 In the 1960’s there were discussions in Massachusetts about creating a new international airport. Initially a site in Dover was chosen but ultimately rejected and Easton was chosen. If constructed, this Southwest Jetport would annihilate the entire town of Easton except for a small portion of the Hockomock Swamp. Half of Mansfield, one third of Stoughton, and parts of Norton, Foxboro, and Brockton would also disappear. These towns were considered “rural” and no thought had been given to their reaction to this information. The villains in this circumstance were the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, the Massachusetts Port Authority, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Works. The center of the airport was to be located at the junction of Lincoln Street and Bay Road. An area of 31.4 square miles would be affected. No Easton town officials were ever consulted. Interestingly, the publisher of the Easton Bulletin had been invited to the press conference that announced Dover as the site of the new airport. No alternate sites had been mentioned. Following the announcement that Easton had been chosen (It was called the Easton-Sharon site.) there were “two weeks of massive protests” by Eastonites. The residents of Sharon and Stoughton also organized and protested. Senator John Quinlan fought the proposal, and Gov. Volpe later called the proposal “appalling and ridiculous.” The project was allowed to “quietly die.”  The illustration below shows the general outline of the planned airport. The inner circle would be the airport itself, the inside of the middle ring would be for industrial use only, all residential property would be razed, the outer ring would allow some residential use.  Needless to say, the airport was not built, but for a short period of time the residents of Easton were panicked and caught completely off guard. Officials in Boston had demonstrated no understanding of the consequences of their decision.
Small towns were not disposable after all. Anne Wooster Drury  While some members of Easton families stay close to home, some travel widely. Such was true of William H. Selee who left Easton at a very young age. He was a “bold and reckless adventurer” who became a seafarer and later joined the British army. Known for his bravery, he once demonstrated this trait by jumping overboard to save another man at the risk of his own life.
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