Ice Cream Social on Sat Jun 22 (2023)
July 22 from noon to 3 pm, picture yourself at the annual Historical Society of Greenfield Ice Cream Social! Have a scoop of ice cream and chat under a tent on the lawn at 43 Church Street.
Read MoreCrazy Judah on TV
The Historical Society of Greenfield and Greenfield Community Television teamed up to produce a radio play from the 1950’s about an important historical figures that just so happens to have ties to Greenfield, MA!
Theodore and Anna Judah were key figures in finding funding and, more importantly, surveying the route for the Transcontinental Railroad across America and through the Rocky Mountains.
Originally produced by Dupont’s Cavalcade of America and written by Arthur Arent, Crazy Judah premiered in 1950. The Historical Society took the original script and decided to turn it into a teleplay. To learn more about the actual histories of the Judah’s, visit the Historical Society of Greenfield at 43 Church St, Greenfield, MA 01376.
Read MorePainting a Legacy – June 15th
Thursday, June 15, please join us for Painting a Legacy: the Search for Anna Judah by Christine Pifer-Foote, at the Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew, 7 to 8 pm in the Whiteman Room.
The speaker is a researcher at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, and is crossing the country, as the railroad did thanks to Theodore Dehone Judah and his work surveying and raising funding for the project with his wife, Anna Pierce Judah, who came from Greenfield. Don’t miss this exciting presentation!
Coming soon for 2023
OPENING DAY is coming soon!
We are working hard, preparing to be OPEN EVERY SATURDAY from 12:00 to 3:00 pm, May 20 to September 30!!
Remembering Greenfield’s shoestores
By ROBERT BITZER For the Recorder (2/13/2021)
This is a topic I don’t think I have ever written about — shoestores from the past — and I have written extensively about stores and businesses that were part of Greenfield years ago.
One of the nicest shoe stores in town, Flemmings, was located on lower Federal Street. Elsewhere, on the north side of Main Street, there was Endicott- Johnson.
Another retailer, Rosen’s, might have sold shoes although I am not positive about that.
Of course, the former Wilson’s Department Store always had a shoe department and almost next door there was Hamilton’s, a family owned shop. Goodnow’s Department Store may have sold shoes as well. Further down the street, there was Tom McCann’s, a chain. Later on, one called Kinney ’s opened nearby.
J.C. Penny, Montgomery Ward and Sears sold shoes as well. Rooney’s, on the south side of Main Street in the former Aliber’s building, also had a shoe department. The Outlet Store on Chapman Street continues to sell boots of all kinds.
Bootleggers near the Big Y on the Mohawk Trail is one of the more recent stores to offer shoes and slippers to its customers.
I might now add another one that I remember: Flurry’s Shoe Store, which was on Main Street.
Robert Bitzer, of Erving is a lifelong resident of Franklin County who is in his 90s, having been born in Greenfield. His columns are inspired by his own memories of the county.
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