USA > Massachusetts > Gazetteer of the state of Massachusetts, pt 1 > Part 24
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Coles' Meadow, a village in Northampton.
Coleville, in Williamstown.
College Hill, a village in Medford.
Collinsville, in Dracut. Colonel's Mountain, in Palmer, 1,172 feet in height.
Coltsville, in Pittsfield.
Commercial Point, a locality in the southeast part of Boston.
Concord, the scene of our first triumph in the conflict that made us a nation, is situated in the central part of Middlesex County, 18 miles northwest of Boston, by the Fitchburg Railroad. The Lowell Division of the Old Colony Rail- road, and the Boston and Lowell, also pass through it, each having a station near Concord village, at the centre of the town. Other villages are Westvale, Warnerville and Nine-Acre Corner. Con- cord is bounded on the north by Carlisle, on the northeast by Bedford, on the southeast by Lincoln, on the southwest by Sudbury, and on the west and northwest by Acton. It is "one of the quiet country towns," says Mr. Alcott, "whose charm is incredible to all but those who, by loving it, have found it worthy of love."
The land is generally level; yet there are several eminences, as Annursnack, Punkatasset, Fairhaven and other hills, which enhance the beauty of the scenery. Rattlesnake Hill is now the scene of a large industry, the quarrying of the superior granite of which it is chiefly composed. Bateman's Pond in the north, White Pond in the south, and, in the southeast, Walden Pond (made famous by the pen of Thoreau), are all beautiful sheets of water. The Concord River flows leisurely through the town from the south, receiving near the central village the waters of the rapid Assabet. The latter, with af- fluents, affords some motive power, which is made use of at West Con- cord by a woollen mill and factories for pails and other goods. Car- riages, furniture, leather, clothing, building stone, food preparations, are other of the town manufactures. The area, aside from highways
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CONCORD.
and water surfaces, is 14,872 acres. There are 4,920 acres of forest, consisting of oak, birch, pine, maple, walnut and some chestnut. Along the streets, especially in the central village, are numerous elms and maples, well-grown, and lending an additional charm to the excellent roads, which afford fine drives in several directions.
The soil upon the plains is light and sandy, on the hills a gravelly loam. The meadows along the rivers yield large quantities of hay. The farms, which now number 244, are generally well cultivated and productive. The celebrated "Concord grape " originated with E. W. Bull, a successful farmer of this place. The nursery prod- uct of the town is proportionately large, also the fruit product. In 1885 the Concord orchards and gardens contained 12,314 fruit trees, and the yield of cranberries was nearly 400 barrels. There were 1,402 milch cows; and the product of the dairies footed up to $102,- 856. The aggregate farm product was $337,SOS. The valuation of the town in 1888 was $3,246,117; the tax-rate being $12.40 on $1,000. The population is 3,727 ; and 760 of these are voters. The schools are graded, and find accommodation in five buildings at con- venient centres.
Concord village is situated on level land, which gives nearly equal advantages of site to all edifices. The town-house and high school buildings here are creditable, and the public library of about 20,000 volumes is contained in a very handsome edifice, given to the town by Mr. William Munroe. It is fireproof, and cost $70,000. There is also a fine memorial hall, erected in honor of the 34 heroes from this town who fell in the war of the Rebellion. The Trinita- rian Congregationalists, the Unitarians, the Roman Catholics, and the American Episcopal Church have good church edifices in the town.
The old court-house and county jail are mementoes of a time when Concord divided the honors of a county capital with Cambridge and Lowell. A publie building of magnitude and impressiveness is the State Reformatory ; but this is situated near the junction of the Con- cord and Assabet rivers, some two miles from the central village. The citizens regard the institution as somewhat foreign; having more interesting and admirable objects to occupy their attention, Among these, besides those already mentioned, are the res. idences of Emerson and the Alcotts - father and daughter, and the "Old Manse," immortalized by Hawthorne, who also made it his residence while in Concord. It is now the summer home of D. Lothrop, the publisher, and his wife, Margery Deane, the authoress. At this village also, for several years, was the famous Concord School of Philosophy.
Concord was the first inland town settled in the State. Many of the settlers were men of wealth and intelligence, who willingly en. dured great sufferings for conscience' sake. Simon Willard, John Jones, Mr. Spencer and others, purchased of Tahatawan and Nimrod, in 1635, a tract of land six miles square, whose centre was near the house of the Rev. l'eter Bulkley, in which they were met. During the first year of their residence, most of the settlers lived in hnts
THE " OLD MANSE," CONCORD.
