WHERE I'M FROM: MILLBURY MA

Millbury was first settled in 1716 and was officially incorporated in 1813.

                                        Millbury Center 1905.

 Millbury has a long history as a New England Mill town, from which the town's name is derived. The Blackstone River  flows through the town which during the Industrial revolution provided much of the water power to the town's many textile mills and factories.

Millbury was originally the Second or North Parish of Sutton, Massachusetts. Because traveling from one part of Sutton to the other for town meetings, etc. was difficult and time-consuming, the inhabitants of the Northern Parish petitioned the Massachusetts general Court to split the town of Sutton into two separate towns. The North Parish became the town of Millbury on June 11, 1813 by way of an act of incorporation.

Millbury's industrial history can be traced to the early 18th century, not long after the area's settlement. In 1735, John Singletary began operating a mill on Singletary Brook, a stream flowing out of Singletary Lake. Around 1753, John Singletary built the S & D Spinning mill, which is still in operation today making it one of the oldest continuously operating mills in the United States. The mill is featured on the Town Seal. The mill also makes the red stitching that is on major league baseballs. 

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, after learning the trade of firearms production from their father, Asa Waters II, and his brother Elijah, purchased land along the Blackstone River and built mills producing goods such as guns and sawmill saws. In 1808, Asa and Elijah erected an armory which was successful until forced to close suddenly in 1841. It reopened at the start of the Civil War in 1861, doing work for the U.S government. With wealth Asa Waters II received from his factories, he began construction, in 1826, of a Federal style mansion, near the town center on Elm Street. Designed by Boston architect Asher Benjaman, it was completed in 1832. It took two years to collect materials for construction of the house, including marble from Italy and bricks from Baltimore Known as the Asa Waters Mansion it is an icon of the town  .President William Howard Taft spent many summer vacations in Millbury as a young boy, attending the public schools for a season. When he grew older, he visited his grandparents most summers. He visited his aunt, Delia C. Torrey, during his presidency for the occasion of Millbury's 100th birthday. The Torrey House, where President Taft stayed during his visit, is commonly called The Taft House today.
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My fathers side of the family worked in these mills 
until my grandfather started his own television 
business after WWII.  On my mums side, Gramma Jean 
and my grandfather Ernest Burke both come from farming 
families in Grafton.  My grandfather bought the farm 
in West Millbury to start his own.  The farm was dairy 
and corn, they had a farm stand etc. and won many blue 
ribbons for their cows!
I'm proud to say that I followed my grandparents foot-
steps and opened my own business years ago.
Being able to give Millbury it's first skatepark was 
cool. The park was built inside one of the old Felters
buildings.  It was good times.

Hyped to see that someone had taken photos 
of Grampa Ernest's old farm that is still there today:</sup>