Days 28-31: Sturbridge at Last!

100 Worcester Rd to Sturbridge Coffee House

Today's report takes me seven miles through Charlton to Sturbridge, Massachusetts. My first goal is reached!

For the most part this trek took me past many businesses and some very old houses, most of which are not considered especially historical by realtors. For instance, there is this house (pictured below) at 19 Sturbridge Rd that was built in 1810. Quite beautiful, no? But not on any list of historical sites.

19 Sturbridge Rd, Charlton

And there is this house just off Highway 20 at 5 Carpenter Hill Rd in Charlton that was built in 1790.

5 Carpenter Hill Rd, Charlton

Massachusetts seems kind of blase about such old houses, unlike more recently settled states (such as Michigan).

Among the normal chain restaurants, industrial retailers, car dealerships, quick-stop stores and gas stations were a few businesses that caught my eye. One was Fabric Stash, a quilt store at 45 Sturbridge Rd, Charlton. It seemed like a typical quilt store, but it was nice to see it there as a local business.

Once I got into Sturbridge, I spotted Mole Hollow Candles. Though it sounds like an ordinary candle store, it's in fact not ordinary because they actually make the candles they sell there: Mole Hollow Candles, at 208 Charlton Rd, Sturbridge. And they make a lot of candles! Below is a photo of their building--yes, it's a factory.

Mole Hollow Candles

But lest you think they are like any other factory, I've copied the story of their beginnings from their website, below. I can picture these candle makers in 1969 selling their wares at farmers markets, can't you?

Mole Hollow Candles was founded in western Massachusetts in 1969. We began by selling candles at farmers markets, and slowly scaled up to a national presence. Today, Mole Hollow Candles can be found throughout the country at independent retailers, gourmet stores, Bloomingdale's, and Whole Foods Markets.

Quite a lot has changed since 1969, but some things - like our process and our materials - never will. We maintain the utmost commitment to quality, artisan manufacturing with a focus on domestically sourced waxes, wicks, and scents. We employ local craftspeople and all of our products remain made in Massachusetts.

Of course, passing through Sturbridge means passing by the famous historic site, Old Sturbridge Village, one of the many historic villages in the country, and the largest in New England. It's designed to recreate a village in 1830s Massachusetts. Since it is not located on US-20, I won't be visiting today, but I do have a memory of visiting it back in 1969 and enjoying it very much!

North Cemetery

The second oldest cemetery in Sturbridge, North Cemetery, lies along US-20, though you can't see it from the road.

Below is a plaque that was erected at the cemetery describing its historical significance.

North Cemetery Information

Well, I've finally made it to my destination today, the Sturbridge Coffee House, where I plan to take a break and have some coffee. It's a very appealing place!

Sturbridge Coffee House

Sturbridge Coffee House

Days 26 & 27: Heading for Charlton

The next two days and four miles take me into Charlton, Massachusetts. I'll be stopping at 100 Worcester Rd in Charlton, where there is a business called Innerenewal Massage & Integrated Therapy.

Arnies 24 Hr Towing to Innerenewal Massage Therapy

This stretch of road, much like the last few sections, hasn't much to distinguish it. But we are getting into some hillier terrain, as you can see from the terrain version of the Google map, below.

Charlton is an old town, as are the others along this route. It's fairly small--only about 13,000 people, most of whom are white with a median income of around $90,000. It was first settled in 1735 as a part of Oxford. It became its own town in 1775. It's famous for being the site of Grizzly Adams' grave, and for its library that notoriously banned one of Mark Twain's books, Eve's Diary, in 1906, as being indecent because of its illustrations: drawings of the unclothed Eve and her husband, Adam.

Unfortunately, US-20 does not pass through the historic districts of the town, but I shall continue on nonetheless, until I reach Sturbridge, which may proved more interesting. But for now, I'll rest at the site of Innerenewal Massage Therapy.

100 Worcester Rd, Charlton

On to the next stage of my journey and the next four hours of practice!

Days 24 & 25: Passing by Oxford

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.

One of the animals you can buy
 at  Dinky Reptiles

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:

"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.

