Messinger Street Playground¹

Messinger Street Playground, also known as Massapoag Cabot Playground, was created after Dr. Arthur Tracy Cabot, the school physician, donated to the town 41/2 acres of land and a $10,000 trust fund to be used for the children of Canton. The playground opened on July 1, 1913 with two baseball fields, swings, slides, see-saws, and goal posts for football. The site was also home to the town’s first pool that was made from sand and gravel and filled with fresh water; provide a place for youths to cool off after a game or on a hot day. In 1914 Guy M. MacVickar, the first supervisor of the playground, reported the daily attendance during the summer of 1914 was 50 to 80 children; he went on to report that the popular games included: bean-bag baseball, tether ball, checkers and also stated that the swings were in high demand. The playground underwent a renovation in the 1990s.

Resources¹

Dan Keleher, “Historical Perspectives: Massapoag Cabot Playground,” Canton Citizen June 30, 1988.

Dan Keleher, “Historical Perspectives: First Municipal Swimming Pool, 1912,” Canton Citizen August 23, 1990.

Dan Keleher, “Historical Perspectives: Canton’s First Public Playground,” Canton Citizen October 11, 1990.