USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > South Boston > History of South Boston (its past and present) and prospects for the future, with sketches of prominent men > Part 15
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In 1831, Second Street, which was but a short street from the Turnpike to B Street, was ordered extended to Dorchester Street by the Board of Aldermen. This required considerable work as the ex- tension was only to be made by filling in the water and it was not until 1836 that the street was laid out and graded its entire length.
As the years passed on it became evident that the builders of houses were encroaching, more and more, upon the highways, as origin- ally laid out. In 1837, accordingly, a committee was appointed by the city government to make a new survey to conform as near as possible to the original plan of Mr. Withington.
Stephen P. Fuller and Alexander Wadsworth were employed as the surveyors and completed their work in 1841. Their survey proved that the fears were well grounded and that encroachments had been made upon the public streets in almost every part of South Boston where buildings or fences had been put up. It was also found that the
148
IHISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
original location of some of the streets had been materially changed, particularly in the distances between the streets crossing Broadway between A and F Streets, and in the northerly termination of First, Second, Third and Fifth Streets, and the easterly termination of A Street. In 1844 the city marshal notified nineteen individuals or cor- porations east of Dorchester Street and eighty-six west of Dorchester Street of such encroachments, and informed them that the city would claim full right to remove them from the premises whenever found necessary to do so, in order to complete the streets.
11
-SOUTH BOSTON,
PLAN OF SOUTH BOSTON IN 1846.
About 1843 First Street was extended from between A and B Streets to E Street.
The South Bridge had for many years demonstrated its value and in 1849 the channel on the South Boston side, for about 200 feet was. filled in and a few years afterward similar filling fin was accomplished on the Boston side.
In 1844 the act of incorporation of the Old", Colony Railroad pro- vided that the road should terminate in South Boston. For a short time, thereafter, the depot was in South Boston, on the Turnpike, nearly back of what is now the house of Engine Company 15.
149
HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
This, however, did not please the corporation, and in 1845, they petitioned for leave to construct a bridge across the water and to have a passenger depot on the Boston side. This met with considerable opposition. The people of Roxbury, fearing that a railroad bridge across the channel would interfere with navigation to their wharves, protested, as did also a few of the South Boston people who believed that the location of the depot in their district improved business.
But the petitioners won against the opposition and in 1845 the railroad was authorized to build the bridge and work was commenced at once on the structure. The length of the bridge was 290 feet, width of draw 32 feet, and of sufficient width for two tracks. The cost was $14,000.
For many years after the build- ing of the new depot in Boston, the old depot in South Boston was used only for freight.
From 1848 to 1856 there was a bridge at the western end of South Bay, crossing from South Boston, at the railroad crossing, over to the South End. It was known as Evan's Railroad Bridge, or Mt. Hope rail- road. The city government desired to fill in many acres of flats at the South End, and the contract to sup- ply the gravel was made with William MRS BURRILL'S YOUNG LADIES' SEMINARY. Evans, who built the bridge. It was a pile structure, nearly a mile in length and had two draws for the passage of vessels.
The Mount Washington Female Institute was founded in May, 1835, by Mrs. Burrill, with a view of providing a place where young ladies might obtain a liberal education at a moderate rate. The number of pupils who attended the first term was 49. It was under the charge of Mrs. Burrill, aided by several female assistants.
The course of education pursued by the young ladies of the institute was extensive, comprehending all those attainments which were found necessary, useful, and ornamental in society.
The seminary and boarding house were situated on Mt. Washing- ton, Broadway, between G Street and the Institution for the Blind.
The rapid increase in population, and the gradual spreading out of the houses, soon made it imperative to establish another public school. The Hawes School had very large classes.
In 1840, accordingly, a branch school was established, named the Mather School, and, under Mr. Jonathan Battles, Jr., and women assistants, occupied Franklin Hall until the new school building was built. This building was completed in 1842, at a cost of $21,314.80 and was named in memory of the well known Mather family. The
150
HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
school is still standing on Broadway, between B and C Streets, but the name recently has been changed to Parkman School.
