Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, Wakefield, Mass.

Title

Wakefield DPW street line marker, Leo T. Gerrior, 1932

Description

"The National Conference on Street and Highway Safety published a Manual on Street Traffic Signs, Signals and Markings in 1930 which mandated that concrete street markings be painted white or black. In 1932, the Wakefield DPW's street marking crew, including Leo Gerrior, at right, was responsible for painting center lines, parking spaces, crosswalks, and restricted areas with two coats of paint. Gerrior, of Spring Avenue, a member of the DPW's Highway Department, was chiefly responsible for painting the traffic lines in the business district and 'much-traveled intersections' using the hand-operated equipment. On September 13, 1939, Leo Gerrior died after being struck by a car at the corner of Main and Bryant Streets while helping to prepare the street for tarring and sanding later in the day. Gerrior lived in Wakefield for 17 years and was employed by the DPW for 10 years. Before joining the DPW, he was employed in the machine department at the Heywood-Wakefield Company, and with CF Keyes of Albion Street as a painter. He left his wife and five children. His sixth child, a daughter, was born in February 1940."

Image from the Wakefield Municipal Gas and Light Department annual calendar, 2014

Photo courtesy of the Gerrior family

Contributor

Institution: Lucius Beebe Memorial Library

Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department (Wakefield, Mass.)

D'Onofrio, Jayne M.

Coverage

Massachusetts--Middlesex (county)--Wakefield

Date

1932

Format

image/jpeg

Publisher

Wakefield, Mass. : Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department

Subject

Public works

Road markings

Type

still image

Photographs

Original Format

1 picture: b & w

Extent

31 x 17 cm.