USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Medford > History of the town of Medford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement in 1630 to 1855 > Part 7
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Medford has always kept its roads in good condition ; for it has a blue gravel in some of its hills, admirably adapted to the surface of paths and highways. May 15, 1758: "Voted ten pounds for the repair of the roads." This is the first vote of the kind on record. Till this time each citizen had worked out his "highway tax" by him- self or hired man. Just how much a man was then allowed per day for personal labor on the road, we may not say ; but the public records inform us, that, in 1802, the "labor
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
of a man on the highways was fixed at one dollar for eight hours, and for his team two dollars ;" while, in 1819, the pay of a man was one dollar twenty-five cents, and of his team two dollars fifty cents.
Straightening and widening roads became each year of great importance, as the first short roads were very crook- ed. A hundred years ago men talked of the necessity of opening new routes of travel between Medford and the adjoining villages. As long ago as 1761 many inhabitants of the town petitioned the Court of Sessions for a road across the marshes at " Labor in Vain," thus connecting the eastern part of the town with the Boston road. The petition was granted, and the commissioners laid out the road, and assessed the damages ; but it was concluded not to build it. March 5, 1787, the town voted, "That Ben- jamin Hall, Esq., Gen. John Brooks, and Thomas Brooks, Esq., be a committee to petition the Court of Sessions to obtain a new road through a part of Col. Royall's and Capt. Nicholson's farms." But that petition was not suc- cessful.
May 10, 1802 : A committee was chosen "to lay out a road between Medford, Stoneham, and Reading, through the woods ; " also to see if a road from the meeting-house to Joseph Wyman's was feasible. Purchase Street was opened many years after, according to this suggestion.
Sept. 13, 1802 : The Court of Sessions direct, "that the road from Jonathan Brooks's Corner to West Cambridge (now Arlington) be widened, Medford and Charlestown paying for the lands taken."
May 7, 1804: The town chose a committee "to stake out the private ways in the town." The intention of the town doubtless was, that those avenues, paths, or rangeways through which the public have a right of way, should be marked out and recorded. It is very important that these rights should be preserved, and as important that they should not be unjustly claimed. Settling near a river gave superior facilities for transportation in early times, and therefore free access to a landing-place was impor- tant. This is shown by many acts of the town.
Nov. 9, 1846, the town chose a committee of three to ascertain what right of way then existed for the use of Rock-hill landing ; and the legal decision was against the town.
When, in the early part of this century, ship-building
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
became an enterprise in Medford, the town felt a new impulse, and began to increase in numbers by a new ratio. This required new streets ; and, from 1810 to the present time, they have been constantly opening, either by munici- pal authority or at private expense. But ship-building has not continued to be the source of our growth and pros- perity. Only a few ships have been built the last thirty years ; and our recent growth has resulted from our near- ness to Boston, and the consequent accession of population from the overflow of a great city. Nearness to the me- tropolis has increased the population in every direction in- land ; and towns and cities thirty miles away have doubled their population during the last two decades, largely be- cause of railway facilities.
In Medford, west of the Boston and Lowell Railroad, more than a hundred acres have been put into house-lots since 1854. Through that section of the town, streets have been made, and dwellings erected; and the enter- prise, prompted largely by a spirit of speculation, has resulted in a great public benefit. Edward T. Hastings originated an improvement in West Medford which has resulted in the building-up and beautifying that part of the town. In connection with Samuel Teel, jun., he laid out two hundred acres of land into streets and building- lots, and planted trees on the sides of those streets, which already have added much to the beauty of that locality and to the value of the property there. Mr. John Bishop did for the eastern part of Medford what Messrs. Hastings, Teel, and others did for the west. And on the estate north of Gravelly Bridge, many of our best residences have been erected since 1850; so that now that part of the town is one of its most attractive precincts.
Mr. Bishop did another desirable thing for the town, in putting into the market a large tract of land for building- lots east of the Old Fountain House, where many to-day have comfortable homes, who, but for the liberal induce- ments held out to them to purchase lots and build upon them, would now be living in hired tenements.
Another estate brought into the market in the same way was that of Messrs. James and Isaac Wellington. It contained about one hundred and sixty acres. Plans were drawn, and sales of lots commenced, as early as 1854; but the enterprise did not flourish, until, in 1874, a new road was built, which shortened the distance to Boston, and
BOSTON AND LOWELL RAILROAD STATION, 1851.
