughter, Mary Ellen.
Charles Herbert Colvin, aeronautical engineer
Jay Cutler, bodybuilder, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010 Mr. Olympia
Prentiss Mellen, United States Senator (1818–1820)
Le Gage Pratt, U.S. Representative from New Jersey
Arthur Prentice Rugg, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (1862-1938)[6]
Film and literary references
The 2001 film Shallow Hal had scenes shot in Sterling. Sterling is the setting of Sarah Josepha Hale's famous poem, "Mary Had a Little Lamb". Mary Sawyer, the subject of the historically true poem, lived in Sterling. The Sawyer's house was burned down in August 2007
"Cousin Reginald Spells Peloponnesus." Norman Rockwell, 1918
Stockbridge
Stockbridge is home to the Norman Rockwell Museum,
The Austen Riggs Center (a noted psychiatric treatment center)
Chesterwood, home and studio of sculptor Daniel Chester French.
Inspired by the river during his honeymoon, the American classical music composer Charles Ives wrote The Housatonic at Stockbridge as part of his composition Three Places in New England. The town is mentioned in the James Taylor song, "Sweet Baby James". ("The first of December was covered with snow, and so was the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston"). Stockbridge was the location of Alice's Restaurant in the song of the same name by Arlo Guthrie. Longtime Stockbridge resident Norman Rockwell illustrated the town in his 1967 painting, Main Street, Stockbridge at Christmas. He frequently used Stockbridge residents in his drawings and paintings, such as William Obanhein's appearance in the advertisement "Policeman with Boys." The town was the setting for the 1994-95 NBC sitcom Something Wilder starring Gene Wilder. The final scene of the film Good Will Hunting, in which Will is seen driving on the highway, was filmed on the section of the Mass Pike in Stockbridge
Nancy Kerrigan
Stoneham
The town is the birthplace of Olympic figure skating medalist Nancy Kerrigan
The home of the Stone Zoo.
Trivia
In the 1970s, Stoneham was in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the greatest number of gas stations along a one-mile strip.[citation needed]
Notable People
Quincy Brisco: comedian and media personality
Mario Cantone: comedian and actor
Sandro Corsaro: American animator and author
John Geils: Blues Guitarist, notably with the J. Geils Band
Charles Gibbons : Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and 1958 candidate for governor[8][9]
Jonathan Goff: linebacker for the New York Giants
George J. Hall: U.S. Army soldier and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II
John "Pie" McKenzie: National Hockey League player; member of the 1970 and 1972 Stanley Cup winning Boston Bruins
Mike Ness: singer for punk band Social Distortion
Frank O'Grady: 1956 U.S. Olympic hockey player
Bill Peirce: Libertarian candidate for Governor of Ohio in 2006.
Paul F. Perry: member of the a cappella singing group The Blanks, featured on the television show Scrubs
John Rojak: bass trombonist for the American Brass Quintet
Marcos Valles: member of Boston rock band Parker House and Theory
Joe Vitiello: Major League Baseball player from 1995–2003
Steve Yarbrough: novelist
Stow
Notable People
Matthew Tobin Anderson, known as M. T. Anderson, an author primarily of picture books for children and novels for young adults.[citation needed]
Tom Barrasso, former NHL goaltender[citation needed]
Dan Duquette, former general manager of the Montreal Expos and Boston Red Sox[citation needed]
Greg Hill, Morning DJ from 107.3 WAAF's Hillman Show[citation needed]
Lee H Pappas, publisher of several well known hi-tech publications including A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing Magazine and VideoGames & Computer Entertainment[citation needed]
Mike Robinson (Nordic Skier)[citation needed]
George P. Shultz, former U.S. Secretary of State[citation needed]
Apple orchards & farms - Stow is known throughout the Boston area for its many apple orchards, with the most popular being Honeypot Hill Orchard. Others include Carver Hill Orchard, Derby Orchard, One Stack Farm, and Shelburne Farm
The Wayside Inn
Sudbury
