Historical Commission
Board Members
| Name | Title | Term Expires June 30th of: |
| Lynn Caulfield Lak | Chair | 2026 |
| Wanda Mysona | Vice-Chair | 2025 |
| Kathleen Galford | Treasurer | 2026 |
| Lorrie Willette | Member | 2025 |
| Claudia Kadra | Member | 2025 |
| Elena Palladino | Member | 2026 |
| Alice Atkinson-Bonasio | Member | 2024 |
Click: All Meeting Agenda and Minutes
For information about the actual history of Ware, we recommend the following books:
An address, delivered at the opening of the new town-hall, Ware, Mass., March 31, 1847, by Hon. William Hyde (1847)
Early grants and incorporation of the Town of Ware by Edward H. Gilbert (1891)
History of Ware, Massachusetts by Arthur Chase (1911)
History of Ware, Massachusetts, 1911-1960, by John Houghton Conkey (1961)
Ware (images of America) by Warren Bacon and Claudia Chicklas (1996)
History of Ware, Massachusetts 1961 to the Present by Ware 250th Anniversary Book Group (2011)
The Kaplans of Ware, Massachusetts, 1898–1964 by Stephen Robert Katz (2013)
Ware's Boys of Summer, by Stephen Robert Katz (2017)
Ware's Founding Documents, by Stephen Robert Katz (n.d.) https://www.stephenrkatz.com/historical-documents
If you are researching the genealogy of a Ware resident, please contact the Town Clerk's office at 413-967-9648, ext. 177, for an appointment.
The Ware Historical Commission welcomes community input. Feel free to contact our Chairman, Lynn Lak by phone or email, or attend a meeting to share your ideas or voice any concerns. Current projects include ongoing fundraising for repairs and maintenance to Town Hall, and organizing and cataloging historic items and documents. We are updating the inventory of historic places in town and continue to mark the historic districts in town. We currently have three historic districts:
~Church Street Historic District (Church Street between Park Avenue and Highland Street)
~Ware Center Historic District (Route 9 east and west of Greenwich Plains Road)
~Ware Millyard Historic District (roughly the area bounded by South Street, Ware Street, Ware River, Upper Dam Complex, Park Street, Otis
Avenue, and Church Street)
Other places on the State Register are:
~First Congregational Meeting House aka Ware Center Meeting House - 299 Belchertown Road
~Guild Block - 66-80 Main Street
~Kaplan Block - 85-91 Main Street
~Methodist Episcopal Church - 13 Church Street
~Otis Company Mill #1 - East Main Street
~Otis Company Worker Housing - 6-28 Otis Avenue
~Robinson-Hitchcock Block - 112-114 Main Street
~Unitarian Church - Main Street
~Ware-Hardwick Covered Bridge - Old Gilbertville Road/Bridge Street
~Ware Town Hall - 126 Main Street
You can purchase a copy of the Register here: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/mhcstreg/streg.htm
The Ware Historical Commission meets on the fourth Monday of every month except May (third Monday), July, and December (no meetings). We meet in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room in the Town Hall at 7:00 p.m. unless otherwise posted. Please check with the Town Clerk's office for up-to-date meeting dates, official agendas, and venue.
Role of the Ware Historical Commission:
The Ware Historical Commission is the town's agency responsible for identifying, evaluating, and protecting the historic, architectural, and archaeological assets within the town. The Historical Commission maintains a link to the Massachusetts Historical Commission, which in turn is linked to the National Park Service and the United States Department of the Interior.
Additional Links:
Demolition Delay Bylaw
Nenameseck Fountain Maintenance Fund
2013 Fountain restoration pictures
"The Town That Can't Be Licked": Our Historical Town Motto
The Town of Worthwhile
Ware Historical Society
