This Week in Winchester History: Winchester Library a Busy Place

This is a regular column with items drawn from past editions of the Winchester Star.

1912

Burned to Death

One child was burned to death and another nearly suffocated in an Irving Street house. The mothers of the two boys both work as maids for other Winchester families. Police believe the boy set himself on fire using matches.

1962

Arrest

Two Winchester men were arrested for stealing $7,000 from a Newton woman. Winchester officer, John Frongillo, watched the men's Main Street home. When they arrived at their house, the officer arrested the men at gunpoint.

Busy Library

The Winchester Public Library saw its popularity grow. The library had 12.6 books used per person. Taht's higher than the sate average of 6.3 and the national average of 5.4

The library has seen its circulation double since 1950.

And children have been flocking to the library, as the numbers increased 12 percent. There's so many children and children's books at the library that the trustees are going to ask for an addition to the library at Town Meeting.

1987

Train Victim

A DPW employee was plowing the platform when his machine got stuck on the ledge. He was unable to move it and an Amtrak train was arriving at the station. The employee jumped out of the way to avoid the train, but the plow was hit and it hit the employee.

The employee suffered a dislocated hip, broken ribs and internal injuries.

Student Smoking

Smoking at Winchester High School will be banned in three years as the school department slowly phases it out.

Wincheste's Whistle

It was found out that Winchester's whistle - located on top of the Fire Station, which is blown to announce to the town that school is canceled due to the snow - no longer works. It has been inactive for three years, but other towns still use a whistle to inform students and parents that school is not in session.

All the information for this story came from the Winchester Star.