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1
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
brought these lands within three miles of that city. Since then, many buildings have been erected there; and with its natural advantages, and proximity to Boston, its future is full of promise.
From earliest times, the town chose annually a sur- veyor of highways, whose duty it was to superintend the repairs of the public roads. He had full power to decide where, and to what extent, repairs should be made. As population and streets increased, several surveyors became necessary ; and they received compensation for their time and labor. After the brick almshouse was built in West Medford, near the Lowell Railroad depot (1812), Isaac Brooks, Esq., who had taken the deepest interest in the matter, proposed to employ the male paupers in repairing the highways. This plan was adopted ; and, under the guid- ance of a general surveyor, the keeper of the almshouse went forth every day with his picked men and horse-cart. As this procedure converted the almshouse from a place of ease to a place of labor, it had the magical effect of thin- ning the number of male occupants.
In 1814 the town opposed the opening of a road from the Charlestown Road, at the foot of Winter Hill, to Craigie's Bridge in East Cambridge. A long and warm debate con- cerning this project prevailed for a considerable time ; but at length the patrons of the measure succeeded, and the road was opened.
The Boston and Lowell Railroad was surveyed through Medford in 1831, and the projected enterprise had warm advocates and zealous opponents. It was the first railway designed for public travel built in New England. The charter of the road bears the date of June 5, 1830, and the names of John F. Loring, Lemuel Pope, Isaac P. Davis, Kirk Boot, Patrick T. Jackson, George W. Lyman, and Daniel P. Parker. The number of directors was five; the number of shares, one thousand. The Act provided that no other railroad should within thirty years be authorized, leading to any place within five miles of the northern ter- mination of the road. This road has added greatly to the wealth and prosperity of Medford, and has vastly enhanced the value of land in that part of the town.
Its cost was enormous. Its rails were all laid on granite blocks, the idea of durability causing the immense outlay. But a short trial convinced the managers that they had made a mistake, for the contact of stone with iron made
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
the track too firm and unyielding. It wore the machinery of the locomotives and cars so rapidly as to induce a sub- stitution of wooden ties.
The Medford branch of the Boston and Maine Railroad was incorporated March 7, 1845; and the names of the petitioners are James O. Curtis, Henry L. Stearns, Joseph Manning, jun., Daniel Lawrence, Nathaniel H. Bishop, and Andrew Blanchard, jun. On the 22d of January, 1845, the town passed the following : -
" Resolved, as the sense of the people of Medford, that it is expedi- ent that the prayer of the petitioners for a railroad to connect Medford with Boston be granted."
In order to have an estimate of the cost of this last- named road, a committee of citizens employed James Hay- ward to make certain surveys. He did so ; and the original copy of his report, now yellow with age, has come into our hands. It is as follows : -
To MESSRS. BISHOP, LAWRENCE, AND OTHERS. 4
Gentlemen, - The survey and estimate which you requested me to make for a branch railroad from Medford to the Maine Extension Rail- road in Malden have been completed ; and a horizontal trace and vertical section of the line selected as the best, which will conform to your wishes in this behalf, are represented in the accompanying drawing.
The line selected by this survey is as follows : it commences on Ship Street, near the public square in Medford village, and proceeds eastwardly, in a very direct line, crossing Cross Street near the pound, thence, in nearly the same direction, across Park Street, and thence to the Boston and Maine Extension Railroad, with which it unites, by a curve of one thousand feet radius, about fifteen hundred feet east of the farmhouse of the Messrs. Wellington, and about two hundred rods from the railroad bridge over Mystic River.
The whole length of this line, from the Extension Road to the ter- minus in Medford, is ninety-eight hundred feet. The only considera- ble curve is that by which it connects with the Maine Extension Road, and even this might have an enlarged radius if it should be thought expedient.
The highest grade is about sixteen feet to the mile, as I have laid the profile of the road, and estimated the cutting and filling. There is no marsh land or rock-cutting ; but the ground is very favorable for the construction of a railroad, being generally sand and light gravel, and requiring no very deep cutting or high embankment. The largest item in the earth-work will consist of about sixteen thousand yards of embankment, to raise the ground for the depot buildings and wood- yard. The line intersects two cross-roads, neither of them much trav- elled; and from each of these intersections nearly the whole line of the branch road may be seen.
