Dighton Historical Society

Dighton Historical Society Keeping and sharing the history of Dighton, MA.

05/27/2026

The following two houses are part of the Dighton Historical Society's upcoming Historic House and Garden Tour which will take place on June 27th (rain date is June 28th) from Noon to 5 PM.

The first home was built in 1922-1923. In 1920, J.K. Milliken, owner of Mt. Hope Finishing Company hired the historic landscape design firm Frederick Law Olmsted Landscape Architect to layout and design the village of North Dighton. The streets and green spaces were part of his plan. Mr. Milliken built 4 houses for family members including their garden designs. He also built many homes for employees of Mt. Hope Finishing Company. Our house was built for C.A. Milliken, his brother. At one point, the North Dighton village was considered one of the most attractive mill towns in the country. The plans and photos of the village and houses built are in the Historic Olmsted Archives in Brookline, MA. The garden and house will be open for the tour.

The second house we are highlighting today: In 2015 my husband Michel, my daughter Savannah and I moved into our home. We purchased this home from Jennifer and Joseph Dupont during the beautiful month of October 2015. Everything this home had to offer lined up with what we were looking for. It sits on a few acres of land with beautiful surrounding views of neighboring properties, particularly Green Acres with its many untouched natural habitats, including 100+ year old trees. The interior of the house boasts charming period details reminding those who visit of the craftsmanship and stylistic elegance of the era. One of our favorite architectural exterior features is the four posts of Victorian style wooden lattice that support the porch, providing the house with a statement of uniqueness. Despite the impressive architectural details, the vintage charm of our home inflicts a warm feeling of being at home to all who visit. The garden and house will be open for the tour.

Tickets are $25.00 and include a 20% coupon from Araujo Farms good from July 5th to August 31st. Tickets are available at Araujo Farms or by calling Chris at 774-872-3008, payable by cash or check.

05/25/2026

The Dighton Historucal Society will be open Thursday, May 28th, from 9 AM to 11:30 AM.

Tickets for the Historic Home and Garden Tour
which will be held on June 27th (rain date June 28th) will be available. They are $25.00 which includes a 20% discount coupon from Araujo Farms. Cash or check please.

Chris

05/19/2026

With the Dighton Historical Society's Annual Strawberry Festival being held.on June 13th, the article below speaking to Strawberry growing in Dighton explains how important the Strawberry was to our town.

Shortly after 1860, the culture of the Strawberry was introduced into Dighton. The late Daniel Chase, his son, Honorable C. S. Chase (who was a Massachusetts State Senator) and Dexter Pierce were among the first, if not the first, producers in Dighton. Other farmers began to grow them, and soon, the farming of strawberries had spread over the whole town.

In the early days strawberry raising was immensely profitable. The name "Dighton" in the Boston market was above the ordinary, and sometimes was displayed for advertising purposes over fruit that came from other places.

A long train, fifteen carloads of berries from Dighton and Somerset left the Dighton station every evening during the height of the growing season, which was from the last week in May through most of June. Wagons loaded with crates of berries usually waited in line well up the length of Main Street, to be loaded on the train, which ran where the Dighton Hardware Store is located today. Elaine Varley, Town Historian, tell the story her father, Leland Bullard told her about how he picked berries for two cents a box, and one day picked 200 boxes, quite a record at the time. Workers were given tags to put in each box they picked, and later on, Elaine remembers working with other girls to sort the tags of each picker so they could be paid.

As the years went by, and more shipments were going to Boston from other places, it was thought that the profitable business of strawberries would decrease, but other markets besides Boston were found, and by 1912, production was probably larger than at any other time since berries were grown in Dighton.

In the 50 years from the1860's to 1912, strawberries were the chief crop grown in Dighton and they brought an enormous amount of money into the town. A glance at our Town Seal will show the high regard in which the meek and lowly Strawberry is held in Dighton.

Information taken from the Bi-Centennial book published in 1912 and the History of Dighton written by Helen Lane in 1962.

Chris Pacheco

05/18/2026

As we approach the Historic House and Garden tour on June 27th, we are going to post those properties that are part of the tour. We will begin with one of the three J.K.Milliken properties that are part of the tour. If you are interested in attending the tour, tickets are $25.00 and can be purchased at Araujo's Farm or contact Chris Pacheco at 774-872-3008. Each ticket comes with a 20% discount coupon for Araujo's Farm.

