USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Melrose > Melrose, Massachusetts, 1900-1950; commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the town of Melrose and the fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the city of Melrose > Part 1
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MELROSE
MASSACHUSETTS
1900-1950
Gc 974.402 M4 93k 1227357
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01114 8779
CITY HALL, MAIN STREET
C
MELROSE MASSACHUSETTS
1900-1950
COMMEMORATING THE ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF THE TOWN OF MELROSE
AND THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INCORPORATION OF THE CITY OF MELROSE
BY EDWIN C. KEMP
PUBLISHED BY THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY COMMITTEE
1950
Copyright 1949 By City of Melrose
THE MURRAY PRINTING COMPANY WAKEFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS
1227357
TO THE MEMORY OF ELBRIDGE HENRY GOSS 1830-1908 THE FIRST HISTORIAN OF MELROSE
FOREWORD
During the spring of 1947 the Melrose Woman's Club asked their fellow citizens for an expression of opinion on the publica- tion of a history of Melrose. The petition, which was circulated among many groups, read "in view of the fact that in 1950 Mel- rose will be observing the one hundredth (100) anniversary of its incorporation as a municipality, that provision be made for the appropriation by the City Government of funds for the compiling and publishing of a history of the last fifty years of Melrose (1900- 1950) to supplement the History of the Town of Melrose, written by Mr. Elbridge Goss and published in 1902 pursuant to the vote of the town." Enthusiastic interest in the idea was at once apparent.
Mayor Carl Raymond appointed a special committee to make a study and investigation relative to the publishing of a history of Melrose. He asked Mrs. Eaton H. Perkins, Mr. Howard B. Wilder and Mr. Robert T. Boynton to meet with Alderman Warren E. Taylor and Alderman Frank M. Mclaughlin, appointed by the President of the Board, and to recommend procedure from that point. On October 30, 1947 the committee met and discussed the type of history it wished and how such a book should be pre- pared. It was agreed that a "factual history, similar to Goss'," should be written. At a second meeting of the committee on November 19, Mr. F. Lauriston Bullard and Mr. A. Imrie Dixon gave valuable advice.
In January of 1949 Mayor Thomas L. Thistle appointed a Publication Committee as a part of the Fiftieth Anniversary Committee and work was begun upon the book itself. The com- mittee was fortunate to secure as author Mr. Edwin C. Kemp. A resident of Melrose, a gentleman of leisure, a student in many fields and author in some, Mr. Kemp has been tireless in his pur- suit of facts and records. Many of our citizens have been most helpful in supplying wanted information. The gratitude of the author and the committee goes to Charles H. Adams, Wallace R. Lovett, Victor A. Friend, Dr. Ralph D. Leonard, George A. McPheters, Willis C. Goss, Harold A. Sewall, Paul H. Messer, Miss Helen Anderson, Miss Minnie L. Farnsworth, Mrs. Samuel E. Eldridge, Miss Daisy Barrett and Mrs. Malcolm D. Barrows.
In addition the pastors and clerks of the churches and the officers of many local organizations have courteously aided the author whenever they could. Miss Rhoda Parmenter did an excellent job in preparing the manuscript for publication.
THE PUBLICATION COMMITTEE MRS. EATON H. PERKINS, Chairman MR. RALPH F. GEORGE MR. LOUIS K. MCNALLY
CONTENTS
PAGE
Chapter One. The City .
1
Chapter Two. The Government
7
Chapter Three.
The Firemen
.
11
Chapter Four. The Police
15
Chapter Five. The Schools
19
Chapter Six. The Parks
27
Chapter Seven. The Water
33
Chapter Eight. The Drainage
37
Chapter Nine. The Library
41
Chapter Ten. The Post Office
47 49
Chapter Eleven. The Churches
71
Chapter Thirteen. The Homes
77
Chapter Fourteen. The Societies
81
Chapter Fifteen. The Fraternities
95
Chapter Sixteen. The Artists .