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CONCORD.
covered with bark and brushwood, but during the second year many convenient houses were erected. The Indian name for the place was Musquetequid. meaning "grassy brook.". On its incorpora-
STATUE OF MINUTE MAN, CONCORD.
tion, September 2, 1635, it was called Concord, from the peaceable manner in which it had been obtained from the natives. In April, 1676, ten or twelve citizens from this town were killed in Sudbury,
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GAZETTEER OF MASSACHUSETTS.
while aiding the settlers there against the attack of King Philip's Indians.
In 1774, the Provincial Congress held its sessions here; and on the 19th of April, 1775, Gen. Gage sent a detachment of the British troops, under Major John Pitcairn, to destroy some military stores deposited at the house of Colonel Barrett and others in this town. By the activity of Paul Revere and associates, intelligence of the ex- pedition was received, and an alarm was given by the ringing of the church bell at three o'clock in the morning. About seven o'clock, some eight hundred British soldiers entered the town from Lexing- ton, cut down the liberty pole and destroyed some stores, then pro- ceeded to the North Bridge across the Concord River. Here they were met by the Concord minute-men under Captain Brown, and the Acton company under Captain Isaac Davis. Shots were exchanged across the bridge; three British soldiers were killed, and, on our part, Captain Davis and several others. The regulars then left the bridge and set out for Boston, under a destructive fire from minute- men posted along the way. The damage done to private property in Concord by fire, robbery and destruction was estimated at £274 16s. 7d .; and Captain Charles Miles, Captain Nathan Barrett, Jonas Brown and Abel Prescott, Jun., of this place, were wounded. Two of the British soldiers killed at the bridge were buried on the spot where they fell; and two rough stones identify the place. The statue of a minute-man near the bridge recalls the spirit of the time. Monu- ment Street, running north from the village, leads, through a canopy of pines and other trees, to the old North Bridge, where, on each side of the river, is a stone monument with suitable inscription.
Concord is noted for its steady adherence in later times, also, to the great principles of eivil and religious liberty, and for having given to the world many men of eminence; as Samuel Willard (1640-1707), a president of Harvard College; Benjamin Prescott (1687-1777), a divine and author; Jonathan Hoar (1708-1781), colonel of a pro- vincial regiment ; Eleazer Brooks (1725-1806), a brigadier general; Joseph Lee (1742-1819), first minister of Royalston ; Timothy Far- rar (1747-1847), appointed chief justice of New Hampshire in 1802; William Emerson (1769-1811), father of Ralph Waldo Emerson ; Nathaniel Wright (1787-1824), author of " The Fall of Palmyra," etc. ; Ebenezer Merriam (1794-1864), an eminent meteorologist ; John Augustus Stone (1801-1834), actor, and author of " Metamora " and other dramas; William Whiting (1813-1873), an eminent lawyer and writer on military affairs; Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar (1816), a distinguished jurist ; and William S. Robinson (1817), a greatly es- teemed editor.
Concord River is formed by the union of Assabet and Sudbury rivers at Concord. It leaves this town on the northeast, forming, for a mile or two, the boundary line with Bedford, on the east; then the entire line between the latter town and Carlisle, on its western side; thence it flows through Billerica from south to north, forming for about one mile its
251
CONGAMUCK- CONNECTICUT RIVER.
divisional line from Chelmsford, on the west ; when it enters Lowell and discharges into the Merrimack River. It is for nearly its entire length a sluggish stream; but at North Billerica it furnishes power for several mills .; after which its descent is slight until its near approach to the Merrimack. It supplied most of the water for the old Middlesex Canal, which entered it in Billerica, and had connec- tion with the Merrimack above the falls by means of the Pawtucket . Canal.
Congamuck, a village in Southwick.
Connecticut Corner, a village in Dedham.