One of Sudbury's historic landmarks, the Wayside Inn claims to be the country's oldest operating inn, built and run by the Howe family for many generations. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote Tales of a Wayside Inn, a book of poems published in 1863. In the book, the poem The Landlord's Tale was the source of the immortal phrase "listen my children and you shall hear, of the midnight ride of Paul Revere." The property was owned, restored and expanded by Henry Ford between 1923 and 1940. The expansion included a boys school, the Old Grist Mill, the Martha-Mary Chapel and the Redstone Schoolhouse, reputed to be the school in Sarah Josepha Hale's nursery rhyme Mary Had a Little Lamb, which was moved from Sterling.[4] However, Giuseppi Cavicchio's refusal to sell his water rights scuttled Henry Ford's plans to build an auto parts factory at the site of Charles O. Parmenter's mill in South Sudbury.[5]
In August 1925, a Sudbury farm was the scene of a riot between local members of the Ku Klux Klan and Irish-American youths from the area. Five people were wounded by gunshots, and the State Police arrested over 100 Klansmen. Massachusetts officials cracked down on the group's meetings theafter, and the area Klan died out
Notable People
Horace Abbott,[13] iron manufacturer
Ralph Adams Cram, architect, resided in Sudbury on Concord Road and built his family their own private chapel which is now owned and operated by St. Elizabeth's Episcopal church
Bert Breer, NFL writer Boston Globe
Dennis Eckersley, baseball Hall of Famer, lived on Morse Road during and after his years with the Boston Red Sox
Chris Evans, actor
Scott Evans, actor
Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, lived in Sudbury during parts of the 1920s and 1930s
Mike Gordon, bassist for Phish
Robert L. Gordon III, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense
Michelle Gorgone, Olympic Snowboarder[14]
Edward Hallowell, psychiatrist, author, and specialist on ADD/ADHD.
Eddie House, NBA champion with the Boston Celtics
Stephen Huneck, artist and writer
Tyler Jewell, Olympic Snowboarder[15]
Michael Kolowich, documentary film maker and technology entrepreneur
Tony Massarotti, Sports reporter for The Boston Globe.
Bradford A. Navia, M.D., Ph.D. co-discover of the neurological disease called AIDS Dementia Complex
Memorial Sloan Ketting Cancer Center, Cornell Medical School, 1986.
John Nixon, General in the Continental Army during the American Revolution
Shaquille O'Neal, NBA player with the Boston Celtics
Paula Poundstone, comedienne
Edmund Rice, Co-founder and early resident of the town 1638–1656
Ashley Richardson (also known as Ashley Montana), model
Babe Ruth, baseball Hall of Famer. He lived on Dutton Road called Home Plate Farm, formerly known as Elm Farm at the Perry homestead. Even after Ruth was traded to the New York Yankees he still wintered in Sudbury. A footnote to the Curse of the Bambino claims that Babe Ruth's piano rests at the bottom of Willis Pond in western Sudbury near what was once his home.
Fred Smerlas, 5 time NFL Pro Bowler
Mark Roopenian, Former NFL nose guard[16][17]
Jarrod Shoemaker, world class Olympian and Triathlete
Callie Thorne, actress on Rescue Me
Steve Harris, Sports writer for the Boston Herald
Swapcott
Notable People
Elihu Thomson, founder of General Electric
Dick Jauron, head coach of NFL's Buffalo Bills
Todd McShay, ESPN NFL draft prospect analyst
Mark Shasha, Artist, author Night of the Moonjellies
Leslie Stahl, CBS 60 Minutes correspondent
Gary Cohen, MD, Doctor of Internal Medicine, Inventor of Pedialyte
Mike Lynch, principal sports anchor at WCVB-TV Channel 5
Barry Goudreau, original guitarist of the rock group Boston, and the Lisa Guyer Band
David Lee Roth
David Lee Roth, lead singer of the rock group Van Halen
Fran Sheehan, original bass player of the rock group Boston
Jackson Katz, anti-domestic violence advocate
Eric DeAngelis (Chef), Host of the show "I heart Food"
Johnny Pesky, pro baseball coach, former Red Sox shortstop
Bill Adams, retired player for the Buffalo Bills football team
Charles D. Baker, Jr., ceo of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Inc.,
Ken Linseman, former professional hockey player (Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers)
Gerhard Neumann, (former resident)"Herman the German," German born aviation engineer and innovator. Former Vice President of General Electric.
