Posted Oct. 5, 2015 at 6:00 AM
Updated at 11:01 PM
The Gardner VORTAC isn’t in Gardner, it’s just named for the nearby Gardner, where there is an airport.
The structure to aid air navigation is atop a hill in Templeton - not far, as the crow flies, from said Gardner Airport.
As a VORTAC, it’s halfway between one in Boston and two in Westfield. All of these are being replaced by a different kind of navigational aid: GPS.
VORTAC is a combination of a tactical air navigation system (TACAN) and a VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) beacon (VORTAC for short).
There are four in Massachusetts; there is also one TACAN, five VOR-DME (distance measuring equipment), but 25 other stations are non-directional (radio) beacons, or NDB.
This modern alphabet soup is a stark contrast to the history of Templeton, established in 1733 as Narragansett after the tribe that had been defeated by the soldiers granted land here. That war had ended in 1675; it took 50 years to grant the soldiers land, making one wonder whether any of those who fought the war were alive to benefit from the grants. Their heirs were supposed to benefit, and were mentioned in state records.
Soon after its incorporation, it was named Templetown after Sir John Temple, who was a member of the Privy Council in far-away Britain. Within a few years after the incorporation, the rebellious colonists would throw off British rule, but the name stuck.
- Melissa McKeon
No comments:
Post a Comment