101
Chapter Seventeen. The Military
107
Chapter Eighteen. The Athletes
119
Chapter Nineteen. The Transportation 127
Chapter Twenty. The Press
129
Chapter Twenty-One. The Banks
131
Chapter Twenty-Two. The Factories
135
Chapter Twenty-Three. The Businessmen
137
Chapter Twenty-Four. The Cemeteries 143
Chapter Twenty-Five. The Events 145
151
Chapter Twenty-Seven. The Future
171
Appendix A. Honor Roll
173
Appendix B. Anniversary Committee Members
175
Appendix C. Statistics of Fifty Years, 1900-1950
.
.
.
.
Chapter Twelve. The Hospital
.
Chapter Twenty-Six. The Personalities
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
City Hall
PAGE Frontispiece xiii
The Anniversary Committee .
Memorial Hall
6
Central Fire Station
12
Melrose Highlands Fire Station
12
Winthrop School .
20 20
Ripley School
22
St. Mary's Parochial School
22
High School
26
Pine Banks Park
28
Spot Pond
32
Ell Pond
36
Public Library
40 46
Post Office
First Methodist Church
50 54
First Unitarian Church .
56
Advent Christian Church
56
Hillcrest Congregational Church
64
First Church of Christ Scientist
64
First Church of the Nazarene
68
Golden Hills Union Baptist Church
68
Melrose Hospital
70
Colby Wing, Melrose Hospital
74
The Morgan-Dodge Home
76
Fitch Home
76
Phineas Upham House
80
Masonic Temple
94
Honor Roll, World War II
108
Organ Panel, Memorial Hall
114
Bronze Tablet - World War I, in Grand Army Hall
114
Theodore Roosevelt School
.
First Baptist Church
.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS (continued)
PAGE
Melrose Athletic Field .
118
Mount Hood Golf Club
120
Bellevue Golf Club
122
Melrose Cooperative Bank
132
Melrose Savings Bank .
134
Wyoming Cemetery
144
Mount Hood Tower
150
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THE ANNIVERSARY COMMITTEE
Front row, left to right: DR. RALPH D. LEONARD, CHAIRMAN; HON. ANGIER L. GOODWIN, CONGRESSMAN AND FORMER MAYOR; FORMER MAYOR CHARLES H. ADAMS; MAYOR THOMAS L. THISTLE.
Middle row, left to right: RALPH F. GEORGE; MRS. EATON H. PERKINS; MRS. THOMAS F. TROY; MISS BLANCHE E. NICKERSON, SECRETARY TO MAYOR AND COMMITTEE; FRANK B. MCLAUGHLIN, PRESIDENT OF BOARD OF ALDERMEN.
Rear row, left to right: CHARLES A. HUNTER; LOUIS K. MCNALLY; HON. VICTOR A. FRIEND, FORMER GOVERNOR'S COUNCILLOR; EDWIN C. KEMP, HISTORIAN; WILLIS C. Goss; FORMER MAYOR CARL A. RAYMOND.
CHAPTER ONE
THE CITY
The history of Melrose, Massachusetts, properly begins with the settlement of Mishawum, later Charlestown, in 1629. In 1633 all the territory north of the Mystic River was granted to Charles- town and known as Mystic Side. The same year the area which became Melrose was reported too rocky for settlement, but in the Book of Possessions, 'dated 1638, Ralph and Richard Sprague are listed as property owners in "Ponde feilde," so named for the numerous ponds in the district. In 1640 Mystic Side was set off from Charlestown and known as Mauldon, or Malden, which became a separate town in May 1649. The Melrose area was then known as Malden North End, and later as North Malden.
The territory was sparsely settled until the Boston and Maine Railroad began operations in July 1845, which soon brought in many residents. At that time Maple Street was the center of com- munal activities and was known as the "Village."