Walter Brennan, multiple Academy Award winning actor
Harold Alfond, founder of Dexter Shoes
Michael Palmer (novelist), author of the First Patient
Larry Eigner, poet
Barry Pederson, former NHL and Boston Bruin all star.
Hockey analyst NESN Mike Smiley, former collegiate basketball player for the College of Holy Cross.
Swansea
On June 20, 1675 the first Indian attack of King Philip's War had all 70 settlers confined to their stockade. By June 25 the entire town had been burned, although a handful of the colonists escaped to Taunton. When the active war ended in 1676, the town was soon rebuilt
Swansea gained national attention in 1985 when Mark Hoyle, a young hemophiliac who had contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion, was allowed to attend public schools. It was the first time in the U.S. that a student known to have the disease was allowed to enter public schools.[3] The case came to national attention around the same time as that of Ryan White in Indiana, and helped many children with HIV attend schools throughout the country. Hoyle died one year later, and a new elementary school was named in his honor
Notable People
Warren A. Cole, founder of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity
Oliver Chace, founder of what is today Berkshire Hathaway
Mark Hoyle, first child with AIDS allowed to attend US public school
Patricia A. Rose, Brigadier General; US Air Force Reserve
Thomas Willett, first Mayor of New York City
Templeton
Notable People
Stephen Pearl Andrews, individualist anarchist[2]
Jonathan Baldwin Turner. classical scholar, botanist, dedicated Christian, and political activist
Sarah Goodridge. American painter, 1788–1853
Elizabeth Goodridge. American miniaturist, 1798–1882, Sarah's sister
Charles Knowlton. Physician, atheist, and writer, 1800–1850
Mike Kelley. Baseball player, 1875–1955
Truro
The English Pilgrims stopped in Truro and Provincetown in 1620 as their original choice for a landing before later deciding the area to be unsuitable
Truro in film
The first film in the Men In Black series displayed Truro on a satellite map, but the map zoomed in on Falmouth, a town at the opposite end of Cape Cod. In Men in Black II (2002) Truro was the town to which Tommy Lee Jones' character "Agent K" retired and became a postal worker. The post office was portrayed as a solitary building in the middle of nowhere. In contrast, Truro's post office is in the heart of "downtown" Truro, which is also the location of a small convenience store and a few shops
Upton
Upton was home to a number of members of the Taft family, including an American Revolutionary War soldier named Samuel Taft, who was born there.[1] Samuel Taft had 22 children and hosted President George Washington on his inaugural tour of New England in 1789.[2]
Three-term mayor of Worcester, historian Judge Henry Chapin was born here on May 13, 1811
The band Aerosmith played their first gig in 1970 at the then Nipmuc Regional High School, now called Upton-Mendon Regional High School
Walpole
Sports
All Walpole High School teams are nicknamed "Rebels" except for the girls field hockey team who are nicknamed "Porkers".
In 2004, the Walpole Boys and Girls high school basketball teams captured the Massachusetts State Titles on the same day in the Fleet Center in Boston. In 2006, the girls field hockey team, the Porkers, won their 10th State Championship in a 1-0 win over Notre Dame Academy of Worcester. This win set the record for number of overall Championship titles for Massachusetts field hockey.[24] The boys cross country team won the National Championship in 1932, 1934, 1957, 1958, 1966, 1970–77 and 1992. Walpole Little League has won the state championship twice: 1991, and 2007. They went to the Little League World Series in 2007 with a record of 19-1. They defeated Shelton, CT 14-4 in five inning mercy rule to advance to the LLWS. In round robin play, Walpole was eliminated with a 1-2 record, after losing to Oregon and Georgia, 1-0 and 8-1 respectively, and finished 21-3. The Walpole High School Football team has made USA Today's Top 25 list twice, in 1986 (#24), and 1989 (#15). They also won the 2008 Eastern Massachusetts Division 2 Super Bowl, defeating football powerhouse Mansfield by the score of 41-21. The Football team has won 20 League Titles, 7 Eastern Massachusetts Super Bowl Titles, and captured 2 Massachusetts State Championships. The Lacrosse team won the 2009 Division 2 State Championship.
