Posted on February 2, 2015 by Jenny ONeill

This article was written by Christa M. Beranek and Katharine M. Johnson Fiske Center for Archaeological Research, University of Massachusetts Boston This project was paid for by Community Preservation Act Funds from the Town of Westport. Collected artifacts are property of the Town of Westport, donated by Muriel Bibeau, property owner. Introduction The Waite-Kirby-Potter House […]

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Jenny ONeill

In the early 20th century seven major companies were engaged in the production and sales of “kit homes.” Sears Roebuck and Company was one of the best known.   While potential home owners could buy almost everything they needed to build a house—down to the blueprints–from a Sears Catalogue as early as 1908, it was not […]

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Jenny ONeill

We see her name on the street sign in the center of Westport: Charlotte White Road. She is mentioned in local history books as a healer, a midwife, a poet. But what do we really know about Charlotte White? Let’s start with her name. The typical pronunciation of the name Charlotte is “Shar-lot” but there […]

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Jenny ONeill

We all learned the word secession in school, and probably associated it with South Carolina’s departure from the Union in late 1860. But the concept is not just about civil war, or specifically related to states. To secede is to withdraw formally from membership in an organization, association, or alliance. And in the 1920s, the […]