Did you know Framingham was once a center for cycling enthusiasts? Bicyclists from towns away came to Framingham to take part in the events that attracted hundreds of spectators.
During the 1890s, Framingham was a town where the number of cyclers was greater in population to its number of inhabitants than any other city or town in Massachusetts, with a single exception of Springfield. In 1892, according to official records, there were 123 women riders and 473 men cyclists in Framingham. The Framingham Cycling Club had 70 members and they used a racing track called Wayside Park.
Wayside Park was a bicycle (and foot) racing club located at the intersection of what is now Summer Street, Concord Street, and Hardy Streets. According to Derrah’s Street Railway Guide for Eastern Massachusetts, the park featured a “…pretty pine and chestnut grove and a baseball [diamond] and bicycle track… this was also a popular resort for private picnic parties, there being all the necessary buildings for the accommodation of those seeking a day’s outing.”
At this time, the Framingham cyclists would have been riding relatively new “safety bicycles,” which had two equally sized wheels. Safety bicycles were generally easier to mount and more stable than the previously popular high-wheeler (also called penny-farthing) bicycles that dominated the 1870s and 80s, and are still the most commonly ridden bicycle today.
The earliest mention of the park dates back to 1893 with this article from the Boston Evening Transcript, September 28,1893.
In 1916, The Boston Globe indicates it was requisitioned for the military, when the Musterfield was activated for the militia.
It appears that may have been the end of its existence as a park, but the neighborhood was referred to as “Wayside Park” at least into the 1930s. Framingham residents recall an empty lot at this intersection for many years. It wasn’t until 1960 that the MetroWest YMCA was built on the former Wayside Park.
Framingham still holds on to its cycling past today. There are two major cycling companies in town – N+1 Cyclery and 1854 Cycling Company. N+1 Cyclery services and sells new and restored bicycles at 57 Waverly Street and 1854 was founded “as a way to end a generational cycle of poverty by creating living wage jobs for the formerly incarcerated.”
Many thanks to Kevin Swope and Laurie Heffernon for the historical research.
