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January 27, 2012
Archaeology Day at the Handy House update
Archaeology Day at the Handy House is scheduled to go ahead on Saturday January 28th. Digging conditions are good and the weather forecast is for fine weather!
Please join us between 11 and 3PM at 202 Hix Bridge Road
January 12, 2012
Archaeology Day at the Handy House
202 Hix Bridge Road Westport MA 02790
11 AM – 3 PM Saturday January 28 2012
The Westport Historical Society invites you to observe and, if you wish, to participate in the first below ground archeological investigation at the Handy House. As the Westport Historical Society prepares to embark on stabilization of the building, this excavation will provide significant information about the occupants and evolution of the Handy House property. What lies beneath the ground at this property is unknown. This is the community’s opportunity to discover history firsthand and to view some of the artifacts found during the dig!
Why have an archaeological dig in January?
The mild winter of 2012 has provided an exciting opportunity for the historical society. The dig is an essential first step in the preservation plan for the property. One of the highest priority needs for stabilization of the building, will involve excavating around portions of the foundation. The purpose of this dig is to locate any potentially significant archaeological deposits that may be adversely affected by this work. This will allow the Society to proceed with stabilization in the spring.
All artifacts will be processed and catalogued at the newly set up Archaeology Laboratory located at 803 Main Road, and will become part of the Westport Historical Society’s collection.
Project archaeologist Tom Mailhot will be on hand to provide information and guidance. A graduate of the Historical Archaeology program, UMass Boston, Tom Mailhot is now an independent archaeological consultant. He has been principal archaeologist in numerous digs in the Massachusetts and New Hampshire regions, with professional interests in New England farmsteads and pre-contact archaeology of New England.
Dress warmly and bring a trowel, gloves and a kneeling pad if you wish to dig.
Hot beverages and shelter will be available! Children are welcome.
Parking is available off Drift Road. Please contact the Westport Historical Society for information on handicapped accessible parking.
Please note that there are no public restrooms at the Handy House.
This event will be postponed in the event of heavy snowfall or rain or if the ground is frozen. Updates will be posted on the Westport Historical Society website www.westporthistory.com or please call the Society at 508 636 6011.
December 23, 2011
Handy House - Opening Doorways into Westport's Past
The Cadman-White-Handy House -- known today as the “Handy House” -- provides a uniquely compelling and inspirational doorway into Westport’s past. Beginning with construction of the eastern section of the house by George Cadman in c.1710, the property has been part of the human and historical fabric of the area since the arrival of the earliest European settlers. A major addition was constructed between 1730 and 1750, around the time of George Washington’s birth, and residents of the house watched young Westport lads march past in the 1770s on their way to enlist in the Continental Army.
The Handy House illustrates 300 years of architectural evolution. A visitor to the house walks through centuries of architectural history and can view the distinct First Period colonial lines and details of the east wing and the Georgian style of the mid section. In 1825, Dr. James Handy added rooms on the western end that are Federal in style. The house remains one of the most significant extant examples of 18th-century architecture in the entire south-coast region of Massachusetts. In recognition of its special significance – and of its pristine “museum quality” – the Handy House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
This home is at once a touchstone of ancient memories and a place where children and adults now, and in the future, will be able to learn about the important contributions of Westporters on the local, national and international stage. One example of this can be found in the meticulous accounts that Drs. Eli and James Handy kept of patient expenses. In the early 1800s, a birthing confinement was $3.00, treatment of a broken limb was $2.00, sore teeth were pulled for 18 cents each and “house calls” (house calls!) were 50 cents -- unless the house in question lay across the East Branch of the Westport River, necessitating a ferry ride for which a few extra pennies were added to the bill.
November 22, 2011
October 7, 2011
Westport Historical Society Annual Meeting
6.30 PM Thursday October 20, 2011 at Westport Free Public Library , 408 Old County Road, Westport MA 02790
A brief business meeting from 6.30 – 7PM will include election of officers, presentation of amended by-laws, remembrance of William Wyatt and recognition of Roger Griswold’s many years of service as treasurer as well as presentation of annual history award to Geraldine Millham.
7 PM Unlocking the Secrets of the Handy House
Architectural historian Pete Baker and Steve Tyson (Architectural Preservation Group) examine the framing of the Handy House.
Architectural historian Eric Gradoia will explore the architectural and cultural significance of the Cadman-White-Handy House. Mr. Gradoia, a self described “building archaeologist,” has completed a study of core features of the Handy House -- floor plans, its structure, building materials and decorative treatments. Mr. Gradoia describes the Handy House as a remarkable and extraordinary artifact: “While numerous house museums dot the New England landscape, very few comparable examples rival the Handy House in overall quality and completeness. The house is a unique architectural time capsule that embodies the first three principal architectural trends to occur in this nation’s history, as well as representing the story of everyday life in Westport over the course of three centuries.”
Eric Gradoia is an Architectural Historian with the Albany firm of Mesick, Cohen, Wilson, Baker Architects and an adjunct faculty member in the Historic Preservation Program at Roger Williams University, Bristol, Rhode Island. Mr. Gradoia’s familiarity with historic buildings grows out of nearly twenty years of involvement in studying and documenting these cultural resources. His report provides an important planning document as the Westport Historical Society prepares to begin stabilization work at the Handy House.
This program is free and open to all. Refreshments will be served. For more information please contact Westport Historical Society 508 636 6011, westporthistory@westporthistory.net
October 4, 2011
Handy House Cookbook
The Handy House Cookbook is ready just in time for holiday giving. Published by the Westport Historical Society, this book honors Eleanor Tripp, Westport’s unofficial historian and the last resident of the Handy House. All proceeds from the sale of this special cookbook will support the restoration and preservation of the Handy House by the Westport Historical Society. Besides researching Westport's history, Eleanor, who loved to cook, collected a vast number of recipes.
This book includes over 200 of her tasty recipes, along with a dedication to Mrs. Tripp and a little taste of Handy House history. The Handy House is a unique architectural time capsule that embodies the first three principal architectural trends to occur in this nation’s history, as well as representing the story of everyday life in Westport over the course of three centuries.
If you would like to order the cookbook by mail, please click on this link
Download file
September 3, 2011
North Westport:The families and homes of the Blossom Road area
North Westport:
The families and homes of the Blossom Road area
with Kathleen Fair
7:00 PM Thursday September 15 2011
at the American Legion Hall
489 Sanford Road, Westport MA
All too often when people think about the history of Westport, they focus on the southern part of town; however, the northern region, especially the Blossom Road-Old Bedford Road area also tells an important part of the story of Westport. This presentation will tell the history of the Blossom Road area by looking at the families who built their homes and created the institutions that made this section of town a vibrant and fascinating part of Westport. Learn some of the stories about the Wordells, the Youngs, the Shermans and the Blossoms.
Kathleen Fair has always had a passion for history. For more than forty years, she attempted to inspire that same passion in her students both at the Wheeler School in Providence and Friends Academy in Dartmouth MA. Before she retired from Friends, she produced a book documenting that school’s two hundred year history. Now that she has left the classroom, she is spending some of her time examining historic homes in Westport and researching the lives of the people who lived in those homes.
This program will be held at the American Legion Hall on Sanford Road. This building was originally the school for District # 15.
Suggested donation $5.00. Refreshments will be served. For more information please contact Westport Historical Society
508 636 6011, westporthistory@westporthistory.net
