Abby Epplett, Historian

May 31, 2025 was the third birthday of the blog. Since I have been on vacation learning more history, I delayed the birthday post until today, but I took notes on blog statistics during the actual day. I am happy to report that blog viewership is steady and many more posts are in the future. Just like the 1 st Birthday and 2 nd Birthday , I will do a top ten countdown of my most viewed posts in the past year.

Today marks the second birthday of Abby Epplett, Historian . Two years ago, I posted my first review, which featured the “How Do You See the World?” Experience & Mapparium . Last year, on the first birthday of the blog , I counted down my top ten best performing posts, along with giving a general overview about blog viewership, and I will do the same this year. This is the 281 st post for the blog, bringing me to 156 posts in my second year, compared to 125 posts in my first year.

This blog celebrates its first birthday today. Abby Epplett, Historian began on May 31, 2022 with the publication of “How Do You See the World?” Experience & Mapparium about the Christian Science Plaza in Boston, MA. This is the 125 th blog post. I have published about one article every three days over the course of a year. In addition to writing on Blogger , the platform hosting this blog, I have republished seven articles on the crowdsourced blog Mainly Museums , and another post is on the way. Other publications and activities related to this blog include Instagram  posts and stories, tweets on Twitter, and reviews on Google Maps. My blogs are occasionally featured in online newsletters sent out by local organizations.

The town of Northbridge, Massachusetts has been celebrating its 250 th birthday. Incorporated on July 14, 1772, the last major celebration was held during the bicentennial in 1972. Small town birthdays are not what they use to be, but the cute parade down Main Street contained several highlights from New England history. Here are a few of my favorites.

Last weekend, I attended birthday celebrations for Rhode Island Historical Society (RIHS) and the city of Worcester, Massachusetts. As a Smithsonian Affiliate and member of the New England Museum Association,  RIHS is celebrating the 200th anniversary of their founding throughout the this year with parties themed in 50 year intervals . The 1872 Jubilee Birthday Party was held on June 11 at the John Brown House in Providence, RI and was the second in the series. The event was free and open to the public.  Kevin Doyle's Roscommon Soles  provided live music. Named for a county in Ireland, the four-person group combined traditional Irish music on flute, guitar, uilleann pipes, and bodhrán with intricate tap dance. Doyle is an award-winning dancer who has been recognized by the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and National Heritage Fellowship, and his skilled steps brought extra energy to the performance. Another highlight of the celeb...