Phillipston Historical Society building to be moved
By George Barnes, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
gbarnes@telegram.com
PHILLIPSTON — The Historical Society of Phillipston's building is expected to go on a little trip later this month to a new home.
The building, a former Methodist Church, will be moved about a quarter mile along State Road to its new site next to the town emergency services building.
Linda Langevin, president of the society, said the building is expected to be moved Nov. 21 from its postage stamp-sized lot to the larger lot, which will make it easier for the society to use the building for events.
Preparations are underway. The building has been lifted from its foundation and is being prepared to be hooked up and towed.
The society acquired the 164-year-old building 13 years ago to use as a museum. The lot allowed for limited parking, but Brookside Equipment Co. of Phillipston, which owns the land on three sides of the current lot, agreed to a swap, giving the society more land and allowing the company a complete piece of property for its business.
Mrs. Langevin said the owners of Brookside Equipment Co. also donated the cost of the move and use of equipment to excavate for a new foundation, which will be poured by the John Shaw foundation company.
The former church will be moved by Admiral Building Moving Co. of Goffstown, N.H. The effort is being assisted by Phillipston Building Inspector Geoffrey Newton and structural engineer Robert Thorell of Princeton.
After the building is moved, it is expected to take a few days to secure it to the new foundation.
The society's building was purchased from the Methodist Society in 2000 for the cost of legal fees to transfer the property plus $1.
The society was founded in 1999. Before that, the town did not have its own historical society. The town broke off from Templeton in the 1800s, and some Phillipston items are part of the collection of the Narragansett Historical Society in Templeton.
Contact George Barnes at george.barnes@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgebarnesTG
Good for the people in Phillipston. They will now have their own historical building, and can document the history of their town for future generations. Lets hope there is no disagreement over what is theirs and what is ours, when the time comes to bring things from our Historical Society to Phillipston. Once history is lost when someone dies and there is no one old enough to ask what happened, or who was at any event, there is no getting it back. The people in this town who have not taken the time to visit our Historical Society building, have missed a chance to step back in time and learn about the past and the people who paved the way for us by establishing our town. Good luck to Phillipston, after all they were once a part of Templeton. Bev.
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