Jan 16, 2025 – Presentation to highlight historical inventory update
GREENFIELD — In April 2023, Greenfield was awarded a $20,000 matching grant from the Massachusetts Historical Commission to review and update documentation of the city’s cultural, historical and architectural resources. The results of this work, bringing new information into the existing inventory forms that were submitted in 1984, will be presented on Thursday, Jan. 16.
Through a competitive bid process, Brian Knight Research was awarded the contract to update the historical inventories. The firm started its work by meeting with Planning Director Eric Twarog, Greenfield Historical Commission member Margo Jones, James Terapane with the Museum of Our Industrial Heritage and Historical Society of Greenfield President Carol Aleman. Brian Knight Research’s task was conducting a community-wide survey to assess and document approximately 140 selected cultural and architectural resources.
In the fall of 2023, a Brian Knight Research representative conducted both walking and driving surveying around the city to update the inventory documents for Greenfield’s historical downtown area, to document Greenfield’s industrial sites and to document Greenfield’s African American history. The firm conducted a component of this research through various sources, including historic atlases and maps, Greenfield resident and business directories, town histories and town reports. Online resources include newspaper articles, population censuses, town directories, probate records, genealogical websites and records in the Franklin County Registry of Deeds.
Brian Knight Research surveyed 149 properties. A copy of the firm’s report, “Greenfield Historic Properties Survey” may be downloaded at greenfield-ma.gov/departments/planning_and_development/current_projects.php.
Brian Knight will present his final report at the Jan. 16 Greenfield Historical Commission meeting, which starts at 5 p.m. The meeting will be held at City Hall’s secondfloor meeting room and also on Zoom. The Zoom link can be found on the events calendar at greenfield-ma.gov/calendar.
Read More2024 Ice Cream social – Sat July 20 – 12-3
The humidity is due to lift and the sun promises to shine as we remember Peter Miller. Enjoy the Falltown String Band and a cup of ice cream from noon to 3 pm, and speakers remembering our friend Peter from about 1 to 1:45. The event is free of charge. Many thanks to the Mass Cultural Council and Crossroads Cultural District for their support.
More details:
GREENFIELD — The Historical Society of Greenfield’s annual ice cream social is set for Saturday, July 20.
This year, the event will honor Peter Miller, former president of the society and beloved historian who died in January 2021. Attendees will hear stories about Miller from three scheduled speakers and are welcome to offer a few words themselves.
The event will begin at noon on the lawn at 43 Church St. with music from the Falltown String Band and ice cream from Herrell’s Ice Cream & Bakery of Northampton. At 1 p.m., attendees will hear from Sandy Thomas, Ed Gregory and John Passiglia about their memories of Miller. More music by the band will follow the speakers and attendees are invited to tour the exhibits inside.
The event, made possible by a grant from the Crossroads Cultural District and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, is free to attend.
Read MoreNew Discoveries about Old Tavern Farm – May 22 2024
The Historical Society of Greenfield will host Gary Sanderson for a program titled “New Discoveries about Old Tavern Farm and its Greenfield Meadows Neighborhood” on Wednesday, May 22, at 6 p.m. in the Whiteman Room at the Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew, 8 Church St.
Sanderson will share new information he has unearthed since submitting this property to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. Old Tavern Farm is located at 817 Colrain Road and dates back to 1740. It’s a farm complex begun during the Colonial period and continuing into the 19th century. The farmstead itself is Federal-style architecture, with a center chimney.
Parking is free in the church lot or on the street. Guests are advised to use the entrance on the east side of the building.
Read More2024 Speaker Series and Events Calendar
2024 Speaker Series and Events Calendar for the Historical Society of Greenfield
43 Church Street will be open to the public Saturdays from noon to 3 pm from May 11 to September 28.
The HSG Speaker Series will be held at the Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew on Wednesdays at 6 pm in the Whiteman Room.
MAY 22: New Discoveries Pertaining to Old Tavern Farm and its Greenfield Meadows Neighborhood. Gary Sanderson will share some of the new twists he’s discovered since submitting the National Register narrative.
JUNE 12: Writing about Greenfield’s Historic Women in Business.
Sara Campbell and Shari Strahan will talk about how the records found in Greenfield City Hall began a years-long research project into women’s hidden history, leading to their book, Did Grandma Have a Filling Station?.
SEPTEMBER 18: King Philip’s War: The War in Your Backyard,
in which David Brule will focus on local events in that war and updates from the on-going Battlefield study, involving Greenfield and current archaeology there.
October 16: Restoring History: Historical Home Preservation and Renovation –
Join member Thad O. for a discussion of some of Greenfield’s oldest homes and our host’s journey preserving a 277 year old home.
JULY 20: Ice Cream Social Special Event
The annual ice cream social is usually a birthday party in memory of founder Mary P. Wells Smith. We can’t think of a better way to celebrate the memory of the late Peter S. Miller. Please join us on the lawn at 43 Church Street for ice cream, music, and memories of our late local historian and see the new Research Room named in his honor.
NEPM – May 4 and 5 – Greenfield on the picketlines
“At Sword’s Point” will be broadcast on 88.5 NEPM on Saturday, May 4 at noon and Sunday, May 5 at 3 p.m.
https://www.nepm.org/regional-news/2024-03-27/at-swords-point/
This hour-long radio documentary, hosted by public historian Tom Goldscheider, recounts these dramatic events of the early 1950s, while also providing important context on the machine tool industry of Greenfield, Massachusetts — once a center of global innovation — as well as the origins of the United Electrical Workers Union, or UE.
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