It’s easy to overlook Saugus’ love for local history until you drive by Town Hall and appreciate the attention and care devoted to the towering wood building with its ornate spire.
Local laborers were busy in front of the building on Wednesday resetting a stone walkway. The building’s architectural features have been restored and preserved and the spire’s prominence has yet to make it an attraction for cell service tower or, thankfully, a lightning bolt.
Saugus is one of a handful of Massachusetts towns along with Brookline, Concord, Lexington, Lincoln and Wellfleet where a National Park Service site is located. The Iron Works is wedged between a residential neighborhood and the Saugus River and even driving by it gives you the feeling of suddenly veering into the 17th century.
The Iron Works is by no means the only local historic site, with others dotting a town that, to its credit, celebrates its history every year with annual Founders Day ceremonies.
The Roby plaque bolted to a Main Street boulder marks the spot where, according to a 2012 Daily Item story, former Saugus minister Joseph Roby planted an elm tree in 1770 commemorating American resistance to British occupation of the colonies.
Estimable local historian Marilyn Carlson told the Item that Roby was a popular local figure in the late 18th century who preached from the pulpit with his musket by his side.
He is credited with organizing Saugus militia who responded to the clash at Lexington and Concord and the town duly honored his memory by naming the former Roby School (now school administration building) after him.
“Old photos,” noted the Item, “show the tree towering over Main Street, which used to be lined with elm trees just as big before the Dutch elm disease struck in the early 1900s.”
A cross section of the tree was restored by town woodworker extraordinaire Carmine Moschella, as great a lover of town history as any resident.
Speaking of Saugus, its legal feud with Lynn over converting part of the former O’Brien’s Pub on Boston Street into a pot shop resurrects memories of another border war 32 years ago centered on Walden Pond Avenue off Walnut Street.
The battle spanned three years, beginning when the Lynn Water and Sewer Commission, at the request of residents, removed trees from the street. The tree contractor left stumps along Walden Pond Avenue and resident complaints to town officials who said Saugus could not pull the stumps as long as Lynn owned the land.
A high-level meeting in 1987 ended up with Saugus taking control of the land and Lynn retaining an easement along Walden Pond Avenue so that a large water pipe underneath the street remained accessible.
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There is always a special feeling that precedes Memorial Day and the respect and appreciation accorded those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country and for their families.
I appreciate the note I received from Maryliz Cort who corrected me on the identities of women veterans featured in this column. Marie Annunziati Muzzioli is on the far left, not far right, in the photograph.
“Marie Annunziati Muzzioli was an amazing woman. I can’t begin to tell you how moved I was having the honor of speaking with her and then sharing her story,” wrote Cort.
Michael Golding shared information about Maurice Poulin of Nahant who, he said, commanded the Coast Guard Life Station before it closed and held the rank of senior master chief.
“He always marched in the Nahant Memorial Day parade. Recently, a group of active Coast Guard personnel honored him with a luncheon at the station. Everyone loves Maurice,” wrote Golding.
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Helen A. McSweeney died Tuesday at the age of 94. She worked with Clara Zamejtis as a Lynn police investigator and I remember both women describing how they counseled and saved the lives of women injured by domestic violence and by the sex trade in an era when both wrongs were too often ignored or minimized.
