Townsend, MA

Concerts on the Common

Summer evenings in Townsend, Mass., are pretty quiet. Most people can be found in their gardens or yards, where children beg to play a little longer in the fading twilight. But if it’s Thursday, don’t expect to find many at home—they’re at the concert on the common.

People bring lawn chairs and blankets and settle in to chat with their friends and neighbors. The mingled smells of popcorn, cotton candy, and frying sausage fill the air. Children line up to buy ice cream, or maybe to take a pony ride—or just to scurry around between the lawn chairs. And above it all, the music of the Townsend Military Band, a pleasant mix of old and new favorites, drifts over the crowd.

The band—a group of local musicians—plays on a green and white gazebo, ringed with a string of lights, in the common’s center.

If all this sounds like a throwback to an earlier time, it is.

“It’s the one thing in town that hasn’t changed,” says Robert Tumber, a lifelong resident of Townsend who has attended the concerts for all of his 72 years. “When I was a boy, it was the social event of the week, and it still is.”

The Townsend Military Band, as it’s known, was organized in 1838 to accompany the Townsend Light Infantry, a militia unit, as it drilled on the common—and to entertain townspeople. The military company has long since been discontinued, but the entertainment goes on, with concerts during 10 weeks of the summer, as well as on Memorial Day, July Fourth, and other special days.

The people of this north-central Massachusetts town of 9,100 are proud of their history, and reminders of it are everywhere, particularly in the graceful buildings that line Route 119. Today, many of these house antiques shops, galleries, and other small businesses.

The first settlers came here in the early 1700s, shortly before the French and Indian Wars, when Townsend was on the frontier. In the village of Townsend Harbor, many pre-Revolutionary War buildings still stand. Some have hidden passageways originally built for escape in case of attack. Later, these passageways were used to help fugitive slaves on their way along the Underground Railroad.

“We’ve tried very hard to maintain our historical look,” says Daniel Murphy, Townsend’s town clerk and a lifelong resident. “We’re very proud of our heritage.”

For most of its history, Townsend has been a center for commerce and agriculture, though some of the farmland has been given up for house lots.

“Farming here is pretty much gone,” Tumber says. “We used to have all kinds of chicken farms and dairy farms all over town. Now maybe two or three are left. It used to be common to look out your window and see a cow that had gotten loose walking up Main Street.”

Today, Townsend is a community of shops—antiques, crafts, florists, clothing, books—and service-oriented businesses ranging from landscaping to web page design and publishing enterprises. More than 200 small businesses are registered with the town.

The Squannacook River running through Townsend is still a swimming and fishing spot, as it was generations ago. And today, the Willard Brook State Forest offers camping, hiking, swimming, and picnicking—popular both with residents and visitors.

One of the more curious features in the town is the weathervane atop the Spaulding Memorial School. It’s a bat.

“That was a mistake,” laughs Tumber. He was in the first grade when the building was dedicated in 1938. “It was supposed to be an owl, signifying wisdom. But when they went to put it up, they discovered the mistake. It was only the day before the dedication, so they decided to keep it.”

As with most small towns, Townsend has changed over the years, but through all the changes, it’s held proudly to its past. Maybe Robert Tumber can’t look out his window and see a cow wandering down Main Street, but on Thursday nights he can still walk up to the common, treat himself to an ice cream, and listen to the Townsend Military Band, just like when he was a boy.

And just as residents have been doing for more than 160 years.

Freelance writer Martin Laine lives in Lunenburg, Mass.

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