Posted on February 9, 2022 by Jenny ONeill
Written by Jenny O’Neill, Executive Director, Westport Historical Society 2022 What is the significance of this handwoven mat made in Newfoundland to the history of Westport? Named after Sir Wilfred Grenfell, a British doctor known for his humanitarian work among the fishermen of northern Newfoundland and Labrador, these Grenfell hooked mats have become prominent […]
Continue ReadingPosted on January 8, 2022 by Jenny ONeill
“Over the hill to the poor-house – me child’rn dear, good-by! Many a night I’ve watched you when only God was nigh; And God’ll judge between us; but I will al’ays pray That you shall never suffer the half I do today.” Will Carleton, 1904 The Westport Historical Society has a temporary new […]
Continue ReadingPosted on November 18, 2021 by Jenny ONeill
The Dartmouth highway records from the early 1700s note the existence of a ferry in the area where the bridge now stands, but do not mention who operated the ferry. By tradition, George Cadman operated the ferry before Mary Hix took it over ca1710. The highway records do state that a suitable crossing point across […]
Continue ReadingPosted on November 17, 2021 by Jenny ONeill
The following are some extracts from Old Dartmouth Highway Records 1705-1786, which can be accessed online at dartmouthhas.org. Without a knowledge of the location of the early homesteads, the modern reader would find it impossible to know, in most cases, which modern road is being referred to. Thus as the first line in each entry […]
Continue ReadingPosted on June 9, 2021 by Jenny ONeill
What are the origins of the names of our roads? How did Sodom Road get its name? How have roads developed and changed over time? The 1831 map of Westport reveals a familiar network of roads, one that we recognize today, shaped by waterways, maritime and agricultural activities yet constrained by the two […]
Continue ReadingPosted on April 9, 2021 by Jenny ONeill
Written by Betty Slade, 2021 This is the story about John Stevens, an African man who came to America in the mid-19th century not as a slave but as a free man, married a Native woman and raised a family in Westport Point. He arrived just before the Civil War in Westport Point, Massachusetts. He […]
Continue ReadingPosted on February 9, 2021 by Jenny ONeill
The Importance of the “The Country” Blueberries The Animals Driving Mom, the Great Organizer Baseball The Gardens Springtime The Elders Up on the Hill GaGa’s Medicine The Radio Monday’s The Flag The Wainer Stories The Farmhouses The Graves The Stone The Well The Ancestors About the Author The Farm was known as the Wainer Farm […]
Continue ReadingPosted on November 19, 2020 by Jenny ONeill
Page 47 of Tony Connor’s “Small Town Big History” made reference to Mouse Mill Pond. This triggered lingering memories of this Westport site and I decided to write about it and a network of ancient ponds that existed when my family migrated to Westport in 1949. This review of historical facts is likely foreign to […]
Continue ReadingPosted on November 16, 2020 by Jenny ONeill
Until the 1770s, Paquachuck Point (now known as Westport Point or The Point) was little more than open pasture. It was a North-South peninsula surrounded by an estuary with a narrow opening to Buzzards Bay and the Atlantic Ocean at its southwestern most extremity. There was a “way” now known as Main Road that ran […]
Continue ReadingPosted on October 23, 2020 by Jenny ONeill
Interviews conducted in 1987 by Lorraine C. Roy and students from Westport Middle School. REBECCA TURNER INTERVIEWS MARION SHERMAN BORN 1895 OLD-FASHIONED SCHOOL DAYS On Wednesday, July 13, 1988, I interviewed Mrs. Marion Sherman, 92 years old. The main purpose of my interview was to find out what schooling was like when she was […]
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