Sesquicentennial Parade of 1958

Some photos of floats and marchers in West Boylston’s Sesquicentennial Parade in 1958! Everyone in town came out for this: local businesses, the Boy Scouts, and several Churches. West Boylston owes much of its 1808 foundation to Ezra Beaman, who advocated for his town. Initially, West Boylston was part of Shrewsbury. With help from Beaman and his supporters, the town of Boylston separated from Shrewsbury in 1786.

Eventually, the townspeople in western Boylston became tired of having to travel farther distances to attend church and advocated for the separation of the western part of Boylston into yet another town with its very own church and meeting house. After decades of petitions and Ezra Beaman’s hard work, West Boylston separated from Boylston in March 1808. The parade and the town decorations depicted in the photos here celebrated that history.

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