Updates
Updates from the Amherst Historical Society & Museum
History of Tan Brook on Sept 22
Tan Brook is a little-known stream that flows right under Triangle Street and Kendrick Park. It originates from the small lake next to Wildwood Cemetery, and emerges at McClellan Street with a quiet babbling sound from the culverts that have carried it off and on...
History of the Wachusett Reservoir
In 1897, the Nashua River above the town of Clinton, Mass was impounded by the Wachusett Dam; 4,380 acres were flooded in the towns of Boylston, West Boylston, Clinton, and Sterling. Work was completed in 1905 and the reservoir first filled in May 1908. At the time of...
Planes in America
Because of Amherst's connection with the manufacture of carpenters' planes in the 19th century -- see the Nutting and Kellogg planemakers -- I was intrigued by this display, seen on a recent trip to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia: ‘While tradesmen relied heavily on...
Historic apple tree knocked down
Over the weekend, our 100-year-old apple tree was knocked over by a gust of wind, onto the Strong House. We are lucky there was no great damage to the Museum building – the branches only knocked out one window. And our intrepid Building and Grounds Committee has been...
Dairy in Amherst
June is National Dairy Month. The Amherst History Museum lets us remember the dairy industry in Amherst -- we have a cabinet display of Amherst memorabilia, including milk bottles from Amherst dairies, and even an old ice cream container from the old Amherst Creamery!
Celebrate UMass
UMass graduation is this weekend, so it is appropriate to remember that the Massachusetts Agricultural College was founded 160 years ago, in 1863. It was founded as a result of the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862, ‘... to teach such branches of learning as are related...
History of the Emily Dickinson Museum
The Dickinson Homestead was built by Samuel Fowler Dickinson in 1813. It was occupied by his son Edward, and then by Edward’s two daughters, Emily and Lavinia. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1963, and in 1965 it was sold to the Trustees of...
Gardens at the Museum
April is National Garden Month, and soon our friends in the Garden Club of Amherst will be tending the Museum's flower gardens, just to the east of the Museum. Already the east lawn is a mass of color from the blue scilla growing wild there. In 2015 the Historical...
History of the Amherst Record
The Amherst Record was founded in 1844 by John and Charles Adams as the Hampshire and Franklin Express. It served Amherst, Hadley and Belchertown; it became the Amherst Record in 1868 and was a daily between 1978 and 1980. The Record published Town Hall news, lots of...