Launched in 2005, WellesleyWeston Magazine is a quarterly publication tailored to Wellesley and Weston residents and edited to enrich the experience of living in two of Massachusetts' most desirable communities.
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display will include butter molds from the Oakridge estate of Charles Augustus Dean, who owned 117 acres on both sides of Oak Street at the turn of the century. Dean employees made butter pats embossed with either "Oakridge" or "Myakka," the name of his Florida yacht. In winter, the "Myakka" butter was shipped south by train. Those who could not afford their own country house could stay at the Drabbington Inn on North Avenue, where guests enjoyed golf, tennis, croquet, and other amusements or walked along the shaded streets of the Kendal Green neighborhood. On the south side, Glen House and Cottages on Glen Road operated from the 1870s through the 1920s. City folk came to Weston in summer because of the conven- ience and "healthful air." A major attraction was canoeing on the Charles River, and thousands of canoes were once stored in boat- houses in the Weston-Newton-Waltham stretch of the river known as the "Lakes District." A highlight of the "summer pleasures" section of the exhibition will be a four-foot-long panorama photograph showing hundreds of canoeists gathered for a "Gala Day" celebration in 1919. After World War II, Weston grew exponentially. The town was known for its excellent school system, relatively low tax rate, and reputation as a well-managed town. By the mid-1950s, WWI Chest of Corporal Reginald Williams Stevens 102 Weston stood at the junction of two major highways. The "Farmers' Precinct" was transformed into a modern suburb. The exhibition will cover this period through photographs, maps, and graphs showing rapid growth in housing starts, roads and infrastructure, and school population. Five new schools were built between 1950 and 1969. "The Farmers' Precinct: Three Centuries of Weston History" is being funded by private contributions with assistance from the Weston Public Library Trustees, Friends of the Weston Public Library, and the Weston 300 Host Committee, as well as donations of supplies and labor. Display panels will be constructed using 64 hollow core doors. The Peabody Essex and Concord Museums donated exhibit cases. The Historical Society welcomes donations and new memberships, both of which help support this and other Weston Historical Society projects for the tercentennial year. Membership forms and information about Weston history is available at the society's website, www.westonhistory.org. The site also includes the full exhibit schedule and information about gallery talks and special events. WellesleyWeston Magazine | winter 2012/2013