Abby Epplett, Historian

Better known for its shops, football stadium, and enormous lighthouse , Patriot Place is also home to Nature Trail and Ocean Spray Cranberry Bog managed by the Ocean Spray Cooperative , a company run by about seven hundred farmers and started in 1930. The short loop through the woods and passing by the seven-acre bog was designated a Healthy Heart Trail by Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and covers about half a mile (0.8 km). Throughout the trail are signs describing the history and ecology to growing cranberries.

Last night — Thursday, April 4, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. — was the fifth installment of the 2024 season of Parked at Home hosted by Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (BRVNHP) . This webinar featured curator Beth Miller of Edison National Historical Park as a guest speaking about the work of Mina Edison, “Home Executive of Glenmont”. Park Ranger Allison Horrocks began by describing the life of Betsey Fletcher Whitin , born April 1777 in Northbridge, MA. Her father, Colonel James Fletcher , built the community’s first iron forge along the Mumford River. He married Margaret Wood , the daughter of Colonel Ezra Wood , and inherited a “prime piece of real estate”. In 1793, when Betsey was sixteen years old, she married local blacksmith Paul Whitin , a partner at Fletcher’s Forge forger. Historians call this match “The smartest thing… Paul Whitin, Sr. could have ever done”. As “Cotton Mill Fever” hit the waterways of New England, Whitin and Fletcher established Northbridge Co...