Jan 20, 2021
Once McGilvaray s Grocery Store, 240 Mattapoisett Road is now a home. Photo Courtesy: Rochester Historical Society.
The writer of this piece, Connie Eshbach, is the vice president of the Rochester Historical Society. This is part of a series of Rochester history pieces.
Today, many of the younger generations know phones to be an essential item to carry with them at all times. Devices to use as cameras, to text and to store all the important aspects of life. A landline phone, particularly one with a dial, is an antique to be puzzled over. Older residents of Rochester, however, remember not just landlines with easily accessible human operators, but also party lines. My mother told stories of calling home from college in Boston to let her father know when to pick her up from the train in Bridgewater. The operator would tell her that her father was at the Mill, but she d make sure that he got the message.
Jan 12, 2021
The Hartley Sawmill, photographed in 1905. Photo Courtesy: Rochester Historical Society.
The writer of this piece, Connie Eshbach, is the vice president of the Rochester Historical Society. This is part of a series of Rochester history briefs.
There is an old English tradition called the Burning of the Green.” On the eve of Epiphany, 12th night, the custom was to take down Christmas trees, wreaths, and other greenery. The folk lore underlying this tradition was the belief that spirits lived in the varied natural Christmas decorations. The greenery gave them shelter during the festive season. When the holidays ended, the spirits needed to be released. Failure to do so was believed to cause agricultural problems come spring.