Framingham Centre Civil War Memorial Statue

Fun Facts about this Framingham Monument

If you drove around the Village Green at Framingham Center, chances have you probably seen a large status. This is located in front of the Edgell Memorial Library.

Eight Things I Learned About The Statue

Official Name of the statue is Framingham Centre Civil War Memorial Statue

Statue was built in 1872 as a special memorial for Framingham residences that gave their lives during the Civil War.

The sculptor was Martin Milmore. Some of his other works include The Soldiers and Sailor Monument in the Boston Commons, the Statue of John Glover on Commonwealth Avenue, and more. You can see Martin Milmore's signature on the back bottom of the statue.

It was made by Ames Manufacturing Company in Chicopee, Massachusetts. On the bottom front right, you can see the company name etched in the statue. You can also see the year it was made: 1872.

It cost about $3,000 to build ($65,788.19 in 2020) and was completely funded by George Phipps

The statue was originally located inside the building but moved outside around the turn of the century. There is a tablet inside that lists the 27 names of the Framingham men who died in the Civil War. The statue was likely located in the center of the Edgell Memorial Library entrance hall.

The statue was dedicated at the same time as the Edgell Memorial Library: Saturday, February 22, 1873. (February 22, 2022, will be the 150 anniversary) George B. Brown, Esq. gave the dedication speech.

George B. Brown, Esq. was chosen as a speaker as he organized the fundraising and construction of the memorial library.

Names on the Monument

These are the names of the 27 Framingham Soldiers that died in the Civil War. Most of the people on this list are buried at the Edgell Grove Cemetery & Mausoleum.

David Brigham Eames, John Carpenter, Timothy S. Boynton, William C. Babcock, Nathan D. Hosmer, Alfred B. Moulton, William F. Norris, James A. Rice, Sylvanus Phipps, John Hickey, Oscar G. Brown, Heman F. Cheney, Daniel W. Parmenter, Hector Ingraham, Nelson H. Howe, Major T. Harmon, John Ryan, Henry M. Putney, Charles Wright, Jonas E. Melvin, William D. Hudson, Henry A. Barker, Summer A. Davis, William F. Bullard, Theodore F. Russell, Benjamin Wadsworth, J. Sully Dench

Dedication Address

Part of the Address Delivered by George B. Brown, Esq., at the Dedication of Memorial Hall and Library Building, Framingham, February 22, 1873

Work Cited:

Information about the Framingham Centre Civil War Memorial Statue was gathered from various news stories and published reports done at the time.

Gregory B Vilionitsky Bridge

Route 9 Bridge Marker

Like many New England towns, Framingham has a lot of special monuments to remember various people and events. One sign that people may not notice is on a bridge on Route 9. The bridge over the Sudbury river is called the Gregory B Vilionitsky Memorial Bridge.

Who was Gregory B Vilionitsky

Gregory B Vilionitsky was a MassDOT engineer that was killed when a drunk driver crashed into a construction site. This accident occurred on September 14, 2010, at 10:43 p.m. Gregory B Vilionitsky was 57 and a father of two.

Gregory B Vilionitsky was born and raised in Russia. He worked on various road projects in Israel. A few years ago he moved his family from Russia to America for a better life.

How the Bridge Dedication Came About

Representative Chris Walsh sponsored Bill H.3572 which dedicated the bride in Gregory B Vilionitsky memory. The bill was filed on June 27, 2011 - 286 days after the accident. It became active on December 28, 2012.

The bride dedication ceremony was on June 13, 2013.

The accident occurred on Rte. 9 near the Framingham/Southborough border - near the corner of California Ave and Route 9.

In 2009, Gregory B Vilionitsky actually helped construct the bridge that now bears his name.

Sign at the Bridge

Drunk Driver

Maine resident Jeremy Gardner pleaded guilty to driving drunk and vehicular homicide charges stemming from the incident and in 2012 he was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Framingham Dog Park

Opening soon near the Skate Park

Framingham will soon get a doggy park!

After many years of residents requesting a place for their pups to play, a park for dogs is coming in 2022.

Location of the Park

The Framingham dog park will be located in a strip of open land next to Farm Pond. Specifically its directly across from the Longs Athletic Complex.

