"Medfield's Taxi Service" - Snippet of Medfield History

Medfield MA

21 October, 2021

9:24 AM

Description

A Snippet of Medfield History... "Medfield's Taxi Service" By Claire Shaw "One would be hard-pressed to find an official taxi service in Medfield today. An Uber or a Lyft, maybe, but no taxi. This was not always the case. In the early 20th century, the Newell family owned a livery service with horses and wagons; the same family later owned and operated a taxi service, Newell's Motor Livery, and all the town's school buses. Young John Allen Newell, Jr., also known as Hookey (spellings varied) because his father had been the Town's truant officer, worked in the family business. In high school, John would sit in front of Town Hall, doing his homework, sometimes under a streetlight, waiting for the last bus from Boston should someone need a ride home. John left Medfield in October of 1942 to join the United States Navy. He served our country, in World War II and Korea, for 20 years. Upon returning to Medfield in 1962, John resumed working for his family's taxi service on a full-time basis, often working seven days a week and six nights a week. A man of all parts, John also performed the necessary mechanical work on the taxis and buses and built a set of CB radios from Heathkits, enabling the taxis to communicate. When the Newell's taxi service was no longer operating, Walter Shackley stepped in and became the sole proprietor of Shackley's Airport Service. Wally served the town for many years until he, too, retired, leaving us to rely on more formal, less easygoing, arrangements. Hookey's son, John A. Newell, III currently owns and operates Floyd and Glenn's Automotive in Medfield."