What is it like to live in Abington?

Housing prices are reasonable, compared with some South Shore towns, and errands are easy to run in this small community.

Island Grove Park in Abington. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff

February 14, 2017

Nancy Reid’s home was a local haunt when she bought it — and after.

Reid and her husband, Curtis, purchased what used to be Benson’s general store on Plymouth Street in Abington more than 50 years ago. To make the space more livable, they removed shelving, put down new flooring, and replaced the front door — but locals didn’t forget the home’s previous incarnation. “We’ve had lots of fun with some of the old-timers who have come into the living room and said, ‘I remember the dog food was here and the penny candy was there,’ ’’ Nancy Reid says with a laugh.

In the mid-1970s, the Reids raised money for muscular dystrophy research by hosting haunted houses and giving hay rides in nearby Mount Vernon Cemetery. They continued the tradition for a few years, Reid says, until the crowds simply got too big.

Reid’s dedication to her community is obvious: She was employed by the town for 33 years, first as a teaching assistant in the kindergarten, then as an assistant librarian at the public library. She fondly remembers the fund-raising efforts that enabled the town to build a freestanding library nearly 20 years ago. “The town has always had a wonderful community spirit. If anybody’s in trouble or has a big problem, the next thing you know, there’s a fund-raiser to help them out,’’ she says.

Reid, chairwoman of the Abington Summer Concerts Committee, proudly points out that the Millennium Memorial Complex, which opened in 2005, was built with donations and hosted 10 free summer concerts at its bandstand last summer. Abington voters also recently approved funding for building a new middle/high school, which will cost $96.4 million (the Massachusetts School Building Authority will pay for just over half).

Compared with some South Shore towns, Abington enables you to “get a decent house for much less money,’’ Reid says. She also appreciates that there are quite a few restaurants in town and that it’s fairly simple to run errands. “The town is so small, you can get anyplace in five minutes,’’ she says.

BY THE NUMBERS

303

The town’s age. Abington, incorporated on June 10, 1712, was named in honor of the countess of Abingdon, England, who helped the royal governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony secure his position.

1 million

The estimated gallons of water in Island Grove Park’s sand-bottom pool. The 11-acre park offers swimming, day camps, picnicking, fishing, and walking trails.

The number of boot and/or shoe manufacturers operating in Abington in 1850, according to census records. “In 1858, Lyman R. Blake, an Abington shoemaker, patented the first machine capable of sewing the soles of shoes to the uppers with satisfactory results,’’ the town’s Dyer Memorial Library reports on its website.