As the activities of the village were so distinct from the center of Malden, the residents petitioned the General Court of Massachusetts for incorporation as a town, and with the support of the Malden voters this was accomplished and the Town of Melrose incorporated May 3, 1850. On March 15, 1853, that part of Malden which had been set off to Stoneham in 1734, most of which is included in the Melrose Highlands, was annexed to Melrose.
The name of Melrose appears to have been suggested by Rev. John McLeish, pastor of the Methodist Church, and adopted upon motion of William Bogle. Both men were Scotsmen, friends and residents of Melrose. The name in Scotland is derived from the Gaelic "Maol Ros" or "Bare moor."
The name Wyoming, as Boardman's Crossing later became known, is a corruption of the Delaware Indian words "Wauwama maugh" or "open plain" originally applied to the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania and later to the State of Wyoming, but by whom applied or first suggested is not recorded. The name was also one of several proposed for the town of Winchester. Wyoming Avenue was opened soon after the railroad was built in 1843, and named by William Bogle.
As the population of Melrose increased from 1,260 in 1850
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to 12,625 in 1899, with property valuations increased from $423,497 to $11,820,350 during the same period, the citizens were moved to petition the General Court for incorporation as a city, which was done by Act of March 18, 1899. This was accepted at a town meeting held on May 8, the election of city officials was held on December 19, and the new city government took office on January 1, 1900, with Levi S. Gould as Mayor.
By January 1, 1948, the population had increased to 27,754, and the property valuation to $37,698,600 for real estate and $3,365,750 for personal property.
The area of Melrose, covering 3,116 acres, of which 35.50 acres are water surface, is seven miles directly north of Boston, and has the shape of a truncated pyramid. It marches with Malden on the south for about three miles, with Saugus on the east for two and a half miles, with Wakefield on the north for a mile and a half, and with Stoneham, and for a very short distance with Medford, on the west for two and a half miles.
This area has a diversified topography, including ponds, swamp, level land and rocky highlands. Some of the ponds have disappeared, such as Bennett's Pond and Dix's Pond, which is now a parking area back of City Hall. The area of Ell Pond has been greatly reduced, and the High School and much of Lynn Fells Parkway are built on reclaimed swamp land. The greater part of the level land is now covered with residences, leaving some of the elevated and rocky sections still to be developed, or reserved as park areas.
Melrose is primarily a city of homes, and it is, and has been, the policy of the City Government to keep it so. It has no great extremes of wealth or poverty, no sporting concessions or liquor stores, and no large-scale manufacturing establishments. It offers a quiet and respectable place of residence for persons working in near-by Boston, and those engaged in its own local activities.
There are four business centers in Melrose, the principal one being on Main Street between Essex and Grove Streets, two lesser ones on Franklin Street between Chipman Avenue and Green- wood Street, and on West Wyoming Avenue between Waverley Place and Pleasant Street, with a still smaller one at the corner of Franklin and Main Streets known as Franklin Square. With the exception of a few shops on West Emerson Street near the rail- road station, in former years a much more active business center, and a scattering of shops elsewhere, these four centers include the bulk of the commercial activity of the community, the banks,
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chain stores, markets, drug stores, clothing stores and other enterprises catering to the wants of the population. The auto- mobile agencies and service stations are mostly outside these centers, on Main Street beyond Grove Street, on Essex and Tremont Streets and on the Lynn Fells Parkway. The lumber and fuel yards are on Essex Street near the Melrose railroad station.
Main Street was originally laid out by order of the General Court in 1652, following the old Indian trail from Chelsea to Reading, and running east of Boston Rock, as part of a general plan for opening a continuous highway to the New Hampshire settlements. Moved west of Boston Rock in 1670, it was again straightened to its present form in 1806. The elevation at City Hall is sixty-one feet above mean tide.
Melrose was one of the first cities in Massachusetts to estab- lish a planning board in 1914, one year after the enabling act was passed by the General Court, and the various planning boards since that date have made a serious study of the future develop- ment and expansion of the City, and of the necessary regulatory legislation.