Green Acres was completed in 1923 by Joseph Knowles Milliken, as the manor house for the Mount Hope Finishing Company, to move his family closer to the mill. A significant part of the exterior was designed by the Olmsted firm famous for many parks and gardens in the US. The firm also created the layout for many streets and drives in the developing area of North Dighton including the multiple public greens in the neighborhood and by the mill.
At Green Acres there was significant stone work to create the formal gardens deigned and supervised by Olmsted’s firm. The beech trees to the west and the cedar trees in the formal gardens, also part of the original plan, are all reaching the end of their natural lives, and there are plans underway to replace them. One interesting thing about landscape architecture versus building architecture is that the very structure, when it is large vegetation, is in flux.
The original koi pond was smaller and seasonal, and its fountain now serves as bird bath in the herb garden and lilac nook to the east of the house. But the formal garden bed shapes remain true to the original. Over the years, after JK and his second wife Gertrude Cornish Milliken had both died, the house was left to his youngest daughter Ruth Milliken FitzGerald who immediately passed it to her oldest daughter Helen FitzGerald Cserr. Since then her daughter, Ruth Milliken Cserr a landscape architect, has taken over the property so it still remains in the family.
Since 1970 Helen’s family maintained and expanded the gardens and reworked the driveway and garage area to the east of the kitchen entrance. There are new plantings in that area including large concrete container gardens with deer resistant perennials and a large assortment of trees many of which are magnolias. Dr. Robert Cserr was particularly fond of magnolias. He also was an ardent rose lover as the formal garden’s deigned beds still attest.
Please feel free to walk the gardens, rest on the back deck, or stroll the mowed paths around the large meadows. And Ruth should be available to answer questions.

05/18/2026

The Dighton Historical Society will be open Thursday, May 21st from 9 AM to 11:30 AM.

05/17/2026

The Dighton Historical Society would like to express its thanks and appreciation to Under The Sun, Araujos, Home Depot and all our many friends who once again divided plants and donated them for the sale.

All of you contributed to a successful plant sale and help us keep our Winslow-Davis Museum open and keeping Dighton's history available to all.

Thanks Again,
Chris Pacheco

05/12/2026

The Dighton Historical Society will be open Thursday, May 14th, from 9 AM to 11:30 AM.

Please join the Dighton Historical Society 's annual plant sale this Saturday, May 16th, 9 to 1.In memory of a former me...
05/12/2026

Please join the Dighton Historical Society 's annual plant sale this Saturday, May 16th, 9 to 1.In memory of a former member, Wesley Hathaway, we again will have a generous amount of tomato plants along with many other plants. Hope to see you Saturday.

05/04/2026

The Dighton Historical Society will be open on Thursday, May 7th from 9 AM to Noon.

We have tickets available for sale for our Historic House and Garden Tour taking place on June 27th (rain date 6/28). They are $25.00 each and come with a coupon from Araujo Farms for 20% off good from July 5th to August 31st. You don't want to miss this! Cash or checks accepted.

04/28/2026

The Dighton Historical Society is pleased to highlight some of our upcoming events:

5/16/26 our Plant Sale from 9 AM To 1 PM is being held at the Society. We will have a wide variety of plants for sale donated by businesses and residents in town. If you would like to donate plants, call Pat at 401-418-0699. Please label them.

5/30/26 from noon to 5 PM we have a table at the Lion's Cow Chip Festival at town hall. We will be selling tee shirts, cookbooks and we will also be selling our Historlc Home and Garden tickets also.

6/9/26 at 6 PM we are doing a Pollinator Pot Fundraiser at Araujo's.

6/13/26 from 11 AM To 3 PM we will be having our Annual Strawberry Shortcake Festival. We will be selling shortcakes, there will be vendor tables, music and activities for children. Hot dogs and drinks will be sold by the Lions Club. Historic Home and Garden tickets will also be sold.

6/27/26 from Noon to 5PM (6/28 rain date) we will be enjoying our Historic House and Garden Tour. This event highlights 8 gardens in Dighton, 5 of which will have their homes open also. The properties span the 18th, 19th and 20th century. This is truly a very special event. Also, our friends at Araujo's have generously donated a 20% discount coupon with each ticket. Tickets can be purchased at Araujo's or call Chris at 774-872-3008.

10/11/26 at the Lions Club Arts Festival we will have a table featuring our historic memorabilia.

We hope you come and enjoy this year's activities.

Chris Pacheco

Address

1217 Williams Street
Dighton, MA
02715

Opening Hours

9am - 12pm

Telephone

+15086696888

Website

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