The Mansfield Historical Society will be posting a photographic series titled “Lost Mansfield” to both our web site and our Facebook page.

It will showcase some of the historic houses, public buildings, mills, and other structures that have disappeared from Mansfield’s landscape. Many were lost to fire or torn down when they became derelict. Others were razed to make way for expansion of the university campus, construction of the Mansfield Hollow Dam, or other development projects. On the 1869 map of Mansfield alone, nearly 200, or 40%, of the structures identified are now gone.

The buildings that will be highlighted in our series are but the “tip of the iceberg”.

This series will include a brief history of each property shown, along with historic photographs from our collection. Volunteers are also photographing the sites where many of these lost buildings once stood. The photographers are David Landry, Kathryn Myers, and Bruce and Donna Clouette.

The series begins September 28 with the 18th century Farwell house that stood at the intersection of what is now Horsebarn Hill Road and Route 195. It was not the most historic or architecturally significant structure in Mansfield, but its loss was among the most controversial.

This series is made possible by a Capacity Building Grant from The Last Green Valley, Inc.

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