As much as I love Plymouth, I don’t appreciate the extended time from shortly after the new year starts until about St Patrick’s Day. Just the other day it was so dark and gray midmorning that the outside Christmas lights, which I haven’t taken down, turned on. Ugh. It’s not so much the cold I […]
Category: History & Architecture
Posted inHistory & Architecture
Another new year ushered in with…squash
I rang in the New Year in Provincetown with my husband and two close friends. We started the evening in a small bar. (The bartenders were from Plymouth, extra bonus.) Following drinks, we watched a first-ever drone show over Provincetown Harbor, followed by dinner at a great restaurant and then drinks back in that bar. […]
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An architect’s take on Memorial Hall: We deserve better
You’ve undoubtedly read the news that Plymouth’s aging Memorial Hall needs expensive emergency repairs just to deal with its latest water problems. A debate is underway on whether to spend a lot more money to renovate it or raze it. As both a “townie” who has enjoyed many memorable events in the building and an […]
Posted inHistory & Architecture
Old photos found at Town Hall set off forensic search
Have you ever had your plans for the day suddenly changed? Well, that happened to me not long ago when, just as I was walking into the gym, I received an email from Conor Anderson, Plymouth’s historic resources coordinator, who had just discovered a mislabeled file at Town Hall. Originally labeled as documents from the […]
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An architectural gem on a downtown corner
A recent Plymouth real estate listing hit the trifecta for this architect. One of my favorite architectural styles? Check. Notable architect? Check. Prominent Plymouth resident involved? Check. The property in question is 100 Court St., home of the Belsito real estate offices. It’s on the market for $1.25 million. Given the building’s style, architect, and […]
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Let us now praise Plymouth’s oldest church buildings
Confession. I’m a big Jimmy Buffet fan, a true Parrothead. One of my favorite Buffet songs is “Fruitcakes.” It’s a hilarious look at everything from politics to relationships to religion, placing blame for our human condition on the cosmic bakers that took humanity out of the oven too early. Essentially, we are half baked. When […]
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Plymouth’s Black and White Club has a colorful history
There’s no doubt that my love of history came from three Plymouth public school teachers. Warren Valente and Charles Hussey taught me history, and Robert Bradley awoke in me what it meant to be from Plymouth. It’s nowonder that when I made the painful decision to abandon my dream of earning a degree to teach […]
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Half of Plymouth was consumed by flames 125 years ago this week
Alfred R. Turner Jr. rowed like he had never rowed before. Pulling desperately on the oars of his rowboat, the wealthy industrialist from Newark, N.J., watched as a 30-foot wall of fire engulfed his spacious summer home on the shores of Little Long Pond. Driven by a 70 mile-per-hour gale 125 years ago, the massive […]
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History lessons behind Plymouth’s tiny schoolhouses
I despise this time of the year but not for the reasons you think. As August heads towards September, it heralds the exodus of college students and some of my favorite people are leaving to return to school. That means the “kids” that make my morning latte, the waitstaff at the wedding venue where I […]
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Holy Ghost Festival recalls North Plymouth’s glory years
My grandmother, Lena Ruffini Fornaciari, was born in Italy. She was fluent in Italian, of course, but also spoke English without an accent, and like so many of her generation growing up in North Plymouth, she was proficient in Portuguese as well. When Lena and my grandfather married, they built a house in 1942 on […]