Walpole Historical Society

03/27/2026

The First Telephones and Electric Lighting in Walpole Massachusetts

Please join us on Thursday, April 30, 2026 at 7 pm in the Common Room of the Walpole Public Library for a lecture by Betsey Dexter Dyer.

This year (2026) is the 150th anniversary of the invention of the telephone. And it is the 146th anniversary of the first telephones in Walpole, Massachusetts.

Who in Walpole, a small town of 2500 people (in 1880), were the first adopters of a new invention...the telephone? And why would they suddenly feel they needed one? Telephones are so ubiquitous and taken for granted now that it is difficult for us to imagine being without them for any length of time. But what did the very early transition look like, at a time when telephones were neither commonplace or essential?

And who was the first in Walpole, in the 1890s, to set up an electric generator to power the newly invented long-lasting light bulbs? And then who wanted to have wires extended from that generator into their house in order to replace the reliable kerosene lamps that served well for generations?

This lecture is based on Betsey Dyer’s book for the Walpole Historical Society 'The First Telephones and Electric Lighting in Walpole, Massachusetts'.

We hope to see you there!

11/13/2025

https://walpolehistoricalsociety.org//wp-content/uploads/2025/06/5.-WHS-SCHOLARSHIP-APPLICATION-2.pdf

11/03/2025

Slavery in Norfolk County Presentation

By Laurie Kearney and the
The Walpole Historical Society

Presentation Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at 6:30PM at the Walpole Public Library

At one time, Massachusetts’ residents could legally own slaves. In 1638, captured Africans began arriving in New England soon after the English began settling in Boston. This practice remained acceptable in the Commonwealth until a 1783 judicial declaration stated that the Massachusetts State Constitution did not support slavery.

Compared to other states, people of color, both enslaved and freed, were a small percentage of Massachusetts’ population. Most lived in the port towns and cities where their labor was needed on the waterfront. A lot of research has been done on enslavers and the enslaved in these large communities but less is known about those who lived in the countryside outside of Boston.

This presentation will shed light on Norfolk County’s enslaved and formerly enslaved population and their lives before and after they were freed.

08/29/2025

The Walpole Hotel
Presented by: Betsey Dexter Dyer

Date: September 4, 2025 @ 7pm
Location: Walpole Public Library
The Walpole Hotel was in existence for only 19 years (1873-1892) but what an impression it made! Nearly every week the Walpole Star printed the latest goings on: loud music, late night dance parties, moonlight sleigh ride groups, bicycle clubs, maybe some drinking (which was not illegal but some thought it ought to be), definitely billiards and ci**rs. Some citizens approved or at least enjoyed getting the latest gossip on the place. Others did not. The hotel cycled through eight landlords, a couple of them fired for excessive merriment.

This lecture will also include a discussion about how small-town weekly newspapers operated at this time; the Walpole Hotel was exactly the sort of thing that sold papers and the two young editors who were hanging out at the hotel knew it. (There was not an actual newspaper office in Walpole.) If you wanted to drop off any news for the Walpole Star, you could find a box for your suggestions in the lobby of the Walpole Hotel.

05/06/2025

The Friends of the Walpole Library
and the Walpole Historical Society present -

History Series: A Film About Henry Plimpton
May 13 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm EDT at the Walpole Library -

Near the turn of the 20th Century, Henry Plimpton Kendall, a young mill owner from Walpole, descends upon Slatersville RI and
purchases the village to expand his operations, only to find the morale of its workers bottomed out.

Kendall recruits employees from the greater Boston area to live and work in the village and raise its productivity as well as its spirit, much to the challenge of its highly skeptical workforce.

Tensions throughout the surrounding Blackstone Valley culminate as rioting from the Great Textile Strike of 1934 push Depression-era changes that force Kendall to resolve matters in his own village.

12/10/2024

Happy birthday, Walpole! It's not every day you get to celebrate a 300th!

12/07/2024

Tomorrow evening!

12/05/2024

Happy holidays? He'd like to have a word with you about that. Meet him on Saturday, along with Sir Robert Walpole and 18th century songstress Kitty Clive!

11/19/2024

Have you checked out the Walpole Media series 'Stories of Historic Walpole'? Share in the memories of some very special residents and you'll spark some of your own!

Laura has some wonderful memories of her father, Bernie Duffy. Being the Town Moderator and Selectman made him a well-known figure in the community, and his ...

11/16/2024