Musterfields Has Ties to Military, State Police and National Guard

The story goes that two unscrupulous colonists swindled 1,700 acres of land from the Natick Indians around 1682 and sold it off at a tidy profit. Among the buyers was the Pratt family whose holdings extended across a flat area that became known as Pratt’s Plain.

About 200 years later, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts decided that flat plain would be a great site for the states’ military encampments and training grounds. One hundred twenty four acres were purchased and dubbed Musterfield.

State militias were obliged to spend five days a year training. The infantry brigades went to Framingham. On review days, the Governor came to inspect and the parade grounds were filled with marching soldiers, brass bands and flying colors creating a festive atmosphere throughout town. More somber gatherings lay ahead.

In 1898, four Massachusetts regiments were mobilized at Musterfield before heading south to serve in the Spanish American War.

During World War I, the combined Massachusetts 5th and 9th regiments were reorganized at Musterfield to create the 101st Regiment of the U.S. Army.

Among the young men from Framingham who served overseas was Corporal James J. McGrath of Saxonville. He was the first Framingham native among the war dead and Saxonville’s main intersection is named McGrath Square in his honor.

After World War I, Musterfield was used as a military airport and the landing spot for airmail coming into New England, but space limitations soon forced the Commonwealth to look elsewhere for land.

By the early twenties automobiles were everywhere. In response to the traffic issues the State Police was established and initially headquartered at the old Poor Farm on Pleasant St. Their first cruisers were overhauled army ambulances and Musterfield was their training ground. In 1935, they moved into a new brick building facing Route 9 where you can still find them today

After Pearl Harbor, “Camp Framingham” was headquarters of the New England Rear Defense Command for the units guarding the Atlantic Coast. When the war ended, servicemen and women came home to a housing shortage in Framingham. The town bought the military housing at Camp Framingham and converted it to a housing project. The streets for the Musterfield Apartments were named after World War II battle sites.

Throughout the 1950s, additional land from Musterfield was conveyed to the town. Athletic fields behind Fuller Middle School, the Fire Station on Concord St.  Senior Housing, the National Guard Building and the Civil Defense Agency all sit on this land today.

During the Cold War, Massachusetts built a fallout shelter where government could continue operations in case of an emergency. The bunker constructed for that purpose is the headquarters of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, whose letters are spelled out in shrubbery next to the State Police Barracks on Route 9.

Information for this article was gleaned from the following Framingham Public Library books: Muster Field: Past & Presentby Martha Noonan and  French & Electric Blue: The Massachusetts State Police: A History by William Powers