USA > Massachusetts > Gazetteer of the state of Massachusetts, pt 1 > Part 8
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Norfolk County is divided between the 2nd, 3rd, and 9th Congres- sional distriets; it is in the 1st and 2nd Council districts, has two State senators, -excluding Cohasset, which is included in the 1st Plymouth Senatorial District ; and it is entitled to 13 representatives in the General Court, aside from Cohasset, which is classed with Hingham and Hull, of Plymouth County.
Norfolk County is bounded on the northwest by Middlesex, on the northeast by Suffolk, by Worcester County on the west, by Ply- mouth and Bristol counties on the southeast, and by the State of Rhode Island on the southwest. It is some 33 miles from northeast to southwest, and an average of about 16 miles in width, northwest to southeast. The northwestern side is extremely irregular, but the southern is a straight line for nearly its entire length. The area is nearly 526 square miles ; the assessed land is 234,880 acres; and there are 66,667 acres of woodland. The number of dwelling-houses is 20,523. The farms number 2,648, and their aggregate product in the last census year was valued at $2,639,313. There were 1,172 manufacturing establishments, the aggregate of whose product was $28,824,100. The valuation of the county in 1888 was $120,473,309. The population in 1860 was 100,950; in 1865 it had increased to 116,306; in 1870 it had fallen off to 80,443; in 1875 it had taken an upward turn to 88,321; in 1880, it was 96,507; in 1885, it had reached 102,142; when the number of legal voters was 24,086.
This county has 201 public school buildings, valued, with appur- tenances, at $1,151,216. There are also 14 private schools, having 18 buildings and other school property to the value of $901,218. Included in this number are one female college and five academies. There are 2S weekly newspapers; 38 secular libraries containing 197,313 books, and 104 religious (church and Sunday school) libraries containing 47,687 books. The various denominations are divided into 139 churches.
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GAZETTEER OF MASSACHUSETTS.
The Boston and Albany Railroad passes through an angle at the north; while the Old Colony Railroad traverses every town but one in the county. The principal streams are the Charles and Neponset rivers; the first of which winds through the entire length of the county, and the last drains the central section, -both emptying into Boston Harbor. The county has about twelve miles of sea-coast. The land-surface is uneven, but with no elevations of remarkable height. The highest are the Blue Hills, in the eastern part of the county, one peak of which has an altitude of 635 feet above the sea. The geological structure of the county is sienite and conglomerate, together with much undetermined rock. The soil in some parts is very fertile, and yields large returns to the husbandman. Although extensively engaged in manufacturing boots and shoes, woollen, cotton, straw, paper, and iron goods, the majority of the inhabitants are devoted to agriculture.
The first actual outrage of King Philip's War is said to have been the shooting of a white man in Dedham woods, in this county. Med- field, Weymouth, Milton, Medway and Wrentham suffered severely, either by attacks within their borders, or by loss of soldiers sent out against the savage foe. A large number of men from this county were in the Canadian expedition of 1690, in the attack on the Span- ish West Indian settlement in 1741, in the Louisburg expedition in 1745, and in subsequent French wars. On the 10th of August, 1774, " a county congress" met at the Doty Tavern, in Canton (a building recently standing at the base of Blue Hill), in which Joseph Warren participated. On the 6th of September, 1774, the county convention assembled at the house of Richard Woodward, in Dedham, -every town and district in the county being represented. By adjourment, the convention again met on Friday, September 9th, at the house of Daniel Vose (recently standing) in Milton, where the famous Suffolk Resolves were unanimously adopted, -said to contain a complete declaration of war against Great Britain. Men from Dedham and other towns of this county participated in the discomfiture of the British expedition against Lexington and Concord, and rendered effective and important service throughout the war; and in the war of 1812, and also in the war of the Rebellion, the county was propor- tionately and honorably represented.
The first canal in this country was cut at Dedham in 1639; and the first railroad in America was constructed in Quincy in 1826. The first water-mill in New England (and probably in the country) was built on the Neponset River, at the Lower Mills in Dorchester, in 1634; and the first powder-mill was built at the same place, in 1675. Also in Milton, were built the first slitting-mill, in 1710; the first paper-mill, in 1728; and the first chocolate mill, in 1765. The first iron-forge was erected at Quincy in 1643. The manufacture of glass and quarrying of granite were both commenced in the same town in 1752; and here, too, in 1789 was launched the ship " Massa- chusetts," - then the largest vessel ever constructed in the country. At Canton, in 1801, Paul Revere established the first copper works in New England, if not in America.
