Center Street, 348, Leonard House, H. L., 348 Center Street, Easton, MA, info, Easton Historical Society

More information on this image is available at the Easton Historical Society in North Easton, MA.
www.flickr.com/photos/historicalimagesofeastonma/albums
.
The development by Oliver Ames and Sons Corporation of the factory and village land use in a rather organic manner with a mix work-related classes created an integrated geographic network. The housing on perimeter edge with factories and business affairs in the center creating the village concept in North Easton. Other important concepts were the Furnace Village Cemetery, Furnace Village Grammar School and the Furnace Village Store, which explains Furnace Village and other sections of Easton.
source: Massachusetts Historical Commission
,
Easton Center Post Office
Written by James H. Healey
As near as can be determined the first post office was established in Easton Center in 1895 and Martin W. Ripley was appointed Postmaster but did not serve and resigned before the Post Office opened for business. The post office was in an ell of the house occupied at present by David Rohdin and Olive Gilmore was appointed the first Postmistress. Mrs. Calvin Howes carried the mail from the post office to the Easton railroad station and back to the post office. Later, the office was moved across the street to the house occupied by Eugene Farrow. In 1910, the office was closed, and its business was transferred to the South Easton Post Office. In the span of over 170 years, the people have been well served by the postal service from the pony express, to the stagecoach, to the fast railroad, swift automobiles, and trucks, and the fastest of all, the speedy airplane. The U.S. Postal Service is under a nonpolitical merit system established by the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970.
Source: History of Easton, Massachusetts, Vol. II, M. McEntee, Easton Historical Society, ET AL, 1886-1974
,
Easton Center Area
The Easton Center has been the location of first Easton Center Meetinghouse, Evangelical Congregational Church, Easton Town Hall, Easton Center Schoolhouse, and sparse residential housing. There was little commercial or industrial operatives’ due absence of large body of water or brooks which provided water for the mill power. In 1750, the First Parish Society’s meeting house was built, and its successor, Evangelical Congregational Church’s building. Town meetings were held in the meetinghouse, known the First Parish Society. Around 1830, a Town house was built for the meetings. Efforts by town leader and voters to form a community center easily accessible to all residents did not meet with approval. The economic situations prevented Easton Center from becoming a central point of the Town. The Easton Center area did not enough to bring residents from other parts of the Town like the Ames Shovel Shop in North Easton. North Easton had become center of the Town. Around 1723, residents in Easton Center were started by Benjamin Drake moving north from Church Street. An increase in population began following the Town voted favorable of building a meetinghouse. Church and activities were moved to the corner of Center and Depot Streets from Church Street. Since 1745, Reverend Solomon Prentice had provided spiritual leadership at the old church since and continued the new building. From 1710s to the 1730s, roads in Easton Center were laid out and constructed. Around 1752, the roads improved following the construction of the first Easton Center Meetinghouse.
source: Easton Historical Society
source; Massachusetts Historical Commission
source: Ancestry
source: History of Easton, William L. Chaffin, 1886
source: Easton’s Neighborhoods, Edmund C. Hands
.
History of Center Street below
.
The story for this property will be shown upon completion of the research process
source: Easton Historical Society
source; Massachusetts Historical Commission
source: Ancestry
source: History of Easton, William L. Chaffin, 1886
source: Easton’s Neighborhoods, Edmund C. Hands, 1995
.
Center Street
Centre Street connects North Easton village with Easton Centre. An exceedingly small section of this street, that from Daniel Clark's to Short Street, was laid out in 1738, and was, as before stated, the connecting link between what are now Summer and Short streets. But just after the building of the new meeting- house at the Centre in 1752, it was extended both south from Short Street and north to Samuel Phillips, Jr.'s, west of the DeWitt farm. This was a part of what was known as the old Meetinghouse road. The north part of this old road was laid out in 1764. It began south of the cart bridge near John Randall's (that is, near the Ames store), went up the hill, then westerly a short distance on Lincoln Street, and then south to join that part of the road laid out in 1752. There were then living along the line of this proposed road Mrs. Whitman, widow of John Whitman, whose house was on Lincoln Street, and about a quarter of a mile south, Nahum Niles. Some distance below him lived Benjamin Phillips, and still farther south Samuel Phillips, Jr., where the new road formed a connection with the old. This road may still be traversed from end to end. The writer drove through it with a horse and buggy in the summer of 1886. It was discontinued in 1828, though a little money has been expended on it just above Daniel Clark's, where Patrick Menton now lives. This discontinuance was in consequence of the laying out of the new road, now Centre Street, in 1828. There was considerable disagreement about this laying out, but it was finally accomplished. There have been some changes in the grading, etc., but the road remains substantially the same as when laid out.
source: History of Easton, William L. Chaffin, 1886

Taken on: May 14, 2021

Tags:

Easton

Massachusetts

Historical

Vintage

Ames

History

Center

Image

Maps

Places

Sites

Houses

Registry

Furnace

National

Historic

Flowers

Museum

Road

Commission

Interior

People

Village

Simpson

Spring

Asahel

Pond

North

Governor

War

Botanical

Farm

House

out

door

Bay

Property

Town

District

Washington

Shovel

Rail

Main

Elm

Roll

Dedication

Memorial

Park

Sheldon « less

Sets appears in: • Historical Images of Easton, MA, 285 Center Street - 247 Elm Street

Stats: 1,610 views