Changes to Medfield Center

Since the founding of the town in 1649, the “Center” of Medfield has always been where it is today at the intersection of North, Pleasant and Main Streets.

In most New England towns, the crossing of the north-south road with the east-west road formed the “center” of the town. Where Pleasant Street is today was the location of the original South Street. But since the street went through the farm land of town founder, , he used his political muscle and got the selectmen to move South Street eastward off his property to its current location.

That is why Medfield does not have the perfect east-west / north-south intersection. Years later, Pleasant Street was laid out and became a town street (at first known as Zion’s Way).

This article is part one of a two-part series that looks at the changes in Medfield’s Center over the years. This week, we will look at the north side of Main Street in Medfield Center.

 In the beginning, there was the Ralph Wheelock homestead at the west corner of Main and North Streets. In 1888, John A.S. Monks, the local artist, married into the Thayer family who at the time owned the property and it is he who built the present Monks’ Block in front of the Old Wheelock House.

Today, houses , Hurley-Testa Construction and on the first floor. Currently owned by Etta Maloney, the upper floors contain apartments and the Grand Hall, at one time the meeting place of the International Order of Odd Fellows. Due to zoning, fire and parking regulations, the hall today is not used but is still up there in all its splendor.

The Wheelock house itself was torn down in 1923 by then owner George Sauer. Today, the area where the house was located is the parking lot behind Monks’ Block. On the east corner of Main and North Streets, for much of our history, was the “The Old Corner Store.” It was located where the Mobil Gas Station is today, replacing a long low narrow store.

This original store was cut in half and moved to 13 and 17 South St., where they are today. A hall was later built over the Old Corner Store. Here, lectures and dances took place and famous abolitionists came to speak against the horrors of slavery. Later owned by Isaac Fiske, the hall was divided into bed rooms, which were rented out.

In 1866, Fiske took Julius Augustus Fitts into the store business and later made him partner. When Fiske retired, Fitts took over the store. In 1888, he built an addition of two stores and added a third floor to the main building. At age 100, Fitts was Medfield’s last surviving Civil War Veteran. 

The Old Corner Store was torn down in 1935, while the one-story addition remained until the 1960’s. The A&P grocery store, Alfred’s Barber Shop and a beauty parlor were the last businesses to be located in the addition before it was torn down. The site of the Old Corner Store became a gas station, at first known as the Socony Gas Station, today’s Mobil. The current Mobil is in the process of closing and the lot will once again go up for sale.

On the ground of today’s stood the original house of the town’s first minister, Rev. John Wilson. It later was turned into a tavern owned by James Clark.

It was 60 feet long with a porch in front. At the west end was the tavern/dining room and at the east end were the sheds for the horses. Medfield was on the Hartford-to-Boston Stagecoach route and all stages stopped here for a change of horses and dining for the passengers.

The coming of the stages was announced by bugle, half a mile away, so that there would be no delay. Over the dining room was a hall. When the Town Hall was built in 1872, the old tavern was dismembered. One section was moved to 53-55 Brook St., until it was recently torn down. One part was moved to the corner of Oak and South Street, where it was a dwelling until it burnt.

One section was moved to 18 Green St., where it still stands today. Unfortunately, Town Hall burnt down twice, once in 1874, just two years after being built and again in 1923. In 1874, it was rebuilt in the same style, with the steep slate roof and tower. In 1923, in order to save money, the steep roof and tower were not replaced.

Instead, a flat roof was put on Town Hall. During the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, the upstairs hall and balcony were leased out as a movie theater. In 1994, the Town embarked on a major renovation of the building, including redesigning and rebuilding the interior; inserting a third floor in the old Chenery Hall space for the school department’s central offices; converting the ground floor, which had formerly occupied the fire department and the highway department, into office space; adding an elevator tower; and restoring the roof to the original steep design. The renovations were completed and the Town Hall re-dedicated in September of 1998.

The trolley went through Medfield Center from 1899 until it was put out of business by the automobile in 1924. It ran from Dedham to Medfield and from Medfield Center out to Millis, Medway and on to Mendon to the west and Franklin and Rhode Island to the south. Two tracks were built in front of town hall. One track was a short turn off so the trolleys could pass each other in opposite directions.

Ord’s Block was first erected in the fall of 1882. Today the block, on the corner of Main Street and Janes Avenue in Medfield Center, is known as the building that houses .

For generations who grew up in Medfield, from the Great Depression until just recently, it was . For those who grew up in Medfield in the 1930’s and 40’s, in addition to Wills Hardware, it was also the home of Clover Farm Milk and Bread Store, Allan’s newspaper store, called The Paper Store and Allan’s Insurance, which was located in the back room of The Paper Store. Officially, it is called Ord’s Block.

First erected in the fall of 1882, the Block housed T.C. Wood & Company, which sold dry goods, boots and shoes. The main tenant was owner James Ord.

Ord had one of the largest stocks of stoves, furniture, hardware and crockery in the area. In the winter of 1883-1884, the upper floor was actually used as an indoor skating rink. Just seven years after Ord’s Block opened, it was totally destroyed by a massive fire that swept through the entire Block. The building’s value, at the time, was estimated at $3,500. Loss was total and the general feeling was that the fire started from the coal stove on the first floor.

The Block was re-built and the present building you see today was completed in 1891. The current three-story building again opened with James Ord’s furniture, stoves and hardware business as the main tenant. The front of the building has always faced Janes Avenue and Town Hall. It was not until the late 1940’s when the Norfolk County Trust Bank became a tenant and added the addition on the Main Street side of the building that the block had an entrance that faced south, opposite .

Alexander and Marguerite Allan bought the Block in the late 1930’s and opened The Paper Store. The store had total rights and a monopoly on the sale of all newspapers in Medfield. The newspapers arrived from Boston on the early bus Monday through Saturday and were picked up by the Allans to be sold at the store. In addition to the newspapers, The Paper Store sold stationary, candy, wallets, magazines, tobacco products etc.

At the time, fireworks were legal in Massachusetts and during the Fourth of July, The Paper Store attached a small shack to the Main Street side of the building.

Here, fireworks, sparklers, cherry bombs, etc. were sold for the locals to celebrate our nation’s independence. After the death of Alexander Allan in 1943, Mrs. Allan continued the business for several years before selling the newspaper business and rights to Bill Alley, who then sold the papers from his store in the Alley Block on Janes Avenue.  

Wills Hardware then expanded the hardware store into the area formerly occupied by Clover Farm and The Paper Store. Wills also added a one-story, flat-roof addition to the north end of the Block.

In the late 1940’s, Medfield saw its largest bank open, when The Norfolk County Trust Company opened a branch bank and for the first time there was a business in Ord’s Block facing Main Street. Recently, Wills Hardware moved to West Street and Master’s Touch became Ord Block’s new business.

Log on to Medfield Patch next week for a look at the south side of Main Street.