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THE ORIGINAL JOHN ADAMS AND JOHN QUINCY ADAMS HOMESTEADS, QUINCY,
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Plymouth County lies in the southeast section of the State, having a sea-coast on Mas- sachusetts Bay on the east, and another on Buzzard's Bay at the south, with a smaller extent on Boston Harbor. Its extreme length of land area is about 47 miles, north and south; with an average breadth of 20 miles. Its assessed area is 370,038 acres. It is bounded by Norfolk County and Boston Bay on the north, Massa-
TREATY OF MASSASOIT WITH GOVERNOR CARVER.
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- chusetts Bay on the east, Barnstable County and Buzzard's Bay on the south, and Bristol County on the west.
The Old Colony Railroad, with its divergent and connecting lines, penetrates every town in the county, except Carver in the centre of the southern section. The sea-coasts which constitute so large a proportion of its boundary afford numerous and ample har- bors. The surface of the county is mostly level, and the scenery is
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generally monotonous ; yet there are some spaces of great beauty, and elevations presenting widely extended and interesting prospects. The views of shore and sea from Coleman's Hill in Scituate, from Prospect Hill'in Hingham, from Captain's Hill in Duxbury, from Burial Hill and Manomet Hill in Plymouth, are unique and fine ; while Alden's Hill in Lakeville affords a charming scene of lake, meadow and forest. The geological structure is of granite, sienite, carboniferous rock, and drift and alluvium. Extensive beds of bog- iron ore occur ; but this material has in many localities been exhaus- ted, and most of the iron works are now supplied from a distance. The Taunton River and several of its affluents drain the western section of the county ; while the middle southern section has the Weweantit River, flowing into Buzzard's Bay; and in the northern part the North River, a circuitous stream, flows easterly, and finds the sea between Scituate and Marshfield by the same mouth as South River, a smaller stream coming up through the eastern section. There are many broad and beautiful lakes in the county, numerously visited by waterfowl. The most important sheets are those in Middleborough and Lakeville - Assawampset, Long, Pocksha, and Great and Little Quiticas ponds, - all connected, and forming the largest collection of fresh water in the State, - about 5,000 acres. Other ponds of some note are Billington Sea in Plymouth, Monpon- set in Halifax, Snipatuit in Rochester, Lispaquin in Middleborough. and Silver Lake in Plympton. The forests of this county are exten- sive, aggregating about 150,000 acres; oak and pine being the pre- dominating growth. Extensive areas of these spread across the southwestern section of the county as an almost unbroken belt to the great forest in Bourne and Sandwich; and all through this wild tract numerous red deer still range.
The soil of this county is generally light and sandy, and inferior to that of most other parts of New England. The product of the 2,779 farms, in 1885, aggregated in value $2,343,878. Cranberries and the smaller fruits are extensively raised. The fisheries yielded $169,343; and there were owned in the county 20 vessels engaged in commerce, with a tonnage of 13,892, and a value of $367,700. There were 1,101 manufacturing establishments; some 200 of these producing machinery, artisan's tools, and other metallic goods, and about the same number being shoe factories. The value of the aggregate product was $27,819,116. The dwelling-houses numbered about 20,000. The valuation in 1888 was $56,203,997. There were 274 school buildings, valued, with appurtenances, at $663,840. Here also is a State Normal School. There are in the county several academies and private schools, having school property valued at about $160,000. Of libraries accessible to the public, 43 are secular, having 85,000 volumes ; and 105 religious (church and Sun- day-school), having nearly 50,000. In the county are 132 churches, comprising all the New England denominations. Further means of intelligence and culture are afforded by one daily newspaper, thir- teen weeklies, and one semi-weekly.