Features of the Dog Park

Some features of the park:

• Fence in area so the dogs can roam freely.
• Separate fence area for smaller dogs.
• Play equipment in both areas - ramps, hoops, agility poles and more.
• Shaded area for dogs to cool off on hot days.
• Permeable surface so paws don't get hurt
• Water for Dogs and their humans.
• Special design lock system to prevent dogs from escaping.

The park is being designed by Radner Design Associates

Who's Paying for it?

The site is expected to cost around $262,000. About 90% of the construction cost will be covered by the Stanton Foundation Grant

In order to qualify for the grant the remaining 10% must come from the City of Framingham.

Opening Spring 2022

The planning committee hopes to welcome dogs in the Spring of 2022. Watch for more announcements and the grand opening celebration.

Learn More about the Movement

If you want to learn more, join the FramBark Facebook group. Additional information can be found on the City of Framingham website.

Framingham Birthday

Fun Facts about Framingham

The town of Framingham's official birthday is June 25th, 1700. The town is 321 years old. On January 1st, 2018 it became a city - 3 years old.

Nearby towns incorporations:

Fun Facts About Framingham in 2021

According to a 2019 survey, an estimated 74,416 people live in the city of Framingham. Updated numbers from last year's census won't be released until some time mid-August.

In 2020, there were 41,685 registered voters. 77.29% voted in the last president's election.

Framingham is the home to over 2,200 businesses with over 45,000 jobs and $3.1 billion in payroll, Framingham is one of the 33 Massachusetts communities to be rated Platinum the highest rating for readiness for biotech development.

In 2019, Average household income was $82,709. The Massachusetts average household income was $81,215. The United States' average household income is $61,372. (2017 numbers)

In 2014, Framingham was ranked the 4th Nerdiest City in America. (Bustle) Loosing to Oakland, California, Silicon Valley, and Atlanta, Georgia.

In the summer of 2021, the housing market is very hot. According to Redfin, 32% of homes accept an offer within a week.

Geocaching in Framingham

Framingham is part of the world's largest treasure hunt.

People love to visit Cushing Memorial Park in Framingham. It's a fun place to walk around and enjoy the great outdoors. For kids, there's a playground. fun places to ride their bikes, and lots of open space to run around or fly a kite.

Did you know there's a treasure in Cushing Memorial Park? No, not buried treasure.

The treasure is place by people participating in Geocaching - the world's larges treasure hunt.

What is Geocaching

If you're new to the concept of geocaching, think of it as a giant treasure hunt. Players stash goodies in publicly accessible outdoor locations, then post the GPS coordinates of these prizes on Geocaching.com. When other players find these hidden gems, they post their victory on the site's forums and then put the prize back for others to locate in turn.

Geocaching in Framingham

As of today, there are 26 geocaches in Framingham and 16 of those are places in the vicinity of Cushing Memorial Park. That's a lot is a lot considering one of the rules of placing geocache:

Five Things We Learned

Some of the things we learned, without giving any clues to the location of the geocaches.

• The geocaches are spread out through the park. It's fun to watch the kids try to find them based on vague hints and generic map locations.
• None of the geocaches are buried - as per rule.
• Some of the geocaches have places to jot down your name in a log. Bring a fine pen to write down your name.
• A few of the geocaches have small trinkets. You can take one and leave small tchotchke for the next treasure hunter. Tchotchkes can be found at the dollar store.
• Some of the geocaches are very well designed and really hard to find. Don't be discorage if you don't find it!

Fun Time at Cushing!

It will take about 45-minutes to find the geocache in the park. This is based on the complexity of the treasure hunt and the distance between the locations.

Frederick P. Stearns

Some Information on the Reservoir named after him

As you drive down Winter Street in Framingham, you???ll see a large sign in front of the waterfall. This is the DCA sign letting people know that this is the Frederick Stearns Reservoir.

Mr. Frederick Stearns did valuable work in connection with securing a water supply from the Sudbury River and later as chief engineer, supervised the construction of a tunnel under Dorchester Bay and reservoir on Moon Island.

Under the leadership of Frederic Stearns, the Chief Engineer of the Metropolitan Water Board, it was decided that the new water source should be gravity-operated and not require filtratio

Some Fun Facts I Learned About Frederick Stearns

Born on November 11, 1851 in Calais, Maine and move to the Boston area with his parents when he was 18

Full name is Frederic Pike Stearns.

