The intersection of Edgell Road, Water Street and Edmands Road has always been a busy crossroads. In colonial times, today’s Water Street and Edmands Road formed the East-West path connecting Saxonville and Marlborough. In the mid-1700s, improvements were made to the South Path and Sudbury Road, which is today’s Edgell Road. These road improvements enticed more and more people to settle in the area. By the mid to late 1700s the intersection was home to many businesses, including Captain Isaac Clark’s carpentry shop, Ebenezer Boutwell’s tinsmithry, J. Winch’s brick masonry business and David Patterson’s blacksmith shop and tavern, as well as a school house.
David Patterson (1739-1809) built his blacksmithy and tavern in Nobscot in 1758 on the North West corner of Edmands and Edgell Roads. Patterson, a Revolutionary War veteran, also built a frame for a house in Nobscot which he sold to Jonathan Maynard. Maynard moved the house frame to Framingham Centre and finished it into a Georgian home. In 1794 Patterson sold his business and property to Solomon Brackett (1767?-1842) of Natick. Brackett, a blacksmith, moved his family into the tavern building while operating his business out of Patterson’s smithy. The tavern now became known as Brackett’s Tavern.
Brackett’s Corner from Warren Nixon’s 1832 map of Framingham. From the Framingham History Center collection, acc. 2011.125
Several years later, Brackett went into business with Amos Parkhurst, a baker from Weston. A bakery in the area was greatly needed, as the nearest one was located in Westborough. Brackett and Parkhurst built their bakery on the western portion of the property. The bakery building contained plenty of storage space, a cracker machine, a meat chopper, and two thick walled ovens which were fueled by wood from tree trimmings and woodlot waste bought from the locals. The bakery made bread, crackers, cakes, and pies. Potato yeast was also fermented. The baked goods and yeast were delivered daily to surrounding towns by horse and wagon. In addition to the successful bakery business, many of the family settled in the immediate area. This busy commercial corner soon became known as Brackett’s Corner.
Solomon Brackett and his wife Lydia (Parkhurst) Brackett (1775-1851) had nine children. Ruby (1794-1867), Josiah P. (1797-1865), and Tapley (1799- ) were born in Natick. Ruby never married. Josiah P., a baker, married Susan Edmands. Eliza (1802-1891 ) married Samuel Cutting and lived on the Cutting farm on what is present day Water Street. Amos (1804-1866) was a veterinary surgeon. He and his wife Elmira Morse lived in Framingham and then Worcester. William (1807-1890) married Mary P. Smith of Sudbury and ran a store at Brackett’s Corner. David Kellogg (1810-1823) died at the age of 13 and is buried in the Church Hill Cemetery. Mary W. (1811-1887) married Gilbert J. Child, a baker. They made their home just north of the bakery. Lydia K. (1816-1903) married Elbridge G. Eaton, a carpenter, lived at Brackett’s Corner just east of Hop Brook.
After Brackett’s death in 1842, the bakery was run by his son Josiah P. and his son-in-law Gilbert Childs. Later, his grandson David Kellogg Childs took over its management. Then in 1870, David Kellogg Childs closed Brackett’s bakery and moved to Marlborough. The bakery had been a mainstay in the area for 70 years.
Today, if you travel a short distance west on Edmands Road from Nobscot, you will see Brackett’s Tavern, now a private residence. The building was moved to this location in the 1970s when the Edmands House apartments and a gas station were built on that corner.
Brackett’s Corner, 1857. Map from the Framingham History Center collection, acc. 2007.84
Facts
- Brackett’s Corner was later called New Boston because of all the commercial endeavors which were located there. When the railroad came through, and a Post Office was established, its name was changed to North Framingham. Confusion between the North and South Framingham railroad stops lead to the area once again being renamed: this time, Nobscot.
- The Brackett Tavern was located on the land now occupied by the Edmands House apartments and T. D. Bank at the corner of Edmands and Edgell Roads. In the 1970s, it was moved from that corner to 175 Edmands Road.
- Lydia Parkhurst Brackett was the niece of Amos Parkhurst
Bibliography
Bacon, E. Eugene. “Brackett Corner Bake Shop” Framingham News 17 May 1944.
—–. “Brackett Corner, New Boston, North Framingham, Nobscot. Framingham News 11 Mar. 1934.
—— “The Old-Time Brackett Bakery at Brackett Corner, Nobscot. Framingham News, 02 July 1937.
Herring, Stephen W. Framingham: An American Town. Framingham Historical Society and The Framingham Tercentennial Commission, 2000.
Map of Framingham, 1857. Framingham History Center Collection. 1857.
Nixon, Warren. Map of Framingham, from actual surveys taken by Jonas Clayes and Warren Nixon. Pendleton’s Lithog., 1832.
Temple Josiah H. History of Framingham, Massachusett, Early Known as Danforth’s Farms, 1640-1880. A Special Centennial Year reprinting of the 1887 edition. New England Press, 1988.