LEVERETT — In a town founded two years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, around 55 properties, including homes, cemeteries and stone walls, already existed during the American Revolution.
To recognize those properties and the built environment that has witnessed the entirety of the 250 years of the United States, the Historical Commission is working with residents to unveil “Witness to History” lawn signs that will give visitors to town a better sense of Leverett’s long history and its connections to American history.
Susan Mareneck, who chairs the Historical Commission, said the initiative is a way to thank those who care for historic structures that embody town history.
The properties that qualify, she said, are listed in the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System, or MACRIS. About 20 property owners have chosen to participate, and signs are in the midst of being installed.
The signs read “Witness To History,” with the official MA250 logo, provided by the state, and a depiction of the 18th-century Leverett Congregational Church parsonage still standing near Leverett Pond, in the heart of the community.
The commission earlier this year sent a letter to those who own properties that existed in the “Founding Period,” up to 1800, inviting them to place a small lawn sign in their yard or along the road, wherever it would best be seen during this semiquincentennial year.
That letter read, “Thank you for taking care of a piece of Leverett’s history. Every day you are maintaining the lineage of connection to our collective past.” It went on to note, “the continued existence of traditional materials and structures that reflect the heritage of European cultures as they adapted to the realities of the new world, are their own testament to the human spirit of invention and will to survive.”
The commission also observes that the project will be “a thread of connection, a shared history, both seen and unseen. To reweave that thread and make it visible, the ‘Witness To History’ project aspires to find ways to retell that story to enrich our shared appreciation for the families who came before and to inspire those who will come after to make their
unique contribution. We hope that by looking at familiar landscapes through
a new lens, we can share Leverett’s continuously unfolding 250-year narrative of a hardworking and diverse populace with both visitors and adjacent communities.”
