Lunenburg Historical Society, 10 School Street, Lunenburg, MA (2026)

Name: Lunenburg Historical Society
Address: 10 School Street, Lunenburg, MA, 01462, US
Telephone: (978) 582-0858
Price range: $

The Lunenburg Historical Society in Lunenburg, Massachsetts was founded in 1897 to promote an understanding of the history of Lunenburg, Massachusetts by collecting, preserving and exhibiting our shared history.

09/02/2026

The Lunenburg Historical Society has a massive collection of postcards from Whalom Park. Today, we gratefully accepted a donation of a rare postcard depicting Whalom's first roller coaster, "The Green Streak," built in 1904 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. It was a popular figure-eight design, featuring two-seater cars accommodating 4 riders. It operated until 1923 with Frederick Bothwell as the manager.

The 1910 dated postcard shows one of the cars ascending the lift hill.

We only have one other photo of the "Green Streak, which is shown in our latest publication, "Images of America- Whalom Park"

We wish to thank Nancy Horne Prunier for donating this postcard to us!

08/30/2026

A stove-top waffle iron manufactured by the Stover Manufacturing Company, Freeport, Illinois, is among a number of antique cooking utensils on display at the Lunenburg Historical Society. This particular model is equipped with a “Low Base” used for wood and coal-fired stoves. A “High Base” model was also produced for use with gas stoves. Two wooden handles enable the user to turn the iron over during cooking.
Donated by Mr. Dana Woodward in 1967, the waffle iron was found in the former Pierce Barn on Oak Avenue, Lunenburg.
Beginning in the 1860s with a windmill and then a corn cultivator, Daniel C. Stover invented and manufactured machinery of various kinds under the name Stover Experimental Works. In 1879 or 1881, he incorporated as Stover Manufacturing Co. There was also the Stover Engine Works and the Stover Bicycle Co. D. C.
This waffle iron and other cooking utensils can be viewed at the Lunenburg Historical Society, 10 School Street, open Wednesdays from 9:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. or by appointment.

Credit goes to Bill Lakso for researching this artifact.

08/23/2026

This Massachusetts House of Representatives chair was the property of James A. Litchfield of Lunenburg, who was elected to serve in the legislature in 1899.
Born in Lunenburg on March 14, 1844, he was the son of Charles and Lucretia Litchfield. At an early age, he left this town and became an apprentice to a Boston building and contracting firm. When President Lincoln called for 300,000 more men to fight in the Civil War, his employers released him from his indentures, and he enlisted in the Union Army on August 12, 1862. He was commissioned a first lieutenant in the 40th Massachusetts Regiment and was mustered out in June 1864.
When he retired from a grocery business in Boston and Somerville in 1894, he returned to Lunenburg and built the house at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Chestnut Street, the former home of Sawyer-Miller-Masciarelli Funeral Home. Then called Grovedale, it replaced the original “Litchfield house,” which was moved to 654 Mass. Ave., where it stands today. Mr. Litchfield lived at Grovedale with his daughter Nellie and her husband, Loren Brown, until his death. The house later became the home of their son Rodney Brown, who donated the chair to the Lunenburg Historical Society.
This special chair and other similar artifacts can be viewed at the Lunenburg Historical Society, open Wednesdays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. or by appointment.

Thanks to Bill Lakso for the research on this article.

08/22/2026

Please join us on Monday, September 21, 2026, at 1 PM at the Lunenburg Adult Activity Center for our presentation marking the 100th anniversary of Hickory Hills' formation. Please call 978-582-4166 for reservations.

08/09/2026

The Worcester Revolution of 1774 and Lunenburg

On September 6, 1774, more than seven months before the battles in Lexington and Concord, forty men from Lunenburg marched with 4,582 others from thirty-seven towns of Worcester County to line the main thoroughfare in Worcester. Others marched into the courts there, forcing recently appointed judges and other officials out of their offices into the street. There, they were forced to walk through a gauntlet, hats in hand, stopping every few feet to recant their pledges to support the British Crown. Not a shot was fired; not a drop of blood was shed in that event now being referred to as the “Worcester Revolution of 1774.”
The Massachusetts Provincial Congress had been formed, and the town meeting form of government was already restored to local communities. By the time the “shooting war” in Lexington and Concord began on April 19, 1775, the only city remaining under British rule was Boston.
A transcript of original Lunenburg town meeting records show that Captain George Kimball, William Stearns, Benjamin Redington, John Fuller, Jared Smith, David Carlisle, Captain Abijah Stearns and Lt. Jonathan Low are listed among those being compensated for “attendance at Worcester” by town treasurer Jonathan Low, with payment to be made by December 27, 1774. We can only assume they and others traveled to Worcester to participate in the “revolution.” That major event was reenacted in Worcester on September 7, 2014.
George Kimball and other participants are interred in North Cemetery and others in South Cemetery, Lunenburg.
Thanks go to Bill Lakso for the research into this interesting piece.

The Lunenburg Historical Society is open Wednesdays, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. or by appointment.

08/02/2026

Thanks to Bill Lakso for researching this amazing piece of firefighting equipment.

The Lunenburg Historical Society’s collections include a rarity not often seen except in firefighting equipment museums. Research discloses that most were scrapped during World War II, when iron, steel, and other metals were in demand to produce war materials.
It is a Chemical Cart Fire Extinguisher, manufactured by the Badger Fire Extinguished Company of Boston, on November 19, 1901. It shows a U.S. Patent date of August 28, 1900. The extinguisher is supported by two wood spoke wheels, four feet in diameter, and provided with extended handles to enable two persons to transport it. These extinguishers were used in factories and towns all over the United States from the late 19th century until becoming more or less obsolete by the 1930’s.
The few that survived the 1930’s tended to be pieces owned by rural fire departments, which held on to older equipment due to budget restraints of the Great Depression.
A unit such as this was in the possession of the volunteer fire department at Whalom Park in 1908, according to a photograph and reference on page 249 of “Lunenburg – The Heritage of Turkey Hills.”
This 425-pound test extinguisher can be viewed at the Lunenburg Historical Society, 10 School Street, Lunenburg, open Wednesdays, 9:00 a.m. to noon or by appointment.

Address

10 School Street
Lunenburg, MA
01462

Opening Hours

9am - 12pm

Telephone

(978) 582-0858

Website

http://lunenburghistory.org/

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