USA > Massachusetts > Gazetteer of the state of Massachusetts, pt 1 > Part 13
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BARRE.
com in the northwest. Barre, the central village, is situated near the summit of a broad hill, being in its highest point about 1,200 feet above the sea, - making it very conspicnous, and at the same time secur- ing a dry, invigorating atmosphere. The wholesomeness of the town is evinced by the fact that in 1885 there were 41 residents over 80 years, and 21 who were over 85 years of age. The town is notable for its fine roads, miles of which are shaded by ehn, maple and ash trees, many being very large. A huge bowlder, called the " Rocking Stone," in the northwestern part of the town, interests the curious. The principal rock formation that erops out in the town is calcareous gneiss, in which occur specimens of rutile, pyrites, beryl and garnet. The soil is deep and strong, being loam with a elay subsoil, except in the west, where it is sandy. The town has long been noted for the quantity and quality of its dairy products, - which, in 1885, were valued at $75,967. The value of the cereals was $15,057; of fruits, berries, and nuts, $13,157; vegetables, $13,199; and of hay, etc., $92,569. There were 2,269 neat cattle and 21,972 fruit trees. The farms numbered 246, and their aggregate product was $289,738. The manufactures also were quite extensive. The town has a cotton factory, a straw hat factory, a machine shop and foundry, a planing mill and saw mills. The aggregate value of goods made in 1885, when some of the factories were not so fully employed as at present, was $163,831. The population, by the last census, was 2,093. The valuation, in 1888, was $1,385,375; with a tax of $18 on $1,000. The town has a fine hall of brick (known as the Woods Memorial Library Building), which is supplied with a free public library of about four thousand volumes. Another insti- tution in which the town has pride for its good repute and its spa- eious and attractive buildings and grounds, is the Brown School for feeble-minded children. A new and excellent hotel is also thought to be a valuable addition to the place. Barre has graded and mixed schools, with twelve buildings, valued, with appurtenances, at $12,500. The public schools have a library of more than 500 vol- umes, and the Sabbath-school libraries are furnished in proportion. The "Barre Gazette" is a good weekly journal, and worthy of its pat- ronage. The several villages in the town are Barre (centre), Barre Plains and Smithville, - which are the post-offices ; and South Barre, Heald's Village and Mill Village. Many of the village dwellings are of brick. The First National Bank has a capital of $150,000. At the close of last year the Barre Savings Bank held $316,723 in deposits.
The Roman Catholics have here a small brick church; that of the Unitarians is of wood in a pretty Gothic style. The Congregational church affords sittings for 450 people; the Methodist, for 300; and the Baptist, for 280.
This place was incorporated as Rutland district in 1753, and was incorporated as a town in 1774, being named in honor of Governor Hutchinson. The events of the early days of the Revolution rend- ered this name extremely unpopular, and in 1776 it was changed to honor that friend of America, Col. Isaac Barre, a member of the
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GAZETTEER OF MASSACHUSETTS.
British parliament. In 1884 the woollen mill was burned, which was an interruption to the best prosperity of the town for a time. A church was first organized here in 1753, when the Rev. Thomas Frink became its pastor.
The Rev. David Oliver Allen, D.D. (1804-1863), Gen. Joseph B. Plummer (1820 - 1862), were natives of Barre. Other valued citizens were Col. William Buckminster, Harding P. Woods, Henry Woods, Charles Rice, David Lee, John Smith, Edward Denny, Luke Adams, Henry E. Rice, Luke Houghton, Stephen Heald.
Barrett's Junction, a village in Belchertown.
Barrowsville, a village in Norton.
Barry's Corner, a village in Boston.
Bass Point Rocks, a village in Gloucester.
Basset's Island, southeast of Bourne.
Bay State Village, in Northampton.
Bay View, a village in Boston ; also one in Gloucester. Beach Bluff, a a village in Swampscott.
Beachmont, a village in Revere.
Bearcroft, a village in Attleborough.
Bear Mountain, in Wendell, 1,281 feet in height. 1 Beaver, a village in East Bridgewater; also, one in North Adams.
Beaver Brook, a village in Danvers.
Becket is a fine grazing town on the Hoosac branch of the Green Mountain range, on the easterly side of Berk- shire County, 118 miles west from Boston. Its boundaries are Washington and Middlefield on the north, Chester on the east, Otis on the south, and Tyningham, Lee and Washington on the west.
