Introduction

The latter half of the 20th Century represented a transition of Walpole from an active industrial center to a suburban bedroom community for the thriving economic expansion that took hold in the Greater Boston metropolitan area.  Like much of the country, the town experienced explosive growth in the 30 years following the end of War War 2 as a wave of Baby Boomers swept the nation, and locally left an enduring footprint on the town.  This growth was followed by a period of stabilization and reconfiguration into the 1980s, and a subsequent resurgence toward the end of the century as the Baby Boomers began to have families of their own.  Many of the marks that defined this era continue to impact the town as it again adapts to the new demands of the 21st Century.

1950

POPULATION:  9,109

HOUSES:  2,056

• Second largest industrial town in Massachusetts.

SCHOOLS

• 104 graduates from Walpole High School.  A record-high 28 enrolled in college.
  • Historical Note:  From 1910-1920, approximately 2/3 of WHS students went to college.  During the Great Depression, that rate dropped to 10-25%.

• Junior High School (Grades 7-8) distributed across classrooms at Bird Elementary (on Washington Street, now Washington Green condominiums), Plimpton, and Walpole High School buildings.

• New Stone School opens in September 1950:

• Number of classrooms and students by grade in each school across the school system.  (Note:  Half-classes means multiple grades shared same classroom.)

BUSINESS

• Partial listing of active business licenses:

•   Al's Lunch
•   Brick Tap
•   Camelio's Central Package Store
•   Dalton's Package Store
•   Doug's Do-Nut Shop
•   Dudie's Restaurant
•   East Walpole Athletic Club
•   East Walpole Bowladrome
•   East Walpole Package Store
•   Elite Theater
•   Fred C. Brown
•   Gulf Station
•   Howard Johnson
•   Italian American Club
•   Karol's Cafe
•   Kendall Mills
•   New Echo
•   Park Snack Bar
•   Park Theater
•   Red Wing
•   Sargent's Cafe
•   Schreiter's Market
•   Steve's Barber Shop
•   Taylor's Restaurant
•   Ten Pin
•   Town Club
•   Walpole Diner
•   Walpole Tap Grille

EVENTS

• Epiphany Church in downtown Walpole hosts its second annual Walpole Village Fair, following its inaugural event in 1949.  The event continues to the present day.

RESIDENTAL / CONSTRUCTION

• The Veterans' Housing Project (originally named 'Robinwood') consisting of 45 single family homes constructed between Robbins Road and Pemberton Street in North Walpole.  Concurrently, Pemberton Street was extended past Robbins Road, and Robbins Road was extended from the current site of the VFW out to Elm Street (Route 27).  Average rent for first inhabitants was $38/month.  Below is an aerial view looking northeast from Robbins Road.

1951

POPULATION:  9,680 (est)

HOUSES:  2,221

• First year of organized Little League baseball in Walpole
•   Baseball diamond installed behind New Stone School

• Grades 5-6 at Old Fisher School moved to New Stone School.

• Mr. Arthur Willey appointed Supervisor of Music.

1952

POPULATION:  10,080 (est)

HOUSES:  2,345

• Baseball diamond constructed behind Old Fisher School.

1953

POPULATION:  10,470 (est)

HOUSES:  2,476 

 

SCHOOLS

• Mr. Alfred Lazzeri appointed head of Art Department
• Walpole High School wins state hockey championship

1954

POPULATION:  11,130 (est)

HOUSES:  2,670

 

SCHOOLS

• Expanding school population requires renovation and re-opening of five classrooms at Old Stone School, which had been closed in 1950 upon completed construction of the New Stone School.  Four classrooms are for Grades 7-8 and one for 5th Grade.

• Walpole's "Junior High School" (Grades 7-8) now split between Old Stone and High School buildings.

1955

POPULATION:  11,293

HOUSES:  2,754

• 16" of rain falls from the remnants of Hurricane Diane, causing tremendous flooding and damage across town.

