Braggville, Massachusetts

Braggville is a former postal village located in Massachusetts, now within the towns of Holliston in Middlesex County, Medway in Norfolk County and Milford in Worcester County. Though people had settled the land long before the incorporation of the town of Holliston, Braggville's unofficial history began on March 8, 1785, when Alexander Bragg purchased farmland there.^[2] The village itself however, would be named for his nephew, Colonel Arial Bragg, Holliston's first shoe and boot maker as well as the agrarian community's first wholesale manufacturer.^[3] Braggville was also the site of several quarries of Milford pink granite, which supplied buildings and railroad projects in the United States in the late 19th century.^[4] After a century of economic prowess, the village fell into decline following the First World War.

Braggville, Massachusetts
Village
Braggville Depot and Post Office, c. 1919
Coordinates: 42°10′0″N 71°28′48″W
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Middlesex, Worcester, Norfolk
Elevation	298 ft (91 m)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code	01746, 01757, 02053
Area code	508
GNIS feature ID	611657[1]

Decline and obscurity

With the emergence of the Post–World War I recession much of the town's business came to a standstill. By March 1919, the Boston and Albany Railroad had ceased providing passenger service to the Braggville station, as well as all freight service. Although its schoolhouse would remain standing for several more decades, the end of Braggville as a would-be town came in June 1919, when the U.S. Mail shuttered its post office.^[5]

Geography

A map of Braggville, as it appeared at the village's industrial and cultural peak between the years of 1850 and 1880.

Braggville does not have official borders defined by the United States Census Bureau, and throughout its history has held nebulous boundaries. The U.S. Geological Survey places it as a populated place solely in the town of Holliston, however historical accounts describe it as partially extending into Milford and Medway^[1][6][7]

It is located 25.2 mi (40.6 km) west of Boston and is adjacent to Interstate 495. Massachusetts Route 16 passes through the village, bisecting it almost evenly.

Adjacent towns

Braggville is located in eastern Massachusetts, and bordered by:

• Holliston on the north
• Medway on the south and east
• Milford on the west

See also

• Kampersal Field
• Metcalf, Holliston, Massachusetts
• Holliston, Massachusetts
• Medway, Massachusetts
• Milford, Massachusetts

Notes

1. "Braggville, Massachusetts". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
2. A. Bragg, 7-8.
3. Walker, 481.
4. Bragg, Ernest A (1958). History Of Braggville Section of Holliston, Medway and Milford. Boston. p. 13. OCLC 6115177. Retrieved July 3, 2015.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
5. "Town to Lose Postoffice" (PDF). El Paso Herald. El Paso, TX. June 29, 1919. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 3, 2015. Retrieved July 3, 2015. Braggville, Mass., June 28.— This town has lost its postoffice because no one will be postmaster without having two or three other jobs. They say they cannot live on the small salary of the position and the postoffice department will not allow 'outside work.' Acting postmaster Mather upon instructions from the postoffice department closed the office for good. Braggville lost its freight and railroad station three months ago.
6. E. Bragg, The origin and growth..., 33.
7. Mason, Orion T (1913). The Handbook of Medway History; A Condensed History of the Town of Medway, Massachusetts. Medway, Massachusetts: G.M. Billings, Printer. p. 85. Retrieved July 2, 2015. Great West Woods.— The forest originally extending from Summer street to Milford and Braggville.

References

• Bragg, Arial (1846). Memoirs of Col. Arial Bragg. Milford, MA: George W. Stacy, Printer. OCLC 11787361. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
• Bragg, Ernest A (1958). History Of Braggville Section of Holliston, Medway and Milford. Boston. OCLC 6115177. Retrieved July 3, 2015.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Bragg, Ernest A (1950). The origin and growth of the boot and shoe industry in Holliston, where it began in 1793, and in Milford, Massachusetts, where it continued in 1795 and remained into 1950. Boston. OCLC 81647655.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Walker, George F. (1880). "Holliston". In Drake, Samuel Adams (ed.). History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts: containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county. Vol. I. Boston: Estes and Lauriat, Publishers. pp. 470–483. OCLC 3583041. Retrieved July 9, 2011.

External links