Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Brockton (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton City Hall, and D.W. Field Park. Also, be sure to include Snow Fountain and Clock in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Brockton (Massachusetts).
Table of Contents
Fuller Craft Museum
Museum in Brockton, Massachusetts. Fuller Craft Museum is an arts and crafts museum in the city of Brockton, Massachusetts, 25 miles south of Boston. It receives 20,000 visitors a year. It contains contemporary craft-based art of many different genres and origins. It is the only craft museum in the New England area. The museum was founded in 1946.[1]
Address: 455 Oak St, 02301 Brockton (Brockton)
Brockton City Hall
Building in Brockton, Massachusetts. The city hall of Brockton, Massachusetts is located at 45 School Street. It is a predominantly brick 2+1⁄2-story building sited on an entire city block bounded by School Street, East Elm Street, and City Hall Square. The Romanesque Revival structure was designed by local architect Wesley Lyng Minor, and built in 1892–94. It has entrances on three sides, each under a round Richardsonian arch with carved voussoirs. Its most prominent feature is a five-story tower, decorated with terra cotta panels and topped by a steeply-pitched Gothic style hip roof. The east elevation also has a three-story circular tower topped by a battlement. It was the first purpose-built building for housing the city's offices. The grand hall of the interior features murals depicting scenes of the American Civil War, painted by Richard Holland and Mortimer Lamb in 1893.
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.[2]
Address: 138 Main St, Brockton (Brockton)
D.W. Field Park
Park in Brockton, Massachusetts. D.W. Field Park is a municipal park managed by the parks department of the city of Brockton, Massachusetts. The park consists of 650 acres of fields, woodlands, and water bodies in northern Brockton and southern Avon, Massachusetts, and is owned by both municipalities. It was created in 1925 as a bequest from Brockton businessman Daniel W. Field, and was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and his son, John Charles Olmsted. Its landscape is dominated by a chain of seven water bodies, all but one of which are man-made, impounding Beaver Brook. The oldest of them, Cross Pond, was created in the 1790s; these lakes, ponds, and reservoirs, were, with one exception, created before the park was laid out, and served either agricultural or industrial purposes. Waldo Lake was created in the 1930s as part of the park's design.
Access to the park's interior is via a narrow road 6 miles (9.7 km) long that winds through the grounds, providing access to its major features. This circuit road is accessible from the surrounding public roadways at a number of points, with gates built from locally gathered fieldstone. There is no formalized network of pedestrian paths. As a result, activities tend to be concentrated at the places where there are parking facilities, resulting in some environmental and scenic degradation.
The park's most prominent landmark is a fieldstone observation tower, built at the park's high point, known as Indian Cave Hill or Tower Hill. It was built in 1928 from fieldstones gathered from the park grounds. Inside 90 steps, approximately 18 per landing, lead to an observation deck with a visage as far as Blue Hills in all directions. The park is open everyday dawn til dusk; the tower is officially open 1 day a year during Towerfest, early October, Columbus Day weekend.
At the foot of Tower Hill is a concrete pad, in which are embedded Daniel Field's handprints and footprints, and the inscription "Please Enjoy, Do Not Destroy D.W. Field Park." The other major structure in the park is the gatehouse of the Brockton Reservoir, which was built in the 1880s. The park also includes an eighteen-hole golf course.
The park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.[3]
Snow Fountain and Clock
Monument in Brockton, Massachusetts. The Snow Fountain and Clock is a historic public monument at the southern junction of North Main and East Main Streets in Brockton, Massachusetts, USA. The monument was given to the city in 1902 by George C. Snow, who lived in a large house near the site. The monument has three major components: a water fountain, a horse trough, and a four-faced clock mounted on a 15-foot column in the center of the water fountain. The trough and fountain are constructed of Quincy granite. The clock mechanism was constructed by E. Howard & Co. The horse trough is now used as a planter.
The monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.[4]
New England Telephone and Telegraph Engineering Office
The New England Telephone and Telegraph Engineering Office is a historic commercial building at 47 Pleasant Street in Brockton, Massachusetts. Built in 1923, this Classical Revival building house support services for the main exchange of the local telephone company until about 1950, and has seen other commercial uses since then. It was listed on National Register of Historic Places in 2019 for its architecture, and the role the telephone company played in Brockton's 20th-century growth. It has more recently been converted to residential use.[5]
Brockton Fair
Theme park, Relax in park, Park
Address: Belmont Street, 02301 Brockton (Brockton)
Forest Avenue School
Building. The Forest Avenue School is a historic one-room schoolhouse in Brockton, Massachusetts. The school, originally located on Forest Avenue, was built in 1875 and operated until 1963. It is a two-story wood-frame structure, with a single classroom on the first floor, and an open play area on the second. The building was moved to the new Brockton High School grounds, on Concord Avenue, in 1969. It currently serves as the Little Red Schoolhouse Museum with exhibits of local history.
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.[6]
Franklin Block
Commercial building in Brockton, Massachusetts. The Franklin Block is a historic commercial building in Brockton, Massachusetts. The three story brick Romanesque Revival-style building was built in 1888. Its construction marked the high point in the economic recovery of the city's Campello neighborhood, which had been devastated by fire in 1853, and is one of two 19th-century buildings in the area. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.[7]
Old Post Office Building
Building in Brockton, Massachusetts. The Old Post Office Building is a historic building in Brockton, Massachusetts. The two story brick Colonial Revival-style post office was built in 1898 and expanded in 1932. It was designed under the auspices of the federal government's supervising architect, James Knox Taylor, as a copy of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. The building was renovated in 1977 and became home of the Brockton Public Schools central administration offices.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.[8]
Gardner J. Kingman House
The Gardner J. Kingman House is a historic house located at 309 Main Street in Brockton, Massachusetts.[9]
Dr. Edgar Everett Dean House
The Dr. Edgar Everett Dean House is a historic house located at 81 Green Street in Brockton, Massachusetts.[10]