The damage to real estate will be trifling, considering the fact that the road will commence near the centre of so extensive and so compact a village.
1
[WEST MEDFORD
BOSTON AND LOWELL RAILROAD STATION, ] 1885.
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
The accompanying estimate provides for a single-track road of the first class ; embankments fifteen feet wide at the surface of the road- bed, with slopes of one and a half to one, and excavations of twenty- four feet in width at the grade-line, with the same slopes as those of the embankments. The superstructure estimated for is the wrought- iron T-rail, weighing fifty-seven pounds to the yard, laid on chestnut sleepers, and secured by a heavy cast-iron chair, which will effectually hold the ends of the rails in place. The estimate contains nothing for land, or damage to real estate. Of this subject you are much better judges than myself, and will be better able to ascertain the opinions of the owners, or of the other citizens of Medford, by whose opinion, in some degree, such questions, in case of disagreement, will ultimately be decided.
To the expense of building the branch, I have added that of building a second track on the Maine Extension Road, from the proposed junction with that road to the Middlesex Canal, where the route pro- posed on the south side of the river would meet the Extension Road. This I do, that we may have all the data for comparing the two routes proposed.
The distance to Boston by the northern route is thirty-two hundred feet greater than that by the southern route ; and the southern branch will be forty-two hundred feet longer than the northern.
With these remarks the annexed estimate is respectfully submitted Your obedient servant, JAMES HAYWARD. by
ESTIMATE OF COST.
Excavation and embankment, 30,000 yards, at 12} cts. $3,750 00 .
Masonry, 455 yards, at $1.50 .
682 50
Fencing, 1,200 rods, at $I ·
1,200 00
2 road-signs (25 feet long)
100 00
6 road and field crossings
100 00
Superstructure, 2 miles I
· 15,250 00
Depot buildings .
4,000 00
$25,082 50
To which add for grading the second track from the junc- tion to Mystic River, 7,092 yards, at 163 cts. . 1,182 00
From bridge to Middlesex Canal, 6,333 yards, at 163 cts. 1,055 55
Masonry near Wellington's, 25 yards, at $2 50 00
Superstructure north of Mystic River 4,621 21
Superstructure south of Mystic River
2,743 84
Engineering, contingencies, etc., ten per cent
3,473 50
$38,208 60
By the Act of Incorporation " the capital stock was not to consist of more than one thousand shares at one hun- dred dollars each." The Act further stated, -
" If the said railroad shall not be constructed within two years from the passage of this Act, then the same shall be void."
I This includes about five hundred feet of side-track.
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
It was readily finished, and proves to be a most pro- ductive and convenient road.
The Stoneham Branch Railroad Company was incorpo- rated May 15, 1851. Thaddeus Richardson, Amasa Farrier, and William Young, were named as the corporation. Sec- tion 7 of the Act has the following condition : -
" The construction of the said road shall not be commenced until the capital named in the charter shall have been subscribed by respon- sible parties, and twenty per cent paid into the treasury of the said company."
This road was commenced and graded from Stoneham into the bounds of Medford, where its further construction suddenly stopped, and was given up.
The Medford and Charlestown Railroad Company was incorporated May 15, 1855; the petitioners therefor being James M. Usher, James O. Curtis, Samuel Teel, jun., Al- bert Hanscom, and Edwin Wright. The Act of Incorpo- ration was modified by supplementary legislation March 9, 1857, and April 6, 1859.
The company was organized Feb. 28, 1856; and its by- laws were adopted Dec. 26, 1859.
Early in 1860 a location was granted by the selectmen of Medford and Somerville ; and Mr. George E. Adams took the contract for building the road, the track being laid, as located, in the middle of Main Street from the Square to Mystic Avenue, thence on the east side of Main Street to the terminus near the junction of Main Street and Broadway on Winter Hill.
In May of the same year the company, for twelve thou- sand dollars, purchased of the Somerville Railroad Com- pany its Winter-hill Branch, extending from the summit of Winter Hill, through Broadway by a side-track, to the Charlestown line.
Two or three months later the road was completed to Medford Square, and went into operation under lease ; first to George E. Adams, and later (Nov. 1, 1860) to the Mal- den and Melrose Railroad Company, which transferred its lease to the Middlesex Railroad Company in January, I866.