Major flooding in downtown Walpole, August 1955
Top Left:  East Street, Musto's Barber Shop in left background.
Bottom Left:  Looking south on Main Street from corner of East/Main.
Top Right:  Map of rainfall from Hurricane Diane.
(click photos to enlarge)

SCHOOLS

• Two major school construction projects are completed
• New Fisher School built on Gould Street
•  New wing added to Walpole High School

• School Department switches from 6-2-4 grade alignment (elementary/junior-high/senior-high) to 6-3-3 alignment
• J. Chauncey Smith hired as 9th grade teacher.
• Number of classrooms and students by grade in each school across the school system.  (Note:  Half-classes means multiple grades shared same classroom.)
• Note Baby Boom demographic bubble in Grades 1-4, primarily born 1946-1949.

*Junior high school student distribution between Old Stone and WHS estimated

Walpole High School East Wing Addition - 1955

1956

POPULATION:  11,680 (est)

HOUSES:  2,848

 

• Town government appoints first Permanent Building Committee 
• Changes to the downtown area include construction of New England Telephone Building at the corner of Stone and School Streets, and major renovation and remodeling to Norfolk County Trust (current Bank of America) and Gove (current Herb Lewis Agency) buildings

Left:  New England Telephone Building.  (Note classic style "phone booth" in front on Stone Street.)
Right:  Norfolk County Trust Company

SCHOOLS

• John F. Powers takes over as superintendent of Walpole School System
• In light of expanding school population resulting from post-WW2 Baby Boom, School Committee identifies need for and proposes:
• New elementary school in the vicinity of High Plain Street
• New Junior High school in the vicinity of High Plain Street
• Renovation to Bird Elementary School on Washington Street

1957

POPULATION:  12,240 (est)

HOUSES:  2,986

Recent photo of July 4th Eve celebration

• Walpole celebrates Independence Day with a "Night Before the 4th" fireworks display, which would become the town's signature event for more than half a century, continuing to the present day.
• Severe drought impacts Northeast U.S. with only 4" or rain falling in Walpole from June through September
• Proposal for a new parochial school in Walpole presents a challenge for School Committee in planning future building and teacher needs
• Boston Edison (now Eversource) constructs a new service headquarters on Main Street at the corner of Kendall Street

Boston Edison Service Headquarters

Blackburn Hall, with Old Stone School in right background, and New Stone School in left background

Busy swim pond at Bird Park, Summer 1957

Walpole Town Street Map, 1957

Sectional Maps:  Click to enlarge for detail and rotate as necessary.  [These have been re-oriented with North to top of page.]

Walpole Center

East Walpole

North Walpole

West/South Walpole

1958

POPULATION:  12,620 (est)

HOUSES:  3,077

 

SCHOOLS 

• Town purchases 21 acres from Bird family for planned construction of East Junior High School
• New teacher appointment James Quinn (Junior High math)

BUILDINGS

• Walpole Cooperative Bank moves into re-modeled former telephone building on Main Street at the corner of Stone Street

•  Walpole Footlighters drama organization opens theater on Polly Lane

• Town sells 62 acres in the Cedar Juncion area (Main Street, South Walpole) to Edgewood Properties for development of an industrial park.
• Park Department requests power mower to attach to tractor to expedite mowing of town land.

1959

POPULATION:  13,010 (est)

HOUSES:  3,174

•  As the decade comes to a close, Walpole undergoes a major downtown modernization

Betro's Pharmacy and Central Package on Main Street

• A&P grocery store (current site of CVS) begins construction.  The nearby buildings known as the Edgewood Plaza are also under construction, and a large adjacent parking lot is installed.
• Across Main Street, the Atlantic gas and service station opens (current location of Ritz Nails)
•  Betro's Pharmacy opens at newly constructed building on Main Street; Camelio's Central Package occupies adjacent store
•  A major renovation and remodeling take place at the Epiphany Church, future longtime host of the Walpole Village Fair

• Highway Bowl-A-Way opens in East Walpole on Route 1, across the street from the current Walpole Mall

• Walpole School Committee votes to build new East Junior High School on the land purchased between Washington Street and East Street.