The 1940 Federal census showed a population of 25,333 in Melrose of which 86 per cent were native white, 11 per cent foreign born, with twenty families of other races. The previous ten years showed an increase of residents over sixty-five years of age, higher than the average for the State, and a decrease in chil- dren under five years of age, the same as for the State, but with a tendency to increase. Of the 7,123 dwellings in 1940, 55.6 per cent were owner occupied. Of the male population 78 per cent were of working age and 26 per cent of the women were working or seek- ing work. The largest group of workers were in finance, insurance or real estate, and 11 per cent in professional and related services. There were three times as many clerical and sales workers as operators and manual workers.
In 1945 the State census gave the City a population of 27,971 and it is estimated that a maximum population of about 32,000 will be reached by 1960. There is comparatively little undevel- oped land suitable for new housing. The undeveloped land in the southeastern part of the City is considered unsuitable for resi- dence purposes. The most active development in recent years has been on the East Side, where a number of houses of moderate size for persons of comfortable means have been built.
Because of a threat of chaotic building the Melrose Planning Board prepared a Zoning Ordinance in October 1923. A com-
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mittee of three was appointed, Mr. George Glover, Mr. A. S. Noyes, with Mrs. Eva G. Osgood as chairman, to make a study of the question, then new in Massachusetts. The necessary legis- lation was introduced by the Hon. Charles H. Gilmore, then the representative of the City in the General Court, and passed on February 2, 1924. It thus became unnecessary for a householder to purchase adjoining property to prevent its unsuitable use.
In the fifty years between 1900 and 1950 there have been numerous changes in the life of Melrose, but not so much physical as social. Parts of the City have been built up with new residences, some of the shop fronts have been changed, some old firms have died out and new firms have taken their places, but more than these is the change in the way of living, due largely to the auto- mobile. Horse cars gave way to electric cars, and these in turn to buses in public transportation, although the Boston and Maine Railroad trains would not indicate changes in the passing years so well. Paving and sewerage have increased, vacant or dumping land has been built up or parked. The weekly Forum that drew so much interest Sunday afternoons is no more. The Melrose Club that was the center of social activity has died away. Most of the temperance societies that were once so active have ceased to exist, although the City remains dry.
The new generation arising in Melrose knows nothing of the days when the brown-tail and gipsy moths were serious pests; when sleigh riding was still possible and popular; when shirt- waist and necktie parties were a form of church entertainment, the boy choosing a necktie and finding a girl with a shirtwaist to match; when George K. Brown, the aged hermit of Catnip Valley near Mount Hood, was a renowned weather prophet; when horse racing was held on the ice of Ell Pond, and one frightened horse ran away down Main Street, smashing the cutter against a street car; when a parade a mile long and a crowd of ten thousand turned out to see the new street lights on Main Street; when wages for city laborers had to be increased from $2.25 to $2.50 a day to meet the increased cost of living, with chicken at 22 cents a pound, roast beef 20 cents, coffee 25 cents and coal $7.75 a ton; when women's dresses reached the ankle; and the "Perils of Pauline" and the "Adventures of Kathleen" were smash hits at the movie theatre.
On July 3-4-5, 1925, Melrose celebrated the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of its existence as a separate municipal unit, with band concerts, bonfires, speeches, sports and city decorations,
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and a parade a mile and a half long, with the United States Navy dirigible Shenandoah overhead, accomplished through the efforts of Lieut. Carl E. Shumway who had served on the sister dirigible Los Angeles. The celebration of the Semi-Centennial of Melrose as a city occurs on January 1, 1950 and of the Centennial of Melrose as an independent community on May 3, 1950.
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MEMORIAL HALL, MAIN STREET
-
CHAPTER TWO
THE GOVERNMENT
The first proposal to change the form of government of the Town of Melrose came at a town meeting on April 8, 1895, when a committee was appointed to consider the subject. After various meetings and changes in the committee, a vote was taken on November 23, 1895, and the proposal to become a city was defeated by a small margin.