Notable People
Todd Collins, professional American football quarterback
Gene Lavanchy, TV news anchor for FOX channel 25 in Boston[27]
Joe Morgan (manager), professional baseball manager for a variety of teams including the Boston Red Sox[28]
Kevin Faulk, professional football player, New England Patriots.
Roger Turner, Olympic Figure Skater
Henry Kendall, Businessman, founder Kendall Co.
Mary Lavin, Award-winning short story writer. Born in Walpole, moved to Ireland at the age of 10
Andrew J. Bacevich, professor of international relations at Boston University, former director of its Center for International Relations (from 1998 to 2005), and author of several books
Ware
Notable People
Samuel Colt, raised in Ware, inventor of the repeating pistol
Shamus Culhane, born in Ware, animator, director, studio head [Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]
Candy Cummings, born in Ware, major league baseball player, credited by some for inventing the curveball[1]
David Ferguson, born in Ware, impresario, activist, and iconoclast
Philip F. Gura, born in Ware, professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Ruth Baker Pratt, born in Ware, politician, first congresswoman to be elected from New York
Billy Jo Robidoux, born in Ware, major league baseball player
Roland D. Sawyer, resident of Ware for decades, clergyman, Christian socialist, state legislator, and author
Wareham
Wareham is home of the Tremont Nail Factory, the oldest nail manufacturer in the United States. The factory was established in 1819.
Water Wizz Water Park - Water Park in the area. Popular in the summertime. Recently was a spot of filming for upcoming film Grown Ups.
Notable People
Stephen Cooper (b. 1979), football player
Geena Davis (b. 1956), Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning actress
Paul Fearing (1762–1822), a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio
John Kendrick (1740–1794), sea captain and explorer of the Pacific Northwest
Eugene Thomas Maleska, (1916–1993) New York Times crossword puzzle editor, had a home in town
Donald W. Nicholson, (1888–1968), congressman
Skipp Sudduth (b. 1956), actor
Samuel T. Wellman (1847–1919) steel industry pioneer, industrialist, and prolific inventor
Warren
Notable People
Molly Bish, (born 1983) murder victim who disappeared in June 2000. Her body was recovered but no one was ever charged
A significant event in Warwick's late 20th century history was the arrival of the Brotherhood of the Spirit Commune which remained in the area through the 1960s and into the 1970s. The commune was led by the controversial mystic Michael Metelica Rapunzel. The population of Warwick was only about 450 then, and hundreds of young people came to Warwick to join the commune. There was some friction in the early days, but townspeople and commune members gradually became more cooperative. The commune left Warwick for good in the 1980s.
Washington
Famed 2nd generation folk singer Arlo Guthrie lives in Washington, as does singer/songwriter James Taylor.
Wayland
Notable People
Robert Anastas, former hockey coach and teacher who founded SADD chapter at Wayland High School following the 1981 deaths of two students in drunk driving accidents
Amar Bose, founder of Bose Corporation, a company that specializes in high-quality sound systems
Lydia Maria Child, 19th-century American abolitionist, novelist, journalist, author of "Over the River and Through the Woods"
Josiah Johnson Hawes, pioneering 19th-century photographer
Archibald Cox, legal scholar, Special Prosecutor of the Watergate Scandal involving President Nixon's Administration
David Hackett Fischer, Brandeis Professor of History and author.