Architectural drawing for planned "East Junior High School"

Henry P. Kendall

• Henry P. Kendall, patriarch owner of Kendall Mills which employed thousands of Walpole residents over many decades, passes away, leaving the town with a gift of $50,000.
• Joseph S. Leach passes away, leaving $121,000 to create an annual memorial scholarship fund for Walpole High School graduates attending college.  The fund is intended to be sufficient to cover the cost of annual tuition.

1960

POPULATION:  14,068

HOUSES:  3,409

 

• Work started on Little League ball field at Memorial Pond Park (originally Central Field, now Joe Morgan Field)

BUSINESS 

• Construction of A&P grocery store (current location of CVS Main Street)
• Three additional stores would be built in the shopping area near A&P, which would be referred to as the "Edgewood Shopping Plaza". 
  
• Three new business ventures announced:
• Expansion of Kendall Mills South Street plant
• Ground breaking of Fernandes Shopping Center on Main Street (current 1A Marketplace housing Rocky's Ace Hardware, etc.)
• Ground breaking of Hollywood Lanes (bowling) at the intersection of Routes 1 and 27 (current location of Walmart).  Hockey rink also planned for the same location. 

  

1st of 3 new buildings to join A&P in the Edgewood Plaza Shopping Center on Main Street

New apartments at 175 Common Street

Eldor Apartments, 516 Main Street next to Cobb's Pond

SCHOOLS

• School Committee requests committee be appointed to oversee building of addition onto Boyden Elementary 
• New teacher hires include Esther Camelio (4th Grade Math, Fisher School) and Charles Cinto (Junior High Science)
•  Number of classrooms and students by grade in each school across the school system:

1961

POPULATION:  14,257

HOUSES:  3,467

• Construction is completed on the Little League baseball field at Memorial Pond Park (Central Field, now Joe Morgan Field).  A full size baseball diamond is also built at Turco Field
• Town garage for housing DPW equipment is constructed on Washington Street.
• Walpole Conservation Commission is established.

 BUSINESS

• Hollywood Lanes opens at the corners of Route 1 and 27 (current Walmart location)
• Fernandes Supermarket opens on Main Street (current 1A Marketplace)
• The second building in the Edgewood Plaza opens on Main Street, home to several stores, and adjacent to newly opened "Dixon's 5 and 10 Cent Store" (current Conrad's Restaurant location)

Fernandes Supermarket construction completed in 1961

The second of three new buildings in "Edgewood Plaza" on Main Street

SCHOOLS

• East Junior High School opens on Washington Street
• Historical Note:  The school is purposely built on the east side of town instead of a more central location, in anticipation of a second junior high school being built on the west side of town in accordance with the town's Master Plan developed in the mid-1950s
• First principal is long time Walpole school administrator Leonard Downs 

• Walpole High School
• A record 62% of Walpole High School graduates plan to attend college
• School adds foreign language laboratory
• Francis Foley hired as math teacher

1962

POPULATION:  14,415

HOUSES:  3,560

• Park Theater in East Walpole closes, and re-opens as home to Peggy Lawton's Kitchens.
• New Echo Inn at south end of downtown is replaced by Walpole Arena, which hosts wrestling matches on Saturday evenings.
• Clark's Pond (Stone Street) and surrounding land is purchased by the town per recommendation of the newly minted Walpole Conservation Commission

SCHOOLS

New high school science teacher Tom Brown, with students
Kevin Dillon, Paul Deeley, and Gregg Ferrara

• Anticipation of continued explosive growth in the school population reinforces ongoing concern regarding classroom capacity.
• School Committee notes stark difference between class size of graduating seniors (153 students) and incoming first graders (449 students)
• Glut of elementary school students requires move of three elementary classes to high school, and seven to recently opened East Junior High School
• Construction begins on addition to Boyden Elementary School
• New school teacher hires include George Collins (elementary school music), Peter Paglari (high school Spanish) and Tom Brown (high school science)

1963

POPULATION:  15,500

HOUSES:  3,667

Skating at Memorial Pond

• Town purchases Cobb's Pond and surrounding land at recommendation of Walpole Conservation Commission.
• Sharon Country Day Camp opens at end of Common Street near Route 1.

