On December 7th the Maynard Historical Commission held a dedication event for the installation of a historical information plaque at the southwest end of the Waltham Street bridge.

The plaque provides information about the paper mill that operated at that location 1820-1882, the subsequent fire that destroyed the building (1894), the demolition of the brick chimney that survived the fire (1914) and the flood that destroyed the dam and severely damaged the bridge over the Assabet River (1927). The replacement bridge (1928-2013) served until replaced by the current bridge. The mural on the north wall of the long-vacant Murphy & Snyder building features Henry David Thoreau and ‘Babe’ Ruth because both are confirmed as having visited that intersection – Thoreau in a September 1851 jaunt from Concord to Boon Pond and back which in his journal mentions passing the gunpowder, paper and woolen mills, and Ruth (in a Red Sox uniform) because in his off-season years he and his wife rented a house in north Sudbury and often shopped (and Ruth, drank) in Maynard.