Boynton Street
From Worcester Activist wiki
Also WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
But for the persuasion of a cousin, Worcester might never have had its world-famous Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
It would have been some sort of an academy in Templeton or Mason, N.H. John Boynton, a farmer for 30 years, was born in Mason. He later moved to New Ipswich, where he began to manufacture tinware.
In those days a manufacturer sold directly to the consumer. Having finished an assortment of pails, tin dippers and pie plates, John Boynton loaded his wagon; giddyapped his horse through the countryside.
Business was good.
Eventually he moved his factory to Templeton, where he was joined by a cousin, David Whitcomb. He later became a partner.
Business was very good. There was hardly an apple pie smoking from the oven that didn’t rest on a Boynton plate.
In 1846, the tinware manufacturer sold out to Whitcomb and retired to Athol, where he became the first president of Millers River Bank and a member of the State Legislature.
At 73, stoop-shouldered, frail and in poor health, John Boynton went to see his cousin. Whitcomb had moved to Worcester and opened a hardware store.
They pulled up hard chairs, crossed their legs and had it out. Boynton wanted to leave his fortune to found a school in Mason or Templeton. He had never had much schooling himself.
Whitcomb pointed out the advantages of Worcester; Boynton agreed and on May 1, 1865, gave one hundred thousand dollars – anonymously-“for the service of the youth of Worcester County.”
Ichabod Washburn, Stephen Salisbury II and Mr. Whitcomb added to the fund, later joined by others.
Boynton died March 25, 1867, from exposure after a long ride in a storm. The following year, The Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science opened it doors to students. In 1887 it became Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Boynton street, extending from Highland to Salisbury streets, honors the founder of a great college. The street first appeared in 1876.
The core of this article comes from A History of Your City Streets.
