Preservation Mendon

Two texts important to the history of Mendon are now available on preservationmendon.org, thanks to Google. Links are at the bottom of this article.

The first, "Annals of the Town of Mendon from 1659 to 1880" by John G. Metcalf, M. D. documents the history of Mendon up to 1880. The second "Vital Records of Mendon Massachusetts to the year 1850" by Thomas W. Baldwin documents births, marriages and deaths in Mendon to the year 1850.

Google also has a searchable version of Vital Records

Dick Grady explained the motivation for "Annals":

In 1876, America was one hundred years old. In response to this
realization, many towns throughout the country decided that one way to
celebrate was to re-cap their history. By around 1880, many towns had a John Metcalf type person who had put in hundreds of hours of research and came up with a written history.

Dr. John Metcalf was the secretary of different town boards and had access to many town records. He had great writing and organizational skills. He was very bright, having graduated from Brown University and Harvard Medical School.

The Mendon Historical Commission will be sponsoring a demolition delay by-law at the annual Town Meeting. If approved, the by-law would provide the town a tool to help preserve historic buildings.

The Commission is having a public informational meeting on April 1st (7:00 P.M. upper floor of Town Hall). There will be a short presentation and time for questions and answers.

There are rumours that refreshments will be served.

You can read the latest draft of the by-law and an informational pamphlet on the town website.

The Milford Daily News has an article about the Historical Commission discussing a proposed demolition delay by-law with the Board of Selectmen.

The Boston Globe has an article about the
state of Vermont trying to save historic barns.

On September 30, 2008 the Comstock House was moved from it's home on Route 16 to North Avenue (across the street from Saint Michael's church).

Preservation Mendon would like to thank Mickey Whitney and Paul Zonghi and everyone else responsible for saving this wonderful home.

Click on a photo for a full sized version.

The telephone poll had to be bent to allow the portico to pass

The Christening

The Christening Take 2

The Christening Take 3

Channel 7 News

Preservation Mendon's House Move Monitoring Comittee

"Move the House!! Move the House!!"

The portico presents another problem

Not too much damage

Last minute site preparation

The house arrives

Final Position