The white oak showed up with the bark still on. According to the Patriot Ledger's June photo gallery, carpenter Greg Wheeler and a team of volunteers built Marshfield's new waterwheel from two felled trees, and one caption quotes him looking at the raw logs: "This will be a water wheel." The 975-pound wheel went into Veterans Memorial Park on May 30, 2026, and it "now slowly turns," as the Ledger reported.
The town rededicated the park on August 6. Next month, though, the Veterans Day parade won't end there. Marshfield Veterans Services has the November 11 ceremony back on the Town Training Green on Moraine Street. The park was created in 1948 to honor veterans, and it now does a different job.
A move that started with construction
The Green began as a temporary fix. Renovation work closed Veterans Memorial Park in November 2024, at the corner of Routes 3A and 139. A Patriot Ledger preview that month told residents the ceremony would take place at the Town Green by Town Hall, 870 Moraine St., because of the construction. WATD reported the next day that the parade ended "at the Marshfield Town Green for a special ceremony."
Here's how the timeline ran:
- Memorial Day 2024: The parade ends at Veterans Memorial Park and the program is held there, per WATD.
- November 2024: The park closes for renovation, and the Veterans Day ceremony moves to the Town Green.
- January 2025: The Veterans Memorial Park Dam and its fish ladder are removed.
- Memorial Day 2025: The parade again ends at the town green for the ceremony.
- May 30, 2026: The new waterwheel is installed.
- August 6, 2026: The park is rededicated with a ceremony.
- November 11, 2026: The parade and ceremony return to the Town Training Green.
The project took about ten years of planning. In 2019 the state's Division of Ecological Restoration described it as a partnership with the town, Marshfield Veterans Services and the North and South Rivers Watershed Association. The plan was to take out the dam at the head of tide and improve the park honoring Marshfield's veterans at the same time. In November 2024 the town's press release listed $1 million in federal grant funding, $261,000 from the watershed association and $650,000 from Marshfield. The watershed association credits that $1 million grant to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and NOAA.
Why the ceremony stayed put once the park reopened
When the park came back, the town had to decide where the ceremony belonged. Veterans Services put its answer at the top of its department page, in capital letters: the parade and ceremony routes "HAVE NOT CHANGED." Asked why, the department gave a two-word answer:
"Space and Safety... We aren't moving away from Veterans Memorial Park. We're making room for more people to honor what it represents."
The department laid out several practical reasons. Police can close the highway beside the park for only a short time, and that makes dropping off and picking up older veterans and their spouses unsafe, along with the crowd leaving at the end. The park has little to no parking and no designated ADA parking. In past years, most of the people who fit inside the park were parade participants with reserved spots. Everyone else stood on the hill or along the curb of Route 3A, trying to see and hear.
The department says the Green has changed who comes. According to Veterans Services, the shorter route has brought more veterans out to walk in the parade. People who watch the parade can walk over for the ceremony, and drivers of parade vehicles can park on Snow Road and then attend. The department describes a large seating area, families with strollers, picnic blankets and chairs, and veterans thanking staff for a place where they can bring their children and grandchildren. The department also says it invited the commanders of local veterans' organizations to meet with staff and the police department to explain the decision.
The renovation didn't solve the problems the town cites. The new park has ADA-accessible paths, but it still sits at the same busy intersection with the same limited parking. A two-year detour has become the plan for future large ceremonies.
What the rebuilt park is for now
The town says the park will keep "smaller events and ceremonies" and its memorial brick program. The renovation also gave the park more to see on an ordinary day.
The wheel. Wheeler has worked on this wheel before. In 2012 the Marshfield Mariner reported that the wheel then in the park was falling apart and that he wanted a wooden replacement, not an aluminum one. The new wheel is 8 feet across and cost the town nothing. The Ledger's August preview said town officials planned to thank Wheeler and the 15 volunteers who worked on it.
The pond and paths. The heart-shaped pond and its fountain have been renovated. Fuss & O'Neill, the engineering firm on the project, says the redesign added rebuilt footpaths, pedestrian bridges over the channels, and ADA-accessible paths and overlooks facing the restored river. At the August rededication, part of the park was dedicated to Ed Sullivan, a longtime trustee of Veterans Park. Veterans Services Director Carin Paulette spoke about the park and Purple Heart Month.
The river. The biggest change is in the water. The South River is tidal up to this park, 8.8 miles from Massachusetts Bay, and the dam that stood here was the first obstacle on the river. The site's industrial history goes back to 1656, when William Ford and Josiah Winslow built Marshfield's first grist mill on the site. Later came a cotton and woolen factory, a sawmill, an ice house and a laundry. The park was created in 1948. In a spring count before the dam came out, the watershed association counted about 700 herring below the old ladder and only four in the pool above it. The dam and ladder have since been replaced with a nature-like fishway of riffles and pools. In spring 2026, the watershed association reported herring in every section of the restored channel and farther upstream. One volunteer's first sighting of seven fish grew to hundreds within days.
The watershed association says park improvements will likely continue through the end of 2026, so expect some finishing work on fall visits.
November 11 at each site
| Town Training Green | Veterans Memorial Park | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | Moraine St., by Town Hall at 870 Moraine St. | 2200 Ocean St., corner of Routes 3A and 139 |
| Veterans Day 2026 | Parade leaves Library Plaza at Ventress Library at 10:30 a.m., ceremony at 11:00 a.m. | No large ceremony planned |
| Parking noted by the town | Parade vehicles may park on Snow Road | Little to no parking, no designated ADA spaces |
| Ongoing role | Large Veterans Day and Memorial Day ceremonies | Smaller events, memorial bricks, river overlooks |
On parade morning, the shorter route means you can watch the marchers and then walk to the Green for the 11:00 a.m. ceremony. Veterans Services encourages families to bring chairs and blankets. The town's 2026 notice doesn't include a road-closure schedule. Veterans Services says official information will come only from its office or the Town of Marshfield, so check its Parades and Ceremonies page before you head out.
The same page lists the volunteer grave decorating and flag placing that comes before Veterans Day. The group meets at 9:00 a.m. at Winslow Cemetery and moves on to Cedar Grove on Ocean Street, Marshfield Hills on Old Main Street and Couch Cemetery on Union Street. It was scheduled for Saturday, October 24, and the town's last listed rain date is Saturday, November 7.
For time at the park itself, pick a day away from the big ceremonies to see the wheel and the new overlooks. Come back in spring, too. The watershed association says the best herring viewing at the park is in May and runs into June. The same listing notes that groups need a permit to use the park.
Places like Veterans Memorial Park and the Town Training Green are part of why Marshfield feels the way it does, and after 30+ years on the South Shore, I follow them as closely as I follow the market. If you'd like to talk about life in town or what your home is worth, Brita Sheehan offers a complimentary home consultation or an instant home valuation, whenever you're ready.
