Abby Epplett, Historian

On the same day I visited Sutton Center and Manchaug , I finished up my adventure in Douglas, another former mill town in the Blackstone River Valley. I took so many pictures and saw so much history that I am dividing the quick history stops into two parts. In the first part , I visited two churches, a former general store turned historical society, a building with a really high curb, and a library. In the second part, I visited war memorials, a church, and several houses.

On the same day I visited Sutton Center and Manchaug , I finished up my adventure in Douglas, another former mill town in the Blackstone River Valley. I took so many pictures and saw so much history that I am dividing the quick history stops into two parts. In this first part, I visited two churches, a former general store turned historical society, a building with a really high curb, and a library.

On the same day I visited Sutton Center Historic District, I drove down the road to Manchaug Village Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018. Part of the town of Sutton, MA, its time as a mill village lasted between 1826 and 1921, much like other village in the Blackstone River Valley. Besides a historic mill, cute post office, former mill store, beautiful mansion, and a unique church, Manchaug is home to Vaillancourt Folk Art , a rare chalkware shop where collectables are made onsite. Much of my research on this are came from the 1999 Sutton Comprehensive Survey Data Sheet , which you can access on Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System (MCRIS).

Back in late June 2026, I visited the Sutton Center Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places , part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor (BHC) in Massachusetts. So many historic buildings, monuments, and stories were packed into this highly walkable area that I am dividing my adventure into three parts. The first part focused on a church, town common, municipal building, and several houses. The second part focused on the little school house, cemetery, town pound, and a house. The third part includes a church, historic houses, a memorial, a blacksmith shop, and a nature area. Aiding in my trip were easy-to-follow walking tours created by BHC over a decade ago and by Sutton Historical Society as part of America250.

Back in late June 2026, I visited the Sutton Center Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places , part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor (BHC) in Massachusetts. So many historic buildings, monuments, and stories were packed into this highly walkable area that I am dividing my adventure into three parts. The first part focused on a church, town common, municipal building, and several houses. The second part will focus on the little school house, cemetery, town pound, and a house. Aiding in my trip were easy-to-follow walking tours created by BHC over a decade ago and by Sutton Historical Society as part of America250.

Back in late June 2026, I visited the Sutton Center Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places , part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor (BHC) in Massachusetts. So many historic buildings, monuments, and stories were packed into this highly walkable area that I am dividing my adventure into three parts. The first part will focus on a church, town common, municipal building, and several houses. Aiding in my trip were easy-to-follow walking tours created by BHC over a decade ago and by Sutton Historical Society as part of America250.

Back in June, after my visit to the Danforth Museum and quick history stops throughout Framingham , I visited The Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA. I saw so much history at this site, now on the National Register of Historic Places as The Wayside Inn Historic District , that I am dividing the experience into two parts. In Part 1 , I told the early history of Wayside Inn, the Old Barn, Longfellow Memorial Gardens, the Ice House, and Josephine’s Pond. In Part 2, I will describe Old Boston Post Road, the Redstone Schoolhouse, Mary-Martha Chapel, The Wayside Inn Grist Mill, and the Gatehouse.

Back in June, after my visit to the Danforth Museum and quick history stops throughout Framingham , I visited The Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA. I saw so much history at this site, now on the National Register of Historic Places as The Wayside Inn Historic District , that I am dividing the experience into two parts. In Part 1, I tell the early history of Wayside Inn, the Old Barn, Longfellow Memorial Gardens, the Ice House, and Josephine’s Pond. In Part 2, I will describe Old Boston Post Road, the Redstone Schoolhouse, Mary-Martha Chapel, The Wayside Inn Grist Mill, and the Gate House.

Back in June, I visited Framingham and Sudbury in Massachusetts for a day away. During that time, I visited the Danforth Museum and took quick history stops in Framingham, including a state park, historic buildings around the original center of town, and a cemetery.

Back in June, I took a day trip to nearby Milford, MA to walk on the Upper Charles Trail and explore the downtown area on foot. I was born in Milford and have spent my entire life visiting the town but never did quick history stops there! This is the third of three parts about Milford. The first part covered the trail, a memorial, two churches, and a pair of repurposed buildings. The second part included an armory turned youth center, two town halls, and several churches. In the third part, I will discuss a funeral home, a library and its dog statue, an opera building, two war memorials, a church, and a post office turned police station.