The leading military organization in the district, for many years, was the Pulaski Guards. It was chartered in March, 1836, and the first captain was Col. J. L. C. Amee. The name of the company was later changed to "Mechanics Greys," but in 1841 resumed the old name.
In 1838 the Mt. Washington Hotel was built and opened by several wealthy men of the city, who thought they foresaw in South Boston the aristocratic section of the city, and thought there was good speculation in a hotel on a magnificent scale. Mr. John Ford was manager. The Warren Association, as this syndicate was called, commenced running a line of coaches from the Old State House to the hotel, charging twenty-five cents fare which was soon reduced to six cents. Previous to this Ephraim Dodge had a line of coaches to the city, the first run from the district. But when the Warren Association reduced the fare and placed on additional coaches, Mr. Dodge had to discontinue.
But the hotel did not pay, money was lost, and the building became the property of the Perkins Institution for the Blind, previously located on Pearl Street.
The line of coaches was sold to Samuel D. Blood in 1840, who added two more omnibuses and carried on the business until 1842 when it was sold to Jonas C. Gipson. Mr. Gipson soon associated with him Horace Hammond and they increased the business so that they soon had twenty coaches, employed forty men, and kept one hundred and five horses. Trips were made every five minutes from the office near I Street to Cornhill. It was called the White Line, owing to the color of the coaches, and the fare was fixed at six cents.
The Franklin and Lafayette Banks that had been in existence but a few years failed in 1837. The year before these failures the Mechanics Bank commenced business in a brick building at the corner of A and Fifth Streets, soon erected a building at the corner of Broad- way and the Turnpike, and continued here for many years.
The Lafayette Bank was first at the corner of Fifth and A Streets, near the Turnpike. Soon it moved to the corner of Fourth Street and the Turnpike where it remained until it went out of business.
The two boards of the city government were the Board of Alder- men and the City Council, twelve of the former and forty-eight of the latter.
The first charitable organization on a large scale was the South Boston Samaritan Society, organized October 19, 1842, by several of the leading women of the district. They met in Brooks Hall and sought to relieve all the suffering poor of the district. Mrs. Samuel Hill was the first president and the membership varied from forty to fifty.
151
HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON. .
....
IM
PERKINS INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND.
BROADWAY AND H STREET,
(1850.)
152
HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
Another hall was added to those of South Boston. Lyceum Hall was built at the corner of E Street and Broadway in 1845, and one half of the street floor was occupied for many years, by W. H. Tilden, dry goods, and the other half was occupied by the South Boston Sav- ings Bank.
The first efforts to organize a good association for young men, with literary as well as social objects, was consummated in 1848 by the establishment of the Mattapan Literary Association. The organization was perfected, May 23, and there were elected as officers, Daniel B. Curtis, president ; George S. Dexter, vice-president ; Benjamin Pope, secretary : and Stephen W. Goodhue, treasurer. The society flourished for many years and was productive of much good for the young men. In 1838 South Boston became a ward by itself. It had previously been a part of Ward 12, the other portion being in the South End. In 1838 all of South Boston became Ward 12. It then had 712 voters.
The President Directors & Company of
ONE
ONE
THE FRANKLIN BANK
RF BOSTUN
Massachusetts
BANK NOTE OF FRANKLIN BANK.
From the very establishment of the city institutions and the loca- tion of the same in South Boston, the residents regretted that they were there. The erection of the House of Correction, the Lunatic Asylum, House of Reformation, and House of Industry, followed one close upon the other.
Soon, however, when the city had purchased Deer island, the South Boston citizens succeeded in having the House of Industry removed thence.
-" During this important period in the history of South Boston, the people of the district felt, as those in after years and even at the present time, that they were not being treated fairly by the city govern- ment. The population was rapidly increasing, South Boston's propor- tion of the tax levy was growing larger, and throughout it all numerous complaints were made of the condition of the streets, and lack of public parks.