At a town meeting held on August 18, 1898, another com- mittee was appointed to draft a city charter for Melrose, and on October 3, 1898, a special town meeting was held which voted in favor of petitioning the General Court for a city charter. The committee then submitted a draft charter which was discussed through four succeeding town meetings held in January, 1899, eventually approved and submitted to the General Court by the town representative Charles H. Adams. It was duly passed and signed by the Governor March 18, 1899. The Act of Incorpora- tion was submitted to the approval of the citizens at a town meeting held on May 8, 1899. The first election of city officers was held on December 12, 1899, and the successful candidates took their oath of office on January 1, 1900.
The formal inauguration ceremonies of the new city govern- ment began in the Selectmen's room at 10.00 A.M. on Monday, January 1, 1900 in City Hall. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Buttrick of the Board of Selectmen, who turned the meeting over to the Town Clerk, Walter DeHaven Jones, who then swore in Levi S. Gould as Mayor, and the other officials.
After reassembling at 7.00 P.M. the meeting adjourned to the City Hall auditorium for the formal inaugural ceremonies. Seated on the platform were the invited guests, including Mayor Dean and Alderman Southworth of Malden, the clergymen of Melrose and those who had been voters and residents of Melrose in 1850. In his inaugural address the Mayor said, "Melrose is essentially a city of habitations."
The City Charter provided for the administration of all fiscal, pruden ial and municipal affairs, with the government thereof, except the affairs of the public schools, to be vested in an executive department consisting of a mayor, and a legislative department consisting of a board of aldermen.
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The City was divided into seven wards, to be represented by seven aldermen-at-large and two aldermen from each ward, or a total of twenty-one aldermen. The mayor and ward aldermen were to be elected annually, the aldermen-at-large to be elected four and three alternately for two year terms. A school com- mittee of nine were to be elected for three years, three elected annually. The executive power was exclusively in the hands of the mayor, who appointed assessors, assistant assessors, an engineer and superintendent of public works, overseers of the poor, a board of health, trustees of the public library, a city solicitor, a chief of police and a chief of the fire department, and a cemetery committee, all subject to confirmation by the board of aldermen. A city seal was adopted by the Board of Aldermen on January 22, 1900.
On February 12, 1900 the Aldermen voted $500 toward a celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of Melrose on May 3, and named a committee to draw up a program. The open air celebration was spoiled by bad weather, but the banquet offered the City Government by the Board of Trade was a success. Oscar F. Frost welcomed the guests and Elbridge H. Goss was toast- master.
In 1913, after three years of discussion, a hearing on the revision of the City Charter was held by the Committee for Legis- lation in the State House, but without result. In 1922, by Act approved May 17, the municipal elections were put on a biennial basis, with the mayor and aldermen elected for two year terms and the school committee for four years each. Later, in 1925, the number of aldermen was reduced to four aldermen-at-large and one for each of the seven wards to serve two years. The last meet- ing of the twenty-one aldermen was held on December 23, 1924. In 1935 there was a discussion of the city manager plan, but nothing came of it.
Following a disastrous fire in 1937, City Hall was remodeled, using a Federal grant of $27,000, fire insurance of $17,000 and an appropriation by the Aldermen of $21,000, or a total of $65,000. The building had been erected in 1873 on land formerly occupied by the residences of George Newhall and Miss Mary Dix, and was dedicated June 17, 1874. Payment was not com- pleted until September 1, 1911. As Daniel Russell gave the town an illuminated clock for the tower, the clock originally pur- chased by the town in 1870 was transferred to the Congregational
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Church. The weather vane was the gift of William Bailey, the clock in the hall the gift of John W. Farwell.
In 1932 the city indebtedness was in excess of one million dollars and although a high school was built at a cost of $750,000, on August 2, 1948, the City was able to pay the last $12,000 due the Merchants National Bank and attained a debt-free status unique in the history of Massachusetts. This was due to sound economy, a competent city administration, and a pay-as-you-go policy in city financing. Special credit is also given Mayors Robert A. Perkins and Carl A. Raymond and the City Treasurer, Homer Buttrick.
