Glimpses of Medford

In Medford's past, the Mystic River was the origin and the lifeblood of the town.

On June 17, 1630, Governor John Winthrop led an expedition of colonists up the Mystic River to the north of Boston, where six miles up the river they found "a good place upon Mystick." This "good place" became Medford, Massachusetts, and Winthrop's journey marked the start of a long and lively history.

Glimpses of Medford consists of a selection of articles, stories and reminiscences from the Medford Historical Register, the publication of the Medford Historical Society. In these pages you will be taken on a trip through Medford's history as told by Medford's homegrown historians, from the days of the early settlement to the night that Paul Revere stopped in Medford Square on his famous ride. You will walk down Ship Street at the height of the shipbuilding era, take a ride around town on the Boston and Lowell Railroad and meet Medford's people, from Victorian milkmen to the soldiers of the Lawrence Light Guard. It's a journey through Medford's past that you will never forget.