Quick History Stops: Mendon, MA
I recently stopped by the little town of Mendon, MA, called “Mother Mendon” by local historians since it was the first incorporated town in the region. Settled in 1660 and incorporated 1667 years later in 1667, Mendon predates the founding of the United States by over a hundred years. The “children” incorporated from Mendon include Bellingham in 1719, Uxbridge in 1727, Upton in 1729, Milford in 1780, Blackstone in 1845. The “grandchildren” are Northbridge from Uxbridge in 1772, Hopedale from Milford in 1886, and Millville from Blackstone in 1916. Today, the town is part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor. The Mendon Center Historic District has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2003.
The Unitarian Congregation of Mendon and Uxbridge has its roots in a church started in 1667. The current building is the fifth meeting house, completed in 1820. The church suffered damage in 1936 when it was struck by lightning. Fortunately, only the ceiling was damaged. The congregation’s name includes two towns because they began meeting together in 1978, and the Uxbridge church was sold in 2013. (Learn more in my Quick History Stops: Uxbridge, MA post.) Down the road is Faith Baptist Church. Built in 1830, it originally housed North Congregational Church, which formed after a schism. The Methodist Episcopal Society bought the building in 1865, while Baptists bought the building in 1897.
Near the Baptist church is Seth Hastings Law Office, which also served as a post office, tailor shop, store, and city hall records storage. Built in the 1820s, the property is on the State Register of Historic Places and received a grant from the Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund through the Town of Mendon Historical Commission. A large red sign in the front yard gave details about the project. Seth Hastings was a lifelong politician, starting as the town treasurer and school commissioner, then joining the U.S. Congress before returning home to serve on the Massachusetts State Senate and as chief justice of the Worcester County Court.
Down the street is Founders’ Park, which is filled with memorials and was created in 1906 to honor the first men to lead the town. A pair of markers commemorate Mendon’s first meeting house, constructed in 1668 and destroyed in 1676 when the town was burned during King Philip’s War. One marker was erected by the Mendon Historical Society back in 1910, while another was added by the Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary Commission in 1930. Another memorial was a round trough dedicated to David Joy in 1877, although the reason for this dedication is unclear. near the road is a Boston Post Road marker, now mostly worn away.
More memorials stand on an island between Main Street and Maple Street. These commemorate those who served in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War with the Vietnam War. Across the street is the town hall, constructed in the Greek Revival style in 1840 and originally named Harrison Hall after U.S. President William Henry Harrison, although it is now officially called Mendon Town Hall. Next door is a building the formerly housed Taft Public Library, established in 1881, and now serves as the Town Hall Annex. The other municipal building on the street was the Mendon Police Department, constructed by Tower Construction Corp. between 2017 and 2018.
