Titus Pond an indicator for skating in North Attleborough – North Star Reporter

By Geena Monahan—For the North Star Reporter

Long earlier than organized rinks and indoor skating services, winter enjoyable in North Attleborough usually trusted chilly temperatures, thick ice – and a small pond on High Street recognized merely as Titus Pond. 

Though little formal documentation exists about when the pond itself was created, it sits on land deeply rooted to the city’s agricultural previous. Titus Pond lies inside the historic Codding Farm property at 217 High St., a virtually four-acre farmstead that dates again to the early nineteenth century and was preserved by the city in 2000.

According to documents from the Massachusetts Historical Commission, for a lot of the twentieth century the land was extensively referred to as the Titus Farm, named for the household who leased and labored the property for many years. 

Beginning round 1910, Hiram J. “Hi” Titus and his spouse Mabel ran the farm as a dairy operation, supplying milk to households all through North Attleborough for greater than 40 years. Under the Titus household’s care, the farm grew to become a well-recognized a part of each day life on the town – and the low-lying wetland space on the southeast nook of the property was a well-recognized winter gathering area. 

That space, remembered fondly by locals as Titus Pond, has served for generations as a pure skating rink the place neighborhood youngsters discovered to skate, households warmed up with scorching chocolate, and winter days stretched into nights underneath the glow of improvised fires.

Memories made on the pond

“I was always there,” mentioned Linda Muir-Cauley, who grew up on High Street. “We would skate all day and even at night. Adults would light metal trash cans for heat, and some parents would bring hot chocolate. It was a safe place for us and so much fun.”

Muir-Cauley recalled her mom stitching her a skirt so she may twirl on the ice – and having to come back fetch her when it was time to go house.

“As a kid growing up in the ‘50s, we made the best of each and every place to ice skate that we could. We would skate, play hockey, ice fish, and even wrap old sheets around hula hoops to use as sails. It was all fun that was free – kids didn’t have much money back then.”

-Bob McKeon

Elaine Paine discovered to skate on Titus Pond greater than 60 years in the past, when she was simply 7 or 8 years outdated. 

“My dad used to take me there,” Paine mentioned. “I loved the fact it was so close to home. Most everyone was friendly – except for a couple of kids who made fun of my double runners.”

The Titus household’s presence on the farm spanned practically half a century. Hiram Titus, alongside along with his brother John, operated the dairy properly into the Nineteen Forties, delivering milk first by horse-drawn wagon or sleigh in winter, and later by truck. Longtime residents recall milk deliveries made by a wide range of autos – together with, at occasions, a hearse or flower truck borrowed from Casey’s Funeral Home. 

While the farm was usually bustling with members of the family, boarders and tenants, the pond remained a continuing and one among many favourite skating spots scattered throughout city. 

“As a child rising up within the ‘50s, we made the best of each and every place to ice skate that we could,” said longtime resident Bob McKeon. “We would skate, play hockey, ice fish, and even wrap old sheets around hula hoops to use as sails. It was all fun that was free – kids didn’t have a lot a refund then.” 

McKeon listed Titus Pond alongside Whiting’s Pond, Peck’s Pond, St. Mary’s Pond, Falls Pond and different landmarks like “the Mudhole” that after doubled as winter playgrounds. 

Andrea Kelleher Withers, who lived on Sumner Street as a toddler, remembers strolling by neighbors’ driveways carrying her skates to succeed in the pond on High Street.

“It was always a challenge to make sure the ice was frozen enough to skate on,” she mentioned. “Falling through was always a fear.”

On her ninth birthday – New Year’s Eve – Withers went skating whereas her mother and father have been getting ready to attend a celebration. The night time turned out to be one to recollect when she hit a bumpy patch of ice, fell and broke her arm.

“What a fun winter gathering spot that was growing up,” mentioned Withers. “Except that night.”

Withers later moved to Georgia, the place winters are far milder, however mentioned the recollections of Titus Pond have stayed together with her.

“I cherish those fun memories,” she mentioned.

After Hiram Titus’ demise in 1959, the property’s use as a dairy farm ended, however the land remained energetic. Fields have been leased for rising corn and hay, and the farmhouse continued to be occupied by native households. Through all of it, Titus Pond retained its place on the town life.

For a few years, the pond was flooded annually by the Fire Department and maintained by civic teams, first the North Attleborough Kiwanis Club and later the Rotary Club. Today, the Parks and Recreation Department oversees seasonal repairs, together with clearing vegetation and filling the pond for skating when the climate permits. 

For those that grew up close by, nevertheless, Titus Pond’s significance doesn’t relaxation in deeds, native data or preservation reviews, however within the shared expertise of winter days spent open air, skates laced tight, surrounded by neighbors.

“It was just where everyone went,” mentioned Muir-Cauley. “You didn’t need much – just cold weather and good ice.”