Daniel Chase, his son, the Honorable Charles F. Chase, and Dexter Pierce introduced the culture of the strawberry to Dighton in the early 1860s. Thus began the era which was to provide a financial boon for area farmers. In the early years, the industry was extremely lucrative having a monopoly on the product. Boston was the largest market and the "Strawberry Express" left the train depot nightly with that day's strawberries. Signs in the SS. Pierce store and Faneuil Hall proclaimed, "Dighton Berries," an utmost recommendation for the berries. For the next fifty years, strawberries were the chief crop grown in Dighton. As the decades passed, the "Dighton Strawberry" faded; however, its memory is perpetuated in the town seal.
Sources
- Dighton 250th Anniversary Booklet
- 1966 Dighton Historical Society Cookbook