TAUNTON MA

TAUNTON MA

Holy Ghost Hall

Built - c. 1905

Taunton figured prominently in the development of the Plymouth Colony after settlement in 1639 by a group of English people. They found the area teeming with herring and good land for farming and soon changed the name "Cohannet" with Taunton after Taunton, Somerset, England. The town grew in size and today is one of the largest in Massachusetts in terms of square miles. During the early years of the 18th century, the town claimed many famous citizens including Robert Treat Paine, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and Governor Marcus Morton.

Taunton became industrially prominent by the smelting of the bog iron that was plentiful in the city's rivers and swamps and became a major shipyard in the 18th century. Also the city led the colonies in Revolutionary activities especially when its citizens gathered on the Green on October 21, 1774 and raised the Liberty and Union flag on a 112-foot Liberty Pole which some call "the First American flag."

Taunton has "twin" bandstands located on the Holy Ghost Society's property in East Taunton built in the early 1900s by society members. Local bands have played on the bandstands holding "Battle of the Bands' on each of the structures during the Society's annual Fiesta during three nights of the summer entertaining large crowds.

INFORMATION PROVIDED BY:
Mary Dutra, President