It Has a Name: Baxter Park

You may have noticed a sign pop up at the corner of Routes 109 and 27 this week. Finally, the green space known to many as "Baxter Park" as an official sign.

"Baxter Park never had a sign, even though it is one of the most visible locations; many people in town did not know its name," explained Selectman and Town Historian Richard DeSorgher.

DeSorgher said the sign is designed after the Meetinghouse Pond at North and Frairy Streets. 

DeSorgher said that David Temple and the Historical Commission worked with Medfield native and local sign maker Frank Iafolla to create the sign for Baxter Park.

The signs were installed by the Department of Public Works and the funding came from the budget of the Historical Commission. 

The following is a history of the Baxter Family and the park that honors their name, by Medfield Town Historian Richard DeSorgher. 

Rev. Joseph Baxter was Medfield’s second minister. Born in 1676, he graduated from Harvard College in 1693, at the age of 17.  He was ordained at the age of 21 and started preaching at Medfield’s First Parish Church (Today’s Unitarian-Universalist Church on 26 North Street). 

In 1696, he bought the homestead of Joseph Bullard on Main Street, opposite the head of Spring Street (site of today’s CVS building at Routes 109 and 27). Baxter’s land contained 10 acres and extended across the street to what is today Baxter Park. Baxter was minister here for 48 years before dying in 1745 at the age of 69. The homestead and property remained in the Baxter family for 220 years.  

Willard Harwood married into the Baxter family and in 1891 he had the historic house torn down and in its place had built a sizable mansion on the site. (This was also later demolished to make way for the building now housing CVS). In 1916, after the death of his wife, the current park property was donated by Harwood to the Town of Medfield in honor of the Baxter family.

In 1924, following World War I, the park was completed in a design thought best suited to a soldiers’ memorial. The current WWI Memorial/ flagpole was then added. By 1924, evergreens were planted along the southern border creating an attractive background for the World War I Memorial that was placed there. 

The flagpole that is currently in the center of the park is actually part of that Memorial. Close examination of the base of the flagpole shows an inscription, which reads “In abiding memory of those from Medfield who served in the Great War 1917-1918.” Over the next 70 years, the park saw little additional improvements or usage until 1994. 

It was then that World War II veteran John Mezzanotte requested that the Committee to Study Memorials make a permanent memorial to Medfield’s World War II veterans. The Committee accepted the request and developed a plan to honor Medfield veterans of all wars. The current memorial facing the intersection of Routes 109 and 27 honors those of the Revolutionary, Mexican-American, Civil War, Spanish-American, WWI, and WWII and was dedicated in 1996. Korean War and Vietnam Memorials were next added around the WWI Flagpole and space was left for a Persian Gulf as well as an Afghanistan and Iraq Memorial, to be built at a future date. The Committee made the decision to have the names of all Medfield veterans placed on the memorials as a historic record as well as a memorial to our town and our veterans. Memorial bricks were added to make up the brick walkways throughout the park.  The sidewalk around the park was also rebuilt of brick and memorial benches and Colonial lamp poles were installed. 

Today the park is used for events ranging from the Christmas Tree lighting, political rallies, picnics, to the Memorial Day ceremonies. A walk through the park is also a solemn tribute to our veterans, a lesson of history on the Town of Medfield, and a pleasant place to just rest and relax