Tom Hamilton, bass player for Aerosmith
Beatrice Herford, actress
Joyce Kulhawik, arts and entertainment anchor for WBZ-TV News in Boston
Allen Morgan, founder and first executive director of Sudbury Valley Trustees
Jonathan Papelbon, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox
Alvaro Pascual-Leone, noted neuroscientist
Peter Rowan, bluegrass musician
Alberto Salazar, marathon runner
Tom Scholz, guitarist for 70's rock group 'Boston'; their debut album was recorded in his basement in Wayland
Edmund Sears, 1800s Unitarian parish minister, author who wrote a number of theological works influential to his contemporary liberal Protestants, famous for penning the words to "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear"
Steven Tyler, band member of Aerosmith, who held the first and only rock concert in the history of the Wayland High School field house before the band became known worldwide
Ryan Sypek, actor and star of the TV series Wildfire.
Taylor Schilling, actress and star of the NBC hospital drama Mercy.
Sam Wisner , also known as Sam Adams rap artist. Known for "I hate College Remix" and album "Boston Boy".
Webster
Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg - The lake has become famous beyond Central Massachusetts for having the longest name of any geographic feature in all of the United States.
Notable people
Andrew J. Bates (1839–1915), industrialist and founder of the Bates Shoe Company
Bette Boucher (born 1943), retired professional wrestler
William Slater Brown (1896–1997), novelist, biographer, and translator of French literature
Stasia Czernicki (1922–1993), professional candlepin bowler
George Derby (1857–1925), professional baseball player
Gene Filipski (1931–1994), professional football player
Frank Gilmore (1864–1929), professional baseball player
George R. Stobbs (1877–1966), member of the United States House of Representatives
Mike Sullivan (1860–1929), professional baseball player
Lyman T. Tingier (1862–1920), Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut
Wellfleet
Wellfleet is famous for its eponymous oysters, which are celebrated in the annual October Wellfleet OysterFest.
Guglielmo Marconi built America's first transatlantic radio transmitter station on a coastal bluff in South Wellfleet in 1901-02. The first radio telegraph transmission from America to England was sent from this station on January 18, 1903, a ceremonial telegram from President Theodore Roosevelt to King Edward VII. Most of the transmitter site is gone, however, as three quarters of the land it originally encompassed has been eroded into the sea. The South Wellfleet station's first call sign was "CC", for Cape Cod
In 1717, the pirate Samuel Bellamy was sailing near what is now Wellfleet when his ship, the Whydah sank off shore. The wreck was discovered in 1984, and is to date the only pirate ship ever discovered
Notable People
William Birenbaum (1923–2010), college administrator who served as president of Antioch College
Wenham
Notable People
Paul Harding, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Tinkers
Bob Stanley, former Red Sox relief pitcher
West Boyston
Notable People
Robert Bailey Thomas, the founder of the Old Farmer's Almanac. Notable residents J.P. Ricciardi Former G.M. of the Major League Baseball Team, the Toronto Blue Jays.
Westbridgewater
Notable People
Cyrus Alger, (1781–1856), inventor, owner of the shop which produced the first rifled gun[4]
Spike Feresten, talk show host on Fox for "Talkshow with Spike Feresten", writer for Late Show with David Letterman, writer for Seinfeld, who wrote the infamous Soup Nazi episode
West Brookfield
Lucy Stone was born in West Brookfield, and Noah Webster published his dictionary there.
West Newbury
Notable People
John Cena, 9 time WWE world champion professional wrestler for WWE, currently on its Raw brand.
Bertrand R. Brinley, writer of short stories and children's tales, best known for his Mad Scientists' Club stories.
Rawly Eastwick, former professional baseball player.
John Tufts, early American music educator
Raymond Abbott, author
Culture
West Newbury and its residents were the models for Popperville, the setting of Virginia Lee Burton's children's story Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. The town hall where the story ends is patterned after West Newbury's Old Town Hall.[4] West Newbury also provided the geographical inspiration for the Mad Scientists' Club series of stories by Bertrand R. Brinley. Portions of John Cena's music video, "Right Now", were shot in West Newbury, with the remainder filmed at Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. In the late summer and fall of 2008, various scenes from Mel Gibson's film Edge of Darkness were shot on Church Street. West Newbury is home to Emery House, monastery guesthouse and sanctuary of the Society of St. John the Evangelist.