Back in June, I took a day trip to nearby Milford, MA to walk on the Upper Charles Trail and explore the downtown area on foot. I was born in Milford and have spent my entire life visiting the town but never did quick history stops there! This is the second of three parts about Milford. The first part covered the trail, a memorial, two churches, and a pair of repurposed buildings. The second part includes an armory turned youth center, two town halls, and several churches.

Back in June, I took a day trip to nearby Milford, MA to walk on the Upper Charles Trail and explore the downtown area on foot. I was born in Milford and have spent my entire life visiting the town but never did quick history stops there! This is the first of three parts about Milford, which will cover the trail, a memorial, two churches, and a pair of repurposed buildings.

In June 2026, after I gave a violin concert at the Blackstone Public Library, I took a walk to explore quick history stops in Blackstone, MA. This will be a three-part miniseries. The first part described the library, a memorial, churches, bridges, and the fire/police station. In the second part , I focused on Saranac Dam Overlook, the Blackstone River Greenway in Blackstone River & Canal Heritage State Park, Blackstone Block, the Civil War memorial, the post office, and Veteran’s Memorial Corner. In the third part, I will see churches, a former school, a former railroad-related commercial building station, and an anti-pollution plaque.

In June 2026, after I gave a violin concert at the Blackstone Public Library, I took a walk to explore quick history stops in Blackstone, MA. This will be a three-part miniseries. The first part  described the library, a memorial, churches, bridges, and the fire/police station. This second part will focus on Saranac Dam Overlook, the Blackstone River Greenway in Blackstone River & Canal Heritage State Park, Blackstone Block, the Civil War memorial, the post office, and Veteran’s Memorial Corner.

In June 2026, after I gave a violin concert at the Blackstone Public Library, I took a walk to explore quick history stops in Blackstone, MA. This will be a three-part miniseries. This first stop will describe the library, a memorial, churches, bridges, and the fire/police station.

Back in May 2026, I returned once again to Stephens-Coolidge House & Gardens , managed by the Trustees of Reservations in North Andover, MA for a fun, festive event: Spring BloomFest . Having gone to Winterlights in December 2024 and a regular day trip in September 2025 , I had already learned much about the house and gardens, which can be covered in those blog posts. After some deliberation on how to describe this beautiful adventure, I decided to write a brief explanation and then share a photo gallery at the end.

On the same day I saw the daffodils at Parsons Reserve, I went down the road to Frank Knowles Little River Reserve in Dartmouth, MA. The 194 acres of the preserve, now with 9 miles of trails, were purchased by Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust (DNRT) across four parcels between 1996 and 2010. The first of these parcels was donated by Audrey M. Gillum, who served as Trustee of the Ellen Knowles Jackmen Trust. Despite the name in the title, DNRT provides no information about the man on their website. I speculate that Ellen Knowles Jackman, who was buried at Maple Grove Cemetery of Westport, MA in 1994, was the daughter of Frank Knowles, as many other women have donated their inherited properties to New England preservation organizations. After the 1967 death of her husband, Charles William Jackman , she lived at 573 Potomska Road, a quarter mile from the current preserve entrance.

In April, I visited Parsons Reserve in Russells Mills Village Historic District, Dartmouth, MA to visit its locally famous daffodil fields. Part of Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust , a local ecological preservation organizations that has operated since 1971, the thirty-two acres of trails and blossoming fields bring a sense of wonder and whimsy to the otherwise quiet area.

On the third day of my long weekend trip to Western Massachusetts, which I took back in March 2026, I visited The Clark , an art museum in Williamstown, MA. Like my trip to MASS MoCA taken on the day before, my summary of the experience will be divided into three parts. In the first part , I described artwork found inside the museum building. In this second part , I covered the architecture of the building, a nearby historic building, and some outside sculptures. In the third part, I will describe the rest of the outside sculptures and give tips on how to visit the museum.

On the third day of my long weekend trip to Western Massachusetts, which I took back in March 2026, I visited The Clark , an art museum in Williamstown, MA. Like my trip to MASS MoCA taken on the day before, my summary of the experience will be divided into three parts. In the first part , I described artwork found inside the museum building. In this second part, I will cover the architecture of the building, a nearby historic building, and some outside sculptures. In the third part, I will describe the rest of the outside sculptures and give tips on how to visit the museum.