A walk around the block doubles as a history lesson

Jun 15, 2019

MARION — Town resident Sandria Parsons was on her way to the post office when she stumbled upon a crowd gathering to take a walking tour of her neighborhood.

It was Sippican Historical Society treasurer Judy Rosbe and a 32 person group (including Parsons, who joined). Rosbe led the history enthusiasts from the museum at 141 Front Street down to the waterfront on Main Street, and back up South Street to the Marion General Store on Front Street, across from the museum.

Much of Rosbe’s tour focused on the historic homes in town. She explained that there are three main styles of houses in the neighborhood. The greek revival style features columns and other ornamentation associated with classic greek architecture, the Cape Cod style features a one to one and a half level structure with a central chimney. Federal style homes are square or rectangular in design, and are usually two to three level structures with little to no ornamentation.

Parsons has lived in her South Street home since 1970. The greek-style building was built sometime between 1830 and 1850 and was once owned by George L. Luce, the proprietor of the Marion General Store in the early 1900s.

Parsons invited the tour group to the home’s backyard to see her garden. Parsons has had the garden for 25 years and worked on it earlier in the morning. The tour happened to coincide with her 77th birthday, and she said the opportunity to show off her garden felt like an unexpected birthday present.

The crowd also visited the backyard of 14 Main Street to view the town’s first school house, where Elizabeth Taber taught. Karilon Grainger of Marion said she used to babysit for the Coburn family that lived there in the early 1960s. She said the tour brought back wonderful memories of a wonderful town.

Along the trip, Judy Rosbe told the crowd that presidents Grover Cleveland and Franklin Delano Roosevelt spent time in Marion. Cleveland spent the four summers in-between his two non-consecutive terms fishing in the town harbor, and FDR swam in the same waters for physical therapy to combat polio.

The tour is part of Healthy Tri-Town Coalition’s efforts to foster a sense of connectedness for community members of all ages. Co-founder Elise Frangos said the coalition was founded in response to a 2015 survey that showed that substance abuse, mental health, and difficulties forming healthy relationships are some of the biggest challenges facing tri-town youth.

Similar tours will be held at the Mattapoisett Historical Society Museum on Saturday, June 22, and in Rochester at Plumb Corner on Saturday, June 29. Both tours will start at 10 a.m.