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    Somerville
    Somerville
    Somerville
    Ebook206 pages46 minutes

    Somerville

    By Anthony Mitchell Sammarco

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    About this ebook

    Once a part of Charlestown that could only be reached via “The Neck” (present-day Sullivan Square), Somerville became accessible from Boston with the construction of the Middlesex Canal and the extension of various rail lines in the mid- to late nineteenth century. By 1842, Somerville’s population had increased to the point that the town officially separated itself from Charlestown. Over the years, the population continued to grow. With the increase in population came tremendous change, including the subdivision of farms and estates for residential neighborhoods. The city of Somerville was incorporated in 1871, and the bucolic borough became the beloved hometown of many residents over the next century. Described by Mayor Edward Glines as “healthy, morally clean, comfortable and convenient,” Somerville has thrived for years as an attractive, modern residential neighborhood.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateAug 12, 2003
    ISBN9781439628904
    Somerville
    Author

    Anthony Mitchell Sammarco

    Anthony Mitchell Sammarco is a noted historian and author of over sixty books on Boston, its neighborhoods and surrounding cities and towns. He lectures widely on the history and development of his native city.

    Read more from Anthony Mitchell Sammarco

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      Book preview

      Somerville - Anthony Mitchell Sammarco

      Library.)

      INTRODUCTION

      Founded in 1842, Somerville is considered the quintessential streetcar suburb of Boston, experiencing tremendous growth in the last three decades of the nineteenth century. Located just 2.5 miles from the Massachusetts State House, its numerous hills and scenic vistas lend it a convenient and picturesque quality, which was a major factor in its popularity as a place of residence in the nineteenth century. Once a part of Charlestown, Massachusetts, Somerville was incorporated as an independent town in 1842 through the urging of Charles E. Gilman, who had prepared a petition that was signed by 152 supporters. Gilman, for whom Gilman Square was named, was to serve as town (later city) clerk of Somerville for forty-six years and to whom is owed the recording of the early history and development of the town.

      The original title to the lands now known as the city of Somerville came from Chief Webcowit of the Pawtucket Indians, and his queen, Squaw Sachem. Though little activity was to occur in the first two centuries after Massachusetts Bay Colony was settled in 1630, there was some activity during the Revolution, when the British sailed up the Mystic River to Ten Hills Farm and marched to the Powder House, a solid masonry tower built in 1705 by Jean Mallet near what is now Powder House Square. Led by General Gage, the regulars seized 250 casks of gun powder stored there and transported the casks to Castle William (now Castle Island). This loss dealt a decisive blow to the colonial troops. After the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, the colonial troops, under the supervision of General Putnam, built fortifications on Winter and Prospect Hills, and kept watch on Boston during the siege, which lasted until Evacuation Day, March 17, 1776, when the British soldiers and the Loyalists sailed from Boston. Things were quiet for the next few decades, but by the early nineteenth century the Middlesex Canal was laid out in 1803 from Charlestown to Lowell, along what is now Mystic Avenue, through the support of Governor James Sullivan. This canal allowed freight to be shipped in a swift and convenient manner and spurred the early development of the town. The establishment of the McLean Asylum for the Insane in 1818 in the former Joseph Barrell mansion by the Massachusetts General Hospital Corporation was an important step in the care of mentally disturbed patients, and brought renown to the town. Another important institution was the Ursuline Convent, established in 1826 by the Order of Saint Ursula on Ploughed Hill (or Mount Benedict as it was renamed by the nuns) to educate the daughters of Boston’s gentry. An unfortunate anti-Catholic riot took place on August 4, 1834, which led to its destruction, but the ruins of the convent remained on the hill as a grim reminder to those who had destroyed it for decades after the event.

      The residents of Charlestown who lived outside the Neck, or the area north of present-day Sullivan Square, began to demand separation from the town as early as 1828 as the town of Warren, to be named in memory of General Doctor Joseph Warren (1741–1775) who died during the Battle of Bunker Hill. The reasons offered in defense of separation from Charlestown were the lack of improvements made to their section of the town with their share of the taxes, and the great distance to town schoolhouses and the obvious lack of interest in their welfare. Supported in their desire for independence, it was on March 3, 1842, that the town of Somerville was formally incorporated with Nathan Tufts, John Edgerly, Caleb Leland, Luther Mitchell, and Francis Bowman serving as selectmen, Charles Gilman as treasurer, and Edmund Tufts as collector. Charles Miller suggested the name Somerville for the new town saying that it was a pretty name, and that at that time there was no other Somerville in New England. Within a short period of time, the new town began to flourish and schools, churches, municipal buildings, and new streets were built. It was said that all the improvements that mark a town’s growth to the stature of a city were added as needed, and that in that regard on January 1, 1872, the city of Somerville was the result of nearly three decades of unprecedented growth. The first mayor of Somerville was George O. Brastow, serving from 1872 to 1874. Somerville, with a population of 1,103 at the time of its incorporation as a town in 1842, had a population of 60,000 by the turn of this century, and was truly a thriving city just a stone’s throw from Boston.

      In the twentieth century, Somerville’s population has steadily increased and many of the new residents come from all walks of life, ethic backgrounds, and religious beliefs. With the continued contributions being made by various immigrant groups to the well being of the city

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