Connecticut River, the Quon-ek-ti-cut of the Indians, has its principal source at the highlands which form the water-shed and the boundary line between New Hampshire and Lower Canada. In northern New Hampshire, a few miles south on its course, is Connecticut Lake, from which it issues in the full dignity of its name. Its Indian designation, ac- cording to some authorities, signifies "Long River;" according to others, "River of Pines;" while still later authorities render it as "the long tidal river," which is a description rather than a name. Its general course is slightly west of south. After forming the boundary between New Hampshire and Vermont, it crosses the western part of Massachusetts, dividing near the middle the counties of Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden; then passes through the midst of Connecticut, the State; and after a journey of 400 miles from its head, north of the 45° of latitude, it enters Long Island Sound, latitude 41º 16'; having drained a valley of about 12,000 square miles. Through its whole course it separates two broad belts of highland, while a series of terraces break the level of its bed. In the first quarter of its course down the mountain slope, between its source and the mouth of the Pa-sam-sic River, opposite the White Mountains, its descent is 1200 feet. At this point its bed is 400 feet above the sea. In 80 miles farther, to Bellows Falls, Vermont, it descends 100 feet. From thence to Deerfield it sinks 160 feet; from Deerfield to Springfield it falls 100 feet more, leaving its bed at Springfield but 40 feet above the level of the sea. Its entire fall from source to mouth is 1600 feet. The breadth of this river, at its first contact with Vermont soil, is about 150 feet ; and in its course of 60 miles it increases to about 390 feet. Its average breadth between Mount Tom and the Connecticut line is not far from 1200 feet, and with a depth of water below Holyoke sufficient to float vessels of considerable tonnage. Its channel is remarkably clear of islands in its course through the State, and pre- sents a broad and majestic appearance, sweeping in magnificent curves between its lofty bauks. The extreme head of its tide-waters is just below the village of Warehouse Point (East Windsor, Conn.), about 64 miles from the mouth of the river at Saybrook bar.
252
GAZETTEER OF MASSACHUSETTS.
It is navigable to Hartford, 45 miles, for vessels of considerable burden, and to Middletown, 30 miles from the sea, for vessels drawing twelve feet of water. By means of canals and other im- provements it has been made navigable for boats to Fifteen Mile Falls, nearly 250 miles above Hartford. The most considerable rapids in this river are Bellows Falls; the falls of Queechy, just below the mouth of the Waterqueechy River; the White River Falls, below Hanover; and the Fifteen Mile Falls, in New Hamp- shire and Vermont; the falls at Montague and South Hadley, in Massachusetts ; and the falls at Enfield, Connecticut, where it meets the tide-water. The perpendicular height of the falls which have been overcome by canals and locks, between Springfield, in Massachusetts, and Hanover, in New Hampshire, a distance of 130 miles, is 240 feet. Bars of sand and gravel extend across this river in various places, over which boats pass with difficulty in low water. In certain localities, as at Holyoke, its waters flow directly over the red sandstone of the valley, but for the greater part of the distance through the country, the bed of the river is composed of alluvial deposits, -sand, gravel and bowlders. In seasons of annual flood it overflows its banks and covers the lowest bottom lands, sometimes for miles. In length, utility and beauty this river forms a distinguished feature of New England.
The most important tributaries of the Connecticut River are Upper and Lower Amonoosuck, Israel's, John's, Mascomy, Sugar and Ashuelot rivers, in New Hampshire; Nnlhegan, Passumpsie, Wells, Waits, Ompomponoosuck, White, Waterqueechy, Black, Williams, Sexton's and West rivers, in Vermont; and in Massa- chusetts, Miller's, Deerfield, Agawam, Chicopee and Westfield rivers ; and in Connecticut, the Farmington River.
Consue, a village in Chilmark.
Conway, a hilly but thriving town in the western part of Franklin County, having Deerfield River separat- ing it from Shelburne on the northeast, with the Fitchburg Railroad following the opposite bank. On the east is Deerfield, with the Connecticut River Railroad running through it north and south; Whately lies on the east and south; Williamsburg is also on the south ; Ashfield covers most of the west side, and Buckland receives the northwest corner.
Bardwell's Ferry, on the northeast side, is 119 miles from Boston by rail. The principal village is Burkeville, situated slightly west of Conway (centre). The area of the town is 24,173 acres ; of which 3,483 are woodland, consisting principally of beech, maple and chest- nut. Dry Hill and Poplar Hill in the south, and Pine Hill in the west, are prominent features in the landscape. The chief village is beautifully situated in a valley between Billing's Hill at the east and Beal's Hill at the west. Bear River in the north, South River at the centre and Roaring Brook at the south, each furnish power for manufacturing purposes.
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COOLEYVILLE- COTTAGE CITY.
Native alum, fluor-spar, galena, pyrolusite, zoisite, and splendid specimens of rutile are found in this locality. The usual crops thrive here, and tobacco has been largely cultivated. The aggregate farm product in 1885 was $266,556. There were in the town 266 horses and colts, 1,865 neat cattle, 1,132 sheep and lambs and 16,775 fruit trees. The number of farms is 179. For manufactures, there are a cotton and a woollen mill, three establishments for food preparations, a tannery, a carriage factory, two lumber mills, and others usual to our towns. The aggregate value of their product in the year mentioned was 8234,093. A national bank and a savings bank are sustained here, the first having a capital of $150,000. The valuation in 1888 was 8791,366; and the tax-rate $17.50. The inhabitants number 1,573, of whom 348 are voters; and they are sheltered by 296 dwelling-houses.
