On June 29, the Scituate Historical Society's full moon climb up Lawson Tower started at 7:15 p.m. On December 23, the last climb of 2026 starts at 3:15 p.m., four hours earlier.
The Society starts each "Trips To The Top" climb about half an hour before sunset, weather permitting. In the last weeks of the year, that puts the town's highest public view of the moon in the middle of the afternoon. It also puts the tower's two best events of the year three days apart in December: the Christmas bell concert on the 20th and the Cold Super Moon climb on the 23rd.
The sunset sets the schedule
The Scituate Historical Society's full moon tour page lists ten climbs for 2026. Seen together, they follow the daylight through the year:
- April 1, 5:30 PM · Pink Moon
- May 1, 6:45 PM · Flower Moon
- May 31, 6:45 PM · Blue Moon
- June 29, 7:15 PM · Strawberry Moon
- July 29, 6:45 PM · Buck Moon
- August 28, 6:00 PM · Sturgeon Moon
- September 26, 5:15 PM · Corn Moon
- October 26, 4:15 PM · Harvest Moon
- November 24, 3:30 PM · Beaver Super Moon
- December 23, 3:15 PM · Cold Super Moon
The latest start was the Strawberry Moon in late June. From there the start time moved earlier every month, from 6:00 in late August to 4:15 in late October. The last two climbs of the year are the only ones that start before 4 p.m., and both are listed as super moons.
An early start changes what you see from the belfry. On a summer climb you reach the top in long evening light. The December climb starts in mid-afternoon, about half an hour before sunset. On every climb, members of the South Shore Astronomical Society bring telescopes for viewing.
Thursday evening, the Society is at G.A.R. Hall
The Historical Society's calendar doesn't jump straight to the moon. On Thursday evening, November 5, the Society presents "Baker Goes To War: Lecture and Book Signing" from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at G.A.R. Hall, 353 Country Way. Admission is $10 for Society members and $15 for nonmembers, according to the Scituate Visitors Center listing.
G.A.R. Hall also connects to the tower. Questions about the full moon tours go to the Society's GAR Hall Events email, listed on each tour page. If you plan to climb in December, you can ask about it at the lecture.
November's climb is already sold out
The November 24 Beaver Super Moon climb, 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. at $10 a person, is marked sold out on both the Historical Society's site and the Visitors Center calendar.
These climbs require reservations, and the Society takes them online. No tickets are mailed. Your purchase confirmation is your proof that you're attending, so bring it with you. With November sold out, December 23 is the only climb left this year.
Two December dates, three days apart
The tower ends 2026 by doing both of its jobs in the same week, first with the bells and then with the belfry.
- Sunday, December 20, 6:00 p.m. Christmas bell concert. It's free, and the Society's 2026 concert series lists it as the last concert of the year. Society Chimer Lenae Badger plays the series. The Visitors Center listing calls it the final Lawson Tower bell concert scheduled for 2026 and suggests you bundle up and bring a chair and your own hot cocoa.
- Wednesday, December 23, 3:15 p.m. Cold Super Moon climb. It's $10 a person with reservations required, and the Society's ticket page showed tickets in stock in late October. It's the year's last chance to go up. Check that page for availability before you plan your afternoon around it.
The Christmas concert ends a series that ran through the whole year. The Society's 2026 calendar lists concerts on St. Patrick's Day weekend, Mother's Day and Memorial Day, which had both a 10 a.m. and a 4 p.m. concert. Others came on July 5 for the Fourth, August 9 for Heritage Days and October 25 for Halloween. Like the climbs, the concerts moved through the year. The Halloween concert started at 5 p.m., and the Christmas concert starts at 6, after dark.
Why a water tank has a belfry
You can attend both December events without knowing the story behind the tower, but knowing it explains why the two events happen at the same building.
The Historical Society's property history of Lawson Tower starts with Thomas W. Lawson, a stock market figure of the early 1900s. He came to Scituate as a summer visitor and bought more than 1,000 acres on a hill overlooking the ocean for his farm, Dreamwold. In 1901, the Scituate Water Co. decided to build a steel water tank in the town center that held 276,000 gallons and stood 153 feet high. According to the Society, Lawson's wife, Jeannie, saw the standpipe as a monstrosity and urged her husband to do something about it.
Lawson sent his architect to Europe to research tower designs. The architect came back from the Rhine River with a sketch of a 15th-century watch tower. The tower went up in 1902 to enclose the tank, and Lawson paid for all of it. At the top, he installed ten bells from the Meneely Bell Factory in Troy, New York, ranging from 300 to 3,000 pounds. They're still played from a console room at ground level, using 10 wooden levers connected to the top of the tower by chains and pulleys.
That console is why the Christmas concert works for an audience in folding chairs on the ground. The chimer plays from the bottom of the tower, and the bells ring out across town from the top.
The Society lists a few more dates that show how the tower came to the public:
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1902 | Tower built to enclose the water tank, funded entirely by Lawson |
| 1923 | Town of Scituate buys the bells and clock from Lawson |
| 1931 | Town buys the tower from the Scituate Water Co., with the Historical Society as guardian and custodian |
| 1988 | Scituate Water Co. stops using the tank |
| Spring 2002 | Interior steel standpipe cut down to 10 feet |
The steel tank that Lawson hid is now almost completely gone, so a December climb goes up through a tower that was built to hide something that's no longer there. The tower is listed as an American Water Landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places. For years, someone from the Historical Society has climbed the tower once a week to wind the clock so the bells keep playing on time.
What the December 23 climb involves
The tower stands behind 330 First Parish Road, behind the First Parish Unitarian Church. The climb is 121 stairs to the belfry, and the tower is not handicap accessible. The Society holds the tours weather permitting, which matters in late December.
Because the climb starts at 3:15, you'll go up in daylight. If you're turning it into an evening out, one option is Mill Wharf at 23 Mill Wharf Plaza. In January, the Scituate Select Board minutes recorded its new general manager, lifelong Scituate resident Nick Leeping, and its new executive chef, Austin Martin.
For the Christmas concert three days earlier, you need less planning: a chair, a warm coat and something hot to drink. The concert is free.
Tara Coveney keeps track of Scituate's calendar the same way she tracks its market, because both help explain the town to the people who live here. When you want to talk about what your home is worth here, Tara Coveney is glad to help. Request a private market consultation.