Plymouth County being a part of the original Plymouth Colony,
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its history dates from the landing of the Pilgrims, in 1620. The old Colony embraced the territory now included in the three counties of Plymouth, Barnstable, and Bristol, formed in 1685. The union of the Plymouth Colony with the Massachusetts Bay Colony, in 1692, ter- minated its independent existence, which had continued for 71 years. For the first ten years of its settlement the colonists were confined almost wholly to the town of Plymouth, and at the end of that per- iod numbered only three hundred. Ten years later, there were eight towns in the colony, -of which four only were within the limits of the present county. These were Plymouth, Scituate (incorporated 1636), Duxbury (inc. 1637), Marshfield (1640), Bridgewater (1656), and Middleborough (1669). At the incorporation of the county, in 1685, it consisted of the above-mentioned towns, with Accord Pond Shares and Ford's Farm Plantations, embracing parts of Scituate and Hanover, and the whole of (old) Abington. The northwest boundary of the county is nearly the original line between the colonies of Ply- mouth and Massachusetts Bay, the only difference arising from the annexation from the latter of Hingham and Hull, which occurred at the formation of Norfolk County in 1793. The population just previous to this accession was, by estimate, slightly over 4,000, - many having gone to multiply settlements outside of the county.
The prosperity of the colony had been greatly impaired by the war with King Philip; the loss of men and money being a heavy strain upon their limited resources, so that many promising enter- prises were broken up and many fair fields abandoned. Middle- borough, Scituate, Bridgewater, Halifax and Plymouth itself were invaded by the savage enemy. In the later French and Indian wars, though unharmed in their homes, they joined heartily in maintain- ing the honor and integrity of the English nation. The town of Pembroke was the first in the Colonies to rebel against the British crown; having in 1740 adopted a resolution to adhere to their rights and privileges, "any royal instructions of his Majesty to the con- trary notwithstanding." In May, 1776, Plympton voted unani- mously in favor of independence of Great Britain; thus preceding the National Congress in their proclamation of liberty to the world. Shays' rebellion found here so little support that the courts were not interrupted as in other parts of the State. In the war of the Slaveholders' Rebellion, the record of Plymouth County is a brilliant one.
From time to time new towns were formed from the common territory and by the division of towns, until there are now 26 towns and one city, - Brockton. The towns are Abington, Bridgewater, Carver, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Hingham, Hull, Kingston, Lakeville, Marion, Marshfield, Mattapoi- sett, Middleborough, Norwell, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Ro- chester, Rockland, Scituate, Wareham, West Bridgewater and Whit- man. The shire town is Plymouth.
The population in 1860 was 64,768; in 1865, it was 63,107; in 1875, it was 69,362; in 1880, it had reached 74,018; and the last census (1885) gives the increased figures of 81,680. The number of legal voters is now 22,103.
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SUFFOLK.
Plymouth County is divided between the 1st and 2nd Congres- sional districts. It is in the 1st Council District; with Cohasset, from Norfolk County, it constitutes a State senatorial district; and, together with Cohasset, it has 12 representatives in the General Court.
Suffolk County lies on the northern part of Massa- chusetts Bay, being the eastern mid- dle section of the State. It includes the cities of Boston and Chelsea and the towns of Revere and Winthrop, - the first mentioned city being the capital of the county and of the State. It is the largest portion of the county as to territory, and its treasurer and auditor fulfil the same offices for the county, while its board of aldermen are the county commissioners, though Revere and Winthrop are placed in the jurisdiction of the commissioners of Middlesex County. Yet all the county expenses are paid by the city of Boston.
The county is in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th Congressional districts ; in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Councillor districts; and together with Ward Three of Cambridge, has 9 State senators, and, of itself, has 52 representatives in the General Court.
At the first United States census in 1790, Suffolk County had a population of 18,792; in 1860, it had 192,700; in 1865, 208,212; in 1870, 270,802; in 1875, 364,886; in 1880, 387,927; and in 1885, it was 421,109; the legal voters then numbering 95,154.
The original division of the Massachusetts Bay Colony * into counties was on May 10, 1643; when Essex, Middlesex, Suffolk and Norfolk were formed, - all being named from shires, or coun- ties, of the same name in England. Suffolk, as then constituted, contained Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, Dedham, Braintree, Wey- mouth, Hingham and Nantasket (IIull). The county contains at present (as before stated) only the cities of Boston and Chelsea and the towns of Revere and Winthrop; but Boston -the court-town - now embraces South Boston, East Boston, Roxbury, Boston High- lands, West Roxbury, Dorchester, Brighton and Charlestown.
