Around Town

Civil War Veteran Gets Long Awaited Headstone in Time for Memorial Day

By |

Bill McEvoyThe new grave marker for James Fleming, a Lt. Colonel who served in the Civil War. Local historian Bill McEvoy applied for the long delayed grave marker this year. When the veterans buried in Watertown were honored during Memorial Day week 2022, one of the graves at the Catholic Mount Auburn Cemetery had a gleaming white headstone, but the veteran buried there died more than 150 years ago. The grave belongs to James Fleming, who served in the Civil War and died in 1869. He has been buried in the cemetery, which sits at the end of Cottage Street in East Watertown, but it did not have a marker.

Around Town

Boston Tea Party Participant from Watertown to be Honored

By |

Boston Tea Party Ships & MuseumA grave marker for participants in the Boston Tea Party will be placed on the burial site of Watertown’s Samuel Barnard. It will look like the one placed at Paul Revere’s grave in Boston’s Granary
Burying Ground in 2018. On Dec. 16, 1773, Watertown’s Samuel Barnard joined the group that took part in one of the key moments leading up to the American Revolution: The Boston Tea Party. He will be honored this month with the placing of a marker at his gravesite commemorating his place in American history.

Around Town

Tour Watertown’s Historic Edmund Fowle House in March

By |

Edmund Fowle House, home of the Historical Society of Watertown. The Historical Society of Watertown announced that the historic Edmund Fowle House will be open for tours on Sunday, March 15, 2020. Visitors can also view the special exhibit. Tours of the 1772 Edmund Fowle House, 1 to 4 p.m., March 15, 2020 at 28 Marshall St., Watertown. Hosted by the Historical Society of Watertown , with the last tour at 3:15 p.m.

Visitors can also view the exhibit: “Franklin Jones, Watertown Artist.”

Adults: $5; Students/Seniors: $3.

Around Town

Nominations Wanted for 2020 Historic Preservation Awards

By |

Members of the Historical Commission are pleased to announce the Historic Preservation Awards nomination season is now opened! Over the last year, members of the Historical Commission have modified and simplified the nomination package for the Historic Preservation Awards..  They are pleased to announce it is easier than ever to nominate an individual, group or project, whose actions and efforts have made a contribution that celebrates and enhances the historical and/or architectural fabric of Watertown. Please click on the link below to open the package.New and Improved 2020 HPA Nomination Package

The nomination package is now shorter and much easier to understand, and it takes minimal time to complete the form now. 

Members of the Historical Commission are happy to support anyone in the selection of the category for a nomination, for those who find it challenging to choose.  The awards will be held in May of 2020 at the Commanders Mansion.  The evening will include a delightful visual presentation of all the projects being awarded that were completed between the years of 2018 and 2019.  A delicious reception and social hour will follow.  

The exact date of the ceremony will be announced at the March 12, 2020 Historical Commission meeting, and a notice will be sent out to the public through the Town web site as soon as it is available. AWARD CATEGORIES AND DESCRIPTIONS and ELIGIBILITY

Awards are presented bi-annually to preservation projects and individuals that have displayed an outstanding commitment to historic preservation in Watertown. Projects completed in the years 2018 and 2019 are eligible for consideration.

Around Town

Watertown Man Tells the History of His Hometown in His New Book

By |

A town resident has tried to capture Watertown’s place in the history of the nation and the world in his new book, The World and Watertown. Greg Beach, 28, has worked in education, but also enjoys writing. He wanted to write a book about Watertown history for a number of years, but it was when the Boston Marathon Bombers came to Watertown in 2013, and the following year’s Marathon that really pushed him to make the book a reality. It also spurred in his mind the links Watertown has to history that has touched the nation. “I talk about the (the Watertown Shootout and Manhunt), and also that my experience as a Watertown Middle School student,” Beach said, noting that he went to the school during some major events in American history: the 2000 Presidential Election when he was in sixth grade, the Sept.