Westborough
Notable People
Jaime Brockett, folk singer
Jim Campbell, hockey player
Andrew Clements, children's author
Henry W. Corbett, businessman and senator
Ralph Dawson, film editor
Louis E. Denfeld, admiral
Mark D. Devlin, author
Esther Forbes, author
Tod Griffin, actor
Ashley Hayden, luge athlete
Richard B. Johnson, author
Horace Maynard, politician
John Ruggles, politician
Chris Smith, Activist
Pedro Martinez, Baseball Player
Jordan Smotherman, ice hockey player
Nikki Stone, skier
Jeffrey Thomas, science fiction and horror author
Eli Whitney, inventor and industrialist
Jack M. Wilson, President of the University of Massachusetts
Westford
Notable People
Joel Abbot, (1793–1855), born in Westford, noted naval officer[5]
Pat Bradley, LPGA Tour golf champion[citation needed]
Karen Bryant, ex-MTV VJ, game show hostess[citation needed]
Col. Charles "Chip" Collins, WWII B-29 Superfortress A.C., 9th Bomb Group squadron leader of 35 missions over Japan, chief MIT Draper Lab test pilot, and one of a group of aviators who discovered the jet stream off the Japanese coast[citation needed]
Sarah Dix Hamlin, founder of The Hamlin School in San Francisco[citation needed]
Andy Hicks, WBCN former disk-jockey[citation needed]
Ed Lacerte, Boston Celtics trainer[citation needed]
Jackie MacMullan, sportswriter[citation needed]
John Nicoletta, extreme skier (1981–2008)[citation needed]
Edgar Allan Poe, poet, was a temporary resident in 1848[citation needed]
Lt. Col. John Robinson, Revolutionary War soldier[citation needed]
Eric Smolin, pitcher with the Philadelphia Phillies[citation needed]
Aaron Stanford, actor[citation needed]
Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards, creator of the field of home economics, first woman admitted to MIT, co-founder of American Association of University Women[citation needed]
Tommy Severo, actor, comedian, winner on Beauty and the Geek, season 5[citation needed]
Joseph Thaxter, Revolutionary War era preacher[citation needed]
Michael Woodford, hockey player[citation needed]
Alison Walshe, current member of the LPGA and Women's European Professional Golf Tour[citation needed]
Michael Fucito, Major League Soccer player, currently for the Seattle Sounders FC[citation needed]
Brendan Livingston, Current member of PGA
Westhampton
Notable People
Adam Dutkiewicz, guitarist of metalcore band Killswitch Engage.
Mordicai Gerstein, children's book illustrator
Westport
Notable People
Michael Houghton- Former CEO of Polaroid Corporation[citation needed]
Black Francis - Lead Singer and Rhythm Guitarist of the Pixies
Westwood
In July 2005, CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Westwood 13th on its list of the 100 Best Places to Live in the United States
Trivia
The remains of a cave sit along Route 109, that King Philip and his men hid inside during King Philip's War. The massive rock that once contained the cave was known as the Oven's Mouth. It was blown up along with most of the cave in the 1950s to straighten out Route 109.
Maj. Robert Steele, the Continental Army drummer boy during the Battle of Bunker Hill, is buried in the old Westwood Cemetery off Route 109.
Westwood is home of the oldest animal pound in the United States.
Westwood was a dry town until 2005. Restaurants can now apply for liquor licenses.
Westwood is home to the Hale Reservation, an area of open space donated by Robert Sever Hale. Hale Reservation spans over 1,200 acres (486 ha) in Westwood and Dover, MA.
Notable People
Dicky Barrett - lead singer of the ska-core band, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Jon Finn - award-winning guitarist, rock musician
Kenny Florian - Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter
John Harrington - former CEO of the Boston Red Sox
Peter S. Pezzati - portrait painter
Barry Reed - American trial lawyer and bestselling author
Robert Steele (Drum Major) - drummer boy for the Continental Army during the Battle of Bunker Hill of the Revolutionary War, is buried in the Old Westwood Cemetery.
Whitman
Whitman has a rich history that is deeply rooted in the shoemaking industry. Regal Shoe and Bostonian Shoe are perhaps the most notable. At one time there were over 20 shoe factories and related factories making metal shanks in town. There are a few abandoned factories left, and some have been turned into condominiums.