Much of the surface is broken, and not available for cultivation. Benton Hill, in the north, is a commanding eminence ; and Becket Mountain, in the west, a station in the Trigonometrical Survey, has an elevation of 2,194 feet above sea-level. Wadsworth Hill, in the centre, is the water-shed of Westfield and Farmington rivers; while a tributary of the Housatonic River rises in the western part of the
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137
BEDFORD.
town. The scenery is further diversified by several beautiful sheets of clear water, - Centre Lake, of 163 acres; Rudd Pond, 96 acres ; Yokum Pond, 118 acres, and the smaller Shaw and Ward ponds. The climate is cool and bracing, and the people are noted for lon- gevity ; there being in 1885, out of a population of 938, 19 persons over 80 years, and two over 90 years of age.
The surface rocks are chiefly granite. The soil is variously sand, loam and clay. There are about 150 farms and 245 dwellings. The dairies yielded, in 1885, $21,917 ; the crop of cereals was valued at $2,662; fruits, berries, and nuts at $4,010; vegetables, $8,388; meat and game, $7,481; wood products. $9,784; liquors and bever- ages, $1,016; the aggregate being $98,095. The number of neat cattle was 1,249, sheep 1,058, and of fruit trees, 6,470. At the same time the manufactured goods amounted to $109,877 in value; consisting of lumber, wooden braid and baskets, paper, woollen goods, boots and shoes, quarried stone. liquors, and several other articles. The valuation of the town in 1888 was $401,285, with $18 on $1,000 as the rate of taxation. The area is 26,975 acres, exclusive of highways and water surfaces ; with 8,447 acres of woodland, consisting of beech, birch, maple, spruce and hemlock. A noticeable feature is the size and variety of the trees along the public ways, - many being 50 and 60 years old. The Boston and Albany Railroad runs along the northeastern border, the stations being Becket and Middlefield. The villages are Becket, West Becket and Becket Centre. All are post-offices. Becket has a high school and a graded system, with nine public school-houses, valued, with appurtenances, at $5,000. There is also a private school -the Claflin School, established in 1866. There are three Sunday- school libraries, having about 1,000 volumes in the aggregate. The public library - Becket Atheneum - was established early in 1889. Becket was patriotic in the Revolution; and she also sent 110 sol- diers into the late war, of whom nine deaths are recorded.
This town, called in its early period "Number Four," was origin- ally settled in 1755, and was incorporated June 21, 1765. Jabez Wadsworth was the first white person born here. The first church was organized December 28, 1758; and the Rev. Ebenezer Martin was ordained pastor on February 23 of the following year. The Baptist church was formed in September, 1764; Rev. Robert Nesbit was the first pastor. The church at North Becket (Congregational) was organized September 25, 1849, and the meeting-house dedicated No- vember 21, 1850. There is also a Roman Catholic congregation in the town, and a mission of the New Church (Swedenborgian).
Bedford is a beautiful agricultural town in the central part of Middlesex County, fourteen miles northwest of Boston ; having Billerica on the north, the same with Burlington and Lexington on the east, the latter with Lincoln and Concord on the south, and the last, with Carlisle, on the west. Its general form is nearly a circle. It has an assessed area of 8,147, -of which 3,200 acres are woodland. The population in 1885 was 930,
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GAZETTEER OF MASSACHUSETTS.
ยท with 208 dwelling-houses. The villages are Bedford and West Bedford; the post-offices, the former and Bedford Springs. The three are stations on the Middlesex Central and the Boston and Lowell system of railroads. The Concord River marks the boun- dary on the northwest for several miles. Farley's Brook enters from the south, and, receiving several other brooks, unites with Fine Brook in the eastern part of the town, and they become the Shawsheen, which has falls with power sufficient for small mills.
The views from the elevated land in the vicinity of Fawn Lake are very attractive. The geological formation of the town is calca- reous gneiss and sienite, in which are good specimens of garnet. There is a mineral spring of some celebrity on elevated ground about a mile and a half north of the central village, known as Bed- ford Springs.
The land is very good; and the 113 farms yielded in 1885 pro- ducts to the value of $139,023. The dairy item was $44,623; vege- tables, $17,766. There were 934 neat cattle and 11,689 fruit trees. The manufactures of the town consisted of boots and shoes, car- riages, leather, wooden goods, and food products, and had the aggre- gate value of $51,980. The valuation of the town in 1888 was 8816,689; the tax rate being $13 on $1,000.
There were, in 1885, five school buildings, valued, with land, at $5,600. A town public library having nearly 2,000 volumes, and the Sunday-school libraries, are the public provision for the literary appetite ; while the "Bedford Bulletin" furnishes weekly the news of the region. The Unitarian church is an ancient landmark, but has received additions for adornment and for the comfort of the congre- gation. The Congregational church is very attractive and well fur- nished. The Roman Catholics also have a neat chapel; and there are flourishing Sunday schools.
