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About Medford

These pages are excerpts from Medford on the Mystic, written by the Reverands Carl and Alan Seaburg, a book sponsored by the Medford Historical Society and the Medford Veterans of Foreign Wars, presented to the people of Medford in April, 1980.

Early Medford

Wellington House
Wellington House

Medford is rich in history. During the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, Medford grew from a small settlement of landed gentry to a middle-class streetcar suburb. Read about the first three centuries of Medford: A Peculiar Plantation, A Quiet Country Town, The Emerging CityYour House in the Streetcar Suburb

Making Bricks

Brickyard Moulder
Moulder at the brick mill.

Brick from the Medford brickyards went up the Middlesex Canal and helped to build mills in Lowell and New Hampshire. Who knows how many private houses up-country were built with these same bricks which came out of Medford’s claypits? Making Bricks in Medford

Pitch, Tar and Tallow

President, ocean-going ship.
President. Ocean-going vessel built in 1850.

In the nineteenth century the Mystic River was tidal and flowed unchecked to the ocean. Thatcher Magoun, a Pembroke man, saw the possibilities and started the first ship yard. Medford-Built Sailing ShipsOld Ships and Ship Building Days of Medford

Middlesex Canal

Trains, Canal
Trains and the canal
Watercolor by Thomas Dahill

Although most traces of the Middlesex Canal have long since been erased or built over, we in Medford have not forgotten the ingenuity and industry of our forebears in helping to build this canal. The Middlesex Canal

Medford Rum

Labels, RumDaniel Lawrence & Sons made “The Best Rum in the States.” Medford Rum