The Berkley Historical Society

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The Berkley Historical Society

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The Berkley Historical Society works to preserve the unique history of Berkley, Massachusetts. Preserving and Sharing the history of Berkley, Massachusetts.

10/20/2026

Monday Moments from the Museum…

Mike Lucas gave an informative talk about one of our very own Berkley heroes.

Hollis E. Jennings (WWII Veteran): A resident of Berkley who enlisted in the U.S. Navy in April 1941 at just 17 years old. He was stationed on the USS Pelias at Pearl Harbor and survived the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941.

You can see these artifacts and much more at the museum every Tuesday from 10-1.

10/12/2026

Monday Moments from the Museum…

Our dedicated volunteer Elwell Perry, who has worked tirelessly on our extensive military displays, gave us new insight into the military career of Berkley’s own Levi Langton Crane during his lecture this past Sunday at Dighton Rock State Park.

Crane is a highly celebrated local historic figure from Berkley, Massachusetts, who served as a Union soldier during the American Civil War.

Rather than passing down only stories, Corporal Crane personally preserved and donated his entire war kit to the town. Today, his collection serves as one of the hallmark features of Berkley's local heritage.

The Levi Crane Artifact Collection

For decades, his collection was cared for by local veterans and housed in the lower level of the local Carnegie library. It has since been relocated to the center of town. You can view the authentic, exceptionally well-preserved items at the Berkley Historical Society Museum, located in the Old Town Hall of 1849 right on the Town Common.

The permanent exhibit includes:
• His complete, authentic Union Army uniform and hat
• His military portrait
• His full soldier's kit and field accouterments
• Historical bullets and memorabilia from his time in service

The photos here tell more of his story. The Berkley Historical Society will be hosting this lecture in the near future so stay tuned.

In the meantime visit our wonderful museum every Tuesday from 10-1 to see this collection and so much more!

And next week we’ll talk about another Berkley hero, Hollis Jennings, brought to you by another one of our dedicated volunteers!

09/28/2026

Monday Moments from the Museum…

Did you know that Myricks was annexed from Taunton in 1879? This 1895 we have at the museum shows the area of Berkley that was still a part of Taunton for over 150 years after our founding in 1735!

Founding & Name: First settled around 1713, the small farming community was named after the Myrick family, who were among the earliest settlers in this pocket of Bristol County.

The Taunton Border Shift: Myricks was originally part of the City of Taunton, not Berkley. In 1878, the ~200 residents of Myricks petitioned to switch towns because Berkley's town center was much closer and offered easier access to local services and lower tax rates. Berkley residents voted to accept them, and Myricks was officially annexed to Berkley on April 12, 1879.

The Railroad Boom: In 1839, the arrival of the railroad transformed the quiet farming village into a bustling railway junction. The Myricks Station on the Fall River Railroad (later the Old Colony Railroad) connected major lines from Boston, Fall River, and New Bedford, making it a heavily trafficked stop for 19th-century vacationers.

The Bristol County Central Cattle Show: Thanks to its accessible train junction, Myricks hosted the massive Bristol County Agricultural and Cattle Show from 1858 to 1876. It featured a half-mile racetrack and massive exhibition halls, drawing thousands of visitors from across southeastern Massachusetts every autumn before the grounds were eventually sold off.

Myricks Today
While the tracks still run through the area, the historic train station and fairgrounds are gone. Today, the name is best recognized locally by Myricks Street (Route 79) and Myricks Airfield, a historic, public-use turf-runway airport preserved by a local foundation.

Always more to discover about the history of Berkley. Visit our museum every Tuesday 10-1!

09/21/2026

Monday Moments from the Museum…

There is always something new to discover at the museum. Did you have a stool like this in your home growing up?

This piece is an antique Egyptian Revival "Thebes" style saddle stool, likely dating from the late 19th century to early 20th century.

Key Features & Design StyleThebes Stool Design:

Popularized in Western Europe during the late Victorian and Edwardian eras by retailers like Liberty & Co., these stools were modeled directly after ancient Egyptian seating discovered in archaeological digs.

Curved Saddle Seat: The signature concave, slatted seat curves upward at the ends into prominent turned spindle handles or bolsters.