Married Addie C. Richardson of Framingham in 1872.

From 1865 to 1907 he was the chief engineer of the Massachusetts Water Works.

He was the consulting engineer for the Charles River Commission. (1903 - 1910)

In 1905, he was a member of the Board of Consulting Engineerings of the Panama Canal. He was one of three experts engineers to advise President-Elect Taft on the Canal problems.

He had two sons Herbert R Stearns and Ralph H. Stearns.

Frederic Pike Stearns Monday December 1, 1919 he was 68 years old.

Framingham Recycle Center

Recycle Metal and Books and more...

Couple of notable things at the Framingham Recycling Center. It cost Framingham residents $20 a year to use the facilities - might as well get the most of your money!

Metal Recycling

It costs nothing to dispose of any metal that you have. So if there???s something in your basement or garage that might - and your not going to use it any time soon - recycle it. Here are just some of the things I saw at the recycling center:

• Deck Chairs
• Window frames
• Grills
• Beach Chairs
• Trampoline
• Lawn motor
• Scott???s Lawn spreader
• Metal Shelves

Books Recycling

Last year we tried to donate a few shopping bags full of books. We couldn???t find a place. I did notice that the center has a couple of bins to recycle books.

Note: before recycling any old books check eBay.com to see if they are valuable.

DiscoverBooks.com has a couple of drop off bins for books. This is the only place around Framingham where we could find a place to drop off books.

Books that are left in these bins may get sold on their website or they may get donated to local libraries.

You can read more about Discoverbooks.com services.

1872 Map

Framingham in 1872

Last year when I was in the Boston Public Library I found a book on the history of Framingham.

Someone placed some maps inside the book. It doesn't look like that they were supposed to be included in the book.

The one map I thought was most interesting was the map of Framingham from 1872:

Click on image for a larger version.

The quality of the map isn't all that good. The next time I am at the Boston Public Library, I'll get a better copy.

COVID-19 Update

Things are looking better!

It???s been a while since I posted about COVID-19. Things are much better and most restaurants are now fully open for indoor seating.

Just because the COVID-19 numbers are down, it doesn???t mean that it???s ok to go back to normal. People should stay vigilant against COVID-19.

Interesting COVID-19 Facts

City of Framingham COVID Numbers: 8,352 Cases, 250 Deaths, & 83 Active Cases

Framingham currently has about 74,500 residents.

June 12 was the first time that Framingham reported zero COVI-19 cases.

April 2, 2021, was the last time Framingham was in the red (High-Risk Zone)

March 26, 2020 was the first reported COVID-19 fatality.

Framingham Red

Second Week in a Row for Framingham.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Health statistical numbers, Framingham is one of nine cities in Massachusetts to have a large number of COVID-19 cases.

Framingham has been classified as Red since August 24th. The Average Daily Incidence of Rat per 100,000 is 10.9.

To be in red, the Average daily case rate over the last 14 days: 8 cases per 100,000 population. To be in yellow, the Average daily case rate over the last 14 days: 4-8 cases per 100,000 population.

This means that have to drop at least 3 percentage points in the 14-day Average Incidence rate.

What???s Red Mean?

Schools, public and private are not allowed to hold in classroom learning. Schools can only hold 15% of their maximum capacity. Saint Bridget School and Keefe Tech had both plans on opening with in-classroom learning. Both schools had to shift to remote start.

Schools are not allowed to go to full in-classroom learning until Framingham is at least yellow for two consecutive weeks.

There are no changes for businesses or churches at this time.

Framingham???s Response

This is the second week in a row that the city of Framingham has been in the Red. The First time Framingham went red, Mayor Yvonne M. Spicer took to Twitter to spread the word:

Important COVID-19 Update from Mayor Spicer about Framingham being in the high-risk category and how residents can help slow the spread of the virus#MaskUpFramingham pic.twitter.com/RVgbAebdtj

— City_of_Framingham (@Framingham_MA) August 28, 2020

This is the followup Tweet when Framingham made the listed for the second week in a row:

#MaskUpFramingham pic.twitter.com/5yFtAx1Ob2

??? Mayor Yvonne M. Spicer (@Mayor_Spicer) September 4, 2020

There hasn't been any other notable differences in actions.