Donald Cann

Abington Through Time Donald Cann

When Abington was founded in 1812, it was much larger than it is now. At that time, it encompassed both East Abington and South Abington, which today are Rockland and Whitman. But a schism in 1874 separated the three communities, leaving Abingtonians to carry their banner forward alone. By that time the town was in its heyday as a shoe manufacturing center, but it also held a curious place in the history of the anti-slavery movement of the pre-Civil War years, as a gathering spot for emancipation rallies at what is still Abington's most hallowed ground, Island Grove.
As the twentieth century progressed, Abington watched the shoe industry centralize elsewhere and settled comfortably into place as a suburban Boston community. In 2012, it joined Rockland and Whitman in celebrating their common bicentennial, honoring both the past and the present.
In Abington Through Time, join historians Don Cann and John Galluzzo, authors of Abington in Vintage Postcards, for a walk up and down the main streets and back roads to see what remains, and what has changed in Abington over the past century and a half.