Stow Historical Society

05/30/2026

Update: FOUND!
The Library Trustees will be meeting soon as to what to do with the quilt. Here’s hoping it will be hung back up in our Library!

The Stow Historical Society would like some help finding where this quilt could possibly be. Most of you will remember it hanging in the library. The librarian unfortunately is not aware of where it has gone. We know many Stow families (including several of our families) made one of these squares! Thank you!

05/30/2026

THANK YOU to everyone who came out tonight and made our presentation of Declaring Independence: Then & Now a smashing success! We packed the house!

Here are a few photos from the July 1, 1776 Town Meeting portion of the evening and some examples of the wonderful decorated hats made by students at Center School.

Thank you also to Stow TV who videotaped the production. We'll post it as soon as it is available! And thanks to Freedom's Way National Heritage Area for their partnership and support of this event. Photos by Kathy Sferra.

05/28/2026

Our Declaring Independence: Then & Now event is TOMORROW NIGHT (Friday) at Stow Town Hall at 7 pm. The event is FREE and will be followed by an ice cream social. If you haven't already RSVP'd to [email protected], let us know below if you're planning to come!

Be there! Or miss out on a great program!

Mark your calendars for May 29th!

05/25/2026

There were reportedly as many as 1000 cows in Stow in 1900 in the heyday of dairy farming. In 1933, the number of farms was 22. By 1974, only two dairy farms remained. By 1983, dairy farms were completely gone (though many area farms had transitioned to other kinds of farms). Maple Lane Farms on Bradley Lane, Pilot Grove Farm in Stow's Center, Eriksen's Dairy on Great Road, and Shultz Dairy Farm in Bolton were some of the early dairy farms in our area. Back then, milk came in glass bottles, left in a milk box by the milkman. Got stories of those days? Where were Stow's dairy cows? Tell us what you remember!

05/22/2026

The cast for Stow's "Declaring Independence: Then & Now" is ready! Join us at 7:00pm at Stow Town Hall on Friday May 29th for an award-winning performance, in partnership with Freedom's Way National Heritage Area, that will bring the words and ideas of 1776 to life through readings of the Declaration of Independence and first-person perspectives by reenactors. Discuss what the Declaration meant back then, and what it still means today. And have some celebratory ice cream!

RSVPs encouraged at [email protected].

Pictured from left to right: Lora Moore, Bruce Fletcher, Dorcas Sefton, Jim Salvie, Marcia Stevens, J.T. Toole, Gianna Melone.

05/21/2026

There were reportedly as many as 1000 cows in Stow in 1900 in the heyday of dairy farming. In 1933, the number of farms was 22. By 1974, only two dairy farms remained. By 1983, dairy farms were completely gone (though many area farms had transitioned to other kinds of farms or orchards). Maple Lane Farms on Bradley Lane, Pilot Grove Farm in Stow's Center, Eriksen's Dairy on Great Road, and Shultz Dairy Farm in Bolton, Stein Farm (now Harvard Acres) were some of the early dairy farms in our area. Back then, milk came in glass bottles, left in a milk box by the milkman. Got stories of those days? Where were Stow's dairy cows? Tell us what you remember!

05/15/2026

This Thursday we move out of Stow's center, southward to the village of Gleasondale. Still a pleasant village, for a long time it was quite the vibrant and bustling mill village with several mills, a church, post office, several stores, and its own fire department! The Maynard & Hudson Electric Railway passed right through the center of the village on what was then called Main Street. It even had its own stop on the B&M railroad, at the train station on Old Marlborough Rd across from Railroad Ave. The train station is now a private residence. Enjoy these photos. The stories behind them are too numerous to put in a single Facebook post!

And a big thank you to all of our new and renewing members! If you haven't joined the Stow Historical Society, please consider doing so at: https://stowhistoricalsociety.org/. You'll get our entertaining and informative newsletter, updates about events, and learn more about the little town of Stow!

05/10/2026

Mark your calendars for May 29th!

05/08/2026

Several of you correctly identified the subject of yesterday's post -- Town Center Park -- located adjacent to First Parish Church. The site was formerly the home of the Reverend Newell House, a Greek Revival residence built around 1820 that was accessed from Crescent Street. The house burned in January 2011, in a fire complicated by deep snow conditions and cold temperatures. Later, a proposal for a new fire station on the land failed at Town Meeting, and the fire station was subsequently sited in its current home at the Pompo Community Center and Fire Station. The site was transformed to a public park in the town's center which opened in 2019 and offers a small parking lot, gazebo, children's play area, trails, sitting areas, and views over Ministers Pond.

05/07/2026

It's Thursday, so time for another quiz question. This time, we're not reaching quite as far back in time: A devastating house fire, a failed town meeting vote, and a volunteer clean up are all part of the history of what community amenity in Stow? Stay tuned for the answer, we're sure someone will get this one!