The town was named for Bedford in England. Its territory came from Billerica and Concord, and its incorporation occurred Septem- ber 23, 1729. A mill was built on the Shawsheen River before King Philip's War, in 1675, owned by Michael Bacon, who was allowed to have two soldiers from the garrison stationed there for its protection. The first church was organized July 15, 1730, when Rev. Nicholas Bowes was ordained pastor. The first meeting-house was built in the same year, and " seated " according to the pay of the people.
Some of Bedford's eminent names are Nathaniel D. Gould, a mu- sical composer and publisher ; Rev. Samuel H. Stearns (1801-1837), an able divine ; William A. Stearns, D.D. (1805), chosen president of Amherst College in 1854.
Beechdale, a village in Williamstown.
Beech Plain, a village in Sandisfield.
Beechwood, a village in Cohasset.
Bel Air, a village in Pittsfield.
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BELCHER'S CORNER - BELCHERTOWN.
Belcher's Corner, a village in Stoughton.
Belchertown lies in the easterly part of Hampshire County, about 75 miles west of Boston. Pelham bounds it on the north, Enfield, Ware and Palmer on the east, the latter and Ludlow on the south, and the last, with Granby and Amherst, on the west. It extends north and south about 12 miles, by 8 miles from east to west ; having a taxable area of 31,680 acres, excluding highways and water surfaces. About 8,000 acres are woodland, consisting chiefly of butternut and oak ; but the numerous trees along the highways are principally maple and elm.
Swift River (named from the rapidity of its current) washes two- thirds of the eastern border of the town; Jabish River flows from the centre southward; Broad Brook occupies the southwestern part ; and Bacheler's Brook the western, and Hoop Brook the northwestern sections. The largest of the several ponds are Lower Pond, con- taining about 96 acres, and Middle Pond, about 40. The surface in most parts is hilly, having some commanding eminences. The geo- logical structure is ferruginous gneiss, and middle shales and sand- stones. Specimens of allanite and other minerals occur. The soil, though rocky, is productive, and the 320 (or thereabout) farms are usually well managed and remunerative. The town had, in 1885, 2,291 neat cattle, young and old, and 32,667 fruit trees. The dairy yielded the largest product - $79,978. The manufactures were chiefly lumber and carriages, the aggregate value of goods made being $63,546. The valuation of the town, in 1888, was $825,127; rate of taxation, $18.40 on $1,000. The population in 1885 was 2,307; and the number of dwellings, 501. The New London and Northern and the Central Massachusetts railroads intersect at nearly right angles near the centre of the town, The post-offices are Belchertown, Dwight and Barrett. The other villages are Federal Street Village and Tylertown.
The villages have graded schools; the rural districts, mixed schools. The school buildings number eighteen,- valued at about $9,500. The three Sunday-school libraries have together about 1,000 volumes. There is a very handsome public library, provided for by a gift of $45,000 by Francis Clapp, late of Brooklyn, N. Y. The central village is situated on an elevated plateau, from which charming prospects in every direction may be enjoyed. The main street is broad and well ornamented with maple, elm and ash trees. On the Common stands a monument in memory of the men who fell of those who went into the late war. The patriotism of the town during the Revolutionary war is also still borne in remembrance. Around this park are placed the library, high school, two churches, and some handsome residences. The Congregationalists, Baptists and Methodists each have church edifices.
The place originally bore the name of "Cold Spring," from a noted fountain in the eastern part of the town. but was incorporated,
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GAZETTEER OF MASSACHUSETTS.
June 30, 1761, as Belcher's Town, in honor of Governor Jonathan Belcher, who was a principal proprietor. On June 22, 1771, a part of its territory was annexed to Greenwich ; on June 16, 1788, part of the town was annexed to Pelham; February 15, 1816, parts of Bel- chertown and Greenwich were established as Enfield; and there still remains enough territory to make two good towns. Samuel Bascom, Benjamin Stebbins, Aaron Lyman and others, commenced the settle- ment at Cold Spring in July, 1731; and in 1840 about twenty families were residing here. A church was organized in 1837, and a house of worship erected the ensuing year. The Rev. Edward Bil- lings was ordained, probably, in 1739; and in 1741 it was voted that money should be raised to pay the expenses of his wedding. In 1752 there were fifty families ; and Mr. Billings was that year dis- missed for his views in regard to "the half-way covenant." Rev. Justus Forward was ordained his successor in 1756. The Baptist church was organized in 1795. This town was the birthplace of the following distinguished persons : Ethan Smith (1762-1849), Eras- tus Worthington (1779-1842), Samuel Stillman Greene (1810), Dr. Josiah Gilbert Holland (Timothy Titcomb), born 1819.