In the late 1930s, Ruth Graves Wakefield invented chocolate chip cookies in Whitman at the Toll House Inn on Bedford Street
Notable People
Lennie Baker, of the doo wop band Sha Na Na.
Sean Conover, defensive end for the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League.
Jeff Gagné, technology author.
Shirley Jump, women's fiction and romance novels.
Alex Karalexis, Professional fighter, competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC),World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), member on Season 1 of the Ultimate Fighter
James Lowder, editor and fantasy/horror author.
Harry Markopolos, unheeded whistleblower to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of suspected securities fraud by Bernard Madoff.
Reverend Robert Reed, director of the Catholic TV cable network, was formerly the pastor of Whitman's Holy Ghost Church.
Steve Smith, drummer of the rock band Journey as well as many jazz/fusion projects.
Francis Spellman, cardinal, ninth Bishop and sixth Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.
Roy Vallancourt, 1964 Winner of the World Archery Championship; Nationally ranked #1 senior archer when he died in 2004 at the age of 93.
Ruth Wakefield, creator of the Toll House Cookie.
Wilbraham
In 1928, author H. P. Lovecraft visited Wilbraham, after which he modeled the fictional town of Dunwich in his story The Dunwich Horror.
Notable People
NHL player and US Olympian Bill Guerin
NASCAR driver Erin Crocker.
Birthplace of American novelist, Raymond Kennedy
Former Major League Baseball Pitcher Mike Trombley
Edith Miniter (1867–1934), author of Our Natupski Neighbors
NASCAR Modefied Racer Mike Stefanik
Williamsburg
The Mill River Flood
On the morning of May 16, 1874, a flood along Williamsburg's Mill River claimed 139 lives and left nearly 800 victims homeless throughout Hampshire County. The deluge occurred when the Williamsburg Reservoir Dam unexpectedly burst, sending a twenty foot wall of water surging into the valley below. Every town and village along the river's normally placid flow was soon devastated by the great rush of water. Much of the flood's force was abated in Northampton, Massachusetts at the Mill River's confluence with the Connecticut River. Located over twelve miles from the breached dam in Williamsburg, Northampton was the last town to experience the flood's mortal fury, with four additional victims swept away in the swell
Williamstown
Notable People
Herbert A. Allen, businessman Bernard Blair, congressman
Gerald Warner Brace, author & educator
James MacGregor Burns, historian & biographer
Albert Cummings, blues guitarist
Daniel Dewey, congressman
Dick Farley, football player & coach
Stephen Hannock, painter
Carol Holloway, actress
Peter H. Hunt, producer & director
Alex Kershaw, author & Englishman
Elizabeth Kolbert, journalist & author
Joe McGinniss, author
John Bennett Perry, actor
Matthew Perry, actor
Cole Porter, songwriter
Roger Rees, actor
Christopher Reeve, actor
Dick Sabot, economist
Jane Swift, former governor
William Henry Vanderbilt III, statesman
Fay Vincent, baseball commissioner
William Wootters, quantum physicist
Ali Fedotowsky, reality TV star
Wilmington
Wilmington is where the Baldwin apple was discovered.
Notable People
Jeanne Ashworth, speed skater, bronze medal 1960 Winter Olympics.[6]
Loammi Baldwin, Revolutionary War Colonel, noted Civil Engineer and the man who popularized the Baldwin Apple. Baldwin lived in nearby Woburn, never in Wilmington.
John Ball, developer of the Baldwin Apple.
Jason Bere, former MLB pitcher and American League All-Star in 1994.
Ryland Blackinton, guitarist of Cobra Starship, graduated from Wilmington High School.
Yuan Cheng, Physicist.
Mike Esposito, running back and kick returner for the Atlanta Falcons in the late 1970s. He also set a number of rushing records at Boston College.
Benjamin Harnden, member of Minutemen, grandfather of Gen. Henry Harnden.
Gen. Henry Harnden, Civil War officer, tracked down Confederate President Jefferson Davis and confirmed his identity.