Leg and Frame Structure: It features deeply turned spindle (or bobbin) legs stabilized by an H-stretcher system, which is characteristic of the Jacobean and Egyptian revival trends of the period.

This beauty features some lovely carved details and may have had a leather or upholstered cover over the seat slats.

Join us each Tuesday 10-1!

09/17/2026

If you loved our 250th celebration or missed the great experience you’ll really enjoy this even bigger event in Dighton! Encampments and battles and much more!

Saturday & Sunday, September 26th & 27th

09/11/2026

Wonderful celebration today at Fox Cemetery in Berkley, MA. The S.A.R. marked the grave of Revolutionary War Soldier Elijah Briggs.

09/07/2026

Monday Moments from the Museum…

We’re so pleased to honor yet another Berkley hero. This new display features John William Barrow, Corporal in World War I. He was a bugler in Battery C 102nd Field Artillery. He is buried in the Fox cemetery and was the father of Jim Barrow former Berkley Fire Chief in the late 70's. Thank you to Elwell, Bruce and Mike for another wonderful tribute to one of Berkley’s own!

Stop by every Tuesday from 10-1!

08/31/2026

Monday Moments from the museum…

Today we feature three distinct types of antique wire kitchen tools.

Left Tool: This is an antique twisted wire bottle or lamp chimney cleaner, which was historically paired with a rag or cloth threaded through the loops to scrub inside narrow glassware.

Middle Tool: This is another variation of a heavy-wire kitchen grapple or bottle cleaning wand, featuring a long twisted handle designed to easily clean deep, hard-to-reach containers. These are particularly clever. You slide the loose, circular metal ring down the neck to squeeze the thin wire frame together. Sliding the ring back up allows the spring-wire "fingers" to expand outward, tightly gripping a cleaning rag so it can scrub the widening contours of a glass hurricane globe.

Right Tool: The tag on this piece says it is an antique oil lamp globe cleaner, designed with a sliding handle mechanism or elongated balloon shape used in late 19th and early 20th-century home. But research online suggests instead it is an antique wire coil cream whip or manual hand mixer/whisk. What do you think?

We have so many examples of the life. Necessity is the mother of invention and these clever designs did the job.

Maybe you still have one of these tools in the drawer, handed down over the generations! Visit Tuesdays 10-1.

08/24/2026

Monday Moments from the museum…

A few interesting examples of “remedies” from the 19th & early 20th century.

The antique amber glass medicine bottle with an intact paper label for "A. S. Maine's Alterative and Favorite Remedy," marketed in the 19th or early 20th century as a "Blood Purifier" and cure-all tonic.
* Product Type: 19th-to-early-20th-century patent medicine / proprietary tonic ("snake oil") sold for $1.25 per bottle.
* Claims on Label: Purports to prevent or treat serious conditions like cancers, tumors, ulcers, scrofula, and syphilis by "purifying the blood".
* Historical Context: Typical of era-specific cure-alls, these preparations often relied on laxatives, tonics, alcohol, or other unverified ingredients with no scientific basis for treating systemic diseases.

Also a rare late 19th-century aqua-tinted glass medicine bottle featuring an intact, historic paper label from "E. A. Pratt, Clairvoyant Physician," complete with dosage tracking lines and a rolled-lip top.
* Glass Type: Blown aqua/teal glass characteristic of patent and proprietary medicine bottles from the 1870s to 1890s.
* Inscribed Text: The label reads "Prepared by E. A. Pratt, Clairvoyant Physician," highlighting the era's alternative medicine movement where practitioners utilized supposed psychic or trance diagnoses.

And an antique turn-of-the-century medicine bottle from the late 19th or early 20th century for Syrup of Phosphoglycerate of Lime (Chapoteaut), formulated by Rigaud & Chapoteaut located at 8 Rue Vivienne in Paris, France.
The preparation was historically marketed as a mineral tonic and treatment for nervous exhaustion, neurasthenia, chlorosis, and anemia.
It features a paper label detailing dosage recommendations (two to four tablespoonfuls daily for adults) and a trademark eagle emblem with the phrase "Phosphoro Vires".

We have many more treasures to discover! Visit every Tuesday from 10-1.

Address

2 North Main Street
Berkley, MA
02779

Opening Hours

10am - 1pm

Telephone

+15082942600

Website

http://berkleyhistorical.org/

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