The greatest length of the county is - northeast and southwest - about 16 miles; and the greatest width of land surface some 83. miles ; or, including harbor and islands, upwards of 13 miles. The area of the land surface is 44 sq. miles,- about 28,160 acres. There are 24,235 acres of assessed land. It has above 650 acres of forest, the largest part of which is in public parks. The highest eminence is Bellevue Hill in the West Roxbury district, whose altitude is 334 feet. Other elevations are Pomeroy Hill in the Brighton district, Mount Washington in South Boston, Orient Heigh's in East Bos- ton, Powder-Horn Hill in Chelsea, Winthrop Head, Mount Bowdoin in the Dorchester district, Bunker Hill in the Charlestown district, and Beacon Hill, marking nearly the corporate centre of Boston and of the county. The Charles and the Mystic rivers flow through its
* For statement of the form and changes of the government of the Massachusetts Colonv. consult the article entitled " Civil History," in the section devoted to the State, in the first part of this volume.
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GAZETTEER OF MASSACHUSETTS.
territory to the sea, while the Neponset River forms its boundary line on the southeast. The county also includes Boston Harbor and Revere Beach. The geological formation is the St. John's group, sienite and trap, with an area of conglomerate (Roxbury pudding- stone) in the southern section, and ledges of slate in the harbor. Beds of clay and peat are found in several localities. The north-
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eastern part is marshy, but the surface deposit in the higher por- tions is chiefly drift.
The number of farms in the county is 204, embracing about 4,500 acres. The green-house product shows the most marked variation from other counties, being in 1885, 148,767. The total product was $608,985. There were 5,472 manufacturing establishments, produc-
NEW COURT HOUSE.
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SUFFOLK.
ing a great variety of goods; whose aggregate value is given in the last census report as $149,281,727. There is also a considerable fishery interest, whose product, in 1885, was valued at $466,074. There were engaged in this industry 51 schooners, 1 brig, 317 dories, and 36 seine boats. The merchant marine consisted of 67 barks, 19 barkentines, 20 brigs, 201 schooners, 33 ships, 12 sloops, 130 steam- vessels. These had a total tonnage of 811,617. The number of assessed dwelling-houses was 54,433. The valuation of the county in 1888 was $791,944,763.
The public schools were provided for in 182 buildings (besides several hired), valued, with appurtenances, at $8,878,010. There are 89 private schools, - including one university, two colleges, eleven schools of the grade of academies, and twenty-three profes- sional schools, having 110 buildings, valued with the school property at $2,956,518. There were, in 1885, 90 newspapers and journals (11 daily, 2 semi-weekly, 75 weekly, 2 bi-weekly), and 81 journals and magazines (66 monthly, 13 quarterly, and 2 annual). The num- ber of libraries (more or less public) was 329, having 1,276,411 vol- umes. Of these, 130 were secular, having 1,083,957 volumes; and 199 were religious (church and Sunday-school and association) hav- ing 192,454 volumes. The churches in the county were 220 in num- ber.
The county of Suffolk was more fortunate than others in the Indian troubles, being surrounded by a broad belt of settlements, so that no savage incursion ever distressed its borders. Its men and money, however, were furnished in due proportion for the public good. The events of the Revolution in this county, and most other occurrences, are perhaps sufficiently detailed in the article on Boston and in that under the head of "Civil History " in the first part of this volume. There remain to be mentioned the several destructive fires with which the chief town has been visited, the de- pressing effects of which were felt even beyond the limits of the county.
The first fire of much magnitude occurred at the early date of March 16, 1631, and though the absolute loss was not large, it was a serious set-back in the progress of the settlement. The next was in the autumn of 1675, when forty-five dwellings, a meeting-house, and many other buildings were consumed. There was not a fire-en- gine in Boston up to this time; but this disaster induced the author- ities to procure one from England. It did not arrive until the spring of 1679, - in time for use in the great fire which occurred in August following. This conflagration laid waste the commercial part of the town, in the vicinity of the dock; consuming vessels, warehouses, and dwellings, and causing a loss of £200,000. This fire was be- lieved to have been the work of an incendiary. The procuring of more engines and the starting of a rudely organized fire department ' were among the immediate results of this fire. Again, in October, 1711, another scourge of fire destroyed about 100 dwelling-houses, rendering 110 families homeless. Many stores stocked with goods, the town-house, and the meeting-house of the first church, were con-
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VIEW OF THE RUINS, BOSTON FIRE, FROM SUMMER STREET.