John Harnden, capt. of Minutemen company at Bunker Hill.
Joseph Harnden, died in lines at Cambridge, Dec. 24, 1775 in American Revolution.
Joshua Harnden, namesake of the Harnden Tavern, great-uncle of Henry Harnden.
David G. Hartwell, science-fiction editor.
Thomas Holmes, Executive with W.R. Grace and Ingersoll Rand.
Ezra Otis Kendall, LL.D., 1818-1899 prof. of mathematics and Astronomy at Univ. of Pennsylvania. Author of Uranography, a guide to the heavens, with atlas, Philadelphia, 1844. Half-brother to Timothy Walker and Sears Cook Walker.
Asa Sheldon, 19th Cent. contractor, builder of railroads & bridges, author of autobiography "Wilmington Farmer", reprinted in paperback as "Yankee Drover".[7]
Benjamin Thompson, Jr., Count Rumford, taught school in Wilmington 1768-1769.[8]
Sears Cook Walker, [19th Century] astronomer, brother of Timothy Walker, half-brother of E.O. Kendall.
Timothy Walker, noted 19th century jurist, author of Introduction to American Law, founder of Cincinnati Law School.
Phillis Wheatley, first published African-American poet.
Winchedon
Notable People
Dudley W. Adams, horticulturalist and granger
Levi P. Morton, U.S. Vice President, from 1889–93 under Harrison Former Massachusetts governor William Barrett Washburn (1872–1874)
Many Revolutionary War soldiers who fought to defend the United States and several who aided in the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Earle E. Partridge, U.S. Air force 4 star general
Winchester
Notable People
Lars Ahlfors, mathematician and Fields Medalist[6]
Patrick Aufiero, retired professional ice hockey defenseman[citation needed]
Pat Badger Bass Player Extreme.[citation needed]
Brutus Beefcake, former WWF wrestler, and some-time tag team partner of fellow wrestler Hulk Hogan.[citation needed]
Joe Bellino, Heisman Trophy winning football player at the United States Naval Academy[citation needed]
Bob Bigelow, retired NBA basketball player[citation needed]
Robert A. Brown, President of Boston University[citation needed]
Stephen J. Burke, Actor from the film Green[citation needed]
Ashton Carter, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy[citation needed]
Allan McLeod Cormack, one of the recipients of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine[citation needed]
General John M. Corse, hero of Southern campaigns in the Civil War[citation needed]
Edward Everett, President of Harvard University, Governor of Massachusetts, and Ambassador to Britain[citation needed]
Frankie Fontaine, comedian & singer, most famous for playing the part of "Crazy" Guggenheim on the Jackie Gleason Show[citation needed]
Edward Gelsthorpe, (1923–2009), marketing executive known as "Cranapple Ed" for his best-know product launch.[7]
Arthur Griffin, Professional Photographer and founder of the Griffin Museum of Photography located in Winchester.[citation needed]
Kim Khazei, Anchorwoman, WHDH-TV[citation needed]
Mike Lynch Sports anchor for WCVB-TV.[citation needed]
Yo-Yo Ma, Cellist.[citation needed]
Samuel W. McCall, ten-time United States Congressman and three-time Governor of Massachusetts[citation needed]
Arthur G. B. Metcalf, founder of the Electronics Corporation of America and 41 year member of the Boston University Board of Trustees, 18 years of which he was Chairman of the Board[citation needed]
Glen Murray, NHL Player for Boston Bruins[citation needed]
Cam Neely, retired NHL player[citation needed]
Jess Nevins, author[citation needed]
Barry Newman, actor[citation needed]
Laurence Owen, National skating champion whose career was cut short by the plane crash that wiped out the national team in 1961[citation needed]
Mike Pagliarulo, ex-pro baseball player for the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees.[citation needed]
Jay Pandolfo, NHL player[citation needed]
Bjorn Poonen, mathematician[citation needed]
John Quinlan, champion bodybuilder and professional wrestler[citation needed]
Herb Reed, founding member of The Platters[citation needed]
