On this four-mile stretch I'm traveling from 530 Washington St, Auburn to Oxford, Massachusetts, stopping at Arnies 24 Hour Towing.
It looks like we have now reached the point where US-20 roughly parallels I-90 for a ways. This means the kinds of sights we will see along this stretch of the highway will be a continuation of the ones we've seen since arriving at Worcester: industrial wholesalers, car dealerships, major chain restaurants and hotels and big box stores such as Walmart and Home Depot. In other words, businesses are catering to people who are getting off the highway or just passing through. Residents also shop there, of course, but they want to keep their quaint towns quaint, so they don't encourage these kinds of businesses in the downtown areas. Auburn and Oxford's town centers are miles away from US-20 (Auburn north of the highway, Oxford south), which makes me wonder what was located here back in the day when the highway was the principal east-west route through the state.
The one interesting, unusual and somewhat creepy business I passed is Dinky Reptiles and Aquatics, at 809 Southbridge Street, Auburn, where you can buy reptiles and amphibians and other slimy, slinky animals for pets, or sometimes for food (for your reptilian pets, apparently). Some people are into this sort of thing, and the store has gotten very good reviews, so who am I to say?
Oxford is also an old town, and has some interesting history. according to Wikipedia. Here is an excerpt from that article:
It looks like we have now reached the point where US-20 roughly parallels I-90 for a ways. This means the kinds of sights we will see along this stretch of the highway will be a continuation of the ones we've seen since arriving at Worcester: industrial wholesalers, car dealerships, major chain restaurants and hotels and big box stores such as Walmart and Home Depot. In other words, businesses are catering to people who are getting off the highway or just passing through. Residents also shop there, of course, but they want to keep their quaint towns quaint, so they don't encourage these kinds of businesses in the downtown areas. Auburn and Oxford's town centers are miles away from US-20 (Auburn north of the highway, Oxford south), which makes me wonder what was located here back in the day when the highway was the principal east-west route through the state.
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| One of the animals you can buy at Dinky Reptiles |
Oxford is also an old town, and has some interesting history. according to Wikipedia. Here is an excerpt from that article:
"Oxford was first settled in 1687 and was officially incorporated in 1713. It was the birthplace of Clara Barton, the first president and founder of the American Red Cross. Oxford was originally settled by Huguenots in two waves, the original settlement having been abandoned after four residents (John Johnson and his three children, Peter, Andrew and Mary) were killed in a violent confrontation with local Native Americans. This event, the Johnson Massacre, is commemorated near the south end of town on Main Street. The remains of the Huguenot Fort (built in 1686) still exist near Huguenot Road.[1]"Well, I guess that's it for this leg of my journey. I've arrived at Arnie's 24 Hour Towing, so it's time to take a break.
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| Arnies 24 Hour Towing |
