By Devon Cormier
Staff Writer

Charlotte Smith, 96, is the new recipient of the Boston Post Cane, which is given to the oldest resident in town. (Devon Cormier Photo)

When Charlotte Smith’s father bought the giant house that used to be right in New Boston Village, it cost him a mere $2,500. In 1909, Charlotte Smith was born in that home, when the town had a hotel, supplied dairy and produce to the hottest Boston hotels and was a regular train stop on the map.

Smith’s father discovered the little town of New Boston because he was a railroad engineer and saw the small yet vibrant town daily. He moved from North Hampton, Mass., and a few short years later Smith was born.

Now Smith, at 96, has been given the Boston Post Cane for being the oldest resident in town. Pair the fact that Smith is the oldest person in town with the fact that she is a lifelong native and it is clear that Smith has seen how time has affected the town.

“Oh, a lot has changed in town; I wouldn’t know where to begin,” Smith said. “But it’s hard to say. You just grow right along with it and can’t begin to notice.”

Smith said she isn’t quite sure why she’s never left New Boston, but she credits the beautiful landscape and rugged terrain, along with her father, “the one-man Chamber of Commerce,” for her dedication to the town.

In 1940, she and her husband, Newton Smith, bought about 10 acres of land on South Hill Road. Newton Smith said his father built the house in the 1950s. Charlotte calls the home, set back in the pine trees, a refuge from life in the center of the village.

Although now big trucks rumble down South Hill Road, a 1909 picture of village life shows only some cattle milling about the dirt road.

“My husband bought these 10 acres in the early ’40s and made us a good retirement,” Smith said. “You have to come out here in the woods to relax.”

After Charlotte and Newton Smith got married in the 1940s, they ran a garage together. The Masiello Group, a Realtor, now sits in the space next to the school where the garage once stood.

The Smiths had four boys, most of who have chosen to stay in the immediate area. Smith’s children are trying to find a way to put her name on the Boston Post Cane, but for now it sits where Smith can see it when snapping photographs or watching “Animal Planet,” her hobbies when she isn’t playing Bingo or Uno.

The tradition started when The Boston Post newspaper gave out the canes to New England towns almost a century ago.