Arnies 24 Hour Towing

Days 22 & 23: Passing Through Auburn

For the next two days, I'm still traveling in a southwesterly direction, skirting the center of another town, this time Auburn.

505 US 20 to 503 Washington St, Auburn

Auburn is a town that was settled in 1714, as a part of several towns in the surrounding area. It was incorporated in 1778. It currently has about 16,000 citizens. It is known for being the place where Robert Goddard, according to Wikipedia, "launched the first liquid-fueled rocket from Pakachoag Hill, on his aunt Effe Ward's farm, in Auburn on March 16, 1926."

Once again, the area I'm traveling through seems rather undistinguished--industrial, commercial, and travel-oriented. I suspect that the exits off I-90 and I-290 that lead to US-20 have something to do with that. Plenty of lodging, food, and shopping along the way. There's even a mall not too far off the beaten path.

Well, I'm at my destination for this bit of my journey: 530 Washington St, although it's not a very good place to stop, since it's an apparently vacant house. Oh, well, I'll stop across the street at the Volkswagen/Saab dealership. They'll have a bathroom there, I think.

530 Washington St, Auburn

530 Washington St and Patrick Motors, across the street

Days 20 & 21: Arriving at Worcester, Massachusetts

My next two days of two miles each take me at last to the first big town since leaving Boston: Worcester, Massachusetts. Below is a little bit of information about the city, taken from the Wikipedia article.

Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population was 181,045,[4] making it the second most populous cityin New England after Boston.[5] Worcester is located approximately 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston, 50 miles (80 km) east of Springfield and 40 miles (64 km) north of Providence. Due to its location in Central Massachusetts, Worcester is known as the "Heart of the Commonwealth", thus, a heart is the official symbol of the city. However, the heart symbol may also have its provenance in lore that the Valentine's Day card, although not invented in the city, was mass-produced and popularized by Esther Howland who resided in Worcester.[6]

I start my journey at Brody's diner, continuing along US-20 slightly more than four miles (to make up for the slightly less-than-four-mile journey of the day before) to a little house along US-20, 505 Southwest Cutoff. (Note: In the below map, I had to tell Google my trek was by auto because it wouldn't let me go directly there by US-20, for some unknown reason.)

Brody's Diner, Shrewsbury to 505 Southwest Cutoff, Worcester

Worcester has a lot of history to explore, and you can read about that in many places on the internet, including Wikipedia. But since I'm traveling around the city, I'm going to talk more about what I see along US-20.

One of the first features I pass is the rather long, thin lake called Quinsigamond by the Nipmuc people who inhabited the Worcester area prior to the arrival of English people. The below map of the lake was drawn in 1898.

The word in Algonquian means "pickerel (or long nose) fishing place." When the English settlers first arrived in the area, they got along with the Nipmuc--for a while, at least, even establishing a "praying town" in the Worcester area. Eventually, it became clear that the English were going to take all their land for little or no compensation, so they joined King Philip's War and ultimately lost most of their people and had to live on reservations in Worcester county. You can read about their fate in Wikipedia: Qunsigamond.

Once past the lake area, I leave Shrewsbury and enter Worcester, though it's the southern edge of the city. I'm walking through a mostly industrial area here, passing by small businesses, for the most part, some of them of longstanding duration in the area. One such business, S.I. Howard Glass Company, has been making, modifying and distributing specialty glass virtually since the company began, back in 1912. It's a small company, with only about 50 employees, and headed by a woman.

Walking along I see more businesses, many of them related to vehicles of one kind or another: cars, trucks, tractor-trailers. There are car and truck rentals and sales dealers, as well as parts and other types of support services. There is even an office of the Teamster's Union, Health and Welfare Fund at 330 SW Cutoff.

Finally I arrive at my stopping point for today: 505 Hwy 20, Worcester. It looks like a house that's been there a while, maybe back when US-20 was still a main route across the state.