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HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
In 1847 a public meeting was called and held in one of the halls of the district. The needs of the district were considered and thoroughly discussed, the neglect of the city government to properly attend to the necessities of South Boston was referred to, and it was finally decided to memorialize the city government. A committee of representative and influential citizens was appointed to draw up the memorial and were instructed to emphasize the many needs of the district and the importance of that section to the city of Boston.
The committee held several meetings and finally completed its work. The document was a ponderous affair, and when presented to the city council that body ordered that 750 copies be printed.
The following was the memorial :
SOUTH BOSTON MEMORIAL IN 1847.
To his Honor the Mayor, the Aldermen, and the Common Council of the City of Boston :
The undersigned, members of a committee appointed by a public meeting of the inhabitants of ward 12, ask leave to respectfully represent :
That the peninsula, formerly called Dorchester Neck, and now called South Boston, contains a population of 12,000 which is rapidly increasing in numbers and in wealth, and which, judging the future by the past, will reach 30,000 in ten years, and 100,000 in twenty-five years :
That it has eight churches, two grammar and seventeen primary schools, besides private seminaries ; a lyceum, bank and insurance office, also wharves. shipyards, factories, foundries, &c :
That it has real and personal property valued at $6,000,000 upon which was paid the last year a tax of $31,000, and which is estimated at $40,000 for the current year :
That it has a superficial area as great as was that of the old town of Boston :
That it has not only the capacity, but the actual material necessary for a separate and independent municipal existence :
That it has no natural connection with, much less any necessary de- pendence upon, the city of Boston, being separated from it by a deep and navigable channel :
That its municipal union with the city is merely arbitrary and politi- cal, for the continuance of which there can be no good reason except reciprocity of advantages :
That heretofore most of the advantages of the union have been reaped by the city of Boston proper, while the disadvantages have fallen to South Boston :
That it has paid a considerable portion of the city taxes, such as those for widening, paving and lighting the streets, without anything like an ade- quate return of benefits from the city expenditures :
That it seems to have been considered, as foreign possessions are too frequently considered, a convenient appendage from which the central government might derive profit in various ways :
That it has sometimes been treated as the Botany Bay of the city, into
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HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
which could be thrust those establishments which the city fathers would consider nuisances in the neighborhood of their own private dwellings, such as almshouse, prisons and small pox hospitals :
That several measures of great public importance are now and long have been called for, which the city government will not allow the in- habitants of South Boston to adopt, and which it neglects to adopt itself, such as opening streets and establishing official "levels " for buildings :
That justice to the present and to the future inhabitants of this beau- tiful peninsula, demands that there should be a change either in its muni- cipal relation with the city of Boston proper, or in the policy which has hitherto characterized that relation.
In support of which representations, we would respectfully ask your attention to the facts and considerations set forth in the following
MEMORIAL.
This peninsula, equal in size and beauty to its more fortunate rival, Trimount, was. the ancient Mattapan of the Indians, and was regarded with peculiar favor by those simple children of the forest who looked for natural beauty and sweet springs and sunny slopes, rather than facilities for fortifications and advantages for commerce.
Boston soon began to covet this fair pasturage, and a contest arose, and the weaker went to the wall, and Boston treated the sons of Dorches- ter as their fathers had treated the Indians, and Dorchester Neck became South Boston. May that name be lasting, and may it never be that even handed justice shall call upon our children to bestow another and more appropriate one.
* *
It was not until 1826 that leave was obtained to build the new free bridge, by which they could get more directly to the centre of the town, nor would it have been obtained even then, if the interests of many of the towns lying along the south shore had not called for it.
The bridge was built in 1828 by the owners of the land in South Boston and by residents there, and by them presented to the city.
The opening of this communication showed at once all the natural advantages and facilities of the western part of this peninsula, for in a few years it was covered with houses, stores and factories, and the population increased six-fold in a short time. Equally apparent were the good effects upon other parts of the city property, adjacent to the point of junction. The nuisances of Sea Street disappeared, and upon the marsh of the South Cove sprang up, as by magic, streets and houses.
