"During the 1880s, James F. Woodward owned the house at 111 Albion Street. At the time, his property included a dwelling house, a stable, a tool factory, and nine to sixteen acres of land. It was here that he conducted a business, James F. Woodward & Son, manufacturer of shoe tools and machinery. James learned the trade from his father and his grandfather, Thomas Woodward, the first manufacturer of awls and other shoemakers' tools in America. James Woodward was the father of Lieut. Col. Charles F. Woodward, a leading proponent and president of the Wakefield Stoneham Street Railway Company. Charles was active in his native town, serving as president of the Citizens' Gas Light Company of Reading, South Reading, and Stoneham, and as president of the Wakefield Board of Trade. Politically he served as the Town's representative in the Massachusetts Legislature from 1887 to 1889, as Tax Collector and a member of the Board of Assessors." - Text from calendar by Jayne M. D'Donofrio. Image from the Wakefield Municipal Gas and Light Department annual calendar, 2008 Photo courtesy of the Wakefield Historical Society.