The schools are graded, and are provided for in fourteen school- houses ; these having a value of nearly $8,000. A public library of about 1,500 volumes, and three Sunday-school libraries, provide for the literary appetite. The Baptists, Congregationalists, Methodists and Roman Catholics have churches here. The town has a substantial hall; the other notable public work being an iron bridge 200 feet in length. This town sent 146 men into the late war, of whom 22 were lost.
Conway, originally the southwest part of Deerfield, and a par- ticipator in her history, was incorporated June 16, 1767; being named, probably, for Henry Seymour Conway, one of England's secretaries of state. The Rev. John Emerson, settled here in 1769, was the first minister. This town has given to the world the fol- lowing eminent men : Chester Harding (1792-1866), a distinguished portrait-painter; Harvey Rice (1800), an author, editor and poet ; H. G. O. Dwight, D.D. (1803-1862), a successful missionary and editor.
Cooleyville, in New Salem. Coolidgeville, in Hudson.
Copecut Hill, in Fall River, 355 feet in height.
Cordaville, in Southborough.
Cork City, a village in Newton.
Cottage City embraces the northeastern extremity of the island of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County ; and is mainly a place of summer residence, having only the business relating to such occupancy. It has, however, a constant population of 709, of whom 203 are voters. There are now about 1,200 dwellings, all of which are inhabited during the warm season. The town has the ocean on the north and east, Edgartown on the
BATHING PAVILION
A COTTAGE
ON THE BEACH
THE DRYAD"
MARTHA'S VINEYARD, MASS.
.
255
COTTAGE CITY.
south, and Tisbury on the west and northwest. It is separated from the latter town by Vineyard Haven Harbor and by Lagoon Pond, the latter partially divided from the harbor by a broad sand- bar. The coast is formed by steep sand-bluffs, with sandy beaches at their bases. The area, aside from highways and water surfaces, and some sandy marsh, is 1,965 acres. About one third of this is largely occupied by scrub oaks, with trees of larger growth in the vicinity of the camp-grounds and some of the older residences.
The soil is sandy, but yields fairly under cultivation, especially in sinall fruits. There are in the town 25 farms, whose dairy product in 1885 was 88,358; vegetable, $2,829; greenhouse, $1,963; wood, $1,135; eggs, etc., 82,031; the aggregate reaching $23,391. There is some shore fishing, but no manufacturing worth mention.
The villages are Camp Ground, Eastville, Lagoon Heights, Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Heights. The latter commence at East Chops, the northeast point, and extend south on the shore to Lake Anthony, where Oak Bluffs commence, extending southward to Farm Pond. The last body of water covers about 25 acres. The southeastern part of the town is occupied by Sengecontacket Pond, of 650 acres, which communicates with the sea through a break in the long sand- bar that forms its eastern shore. Eastville is on Vineyard Haven Harbor, on the west side of the town. Here are the principal landing-places of the New York and Portland steamers.
The Baptist camp-ground and tabernacle is on Vineyard High- lands, overlooking its trees and Lake Anthony. Southward, at Vineyard Grove, is the Methodist camp-ground, with its great iron tabernacle, surrounded by trees and grassy lawns; these in turn en- compassed by a concreted walk and a road, along which runs a street railway connecting with various points in the town. The largest village is Oak Bluffs, where are a steamer wharf, the post-office, churches, stores, and many residences. Amid lawns, gardens and shrubbery, undivided by fences, are the cottages, mostly showing the characteristics of the Queen Anne style in their architecture,- and some of them very costly. The colors of the buildings here are uniformly bright, and, from the water approach, the view of the place, with its angular roofs, towers and minarets, elevated on the bluff against the western sky, give an appearance of oriental splen- dor and magnificence unequalled elsewhere in America.
The beach, on the water front of Oak Bluffs, is regarded as one of the finest possible for bathing purposes. Several hundred bathing- houses, in double rows, with a passage between, stand at the foot of the bluffs ; and at an elevated point not far away is the pavilion,- a wide, airy, many-storied structure, which affords a fine chance to watch the bathers.
Aside from the hotels, the churches are of course the most con- spicuous. Beside the tabernacles in their camp-grounds, the Meth- odists and the Baptists have each a church of good size and form; there are also the Trinity Episcopal Church, Roman Catholic church, and a union church. The Martha's Vineyard Summer Institute, a school of general science, has a spacious building.