But during the twenty-five years in which the energies of South Boston had been cramped, and her growth stunted, what efforts had to be used, what obstacles to be encountered, what defeats sustained, before a measure so consistent with sound policy and plain justice could be carried. If any one should now question whether the best interests of the whole city, as well as of South Boston, had been promoted by this measure, he would be considered as insane. Nevertheless at this moment another avenue to the city, farther east than the old ones, begins to be called for by the same sound policy and even justice which called for them ; but in order to obtain it, the same battles are to be fought, the same defeats sustained, and the
155
HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
same delays encountered. before there will be what there must finally be-a. complete union between the two peninsulas and a disappearance of the intervening flats.
During the period of twenty-five years which elapsed between the open- ing of the old and the new avenue, the population of this peninsula went on slowly increasing rather in spite of its municipal connection with the distant town than in consequence of it. Indeed the inhabitants had little to remind them of their dependence upon Boston except the inconvenience arising from the want of local authorities to regulate their local affairs, and the annual visit of the town officers, in the shape of assessors of taxes.
While they were paying their full proportion of taxes for widening and paving, and lighting and watching the streets of the city proper, their own streets were not only uncared for, but they were not even accepted by the city. At some seasons they were almost impassable on account of the mud, and they were lighted only by the moon and stars at night. Most of what was done for them was by voluntary contributions among the inhabitants, who in one season paid about $1,500 for this purpose, in addition to paying their proportion for keeping the streets of the city in such a pleasing con- trast with their own.
**
But it was not alone in respect to streets, that the inequality of taxation was felt by the inhabitants of South Boston; they paid their share for the expense of common sewers, for removing offal from houses, for the police, for the night watch. etc .. of the city, without any direct benefit therefrom for themselves. It is estimated that about the period to which we have alluded, viz. 1830. the city was really indebted to South Boston in the sum of $ 100,000 for taxes paid by her, and for which the city has made no re- turn.
We might cite other cases of impartiality and injustice toward us. But we are not inclined to dwell upon this unpleasant part of the history of our union, and pass to the period succeeding the opening of the new bridge, during which the policy of the city has been less illiberal, though still far from impartial towards South Boston.
At the beginning of that period the population of South Boston amounted to about 2,500: in a few years it had doubled; in 1840 it reached 6,176: in 1845 it was 10,020, having increased sixty-two per cent. in five years : and at this moment it is doubtless over 12,000. Nor is this popula- tion such as is generally found on the outskirts of a large city. It is not the scum thrown out from the purer material. The peninsula, being separ- ated entirely from the city proper by water, and not having as yet any avenue of access from its centre to the busy marts of commerce, was not sought by those men alone who lived from hand to mouth, and wanted only a temporary lodging place, but also by a class of intelligent and re- spectable persons of narrow means, but independent spirits, who wished to dwell in their own houses, and have elbow room about them, and pure air to breathe, and a wide prospect to enjoy. There are at this time over 1300 dwelling houses in South Boston, and a very large proportion of them are owned by their occupants, a larger proportion, probably, than can be found in any other ward of the city. With the exception of the part nearest the bridge, South Boston, indeed, looks like a thickly settled town in the in- terior of New England.
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HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
In the whole of the population there is not a single colored family, and not so many foreigners as in several other wards of the city. The foreign- ers who reside here, are, for the most part, of that better class who live not in cellars, or congregate closely together in order to keep each other warm.
Many of our inhabitants have not only their homes, but their business upon the peninsula. The amount of capital actually invested in manufac- turing establishments alone, is estimated at nearly $1,500,000, which pro- duces annually the following amount of goods :
Iron castings .
$600,000
Machinery
375,000
Chain cables
90,000 Glassware
100,000
Chemicals and drugs
250,000
These employ nearly 1,000 workmen. Then there is shipbuilding and other important branches of industry carried on here.
The official valuation of property for taxation in South Boston was :
In 1845, on Real Estate $3,249,800
" Personal Estate 557,200 Total, $3,807,000
" 1846, " Real Estate
4,127,100
66 Personal estate .
.
