Milton High School - Echo Yearbook (Milton, MA)

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The Llnquity Echo ANNUAL OF 796.2 MILTQN HIGH MILTGN, l i l l i 1

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God has given us this peaceful place. Motto of Milton FROM England they came, and from Ireland and Scotland and France, seeking a quiet corner of the New VVorld. They built their town between a placid river that meandered seaward and a chain of low undulating hills, and they called it Milton. Their Milton was one of sun-dappled or- chards and low stone walls, one of budding cornfields and split-rail fences. While they drove their cattle homeward at twilight time, in an- other part of town, the bronzed Indian glided through the shadowy corridors of lofty pines in the Blue Hills. In time, one after another of the white men clasped in his a copper hand, and all became brothers. Thus, from its founding, Milton exuded that spirit of equality and com- radeship common to all small towns. The times changed and Milton with them. A gristmill appeared on the Neponset, and the Hanover stage clattered through East Milton on its weekly run. But these were not the only changes. For more important events were in the making. As vague murmurings of discontent filtered from Boston into this tranquil town, loyalists were regarded with suspicion and patri- otic citizens became orators in local taverns. Then, less than twelve decades after its found-- ing, Milton was swept into the current of war fever that ran through New England. The American Revolution had come. Revolutionary Milton was an exciting spotg it was here that Tories fled to protect their coun- try homes, here that patriots prepared for war and marched to join the troops at Boston, here that Paul Revere picked up the Suffolk Resolves and clattered off to Philadelphia with them. After the last battle smoke had vanished, after the last Tory had fled, Milton stood a small part of a growing nation. And she changed accordingly. The industrial boom did not leave Milton untouched. The first chocolate mill in America was built here. The first railroad stretched from East Milton to the granite quarries of Quincy. Banks and trust com- panies were established. Roads were improved. The horseless carriage came, bringing with it the age of automation. Time passed and war came. Again the little town was plunged into strife - this time with not one, but with an alliance of foreign powers. Boys from Milton went to France, to the Philip- pines, to Korea to fight so that the ideals of democracy might be preserved. Some returned, others did not. But their town went on. Today the moccasin prints have vanished from the Blue Hills, and the clatter of coaches and a famous patriotis steed no longer echo through the streets. The once-proud Tory mansions have given way to neat suburban homes, and the granite railroad has long since disappeared. The past is gone, but not forgotten. There are a few landmarks to remind us of our town's his- tory. But, perhaps more important, there live today in Milton the ideals and principles upon which the town was founded. That is why we who live here say that our town is more than a town - Milton is a way of life. Marsha Leisher, '62