This now faded cream and green colored quilt was once bright and showy, with crisp white cotton, and bright lime-green flowers on a dark hunter-green background. The soft ivory with brown and tan accents may once have been striking purples or even reds. Now faded with time, this quilt’s history is a tangle of family … Continue reading Highlights of the AHS Quilt Collection – Part 2
In 1926, Mary Gage donated a large wool quilt to the Arlington Historical Society. Mary and her husband Alfred Payson Gage had moved to Arlington from New Hampshire early in their marriage, and lived just down the street from the Jason Russell house for years. The only information about the quilt is Mary’s short history … Continue reading Highlights of the AHS Quilt Collection – Part 1
Bedding and quilts in particular are an interesting way to imagine the everyday or perhaps rather “everynight” lives of people in our past. We all have blankets, bedding, quilts, comforters and afghans for all seasons for all of our beds. Usually only our closest family and friends come into our bedrooms or use our blankets. Peering … Continue reading Highlights of the AHS Quilt Collection – Introduction
A Kitchen with a Polka Dot Ceiling Visitors to the Jason Russell House often want to learn about the terrible battle that occurred there on April 19, 1775, and to scrutinize the musket ball holes still evident in some walls and the hall stair risers. But when they enter … Continue reading A Kitchen with a Polka Dot Ceiling
This is a guest post from Colleen Cunningham, one of our most experienced tour guides at the Jason Russell House. She talks about why she enjoys showing visitors around the house. Entertaining Jason Russell House visitors with stories of life in Menotomy (as Arlington was then called) is the most fun part of being a … Continue reading My Experience as a Tour Guide at the Jason Russell House
On Tuesday, June 24, 2015 Arlington residents were under a tornado watch until 11 p.m. Luckily the time passed without incident. There were at least two destructive tornadoes in 19th century Arlington; one in 1851 and another in 1871. Both tornadoes happened on hot August days. The 1851 tornado is described as more severe, and … Continue reading Tornadoes In Arlington
Pipe stems and bowls such as these are very common among finds at digs in the northeastern United States, given how common they were during the 17th, 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. They were made of kaolin, a type of clay that was pressed into a mold and sometimes stamped or decorated before being … Continue reading Clay Pipes from the Jason Russell House Archaeological Dig: March 1985
Many, many fragments of glass were found at the Jason Russell House dig, in all excavation locations. Glass doesn’t break down in soil easily, so it is among the most common kind of artifact found at archaeological digs in the northeast. The dig at the Jason Russell House yielded glass from window panes, beverage bottles, … Continue reading Glass Artifacts from the Jason Russell House Dig, March 1985
Robert Nylander published a report in 1964 that suggested that Jason Russell built the house in two stages: one part in 1740 and an addition around 1750, around the time of his marriage to Elizabeth Winship. Jason’s grandfather, also called Jason Russell, had built a house on the property too, coinciding approximately with his marriage … Continue reading What do we know about the construction of the Jason Russell House?
October is Massachusetts Archaeology Month! The Arlington Historical Society is celebrating in this space by revisiting the Jason Russell House’s own experience with archaeological excavations. Visitors often ask if any archaeological digs have taken place at the Jason Russell House. The answer is yes! Nearly thirty years ago, in March 1985, a team of archaeologists … Continue reading Archaeology at the Jason Russell House