505 US Hwy 20

Days 18 & 19: Traveling through Shrewsbury

The next four-mile stretch takes me from Northborough into Shrewsbury. US-20 takes a southwesterly dip through the outskirts of this town, about three miles south of the town's center. I left from Henry's Auto Parts two days earlier and stopped at Brody's Diner, at 308 Hartford Turnpike in Shrewsbury.

Henry's Auto Parts to Brody's Diner in Shrewsbury

Along the way I encountered quite a bit of commerce, but not much to distinguish Shrewsbury from any other American town. Most of the historical sites are located on Main Street, north of US-20.

As with the towns I've visited previously, Shrewsbury is also an old town, having been parceled out in the mid-1660s, as were the other towns along this route. It was settled in 1722 and incorporated in 1727. It started out agricultural with apple orchards, then later turned to leather manufacture and clock making. It claims a bit of fame in its association with Shay's Rebellion in 1786--it was used as a camp site for rebels before they marched on the Worcester Courthouse. One famous resident was a scientist, Min Chueh Chang, who co-developed the combined oral contraceptive pill and helped create in-vitro fertilization. Another important individual from Shrewsbury is a candy maker who brought white chocolate to the U.S. in 1954, Frederick Hebert, who owned Hebert Candies, a store that has been in business since 1917, though is no longer family owned.

I did see an interesting institution, however: Al-Hamra Academy, located at 435 South St, very close to US-20. This school purports to be the first full-time Islamic school in New England. It's website is attractive, emphasizes STEM education and diversity, and makes the school seem like a good place to send your children if you're Muslim.

Well, I've arrived at Brody's Diner, a restaurant that was briefly famous for having been visited by Jerry Seinfeld as part of his program, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, in 2014. It looks like a good place, so I think I'll stop in for a bite to eat. More miles and more hours of practice coming up!

Brody's Diner

Day 16 & 17: Discovering Historical Northborough

Today's journey takes me from Britney's Cafe in Northborough to Henry's Used Autos, four miles down US-20. I stopped at that business because it's the closest to the four-mile mark, although in that same vicinity is a mall with some familiar stores such as T.J. Maxx and Dick's Sporting Goods. I figure I can always hike up there if I need to once I get to Henry's.

Along the way I passed a number of historical buildings. The ones that stood out for me were a former church, a residence, and a former bank building. The first, at 97 Main Street, is the former home of an early resident, Samuel Wood. Below is a description of this building, taken from the website, Northborough's History: A Map Depiction, and a current photo.

97 Main St

"Samuel Wood, who left Sudbury to establish a mill on the Assabet River next to his new home, built the house at 97 Main Street in 1749. In addition to running a successful mill Wood was active in town politics, serving for eight years each on the precinct committee, as the town clerk, and as the town assessor. Wood also became a captain in the local militia before his death in 1760. Wood’s sons, Samuel Jr. and Abraham, expanded on their father’s business, opening a store called Clothier’s Mill Shop. Samuel Jr. became captain of the local militia, and was wounded at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. The house was later owned by Thomas Blair, a businessman and inventor, who made several renovations, including the construction of a miniature door 20 feet to the west of the house (which has been mistakenly thought of to be a part of the Underground Railroad) that allowed coal to be delivered straight to the cellar."

Another interesting building, at 52 Main Street, was the Northborough Baptist Church that now houses the Northborough Historical Society. At one time it had a steeple, but that was torn off by the New England Hurricane of 1938. 

After the hurricane

52 Main Street today

That was a category 3 hurricane that swept through New England in September of 1938, with winds gusting to 186 miles per hour. I'd never heard of this hurricane, but apparently it caused great loss of life and tremendous damage. You can read the Wikipedia article on it: 1938 New England Hurricane and see the YouTube video, right------->.

28 Main Street

28 Main Street today

Another interesting building I saw on my way was a little ornate building at 28 Main Street that was built in 1854 to be a bank, back when banks were producing their own currency. It still looks pretty much as it did when the photo at left was taken, probably around 1900. Notice it says "BANK" on the front.

Well, I guess I'm at my destination: Henry's Used Cars. So, until next time, I'm keeping on with my practice and with my walk through Massachusetts. See you in the next town!

Henry's Used Cars