Of the four garrisons constructed for the protection of early settlers in Nottingham, Mass, we have discussed the Hills Garrison.    Moving south from the Hills garrison was the Taylor Garrison built on land which was originally part of the Joseph Hills grant, passed to a family member and then sold to John Taylor.  Very little is known about John Taylor except that the Taylor Falls and thus the Taylor Falls Bridge  bear his name.  The location of his garrison was not marked by Kimball Webster but was identified by him as  behind the Spaulding Farm on Derry Road  (now Continental Beauty School)  and along side Grand Avenue in the direction of the river.

Moving south the next garrison is the Blodgett Garrison.  Kimball Webster placed the site 2.5 miles south of the mouth of the Nashua River and 1/2 the distance between Lowell Road and the river.  The marker was placed on the Philip J. Connell Farm in 1905.  The Connell Farm was a part of the original 200 acre farm of Joseph Blodgett.  Today this is the general area around Fairview Health Care on Hampshire Drive.  The granite boulder with a bronze tablet now resides on the lawn of 14-16 Hampshire Drive just east of Fairview.

After Joseph and Dorothy Blodgett settled here their oldest son Joseph was born in Feb 1718; he was the first white child (as opposed to Native American) child born in our town.  Both Joseph and Dorothy were born in Chelmsford.  Most likely the family traveled up the Merrimack River by canoe to settle their farm.  Their descendants became very numerous and includes many distinguished men and women in NH, Mass, and other states.

The last garrison, was located on Fletcher land and was in that part of Nottingham which remained in Massachusetts when the provincial boundary was established.  The location is a short distance south of the state in Tyngsborough.  The photo of the Blodgett marker is from the Historical Society Collection.