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sumed. The space from School Street to Dock Square was swept clean., The colony held a general fast on account of this affliction, taking up contributions for the sufferers to the amount of about £700. In 1760, another great fire visited Boston. It commenced on Washington Street, not far from Water Street, burning east be- tween State and Milk Streets to Long Wharf, clearing what was then a large section of the town. Three hundred and forty-nine buildings-dwelling-houses, stores, and mechanies' shops - were de- stroyed, and about one thousand people bereft of their homes. The loss was estimated at £500,000. New York, Pennsylvania, and Nova Scotia promptly sent relief; a London merchant gave £100; and George Whitefield collected and sent $250. After this fire a larger proportion of the new buildings were of brick. The last great catastrophe of this kind, and far the most disastrous we have to record, is the great fire of November 9, 1872. It consumed the buildings-chiefly business houses and shops, and constructed of brick -extending from near the corner of Milk and Washington Streets southeast and covering 63 acres, to a mass of smouldering ruins. The value of the property consumed was about $100,000,000.
The post-office for the Bay Colony was virtually established in Boston in November, 1639; when the house of Richard Fairbanks was fixed upon as the place where all letters from foreign countries should be sent for delivery.
The place of holding the Suffolk County courts in the earlier period is obscure. Possibly they may have been held in the Prov- ince House, or in some tavern. It is probable that the town-house of Boston was used for the purpose after one was built, - which was not until later than 1657. The first building was of wood, and was burned in the great fire of 1711. A new one of brick was erected the next year; and it is recorded that, in 1733, the courts were still held in the "very handsome town-house." This, too, was burned in 1747. The building fronting on Washington Street, at the junction of State and Court (formerly King and Queen streets), and well known as the Old State House, was erected in 1748, as a town-house, on the site of the former ones. Its east end, roof, and interior have at various times been changed from the original form. Drake (in his "History of Boston ") says : " In this building were accommo- dated the General Court of the Commonwealth, clerks of the Su- preme Judicial Court, and Court of Common Pleas." Early in 1769 a new stone court-house on Queen (Court) Street was completed, in · which the first session was held in April, 1769. The committee of construction reported in 1770 that the new building cost £2373 17s. 102d. lawful money. The committee received in addition the sum of £45 for their services. A stone jail had been begun near by in 1766 and was completed in the following year, at a cost of £3,466 13s. 95d.
The lower floor of the new court-house (called also the town- house) was used for a Probate Office, and a room adjoining it was prepared later for the grand jury. This floor was used later for United States district offices, and by a provident association.
In 1810 the county courts were removed to a new, or second and
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FIZETTEER OF MASSACHUSETTS.
newer, court-house on School Street, where they remained until 1841, and were then removed to the present stone court-house on State Street. This edifice was commenced in 1836, and the cost when completed was $98,817.16. Willard was the designer. It is a gloomy granite structure presenting a Doric front with ponderous fluted columns of granite weighing 25 tons each. There was a sim- ilar portico at the rear, - removed later to make room for an exten- sion of the main building. This edifice is the least adapted to the comfort and convenience of the court, connsel, parties and witnesses of any court-house in the Commonwealth. In the basement are the tombs. It was here that the Anthony Burns riot occurred, May, 1854. In 1888 a new county court house and jail were commenced on Pemberton Square, a description of which may be found in the article on Boston.
Worcester County occupies the middle section of the State, extending quite across it from north to south, a distance of about 473 miles ; while its average measurement east and west is about 33 miles. In general form it is nearly a square ; but its eastern and western lines are very irregular. The States of Vermont and New Hampshire bound it on the north, and Connecticut on the south. On the east are Middlesex and Nor- folk counties, and on the west the counties of Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden. It is the largest county in the State. The area of the land surface is stated as 1,550 square miles, equal to 992,000 aeres ; and of this 284,887 acres are woodland. The assessed area is 914,956 acres.
The surface of the land is generally undulating, and in most parts broken and hilly. The mountains are rounded in form, generally isolated, but not lofty. The most noticeable of them are Wachusett Mountain in Princeton, having an altitude of 2,018 feet above sea- level; Watatic Mountain in Ashburnham, rising to the height of 1,8-17 feet ; Asny bumsket Hill in Paxton, 1,407 feet; Hawes' Hill in Barre, 1,285 feet ; Tufts' Hill in New Braintree, 1,179 feet; Hatchett Hill in Southbridge, 1,016 feet ; and Muggett Hill in Charlton, 1,012 feet.
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