629, 100 Total, $4,756,200
and the valuation for the current year is estimated by competent persons at above $5,600,000.
However, the mere material prosperity of a place is no test of its real worth, and we would lay most stress upon what we really believe to be true, that South Boston has been sought as a residence by a very respectable class of persons, rather in spite of the policy which the city government has pursued with regard to the place, than in consequence of it.
* * *
*
We have dwelt upon the illiberality and unfairness of the policy of the city of Boston toward South Boston, and we have pointed out some instances of it. We have said what we firmly believe, that if the policy of the past is to be the policy of the future, it will be better for the inhabi- tants of this peninsula to administer their own municipal government, since they best understand their own wishes and interests. But we have said all these things more in sorrow than in anger. We yield to none of our fellow citizens in civic patriotism, we are proud of the name of Bostonians, we desire ever to deserve and to bear it, and we hope and trust that the reasonable requests that we make may be granted. These are :
First. That our streets may be graded, and their levels be officially given at once, so that if a man builds a house, and it be afterward under- mined, or buried up by public authority, he may claim damages, as do those whose land is taken to widen streets in the city proper :
Second. That our principal streets be paved or macadamized so that they may be in decent condition for travel at all seasons, and that measures be taken to remedy the deplorable condition of the sidewalks in front of the lands of non-residents :
Third. That there shall be expended annually in South Boston for paving and lighting streets, for day and night police, for schools, and other
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HISTORY OF SOUTH BOSTON.
things of public interest, a sum equal in proportion to the taxes paid by South Boston into the city treasury for such purposes.
Fourth. That pure water be introduced into our streets at the same time and in the same manner as it is to be into the city proper.
These things we think we have a right to ask as mere matters of com- mon justice, and there are others which we would ask for considerations of public utility, convenience, ornament and health.
We might urge even the motive of pecuniary gain, for, certainly if the city means to maintain jurisdiction over this peninsula, it should try to render it an eligible residence for hundreds of the valuable citizens who are every year removing their families to neighboring towns. It should strive to hasten the time when it shall be fully settled, and to have for settlers substantial tax-paying citizens. Among the measures which will promote all these objects, and which we earnestly desire to see adopted without delay. are :
First. That one or more public squares be laid out, and properly ornamented.
Second. That the streets be opened through the large tract of land now shut up by the city.
We will not waste time in urging the utility of public squares. The history of every populous city that has provided them, or neglected to do so, shows this so plainly that every schoolboy knows it. Now is the time to do it in South Boston, or never. The land can be had very cheap, perhaps it can be had for less than its present market value, because by laying out squares, the city would increase the value of the lots surrounding them. We are certain that if South Boston had an independent municipal government. one of the first things would be to provide public squares, and to ornament them with trees.
It would be most agreeable to the inhabitants of South Boston, and we are sure it would eventually be a subject of pride and pleasure to every citizen, to have one of the hills so well known as Dorchester Heights, made use of as one of the reservoirs for the water which is to be brought into the city. The water would not rise quite so high as the top of the western hill, but a circular reservoir might be constructed around the summit, which would stand in its centre, a beautiful islet, and which might be reached by light bridges on the four sides. This islet would furnish a most delightful walk, from which could be enjoyed an extensive prospect of almost match- less beauty - a complete panorama embracing a great variety of natural scenery. If the reservoir was encircled by a carriage drive, with footpaths on the outside, and the whole hill tastefully ornamented with trees, it would form such a combination of natural and artificial beauty as few cities in the world can boast.
It is highly desirable, also, that a square should be reserved in the eastern part of the peninsula. We would suggest that a site for a grammar school, which will certainly be needed in a few years, should be now selected and secured while land is cheap. We would wish to see one of such dimen- sions as to give, what every schoolhouse should have, but not one in Boston possesses, a large playground surrounding the building. This would secure for it a free circulation of air, would protect it from the noise and bustle of the streets, and would afford to the pupils a place for exercise and recrea-
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