Ever wonder what a warm, summer day in Nahant would have been like in 1857?
From The Boston Sights and Strangers’ Guide R.L. Midgley, James Monroe & Company, 1857: “Stranger, if you would visit one of the most pleasant and delightful watering places in the world, seat yourself in the cars, be landed in Lynn, take passage in one of the stages that leave almost hourly, and when deposited in Nahant – take your Guide’s word for it – you will bless you stars, and thank him.”
The Nahant Historical Society is proud to announce that it will once again join museums nationwide in the Blue Star Museums initiative, a program that provides free admission to currently-serving U.S. military personnel and their families this summer. Admission to the Nahant Historical Society’s museum is already free to all, but as part of our Blue Star Museums involvement, we will offer all qualified military members a 10% discount in our shop, as well as $10 Membership in the Society.
This Sunday, October 17, 2021, we have the honor of celebrating Calantha’s 100th birthday. While we would have enjoyed a huge parade, town wide parties, and fireworks, it is with great pleasure that we honor Calantha in her own style – quiet, humble, and welcoming. Enjoy this special video message from Calantha.
This is the story of the backyard construction of the Valiant, an 80 foot, 90 ton dragger, and how the community helped to make that dream come true. This professional offshore fishing vessel built in Nahant, Massachusetts, was constructed between 1955 and 1963 by owners and neighbors Raymond Palombo and Francis "Swede" L. McClain, Jr. in the narrow space between their houses with their partner Charles Baxter.
Milo was a Newfoundland/St Bernard mix who moved to Egg Rock Lighthouse with the first keeper, George B Taylor, and his family in 1855. Often he swam the mile wide channel back to Nahant to visit and carouse with the mainland dogs. Milo achieved international fame and admiration when he rescued one of the Taylor children from drowning. After word of Milo's heroic act spread across the Atlantic Ocean, Sir Edwin Henry Landseer painted Milo’s portrait depicting a small child nestled between the noble animal's enormous paws in "Saved".
The Nahant Historical Society wishes all of you happy holidays and a new year full of hope and recovery. These have been tough times for us all, but together we will get through it. Seaside Pizza is a shining example of the spirit of generosity and caring for others. The Sunday Boston Globe had a special section on people who have gone above and beyond to help others during Covid 19. We are proud that Beni Noci, and his team at Seaside Pizza, were recognized for their wonderful gift to the seniors of Nahant.
We invite you to celebrate the 99th birthday of Calantha Sears on October 17, 2020. We will happily pass along your wishes through email or by mail. Send your emails to info@nahanthistory.org and cards can be sent to the Nahant Historical Society, 41 Valley Road, Nahant. We will make sure she receives them. Click below to read how Calantha was born to be Nahant’s historian and see pictures of her throughout the years.
From at least 1895, and perhaps before, and lasting into the late 1950s, Nahant had a very special tradition that most families looked forward to each spring. On the 19th of April, or Fry Day, by late morning there would be an exodus of Nahanters to the rocks and beaches of the town for an outing. Mothers, fathers, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and even dogs all cooperated in carrying the well-filled picnic basket and a blanket to each family’s favorite spot on the shore (usually the same spot each year) for a cookout or a “Fry” as it was called at that time.
The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners is providing Nahant with a $15,000 federal grant for the initiative, Go Local: Nature in Nahant. The project will involve discovering the plants that grow — and once grew — in the seaside town’s unique natural surroundings, using a 19th-century pressed plant collection held by the library. The herbarium was created in 1897 by Nahant schoolteacher Florence “Miss Flossie” Johnson and her pupils.
All Nahant calls (incoming and outgoing) were handled by the Operators at the Nahant Exchange on the corner of Valley Road and Spring Road, from 1911 until Nahant went ‘over dial’ in 1960. They definitely had their fingers on the pulse of Nahant. Not only did they know what was happening, they knew where everyone was. If someone needed Dr. DiClerico, they usually know where they could get a message to him.
By Bonnie Ayers D’Orlando, NHS Curator (retired)
Nahant Historical Society salutes Nahant Public Library on the bicentenary of its founding. Among our museum’s rarest artifacts is a framed collection of four original letters. Although fragile and faded after 200 years, they document that beginning. On Saturday June 1st, 2019, the letters will be displayed for one evening during the Library’s gala.
On the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, we thank the strong women who fought for equality and support those who continue to fight for what is fair and equitable. Read more about how the smallest municipality in Massachusetts played an important part in the suffrage movement.
The Greenlawn Veterans Map Project was created as an aid to ensure that the War medallions and flags are placed at the correct graves so that all Nahant Veterans are honored. Producing a color-coded map of Nahant Veterans graves was the focus of several Nahant Boy Scout Troop 50 Eagle projects. Find your loved one’s grave with these downloadable Maps and Lists.
