Pauline Revere Thayer (1862-1934) great-granddaughter of Paul Revere and second wife of Nathaniel Thayer III, lived in the Homestead for many years after her husband inherited it. Known for her many philanthropic endeavors, she was the "acknowledged leader of Boston society" in her day. Nathaniel Thayer III and Pauline Revere Thayer also maintained a home called Edgemere on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island. The photograph is from Famous Families of Massachusetts, by Mary Caroline Crawford. It was used with permission.
Looking very official in his uniform is Lancaster police chief Patrick H. Ryder (1918-1987). When he retired in 1982, Lancaster selectmen proclaimed Thursday, December 2, Patrick H. Ryder Day in recognition of his 34 years of faithful service to the town.
Keeping Lancaster roads safe was always a concern for Sgt. Walter E. Pelletier (1918-1990), shown here. From 1953 through 1983, he served the town of Lancaster in several capacities, including a full-time police officer, sergeant, constable, and member of the highway safety committee and board of road commissioners.
Built in 1871, the Ponakin Bridge appears here with an ice-clogged North Branch of the Nashua River in the foreground. The bridge still stands but is no longer in use. The Native American word "Quasaponikin" is said to mean "entirely full of water."
After the Hurricane of 1938, the small filling station on the north corner of Main and Prescott Streets was replaced by this larger one built on the south corner. Later, Lancaster resident Frank Ponte operated his business on the site for 27 years, until 1972. This photograph shows the station as it looked in 1965. Note those low prices on the gas pumps.
Posing in front of Academy Hall during the 1913-1914 school year is a group of practice teachers enrolled in the normal course with their young students.
When they were demolished (after 1987), the Prescott Street buildings, which had outlasted their usefulness, were reportedly to be replaced with new student housing for Atlantic Union College. Today, however, the land is still open space. A building in the back of the complex was the original schoolhouse for South Lancaster Academy. Its condition was so poor that it could not be salvaged.
The south side of Prescott Street in South Lancaster, shown here, looked much the same for several decades in the 20th century. The print is by Herbert L. Rand.
Named for Rachel Oakes Preston, the New Hampshire school teacher credited with bringing the seventh-day Sabbath teaching to the Millerites, this red-brick Federal-style building was part of the college's expansion program under president G. Eric Jones. Started in 1939, it was not completed until 1943. Wings to the south and west were added in 1963 and 1967 to meet increasing enrollment.
Area children line up as Helen Grout issues tickets for a puppet show at the Toy Cupboard Theatre around 1949. This photograph was taken when the theater was still located on the corner of Main Street and George Hill Road in South Lancaster. Puppeteer Herbert Hosmer, who had started the theater in 1941, later operated it from George Hill site adjacent to this new home.
In this view, Herbert Hosmer's Puppet Theater stands adjacent to his new residence on East George Hill Road. The building was designed from a 250-year-old carriage house and made a charming setting for a children's theater, with its pine-sheathed walls, pegged beams, and slatted outside archways.
Herbert Hosmer of the Toy Cupboard Theater displays one of his many puppets. Hosmer initially started puppet shows in 1941 to draw customers into a toy store he had opened on his property on the north corner of Main Street and George Hill Road in South Lancaster. These puppet shows have become happy childhood memories for many Lancaster residents.