A Brief History of Winchendon

By: John H. White

According to the published histories, Winchendon was first settled by Europeans about 1752. There is evidence of Native Americans having been in the area previously, though regular settlements are uncertain. The early settlers were faced with clearing the land, building homes, and surviving in a virtual wilderness. They feared attacks by the Native Americans as happened in other places.  Early on, available waterpower was harnessed to provide a sawmill and a grain mill. A tannery was established. It was soon found that wood products were marketable and became the first source of local income. Undoubtedly agricultural products such as meat, wool, hides, and grain were also sold for income. The Millers River had a number of good mill sites and the power generated was utilized in woodworking factories, woolen mills and shops for a number of other purposes that were needed in the local economy. One wood product, shingles, was produced in such volume that Winchendon became known as "Shingletown."

Even though much of Winchendon is rocky hillside, after the forests were cleared agriculture was an important local occupation for many residents. Men would work in a number of different occupations depending on the season: logging in winter, working in wood and other shops when the river provided waterpower, planting, haying, and harvesting. Care of livestock was a year round chore. As in any local economy, trade and transportation were important occupations. Women mostly took care of the home and family but many probably worked alongside the men when needed.

Winchendon Becomes a Manufacturing Community

In the first half of the nineteenth century, the small Monomonac Lake was dammed raising the water level by maybe 15 feet and increasing the water area to more than 500 acres, the larger portion lying in New Hampshire. Other reservoirs were built on the east branch of the Millers as well. These reservoirs could be drawn down in dry seasons making water power much more dependable at the many mill sites down the river. With the available water power, working in the mills became the principal occupation of many and the town grew.

Manufacturing became an important factor in the local economy. The woolen mill in Winchendon Springs was acquired by the Nelson White family and became a cotton mill It was substantially enlarged and additional factories built in Glenallan and the Winchendon village. Factory sites were developed away from the river powered by steam generated from, almost certainly, wood waste and low quality wood.

Local men invented a number of woodworking and other machines and these were built here generating a metal working industry as well. Men in the Whitney and Murdock families invented machinery for making tubs and pails more easily and these products became important Winchendon products. Baxter Whitney invented the first successful wood thickness planer. His factory was near the middle of Winchendon and the dam and pond behind it still bear his name. The planer won prizes at international exhibitions and was marketed throughout the world until the 1950s. Morton Converse made wooden collar boxes (for the men's collars popular at the time) and then switched to wooden toys. This was very successful and Winchendon ultimately had the largest toy factory in the world. The town became known as Toy Town and the name has stuck. The business, however, succumbed to metal by the 1930s. Plastic toys have now largely replaced metal and those are still manufactured in Winchendon by one firm.

In 1847 the railroad came to Winchendon and the ability to move goods in and out of the town more easily and cheaply further spurred the growth of manufacturing. The first railroad was the Cheshire which connected to Boston at Fitchburg and ran through Winchendon and Keene to Bellows Falls in Vermont. Some trains later ran through to Montreal. Later the Monadnock Railroad was built which ran from Worcester through Gardner, Winchendon, Jaffrey, and Peterborough to Concord, NH. These both later became part of the Boston & Maine system. A third railroad, the Ware River, was built from Palmer, where it connected to the Boston & Albany, through Ware, Barre, and Templeton terminating in Winchendon. It ultimately became part of the New York Central System. These made Winchendon a considerable hub in the latter part of the nineteenth century and the first part of the twentieth.  With the growth of highway transportation, rail service to Winchendon ended in the 1970s and the tracks have mostly been torn up. There was also a street car line from Gardner to Winchendon by way of Baldwinville, Lake Dennison and Waterville in the first part of the twentieth century. The last of the tracks were torn up during World War II.

Transportation and trade were important along with manufacturing in the nineteenth century. Of particular note was Ephraim Murdock, Jr. He was involved with all and became very wealthy. At one point he was president of the Cheshire Railroad. His wealth ultimately benefited the town through his church and his endowment of the Murdock high school.

The Decline of Manufacturing

As electric power largely replaced small water power for manufacturing, metal and later plastic items replaced wood, and good local timber was used up, local manufacturing declined to a very low level in the middle of the twentieth century. One factory, which makes plastic toys, is the only one of any size in the town. There are, however, a number of small operations, many engaged in wood furniture manufacturing.

Agriculture, once an important part of Winchendon's economy started to decline in the 1830s as better and more fertile land opened in the West. The decline has been gradual and now there are only two commercial farms in the town, though there are some "hobby" farms. Much of the land that was once cleared has grown back to woods or is being developed for homes.

Village Development

Because of the danger of attack the center of the town, including the common, the meeting house, and a number of homes and businesses, was located on a hill, a section now known as Old Center. The Richard Day house, located just off the common dates to 1752 and was the site of Winchendon's first town meeting. The first meeting house and church (they were the same in those days) was located near the southwest corner of the common. It appears to have been a crude building and was never finished inside. The second building was located near the site of the present church. This present building was built in the 1850s with materials from its predecessor.

With the local economy based more on manufacturing than agriculture, the effective center of the town moved down the hill to the proximity of the river. The North Congregational Church (now the United Parish) was built in 1843 and the town hall in 1850. This village now includes most of the town's public buildings and businesses. Other villages grew up around  mill sites. These include Waterville and Winchendon Springs. Other onetime villages such as Bullardville, Hydeville, Harrisville, Centerville, New Boston, and Glenallan, have nothing to distinguish them but their names and the memories of elderly inhabitants.

Political Organization

The town was known as Ipswich Canada until it was incorporated as a town by the name of Winchendon in 1764. The town was named for one in England which had some connection with the then royal governor of Massachusetts. The basic town organization of an town meeting open to all registered voters with a board of Selectmen as executives continues to this day. In 1981 the town adopted a home rule charter which established the position of town manager as the chief administrative officer and provided that the town officials other than moderator, selectmen, school committee, board of health, and housing authority be appointed. ...more