Bellerica Heights, a village in Tisbury.
Belleville, a village in Acushnet; also, one in Newbury- port.
Bellevue Hill, in West Roxbury district, Boston, 334 feet in height.
Bellingham occupies the southwestern extremity of Nor- folk County, and is bounded on the north by Medway and Milford, east by Wrentham and Franklin, south by Cum- berland and Woonsocket in Rhode Island, and west by Blackstone and Mendon. It is about 31 miles from Boston; and is accommo- dated by the main line, and the Woonsocket and Milford branches, of the New York and New England Railroad,-the last two having their junction at Bellingham Centre; the other stations being North Bellingham, South Bellingham and Caryville. The form is nearly a parallelogram, whose length north and south is about three times its width. The assessed area is 10,950 acres,- of which 3,292 acres are woodland. The geological formation is calcareous gneiss. Mica slate has also been found, of which whetstones have been made to some extent. The land is level for the most part, although there are pleasant eminences at the north, the centre, and the southeast. Beaver Pond, near the Milford line, is a beautiful sheet of about 108 acres. Through it flows Charles River, in a southeasterly direction, to the central village; then, turning abruptly, it leaves the town at the northwest corner. Jencke's Reservoir, containing about 42 acres, has its outlet by Peter's River; which, with Bungay Brook, drains the southern sections of the town. The soil is light and sandy, yet there is some good farming land in the lower parts. The
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BELMONT.
131 farms, in 1885, yielded an aggregate product of $91,445. There are in the town two woollen mills, a boot and shoe and a straw fac- tory, two factories for putting up food, and others to the number of ten. The total product, in 1885, was $19,412. The valuation of the town in 1888 was $613,200, with a tax of $13.20 on $1,000. The population is 1,198, and the number of legal voters, 241. There were eight school buildings, valued, with appurtenances, at $10,500. There was a public-school library of about 400 volumes, and three Sunday-school libraries with about 1,000 volumes. The Baptist church at Bellingham was organized in 1737; the one at North Bellingham in 1867. The territory was taken from the towns of Dedham, Mendon and Wrentham, and incorporated in 1719 under its present name, in honor of Governor Richard Bellingham. General John Milton Thayer, United States senator from Nebraska in 1867-71, was born in this town in 1820.
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Belmont is a beautiful suburban town in the southeasterly part of Middlesex County, about six miles northi-
west of Boston. Lexington adjoins it on the northwest, Arlington on the northeast, Cambridge on the east, Watertown on the south, and Waltham, separated in part by Beaver Brook, on the west. Its area is about 3,000 aeres, not including highways. The population, in 1885, was 1,639, with 308 dwelling-houses. Its geo- logieal basis consists of sienite, dolorite and the St. John's group. The surface is finely diversified, and is embellished with many orna- mental trees in great variety, well-cultivated orchards, farms and gardens. The number of fruit trees will exceed 20,000; and the hundred or so acres of natural woodland is reinforced by several groves and many groups, marshalled into relations of exceeding beauty by the landscape-gardener. Along the highways are numer- ous shade trees, chiefly elm, maple and horse-chestnut, of all ages up to a hundred years. The "Waverly Oaks " are noted objects of admiration from their size and picturesqueness. Wellington Hill, a handsome eminence, commands an extensive view of the environs of Boston, including Fresh Pond, and several smaller ones within its own limits, and Spy Pond just outside its line in Arlington. Fresh Pond is a charming little lake, and largely supplies the city of Cambridge with water. Its overflow still finds its way to the ocean through Alewive Brook and Mystic River.
The situation of the town also renders it a specially attractive one for residence ; and many who transact their daily business in Boston have their homes here. Its post-offices are Belmont and Waverly,- the latter being the most of a village. The Fitchburg Railroad, by main line and loop, affords convenient transportation facilities from several stations,- Hill's Crossing, Belmont, Waverly, Clematis Brook, Beaver Brook, Mount Auburn and Fresh Pond.
The town has 57 farms and market gardens, with an area of 1,957 acres more or less under cultivation for crops. The largest one of these is the vegetables, whose value, in 1885, was given as $141,314; fruits, berries and nuts gave $34,351; the dairy, $19,014; green-
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GAZETTEER OF MASSACHUSETTS.
house and hothouse products, $9,287 ; and the aggregate reached the sum of $243,156.