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GAZETTEER OF MASSACHUSETTS.
There are numerous social organizations and clubs, some of which have elegant houses. The finest of these is that of the Oak Bluffs Club. The Martha's Vineyard Club devotes its influence largely to increasing the attractions and forwarding the interests of the town. Yachts frequent the waters, and wheelmen are delighted with the fine roads. Grassy parks are numerous in the village precincts ; and at Oak Bluffs a fine band-stand is often occupied by excellent musicians.
This town is reached by regular lines of steamers, chicfly from Woods Holl or New Bedford, where connection is made with the Old Colony Railroad. The town, also, has its railroad, a narrow gauge, connecting Oak Bluffs Wharf with Edgartown and Katama. There is a finely equipped fire department, and water-works.
The public schools are graded, and well-housed in three buildings valued at about 82,500. There is a public library of upwards of 1,000 volumes. The " Martha's Vineyard Herald " is a valuable local journal, having weekly issues throughout the year. The valuation of Cottage City in 1888 was 81,449,475; and the tax-rate was $15.70 on $1,000.
This town has grown from a mere camp-meeting ground to its present form and proportions. The first meeting was held in August, 1835, in the present Wesleyan Grove. The attendance annually increased, until in 1858 there were 12,000 in attendance on the meetings. In 1860 a new organization was formed under the name of "Martha's Vineyard Camp-Meeting Association," which was incorporated in 1868. In 1879 the Methodist tabernacle was built, having scats for 4,000 persons. There is, beside, the Baptist tabernacle and camp-ground; also a tent-ground outside the village precinets. The Baptist Vineyard Association was incorporated in 1876. Great sums of money have been expended by individuals and corporations in improving the place; and it has now been for several years not only a religious, but a popular pleasure resort.
This place was a part of the town of Edgartown; and, after un- successful efforts in the General Court for several years, an act of incorporation was passed on February 17, 1880, by which it was separated and made the town of Cottage City, a name suggested by the appearance of the buildings and their contiguous position.
Cottage Farm, a village in Brookline.
Cotuit, a village in Barnstable.
Cove Harbor, a village in Beverly.
Craigville, in Barnstable.
Craneville, in Dalton.
257
CRESCENT BEACH - CUMMING TON.
Crescent Beach, a village in Manchester; also, one in Revere.
Crockerville, in Fitchburg.
Crooked Lane, a village in Duxbury.
Crowleyville, in Chicopee.
Cummingsville, in Woburn.
Cummington is a farming and grazing town lying among the Green Mountains, in the north- western part of Hampshire County, abont 110 miles west of Boston. It is nearly central in a large area between the several railroad lines ; the Hinsdale station on the Boston and Albany Railroad, about 15 miles distant, being the nearest. It is bounded on the north by Plainfield and Ashfield, east by Goshen, south by Chester- field and Worthington, and west by Peru and Windsor. The area is nearly 23 square miles, the assessed land being 13,600 acres.
The geological formation is calciferous mica-schist and the Quebec group. Cummingtonite, a variety of hornblende, is found here in mica-slate; rhodonite, or manganese spar, in masses; and white pyrites and garnets. Parallel mountainous ridges run southeasterly through the town; and through the intervening valleys flow the Westfield River and parallel tributaries that enter it when it has taken a southward turn. Swift River comes down from the north and joins the Westfield River in the eastern part of the town, where is located the village and post-office called "Swift River," formerly "Babylon " post office. Near the centre of the town, on Westfield River, is Cummington village, and on the same river, at the extreme northwest, is West Cummington, where an iron bridge, 100 feet in length, spans the river. At these and other points are small mills. There are in the town, paper, wood-turning, grain and other mills, a tannery, and the usual mechanical shops of a rural community. The largest products at present are paper, and penholders and other articles turned from wood; the aggregate value of the manufactures in 1885 being 893,782. There are 3,972 acres of woodland, consist- ing of hemlock, beech, birch and maple.
Without large ponds, the scenery is romantic. The soil is gener- ally a clayey loam, moist and well adapted for grazing. About the average stock is kept and the usual crops raised. The product of the farms, in 1885, was valued at $91,009. The population at the last census was 805, of whom 241 were voters. The dwellings in 1870 were reported as 223, with 180 farms; in 1885 the returns give but 197 farms and 186 dwelling-houses. The young people abandon the hill farms, and the passing away of the aged owners leaves them to become a part of the wilderness again. The valuation in 1888 was $313,604, with a tax-rate of $17.80 on $1,000.
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