Belmont Was Once a Town of Farms

 Historic Preservation, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants, September 2021  Comments Off on Belmont Was Once a Town of Farms
Aug 232021
 
Belmont Was Once a Town of Farms

By Jane Sherwin Until the mid-20th century, agriculture was a significant part of Belmont life and economy. Three hundred years ago, it would have been unusual to find a family in this area with no engagement at all in growing things. Even a shoemaker would most likely have a few chickens, or a milk cow, or a small garden for vegetables.  The settlements on the land that is now Belmont go back nearly four hundred years. In 1630, Sir Richard Saltonstall led a group of families inland from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, to the area we now call Watertown, to [READ MORE]

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Lydia Ogilby Remembered

 Newsletter  Comments Off on Lydia Ogilby Remembered
Mar 022020
 
Lydia Ogilby Remembered

By Neal Winston Lydia Phippen Ogilby passed away on November 1, 2019, at age 98 at her historic John Bright House on Washington Street, adjacent to the 10-acre Belmont Farm. Living in Belmont from a young age, she was known by townspeople as a spirited preservationist of its heritage and land. Lydia’s strong and generous opinions embodied the Belmont spirit of independence and industriousness of her forebears. Her portrait by Belmont photographer Richard Cheek hangs in Town Hall. She is seen standing in her field, seemingly growing out of the earth, ever vigilant, defying the pressures of development around her. [READ MORE]

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