Architect and artist Edward DesJardins was recently honored by the state for his historic preservation work in Georgetown, Rowley, and the Byfield section of Newbury. DesJardins, a Georgetown resident, formerly of Rowley, was named a winner of a 2014 Massachusetts Historical Commission Historic Preservation Award. He has served on the historical commissions and historical societies in both towns, and has been involved with a large number of preservation projects. While living in Georgetown, for example, he assisted in opening the Captain Samuel Brocklebank Museum (which houses the town’s Historical Society) and later oversaw a restoration project at the site, and also purchased a vacant 1829 form Baptist church to prevent its demolition. He then set up a youth center at the site. He chaired the Georgetown Bicentennial Commission, designed the official town flag, and reproduced the gun carriage for the cannon “Old Nancy,” on display at Town Hall. In Rowley, he designed historical house signs for the Historical Society, worked to place a conservation restriction on a wood lot owned by First Congregational Church since 1660, and coauthored “Rowley — Images of America” for the Rowley Historical Society. “Wherever he goes, Mr. DesJardins devotes himself to local preservation with extraordinary passion,” Secretary of State William Galvin, who chairs the state commission, said in a prepared statement.
Georgetown