SCHOOLS 

• New addition complete at Boyden Elementary School
• Work started on new Old Post Road Elementary School
• School Committee agrees to move forward quickly on building of second junior high school on Robbins Road
• Walpole High School hockey program experiences continued success, capturing third state title
• New teachers at Walpole High School include Arthur Hull, Ray Valaitis, Paul Wendler, and James Lind

Graduation exercises for Walpole High School Class of 1963

1964

POPULATION:  15,600

HOUSES:  3,786

• Explosive town growth is the feature topic of the 1964 Walpole Town Report 

BUSINESS

Herb Lewis

• Four Seasons Arena skating rink opens at the corner of Routes 1 and 27 (current Walmart location) alongside Hollywood Lanes
• Phillips 66 gas station opens on Main Street (current location of Triton Car Wash)
• Peggy Lawton's Kitchens is re-built after major fire
• Active citizen and businessman Herb W. Lewis dies

Four Seasons Arena

Phillips 66 gas station on Main Street

Superintendent John Powers and Principal Harold
Varney greet students at the ribbon ceremony for
the opening of Old Post Elementary School

SCHOOLS

• Old Post Road Elementary School opens.  Double sessions are held at Bird Elementary until November opening date
• School Department continues to juggle classroom space with expanding school population
• Three North Walpole 6th grade classess moved to East Jr. High
•  One Plimpton School 6th grade class moved to Boyden Elementary
• School principals Leonard Down (East Junior High) and John McGovern (Walpole High) retire
• Ernest Camelio takes over at East Jr.; Wayne Stacy at the high school
• New hires at Walpole High School include Richard Schnorbus (English/Journalism)

1965

POPULATION:  16,390

HOUSES:  3,891

• A historic electrical blackout on November 9 leaves 30 million people in the Northeast U.S. and Canada in darkness for up to 13 hours.
• Interstate 95 opens near Route 1, positioning Walpole for continued commercial and residential growth.
• Rental houses in Robinwood (Walpole Veterans Housing Project built in 1950) sold to private individuals, with present tenants given first option to buy.
• A reference to the the "Night Before the Fourth" event, now in its 9th year of celebration, appears for the first time in the annual town report, where it is described as a "huge success, as usual".  The description of the event is remarkably similar to its present-day characteristics.

Fire Department description of the 9th Annual "Night Before the Fourth" celebration

BUSINESS

• The Golden Steer Restaurant opens on Route 1.
• Edgewood Travel opens on Main Street in downtown Walpole.
• Smith's Gulf Station at the corner of East and Main in downtown Walpole (current location Santander Bank) celebrates its 25th Anniversary.
• The third and final building in the Edgewood Shopping Center opens across the parking lot from A&P (now CVS).  It's cornerstone business "Friendly's" (current location of Supreme Pizza) would open shortly thereafter, and become the town's iconic teenager hangout for a decade.

Smith's Gulf Station at corner of East and Main in downtown Walpole

Third new building (in addition to A&P) added to the Edgewood Shopping Center
in downtown Walpole.  It would soon thereafter be home to iconic "Friendly's".

SCHOOLS

• The school population boom continues to stress classroom capacity, in spite of the construction of four new school buildings and two major additions in a span of just 15 years. The town is now operating six full elementary schools, plus additional classes in the Old Fisher and Old Stone buildings, and yet 27 elementary classrooms exceed the desired 30-student limit established by the school committee.
• 211 students seniors graduate from Walpole High School, with 150 (70%) planning to continue their education.  470 new first graders enter the school system to take their place.
• Fisher School principal Edith Adams retires after serving Walpole schools for 30 years.
• New hires at Walpole High School include French teachers Floy Miller and Charlotte Cole.



Tree-planting ceremony at New Fisher School
to honor Edith Adams

• Ground is broken for construction of the town's first private parochial elementary school at Blessed Sacrament Parish.

Architectural drawing of new elementary school planned for Blessed Sacrament.

School system classroom and population distribution by grade.

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