The Town of Melrose started out in 1850 with $1,687.35 in the treasury, a hose house, a hearse house, a fire engine, a debt of $2,200 and a per capita personal property assessment of $65, mostly farm property and equipment. The tax rate per $1,000 was $4.40.
By 1900 the tax rate had increased to $18, the population from 1,260 to 12,676, the total valuation of property, real and personal, from $483,446 to $12,778,365 and the total tax levy, town, county and state, from $4,323.15 to $237,310.57.
By 1948 these figures had further increased to a census of 27,754, property valuation, $41,064,350, the tax rate to $42 and the total tax levy to $2,982,202.62.
The mayors elected during the City's existence are Levi S. Gould 1900; John Larrabee 1901-1902; Sidney H. Buttrick 1903- 1905; Charles J. Barton 1906; Eugene H. Moore 1907-1911; Charles E. French 1912; Oliver B. Munroe 1913-1914; Charles H. Adams 1915-1920; Angier L. Goodwin 1921-1922; Paul H. Pro- vandie 1923-1924 (two-year term); Albert M. Tibbetts 1925- 1930; Robert A. Perkins 1931-1941 (voting date changed); Carl A. Raymond 1942-1947 and Thomas L. Thistle 1948 -.
Among the municipal officials and employees at the City Hall who have given their loyal service for over twenty-five years may be mentioned: Fred A. Edwards, Inspector of Wires, Sep- tember 1911; Miss Blanche E. Nickerson, Mayor's Secretary, February 1912; Mrs. E. Maude Brown, Assistant City Clerk, January 1923; Edward J. Donovan, City Auditor, March 1924; John Shortis, Janitor, May 1924; Fred A. Young, Plumbing Inspector, March 1925; Frank A. Walsh, Janitor, May 1925; and Henry E. Walden of the Wire Department also in 1925. With these may be mentioned for long service S. Homer Buttrick, City
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Treasurer, August 1926; Wesley H. Murray, Sealer of Weights and Measures, January 1928, and Raymond H. Greenlaw, City Clerk, April 1930.
Besides the many letters of appreciation received by Mayor Thistle from persons in Melrose, Scotland, to whom food pack- ages had been sent during World War II, J. Douglas Hood, a resident of the Scottish town, called personally on Mayor Thistle December 18, 1948, to convey more personal greetings. The Mayor took him on a tour of the City; later they called on Rev. Warren C. Herrick of Trinity Church, Mr. Hood being a Warden of Holy Trinity Church in his home town. He was in the United States in connection with his woolen business. He stated that Melrose, Scotland, has a population of about four thousand, and is also a residential community.
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CHAPTER THREE
THE FIREMEN
When Melrose was incorporated as a town in 1850 it had but one fire engine, "The Endeavor," a hand-operated machine bought by the town of Malden in 1846. It was kept in an engine house on Main Street just north of the First Baptist Church. A private fire association also had an engine on Washington Street.
In 1888 the Gamewell fire alarm system was installed, and in 1900 thirty-six street boxes and one school box had been installed. In 1901 the gravity batteries were replaced by storage batteries. In 1949 these boxes had been increased in number to one hundred and fifty-six.
In 1890 a Clapp and Jones No. 3 steam fire engine, horse drawn, was purchased, and in 1895 the present Central Fire Sta- tion was built on Main Street. In 1901 it housed Steamer and Hose No. 1, Hook and Ladder No. 1 and Hose No. 2, with eight horses and thirty-eight men.
The Highlands Hose No. 3, with one horse and eight men, was established in 1875 on Franklin Street, but was moved in 1931 to Tremont and Melrose Streets. In 1892 Hose No. 4, with one horse and eight men, was established in the Russell Club building on East Foster Street opposite the Common. This build- ing was remodeled shortly afterwards as a fire station, but is now considered inadequate.
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