Coming Soon: An Exciting New Perspective on the History of Otis

By Peter Cameron

March 2025

Recently, I was appointed to the Otis Historical Commission. My first assignment was to get as many of the old, historic properties in town, outside of the downtown Otis Historical District, enrolled on the National Historical Register. My initial research revealed just how difficult this would be. In essence, just having an old property is insufficient to qualify for the National Register. A nationally or regionally important historic event had to be attached to the property. The Massachusetts Historical Commission, realizing this, recommends that each municipality adopt their own recognition program for local historic properties. This will bring public awareness to this historic resource. Your Otis Historic Commission has adopted the “Otis Historic Property” program to accomplish that recommendation. The basic tenets of the program are spelled out below.

1. After the historic property is identified, The Otis Historical Commission will contact each owner of that property, explain the program, and ask them for their written permission to include their property as an “Otis Historic Property.” The program is totally voluntary on the property owner’s part. A key part of this program is protecting the property owner’s privacy while allowing the public to view the property.

2. With the property owner on board, we would conduct extensive historical research on that property, including any history the property owner wishes to include.

3. The Otis Historical Commission would then develop a website listing the property with the attendant discovered history about the property and its past inhabitants.

4. A sign, with a QR code, and property description will be placed in front of the property identifying it as an “Otis Historic Property.” That QR code, when scanned, would lead directly to the page on the website for that particular property, giving the inquirer access to all related information.

5. After all the included properties are identified, researched and included on the website, the website would be updated to include a master list of all properties in the program, providing a reference guide to those who wish to explore other “Otis Historic Properties.”

6. Inclusion in this program will not place any restrictions on the property or structures, their construction, appearance or any renovations or changes the homeowners might wish to undertake.

Obviously, this will take time, but we are hoping to have the first properties up and running this summer. The Commission will be reaching out to homeowners of historic properties throughout the next year asking for their permission to be included in the program. If anyone is interested in inclusion in the program, or just wants more information, they can leave a note in the Historical Commission’s mailbox at town hall or contact me at striperblue131@aol.com.

That’s the nuts and bolts of the program, but the exciting part is what it will represent to both permanent and summer residents of Otis. They will now be able to locate, view, and learn about these properties and their associated history. It will open a window into Otis’s history that was never present before.

Those that follow my history column in the Observer know I advocate allowing one’s imagination to merge with known history to better understand it. Here is the opportunity to do just that. Stand in front of the property, visualize its time in history, imagine yourself in that property, living that history and you will better understand how Otis came to be. Our town has a rich historical past that begs us to investigate it and broaden our horizons. Coming soon, here is your chance.