In 1863 the company contemplated extending its track to Malden line, and a location through Salem Street was granted therefor by the selectmen; but no part of the extension was ever built.
UGGIST.
GRAN
BOOT & SHOE STORE.
Apothecary
CHARLESW. JACOBSJA
RAILROAD STATION
COOL SODA MINERAL SPRING WATERS ON DRAUGHT AND IN SIPHONS IMPORTED CIGARS
BOSTON AND MAINE RAILROAD STATION, 1847.
75
HISTORY OF MEDFORD. .
Near the close of 1869 the selectmen of Somerville or- dered the removal of the track to the middle of the street from the Medford line to Broadway. This order was the occasion of serious complications and embarrassments, and resulted, about the first of May, 1873, in the revocation of the location, and the removal of the track of that section of the road, by the authorities of Somerville. The cars, of course, ceased running to Medford at that date; and the company failing to secure an adjustment of its difficulties with the Middlesex Company and the Somerville authori- ties, so as to warrant the hope that the track from Medford Square to the Somerville line would be further useful, the location was revoked, and the rails ordered to be removed, by the selectmen of Medford.
The company continued in being till April 30, 1880, when under an Act of the Legislature, passed that year, all its property, rights, powers, and privileges were trans- ferred to the Middlesex Railroad Company.
Dividends were declared for one year only, and the rental ($2,240 per annum) was afterwards appropriated to meet current expenses and the cancellation of bonds issued in payment for the Winter-hill Branch; which Branch, as soon as paid for, became nearly worthless, from a new order issued by the Somerville city government.
The stock of the company was substantially a dead loss to its possessors, there being nothing for division when the company was dissolved.
The abandonment of the road was a severe disappoint- ment to the citizens of Medford.
In 1883 the question of the revival of the Medford Horse Railroad began to be agitated. The Middlesex Horse-railroad Corporation offered to re-open the road, on the condition that the town should pay the expense of paving the road-bed. At the March meeting in 1884, the town appropriated the required sum of eight thousand dollars, and the road was constructed, and the cars com- menced running to the. Square, Sept. 15, 1884. It was afterwards extended to Malden ; and the line was opened for use, June 27, 1885.
The Boston and Mystic-valley Railroad was chartered in March, 1879, with the following gentlemen as corporators : Stephen Dow of Woburn, S. W. Twombly of Winchester, Charles M. Barrett of Medford, H. Blanchard, jun., of Wil- mington, B. E. Gage of Lowell, P. W. Locke of Boston,
76
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
and others. The length of the road was to be about fif- teen miles ; starting at Wilmington, and passing through Woburn, Winchester, Medford, and Somerville.
The construction of the road was commenced at once ; and nearly eleven miles of the grading was near comple- tion, when, in consequence of misfortunes or mismanage- ment, the work was suspended, and was not again renewed. The charter was lost by the expiration of the time given in which to complete the road ; the Legislature declined to extend the time, and the Mystic-valley Railroad ceased to exist.
What the future may do to avail itself of the work ac- complished under the charter, we may not predict ; but many still hope that the money expended may not be wholly and finally lost ; that, some time, the locomotive may bear freight and passengers through Medford over the line of that partially constructed road.
Bridges. - The first bridge ever erected across the Mystic River was at the point where the Stone Bridge now stands, in the centre of the town. The primitive structure was rude and frail, so that repairs were demanded in less than four years. At that time the land at that place, on both sides of the river, was low and swampy ; and the bridge, from that cause, was necessarily long. Doubt- less, the business of Gov. Cradock's men was the most imperative demand for that first bridge ; for his agent had. commenced an extensive fishing-business in Medford, and he needed a bridge over which heavy teams could cross.
But did he demand that the town should build it? The town records are lost, that otherwise would give us light on that matter ; but we find in the records of the General Court certain statements that enable us to know that Mr. Cradock commenced the enterprise at his own expense, as early as 1638. We learn, also, that he did not com- plete the bridge without assistance ; yet it is said that he taxed the travellers who crossed upon it, and was prose- cuted, through his agent, for hinderance of boats, and for demanding toll. The statement is as follows : -
" At the General Court, Boston, 22d of 3d month, 1639, Mr. Mathew Cradock is freed of rates to the country, by agreement of the Court, for the year ensuing from this day, in regard of his charge in building the bridge ; and the country is to finish it at the charge of the public. Mr. Davison and Lieut. Sprague to see it done, and to bring in their bill of charges."
