Did You Know? Famous People With Canton Ties

A look at some of the more notable people to come out of Canton.

Canton has brought up some famous people in its time. Revolutionary Paul Revere helped the war effort by building the second gunpowder mill in the country right here in Canton (where Canton is now, technically). He also opened America’s first copper mill in Canton as well. NHL forward and Stanley Cup winner Steve Rooney also came out of Canton. He played with the Winnipeg Jets, the New Jersey Devils and 1986 champions Montreal Canadiens. Actor Paul Guilfoyle was born and raised in Canton. He’s famous for playing Jim Brass on CSI. He’s also played opposite Al Pacino in the Theatre Company of Boston’s rendition of "The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel" and George Lucas’s famous flop Howard the Duck. Chemist James Sumner, co-winner of a Noel …

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Patch Passport

Travel Back in Time: Paul Revere's Copper Mill

Travel back in time with the Wednesday Patch Passport to discover the history of Canton. Take a look at one of the many historical sites in town.

American Revolutionary hero Paul Revere is probably best known for his "Midnight Ride," in April 1775, during which he rode through several towns in Middlesex county–just northwest of Boston–on horseback, warning American patriots, "The British are coming! The British are coming!" Now what Revere actually said during that fateful ride before the battles of Lexington and Concord has been subject to debate. But one thing about Revere that is indisputable: Canton is full of Revere history. "Revere was very fond of Canton and very fond of the people here," local historian, George T. Comeau, who is also a curator for the Canton Historical Society, said. Born and raised in Canton, Comeau said he has been fascinated with Revere since grade school…

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Canton Revealed: The History Patch

Revere's Copper Helped Build USS New Hampshire

The history behind the ship constructed with Paul Revere's copper pieces.

Opening a drawer at the Canton Historical Society and you're likely to learn something new and fascinating. That was how the society's president Wallace Gibbs explained it one Sunday to a group of several school children who gathered before him, wide-eyed, as he carefully placed what looked to be a group of large rusty nails of various sizes on a display case. The rusty-looking nails turned out to be copper spikes and fastenings forged at Paul Revere's foundry in the 1800s. Further, they were recovered from the USS New Hampshire (later, known as the USS Granite State) shipwreck, off Graves Island in Manchester, Mass. "That's cool," a couple of the boys said, clearly fascinated. Gibbs shared a similar sentiment just a moment before in a …

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Canton Revealed: The History Patch

A Look at Doty's Tavern

How an old homestead in Canton made history.

In Canton, near the Milton border on Route 138 at the foot of the Great Blue Hills, there once stood a tavern that told the story of America's beginnings. Doty's Tavern played a vital role in the drafting of the Suffolk Resolves—the precursor of the Declaration of Independence. Historians describe the old homestead as a place were America's early revolutionaries met on the morning of August 16, 1774—out of sight of the British—to hash out their plans to free the country from the British government. General Joseph Warren drafted the Resolves and the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia passed them the following month.  Doty's Tavern was named after its owner Col. Thomas Doty. According to historical documents at the Canton Historical …

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Canton Revealed: The History Patch

Paul Revere's Canton

Retracing Revere's steps through our town.

American Revolutionary hero Paul Revere is probably best known for his "Midnight Ride," in April 1775, during which he rode through several towns in Middlesex county-- just northwest of Boston--on horseback, warning American patriots, "The British are coming! The British are coming!" Now what Revere actually said during that fateful ride before the battles of Lexington and Concord has been subject to debate. But one thing about Revere that is indisputable:  Canton is full of Revere history. "Revere was very fond of Canton and very fond of the people here," one local historian, George T. Comeau, who is also a curator for the Canton Historical Society, said. Born and raised in Canton, Comeau said he has been fascinated with Revere since …

• Photos (1)