Quick History Stops: South Hamilton, MA

During two of my trips to the North Shore, I visited South Hamilton, MA. The town historic district is on Bay Road, originally known as Country Road when it was established in 1640 and now also called Route 1A as the first state highway established in Massachusetts. During these quick history stops, I saw a church, a cemetery, historic houses, a mysterious road, and a special sign. This quiet town was a great place to take a relaxing walk, along with many pictures.

First Congregational Church of Hamilton started in 1714 under the name Third Church in Ipswich, as Hamilton was part of Ipswich at the time. The congregation apparently flourished for its first century under the leadership of two pastors with great names: Samuel Wigglesworth and Manasseh Cutler. Both men were highly educated, as Wigglesworth graduated from Harvard while Cutler went to Yale. Cutler was especially well-connected during the American Revolutionary War era, as he served in Congress and knew many Founding Fathers. Like Nathan Dane of Beverly, MA, previously mentioned in my posts on Historic Beverly’s Cabot House and Central Cemetery in Beverly, he passed the Northwest Ordinance permitting westward expansion into territories previously set aside for Native Americans.

As for the church building, the current version is an 1843 Greek Revival remodel using the timber framing from the 1762 version, itself a replacement for the original church built around the time the congregation formed. The exterior of the building was recently restored, including woodwork and new paint. I happened to be photographing at the same time that one of the pastors was jogging outside, and he offered to give an interior tour along with a trip to the upgraded bell tower the next time I was in the area.

Next door to the church was a patch of grass known as Soldiers Green, since it included a monument erected in memory of the people who served in most American wars up until that point, including the Revolutionary War, Civil War, Spanish American War, War of 1812, and World War I. The monument consists of a metal eagle taking flight from atop a large piece of uncarved stone with a metal plaque affixed to the front. The monument was evidently set up in 1924 and specifically mentioned “patriotic men and women”, since women served as combat nurses during that era even if they were not permitted to enlist.

Next door to the church on its opposite side is Wigglesworth-Cutler House, named for those first two pastors. It was built at the same time as the church and rededicated in 1991. The building was originally a two-story, unpainted, Georgian style parsonage during the Wigglesworth residency. Cutler was ambitious, and in 1790, he added a third story to the building so he could run a school in addition to a church. He also added a Palladian window above the main entrance during this renovation, then changed the pitch of the roof in 1802. This roof was altered to its present design by 1890, and except for the addition of decorative shutters on the first floor, the building has not changed for a hundred and thirty-five years.

Across the street is Hamilton Cemetery, conveniently connected to what was once the only church in town. Interestingly, the cemetery opened first in 1705 or 1706, although its earliest grave markers are unreadable. The cemetery was created in small pieces over time, beginning with 0.5 acres in 1706 and reaching its current size of 17.12 acres by 1998. Each subsequent purchase is farther from the entrance on Bay Street. The cemetery stretched east for its first six purchases and 200 years, from 1706 to 1906, and then dipped south for its next three purchases and 119 years, from 1907 to 2025. People of local interest who were buried in this cemetery included members of the Appleton family, relatives of those for whom Appleton Farms was named. Meanwhile, Hamilton residents George S. Patton III and George S. Patton IV were both buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC, last mentioned in my post on Patton Park & Homestead.

Next to the cemetery was an unnamed, unpaved, drivable path connecting Bay Road to Bridge Street and containing large homes. However, Google Maps does not identify this road as a drivable route, indicating that drives wishing to reach houses with addresses seemingly on this road should magically drive through the cemetery to reach them. The road appears on the low resolution Hamilton Historic District map without a label, along with the even lower resolution Hamilton Streets map, also without a label. The original Historic District Map of 1970 does not include the road, suggesting that it was either built after 1970 or the mapmaker did not want it included in the historic district. The Hamilton 2004 Master Plan upon which the Hamilton Streets map was based initially appeared to no longer be available, as it was seemingly deleted from a Google Drive, but a version had been saved to a WordPress account. Only major roads were labeled on that map. I also checked the Hamilton Reconnaissance Report, but its map has no street labels. The best explanation for this lack of clarity was that wealthy people who did not want to be bothered live on that street, and the lack of mail delivery is a small price to pay for privacy.

Finally, a sign erected next to the parsonage by the Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary Commission celebrated the departure of the first covered wagons from Massachusetts after the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was passed. These wagons left on December 3, 1787 and eventually arrived in Marietta, OH on April 7, 1788. American Revolutionary War veteran Brigadier General Rufus Putnam led the group, while Cutler assisted in arranging the trip. Finally, those familiar with the area might cite the town of Putnam, CT — destination of the Historic Blackstone Valley Train Excursion — as having a similar name. That town was named for Major General Israel Putnam, twenty years the senior of Rufus and his first cousin once removed. While my attempt to solve the mystery of the road was not successful, I was pleased to learn this connection between two influential local men.