Dracut 200th Anniversary Celebrated With Bells and Parades
The town marked its 200th anniversary with sunrise salutes from the old Navy Yard cannon and a chorus of bells from Centre, Collinsville, and Navy Yard churches. The day featured speaking, a dinner, music, sports, and a Hillside church children’s program. The piece recounts Dracut’s incorporation in 1701, prior settlement in 1664, and notable early families such as the Varnums and Coburns, plus historic roads, churches, schools, and fortifications along the Merrimack.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Dracut
Navy Yard
Collinsville
Hillside
Dunstable Line
Merrimack River
Wekesook Island
Old Garrison House and Indian Reminiscences in 1665 New England
The piece recalls 1665 in Massachusetts during King Philip's War, detailing Indian growth in fear of white encroachment and the Wampanoag leader Philip. It notes the Pilgrims' early welcome turning to conflict and compares Philip to famed conquerors, framing a history of colonial tensions.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New England
Massachusetts
Samoset
Philip
Sagen
Wampanoags
Massasoit
Philip of
Mount Hope
Alexander
Caesar
Dracut’s Guards and Early Fortifications in Colonial Times
A concise account traces Dracut’s defense origins before 1701, noting garrison lines and early block houses funded by the General Court in 1804. The narrative sets Dracut’s 1664 settlement within broader New England tensions, describing frontier security and lost outlying posts as it recalls a lineage of local fortifications.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
General Court
Jonathan Tyng
Billerica
Chelmsford
Dunstable
Dracut
Garrison House and early Dracut fort history recalled
A historian recalls Dracut’s old garrison house built in 1674 as a frontier refuge, its destruction for progress, and vivid tales of defense against Indian raids during King Philip’s War and later conflicts. The piece links river life on the Merrimack to local culture, family histories, and surviving landmarks.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mammoth Road
Pawtucket
Lowell
Dracut
Massachusetts
Samuel Varnum
Merrimack
Drawcutt
Varnum Avenue
Varnum
Draycot
Colburne
Coburn
Varnum and
Nashway
Vramesit
Passaconaway
Chiiften
John Varnum
Joseph Coburn
X Zer Goodhue
Ustomm
Pittauren
Var
A. C. Varnum
Garrison House
Pawtucket Bridge
Navy Yard
Wales
America
Philip
Merrimack River
Middlesex Village
Howard’s Field
Chelmsford
Man
Riverside Street
Theodore Hamblet
Henry Emery
Kmack
Pawtucket Falls
Old Dracut
Scotland
Ande Pawtucketville
Jick
Boston
Revere
Varnum’s Landing
Methuen Road
General Varnum
Molly
Washington
Lafayette
Joseph Bradley Varnum
House of Representatives
Senate
United States
House
The Garrison House and a Lost Preservation Bid
A correspondent recalls an offer to save the ancient garrison house, recounting insistence from locals including Mr Varnum and Major Emery, a failed land swap, and a transferring buyer who moved the house to New Hampshire. He laments lack of local support and imagines a Concord or Andover rescue as a future museum for antiquities.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Garrison House
Posterity
Prof. Agassiz
Lowell
Major Emery
Major Rowell
Rowell
Emery
New Hampshire
Concord
Andover
The Nickel Mine Mystery in Early Times
Miss M. Ella Russell recalls visiting the Nickel mine in the Morning Times May 2 1896. George B Coburn mentions local “mine pit” lore from his boyhood and a supposed English discovery around 1750 later worked and abandoned. Charles Hovey in 1879 dates opening to about 1700 with deeds hinting at valuable mineral deposits, possibly gold.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ella Russell
George B. Coburn
Charles Hovey
Old Residents’ Historical Association
Also Mentioned on This Page
James Varnum
Ati
Hillside Church
Central
Central Church
Phineas Stevens
Lexington
Peter Coburn
Bunker Hill
Burgoyne
James M. Varnum
J. B. Varnum
Benj. F. Varnum
Louis Ansart
Israel Hildreth
Thomas Parker
Hunt’s Ferry
Central Bridge
Centralville
Pawtucketville
Tyngsboro
Mrs Mollie Varnum
Gen. Gage
Mer
Yellow Meeting House
Wannalancit
Richard
Bradley
Pawtucketville Church
Varnum Homestead
Lawrence
Mary E Wight
Lowell Book
Geo. J. Carney
the Toll-house
Varnum Park
Boston Daily
Coburn Mission
Nickel
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!