Talk:Athol, Massachusetts

Discussion of the former Athol Public Library article

Negative point of view

there is an unencyclopedic negative point of view in the article as a whole
as a resident of this town i don't argue there point but as a user of wikipedia there should be more nuetralityDiegotterdienen 01:38, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

The town has a worse per capita violent crime rate than Lawrence, Lowell, or Lynn. When you add the numbers to Orange... you may just have the most dangerous place in Mass to live. Yet realestate companies are touting the area as a hot place to buy a new house. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.65.244.151 (talk) 12:16, 7 October 2007 (UTC)

This article was mentioned in the local paper today in the subsection: Quabbin Valley Voices by Carla Charter. She feels that this entry is far too negative and asserts in the title of her piece that it's "wicked wrong." Pissa!

While I'll admit this article is negative, it's factual accurate with problems this town faces. Many people in town glare over these problems or don't even realize how bad they are when honestly, there's a damn good case for saying this is the worst town in Massachusetts on the basis of many different levels:

• School funding (loss of accreditation, condemed shcools, 2nd lowest funded school system per student in the state [right behind Lawrence who has the MECO program and transfers students out of town.)
• Violent Crime (Check ANY stats. While the neighboring town of Orange is actually worse Athol has a ridiculous amount of violent person crime per capita.)
• Lack of employment
• Abandoned buildings (check your broken windows theory guys.)
• Drug abuse/sales (Isn't it distressing that a town of 10,000 people needs its own drug task force?)
• Teen Pregnancy (Check the footnotes. Even Bill Cosby thinks this town needs help.)
• Alcohol Abuse (10,000 people and how many bars? How many liquor stores?)

To simply say every town has its problems in the context of Athol would be absurd. Athol is clearly an abnormality and has way more than its fair share of problems. To ignore this fact is dangerous. To acknowledge it is the first step to fixing it.

That being said there is good in Athol and good people trying to make a difference. For one the town manager is trying to promote business here and drive in some new industrial opportunities, which would have a profound positive impact across the board. It’s a nice start and I’d love to see it go even further.

I think from an encyclopedic standpoint the fact that this town is as bad as it is far more noteworthy than the small bits of good. Ted Bundy killed 40+ women. Isn’t that more encyclopedic than say, Ted Bundy once owned a dog? There’s really no bias either. The fact that you’re 3 times as likely to be raped in Athol Massachusetts over the national average isn’t the result of a biased author, no, it’s the result of a bad town that needs to be assessed in reality to be fixed. -R --66.65.244.151 00:51, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

This person has been reading the Athol Daily News too much and believing all the negative, sensationalized stories. If one checked the police log it is the same people,same locations day after day, week after week causing any problems and the crime rate is no greater than any community. Our police are right on top of things hence the high arrest rate. Also the high school did not lose it's accreditation. There are more new people moving to the area who are more educated and care about the welfare of the town. I'm sick of the old re-hashed stories. Massmum —Preceding comment was added at 00:00, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

I'll put up a section for critism as per wiki-usual and include all the footnotes to .gov and .edu stuff which is where all the "negative" facts(!) were found. I didn't see one single instance where athol daily news was cited though. What I was refering to was a quabbin paper. I've only read the paper when someone pointed out the small blurb about this artical in it.

"crime rate is no greater than any community" this is untrue unless your possilby talking about Compton. Per capita Athol and Orange have very high crime rates even when compaired to places generally known as bad towns/cities, by Mass standards, and by national standards. I can make some free-use chart and graphs to back this up when I find the time.--71.243.17.253 01:17, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

This artical is pretty decent. It's nice to see people fill this out so fast. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.65.244.151 (talk • contribs) November 12, 2007

The culture section reads like an advertisement for Ethan Stone and Osprey Entertainment. Though the Athol Live series is about as close to culture as Athol gets in its borders, and Ethan is the reason it exists the tone of that section is far from fact based encyclopedic. The notable residents section is missing Keith Chase, Author, Military Historian and once bodyguard to Secretary of State, General Alexander Haig. Also missing is the fact that former San Diegan Superhero CapnVideo retired to Athol in 1994 and lived there incognito until 2015. 72.74.186.47 (talk) 03:43, 15 June 2015 (UTC)

Assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Athol, Massachusetts/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

Picture identified as "Starrett Block" is not. This is the former Pequoig hotel. grantbw (talk) 21:50, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Last edited at 21:50, 9 June 2009 (UTC). Substituted at 08:31, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

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Murray reference

Perhaps some helpful Wikipedian would like to format the following quote to put some of it on the page:

https://archive.org/stream/cu31924028819162/cu31924028819162_djvu.txt

It is established beyond a reasonable doubt that Athol received its name fronji John Murray, Esq., whose name appears in the charter of incorporation as the one directed and empowered to issue the warrant calling the first town meeting, and who was also the moderator of that meeting. He was largely interested in lands in the township, owning several hundred acres before the incorporation of the town, and acquiring nearly as much more thereafter; several of the old deeds of his Athol property are now in possession of his descendants in New Brunswick.

That he was probably the most distinguished man among the proprietors is evident from the fact that the title of Esquire is attached to his name as it appears upon the records, which title is bestowed upon no other one of the proprietors. It seems reasonable also that he should desire to bestow his family name upon one of the New England townships in which he was so largely intereisted, and as Rutland, the town where he made his residence, had 22 ATHOL, PAST AND PRESENT.

already been named, lie would naturally look to the one in which he was next most largely interested, which was old Pequoig.

The fact that the beautiful and romantic scenery of the hills of the new town, which is said to resemble Blair-Athol, his ancestral home, might recall to his mind that (Pleasant Land) among the Scottish hills, and thus be an additional motive for the naming of the town. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.78.3.136 (talk) 21:30, 18 June 2018 (UTC)

I would encourge folks to look at the Wikipedia article on John Murray (Massachusetts). There is plenty of proof that Murray was born in Northern Ireland and that he immigrated to New England with the 1718 fleet along with the settlers of Worcester, Rutland, Pelham, and the various parts of Londonderry NH. I would also note that the assertions that Murray was in any way related to the Duke of Athol's family are solely based on Murray's claims and that there is no documentation outside of those self-cited sources. I would also note that although Murray did indeed assist with the incorporation of Athol in the Great and General Assembly he was never elected to serve as Athol's Representative to the Court. Murray did represent the towns of Rutland, Hubbardston, Oakham and Barre. Pjefts (talk) 19:38, 19 June 2018 (UTC)