WESTBOROUGH – For his Eagle Scout project, Hunter Felton dug up a piece of history.
In front of a West Main Street property, near Oldham Road, a stone marker bearing the name of John Oldham, the town’s first European settler, commemorates his journey along Old Connecticut Path in 1630.
For years, only the “John Oldham” part of the marker was visible.
Thanks to Felton, along with fellow Scouts from Troop 100, the Department of Public Works and others, the entire marker is now above ground, complete with a new base.
About a year ago, Felton was looking for an Eagle Scout project. He learned about the stone marker from Town Moderator John Arnold, whose family is connected to a historic market in Connecticut.
Also, Arnold’s brother lives near the Oldham marker.
“He’s very interested in seeing this part of history cleaned up,” said Felton, a rising senior at Westborough High School.
With help from David Buffo of Troop 100, Felton took the initial steps. He approached the town’s historical commission and historical society to obtain a beneficiary for the project. The commission approved the proposal in April.
Felton also received permission from the property owners.
“They loved the idea of it,” he said.
Once digging commenced, Felton discovered the stone was a lot bigger – at the bottom of the stone was an appendage, about 7 feet long, designed to keep the stone in place. Felton said the marker and appendage made it “look like a tooth.”
“We were not expecting to find that,” said Felton.
Staff from the Department of Public Works helped Felton extract the marker, then built a deep box with a stone mixture to keep the marker in place.
Felton thanked the DPW and the troop for coming out for the three-day project – two days to move the marker, one day to build the box.
Felton would like to have the stone cleaned to remove the discoloration.
For information about Troop 100, visit www.facebook.com/troop100westborough.