Brickmaking is the principal manufacture; and the total of manu- factured goods was 834,450. The valuation, in 1888, was $2,852,835; and the rate of taxation was $12 on $1,000. Belmont Savings Bank had deposits, on January 1, 1889, of 823,354. The cities of Cam- bridge and Boston are equally convenient to the inhabitants of Belmont, and almost the entire banking business is done in those places.
The town has excellent graded schools, with four school build- ings,- valued, in 1885, at $10,000. There is also a Select Home School, established in 1865. Beside the Sunday-school libraries there is a town public library containing about 5,000 volumes. The town-hall, of brick and stone, is a fine building. It was erected in 1881, dedicated in June, 1882, and cost $45,000. The Congrega- tional society at Waverly was organized in 1865; the other Con- gregational society is older, dating from 1856. The Unitarian society, organized in 1882, has an excellent stone church edifice. There is also a Roman Catholic congregation here. Belmont fur- nished 38 men for the late war, ten of whom were lost. In 1885 there were fifteen persons in town over 80 years of age, and one per- son who had passed 101 years.
Belmont was formed from parts of Waltham, Watertown and West Cambridge, and was incorporated March 18, 1859. In 1862 part of Cambridge was annexed to Belmont, and in 1881 the reverse was accomplished. This town appears to have been named from its own natural features.
Belvidere, a village in Lowell. .
Berkley is a small agricultural town situated in the easterly part of Bristol County, about 40 miles south of Boston, and bounded on the north and northeast by Taunton, on the south and southeast by Freetown (from which it is in part separated by Assonet Bay), and on the west by Dighton and Taunton, - from the last of which it is divided by Taunton River, here a navigable, broad and beautiful stream. It is watered in the east by Cotley and Quaker brooks, and in the west by several affluents of Taunton River. The villages and post-offices are Berkley (centre) and My- ricksville ; and the railway stations are the latter, in the southeast part of the town, on the New Bedford and Taunton line, and Berkley, on the Fall River Branch of the Old Colony Railroad. The termination of the town southerly is a long point of land called Assonet Neck. A little south of it lies Conspiracy Island, probably so named from its connection with King Philip's conspiracy against the English, which resulted in the Indian war known by his name.
On Assonet Neck, just by the margin of the Taunton River, is situated the famous Dighton Rock, covered with very curious in- scriptions, which have greatly puzzled the antiquaries of both the
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BERKLEY.
old and the new world. The rock is eleven feet in length by four and one-half feet in height, and consists of a mass of gray granite lying on the, sides of the river, which partially covers it at every tide. On the water side the face of the rock is nearly smooth, and is inclined sixty degrees. The figures are rudely carved, and par- tially obliterated near the base by the action of the water. They consist of rude outlines of human heads and bodies, crosses, mis- shapen letters, broken lines, and other singular forms and combi- nations. The first record of these inscriptions was given by Rev. Mr. Danforth in 1680, who refers to an Indian tradition "that there came a wooden house, and men of another country, swimming on the River Assonet." General Washington expressed the opinion that these sculptures were made by the Indians; he having in early life seen such writings, which were evidently done by them. Many savans believed that some of the inscriptions were made by the aborigines, and some of them by the Northmen; and it is as- serted that the name "Thorfin," cut in Latin letters, can be clearly read. Many drawings have been made of these curious figures,
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DIGHTON ROCK, BERKLEY.
and many theories of their origin proposed; but the one most prob- able seems to be Washington's. Originally Assonet belonged to Dighton, and hence the name "Dighton Rock; " but, since 1735, it has been a part of Berkley.
Many bowlders, varying in dimension, form and mineral, are scattered over the surface. On two of the larger ones deep cellars have been excavated, and dwelling-houses erected over them. The underlying rock is carboniferous. The land upon the border of the Taunton River is fertile; and, in the southern section of the town, the salt-meadows yield a valuable crop. The aggregate farm pro- duct was $116,209. There are four factories, - of carriages and wagons, building, lumber, and food preparations, - whose product in the aggregate was $21,810. The assessed area of the town is 9,875 acres, of which 2,650 acres are woodland. The valuation, in 1888, was $401,330; with a tax of $10 on $1,000. The population, in 1885, was 941, with 239 dwelling-houses.
Eight school-houses, valued at $7,725, accommodate the school children; and the two Sunday schools have collections of books
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