Petersham – 3:30 PM
-Back in Petersham to take better pictures. Warmest day of the year, at 70′.
-The old town hall renovation is now finished, with new paint and the 2009 cupola now gilded.
-WWI memorial plaque is marble. Many of the names have eroded away.
-The Country Store was never closed, but is under new management.
New Braintree – 4:10 PM
-The town offices, police, elementary school and town library are in a cluster of new buildings, about a ½ mile down the hill from the town center. New Braintree is a classic Massachusetts hill town, with a mile of open fields in every direction.
North Brookfield – 5:00 PM
-The town center is a much larger than I expected, with five 2-3 story commercial buildings. But downtown is in poor shape, with ½ the store fronts empty.
-The 1893 town hall is huge, 4 stories tall and abandoned. It looks like the staff left in a rush. Broken furniture, torn posters on the walls, office supplies scattered across the floors.
-The current town office is in a leased store front, 3 doors down from the old town hall. Pretty nice space, although this is the only town office I’ve ever seen, that has apartments for rent on the 2nd floor!
-But it could be worse. You could be the police department, which rents its space in the basement of a 2-residence duplex down the street.
Mass 351 Town Halls 