The Massachusetts Car That Beat Ford, and the Needham November Built Around It

In 1909, a Model T crossed the finish line in Seattle first after a coast-to-coast race. Then Ford was disqualified for illegally swapping parts in Wyoming, and the trophy went to a car built in Stoneham, Massachusetts. As Axios Boston reported, Ford's company then spent decades playing down the disqualification, including in a 1959 campaign for the race's 50th anniversary.

The person who dug that story back up lives in Needham. On Thursday, November 12, Eric Moskowitz brings it to the Needham History Center on Central Avenue. That talk anchors a month that moves backward through American history, nearly all of it in rooms the town already uses for civic life.

The Shawmut, the Model T, and a Trophy That Got Lost

Moskowitz's book, The Hardest, Longest Race, came out from St. Martin's Press on June 2, 2026. The History Center's event page explains the setup. In 1909, America had 253 automakers, all chasing the new demand for cars. Millionaire M. Robert Guggenheim announced an "Ocean to Ocean" contest from New York City to the Seattle World's Fair, and only three companies showed up to race: Acme, Ford, and Shawmut.

Shawmut is the local thread. The Stoneham-based Shawmut Motor Company had Boston money behind it, including Quincy Adams Shaw Jr. and Elliot Cabot Lee. It built its cars with imported German steel instead of mass-produced parts, aiming for a vehicle that could survive a cross-country trip. The route ran through mud, rough roads and mountain passes, and Axios calls it the first true transcontinental auto race.

The book's larger argument goes beyond one trophy. In Axios Boston's summary, Moskowitz makes the case that Massachusetts had a shot at becoming America's auto capital before a factory fire, political sabotage and Ford's publicity in Detroit buried the result.

Much of the research came from close reading of old local papers. Moskowitz scanned microfilm from small-town newspapers along the entire 4,100-mile route, where reporters had covered the racers passing through. He also found the grandson of Shawmut mechanic Earle Chapin, who had a collection of 1909 letters between Chapin and his wife, written during the race.

Moskowitz spent 12 years at the Boston Globe. He was part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing.

A Room That Is Itself a Piece of Local History

The setting suits the subject. According to the Needham History Center, its headquarters at 1147 Central Avenue is two relocated buildings: the Matthias Mills House, from 1834, and the Upper Falls Schoolhouse, from 1842, linked by a small connecting structure. The organization moved in during April 2006.

The talk runs 7 to 9 p.m. on November 12. Admission is free and open to everyone, but the History Center asks people to register through the free ticket link on its event page. Executive Director Gloria Greis is listed as the organizer.

The Month Keeps Going Back in Time

What makes this November unusual is what comes after the Shawmut. Each of the month's other two history talks reaches further into the past than the one before it, so a resident who goes to all three gets a reverse timeline of how the country was built.

Five days after Moskowitz, on Tuesday, November 17 at 7 p.m., National Book Award winner Nathaniel Philbrick comes to Powers Hall in Needham Town Hall to discuss The Rush. The book argues that California's Gold Rush shaped the modern United States and lit the long fuse to the Civil War. Philbrick, the author of In the Heart of the Sea and Mayflower, will be in conversation with filmmaker Randall MacLowry, whose work for the GBH/PBS American Experience series includes the documentary "The Gold Rush." The program is presented by the Friends of the Needham Free Public Library with the library, and registration is on the library's event listing.

The Sunday after that, November 22, the timeline goes back to the Revolution. Historian William Leeman, a Salve Regina University professor, discusses The Long Road to Annapolis, his book about John Paul Jones. Jones was a Scottish émigré who became a daring Revolutionary War captain and pushed for better training for American naval officers. He was later forgotten, until President Theodore Roosevelt brought him back as the "Father of the American Navy" to build public support for a larger fleet. The library calendar lists it as a Sunday Salon in the Community Room at 1139 Highland Avenue, starting at 2 p.m.

Read in order, the three talks run from a 1909 car race, back to the Gold Rush, back to a sea captain of the Revolutionary War, all within ten days.

Four Rooms, One Month

The talks are only part of the schedule. The same few civic rooms fill up all month, and two of them get used twice.

If this post reaches you on Thursday, November 5, the art demonstration is tonight. Paul Alie, a watercolor artist and signature member of the New England Watercolor Society, will show how acrylic inks can add texture to landscape, still life and abstract work.

Saturday, November 7 is the busiest day on the list. In the afternoon, a group of Needham Open Studios artists sets up at the Congregational Church with paintings, ceramics, printmaking, handmade books and fabric origami, plus holiday gifts, cards and refreshments. Admission is free. The Needham Observer calendar lists the hours as 1 to 4 p.m., while other listings start earlier, so check with Needham Open Studios before you head over. That evening at 7, the Rivers Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Christopher Memoli, opens its 2026–2027 season at historic Needham Town Hall. The program starts with Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante, with violinist Jin-Kyung Joen and violist Emily Rome as soloists, and a Tchaikovsky symphony fills the second half.

Town Hall gets two nights in ten days, the orchestra on the 7th and Philbrick on the 17th. The library Community Room opens the month with paint and closes it with a naval captain.

Coffee Near Town Hall, With a Change Coming

For a coffee or pastry before an evening at Town Hall, French Press Bakery and Cafe at 74 Chapel Street is close by. Needham Local reported in August 2026 that founder Jay Spencer plans to step down and hand the cafe to executive pastry chef Arthur Davtian. The Needham Local report did not give a date for the handover, so this fall's visits may come either before or after the change.

Where the Calendar Goes in December

The History Center's schedule continues after Thanksgiving. On Wednesday, December 2, from 6:30 to 9 p.m., it presents Women in World Jazz with Tal Shalom-Kobi at Needham Golf Club, 49 Green Street. Tickets are $28. Its event list also has a holiday-shopping item on December 13 with Needham merchandise, books, gifts and holiday cards. The time and place have not been posted yet, so check the History Center calendar as the date gets closer.

The Friends of the Library series continues into the new year as well. On Sunday, January 10, 2027, actors Stephen Collins and Jerry Bisantz present "Two Guys Walk into a Theater," a mix of scenes and songs about the American male on the American stage.

For the rest of November, the Shawmut story is the clearest reason to get out on a weeknight. Moskowitz found a Massachusetts car with a lost trophy by reading the local papers of every town it passed through. On November 12, a Needham neighbor tells that story at the History Center, where an 1842 schoolhouse is part of the building.

Every Needham home has a history of its own, from the year it was built to the people who owned it. If you've been curious about what your home's story means for its value today, Steve Leavey is glad to walk you through it. Request a Complimentary Market Consultation, and see more of what's happening around town on our Needham neighborhood page.