BOSTON AND MAINE RAILROAD STATION, 1886.
∴
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
This record clearly proves that a bridge had been com- menced at that early day by Mr. Cradock ; that it was not finished by him ; that he received exemption from taxes by a vote of the General Court, which would not have been accorded if the bridge had not been considered a public necessity, and had not occupied the best place for such a structure. While the Province aided to complete the bridge, doubtless Mr. Cradock's agent made it passable, and took toll before it was completed. This supposition makes the matter intelligible, and shows the public spirit of the man who would enter alone on such an enterprise.
It should be borne in mind that the land at each end of that first toll-bridge in New England was then several feet lower than it now is. Indeed, the whole square was then a low marsh ; and, while the bridge might have been passable, the road to it at each end might have been so poor, that at certain seasons it could not have been open to travel ; and the first assistance from the Province may have been the filling-up of the road leading to the bridge. However that may have been, the bridge was commenced by Mr. Cradock's agent, and completed by the Province, Medford paying her share of the public tax. Four years after this we have the following record : -
" General Court, May 10, 1643: It is ordered Mr. Tomlins should have {22 to repair Mistick Bridge, to make it strong and sufficient ; for which sum of {22 he hath undertaken it."
This extract proves that the bridge, after it was complet- ed, very soon needed repairing, and that about one hundred dollars were necessary for the work. The bridge, therefore, must have been important as a public way, to have received such large attention from the General Court. The frailty of the structure must have been remarkable ; for only three years passed, before it again demanded the care of the Gen- eral Court. The record is as follows : -
" At a General Court at Boston, for elections, the 6th of the 3d mo. (May), 1646, Ralph Sprague and Edward Converse appointed to view the bridge at Mistick, and what charge they conceive meet to be presently expended for the making it sufficient, and prevent the ruin thereof, or by further delay to endanger it, by agreeing with workmen for the complete repairing thereof, and to make their return to Mr. Willoughby and Mr. Burrell, and what they shall do herein to be satis- fied out of the treasury."
These frequent draughts on the colonial treasury began
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
to alarm the government ; and the following record shows the steps taken accordingly : -
" At a session of the General Court, the first month, 1648: It was voted by the whole Court, that Mistick Bridge should be made and maintained by the county at the public charge."
This movement created alarm through Medford, because strong fears were entertained that the county would let the bridge go to ruin. No penalty for non-performance of duty was imposed, and there was good cause for the fears which the people expressed. Mr. Cradock's agent, therefore, sent his petition, the nature of which can be ascertained only by the following reply : -
"General Court, 28th of the 7th mo., 1648 : In answer to the petition of Nic. Davison, in the behalf of Mr. Cradock, for the repairing and maintaining of Mistick Bridge by the county, the said Mr. Davison being sent for, the evidence he can give being heard and examined with the records of the General Court, it appears that the General Court did engage for an exemption from rates for that year, and finishing the same on their own charges ; which accordingly hath been done."
We may infer from these proceedings, that the bridge was very likely to be out of repair, and that Mr. Cradock's workmen and business required it to be strong and safe. Five years roll away, and the county appears to have done little for the safety of the bridge. The indefatigable Mr. Davison, urged on, doubtless, by Mr. Cradock, appeals once more to the supreme authority. It is not strange that the General Court should at that time determine to put an end to the neglect of the county, and the annoyance and danger caused thereby ; and, probably by the earnest prompting of Mr. Davison, they passed the following financial resolve and legal order, on the 28th of March, 1653 : --
" Upon a petition presented by Mr. Nicholas Davison, in the behalf of Mr. Cradock, in reference to Mistick Bridge, it is ordered by this Court, and hereby declared, that if any person or persons shall appear, that will engage sufficiently to build, repair, and maintain the bridge at Mistick, at his or their proper cost and charges, it shall be lawful; and all and every such person or persons so engaging are hereby authorized, and have full power, to ask, require, and receive of every single person passing over the said bridge, one penny, and for every horse and man, sixpence, for every beast twopence, and for every cart, one shilling ; and this to continue so long as the bridge shall be sufficiently maintained, as aforesaid."
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