To the editor:
By the time the town of Hardwick had reached its 100th birthday in 1881, it had four villages: Hardwick Street, East Hardwick, South Hardwick, and Mackville. It had post offices in East Hardwick and South Hardwick. The USPS had designated the post office in South Hardwick as the Hardwick Post Office.
Unfortunately, when South Hardwick incorporated as a village in 1891, it took the post office’s name for itself, Hardwick. I say “unfortunately,” because today, although the Village of Hardwick merged back into the Town of Hardwick in 1989, both the town and its largest village have the same name. In casual conversation, we have no easy way to distinguish between Hardwick, the village, and Hardwick, the town, so sometimes it sounds like the village is the town. It isn’t. We shouldn’t talk about it as if it is. Could I interest anyone in going back to referring to Hardwick village as South Hardwick? I will if you will.
Elizabeth H. Dow
Hardwick
Dow is Secretary of the Hardwick Public Journalism board, publisher of The Hardwick Gazette.
