Massachusetts : a guide to its places and people, Part 30

Author:
Publication date: 1937
Publisher: Boston : Houghton Mifflin Company
Number of Pages: 802

USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts : a guide to its places and people > Part 30

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257

Lexington

prosperity. Its population at that time was sixteen hundred, most of whom were engaged in farming. The Industrial Revolution brought a spurt of manufacturing which lasted for the first quarter of the nine- teenth century. The activity had no sound basis, however, and when neighboring towns more advantageously located for power and markets surpassed it, Lexington returned to the less eventful pursuits of agricul- ture. In later years the town has been transformed gradually into a residential community.

TOUR - 6 m.

N. from junction of Waltham St. and Massachusetts Ave., Lexington Center, on Massachusetts Ave.

I. The Lexington Battleground, 'Birthplace of American Liberty,' a triangular level Green, is marked by the arresting Minuteman Statue of H. H. Kitson.

2. The Marrett and Nathan Munroe House (private), 1906 Massachusetts Ave., facing the Green, originally (1729) had a hip roof sloping to the ground in the rear from the third story. The line of the roof has been broken by the addition for the back porch, but the effect is not inhar- monious.

R. from Massachusetts Ave. on Elm Ave. along N. edge of Green.

3. The Old Burying Ground lies just behind the white-steepled church, overlooking pleasant meadows rimmed by distant hills. Some of its slate stones with their bas-relief skulls date back to 1690. Here are graves of Revolutionary patriots and their 'agreeable consorts.' The Rev. John Hancock and the Rev. Jonas Clarke, whose successive local pastorates covered the entire 18th century, rest beneath the same stone.

4. The Jonathan Harrington, Jr., House (private), corner of Elm Ave. and Bedford Sts., is a rectangular white, two-storied frame dwelling, with green shutters. It has a Georgian Colonial doorway. The rear enclosed porch is a modern addition. During the battle on the Green, Jonathan Harrington was wounded by the British. He dragged himself to the door of his home, where he died at his wife's feet.

5. The First State Normal School in the United States, opposite corner of Bedford St., was founded in 1839 under the direction of the Rev. Cyrus Pierce, with three pupils. It is a two-story white building, now a Masonic Temple, at the northeast corner of the Green.

R. from Elm Ave. on Bedford St.

6. The Buckman Tavern (open summer, weekdays 10-5; Sun. 2-5), built in 1690 and later the rallying-place of the Minutemen, retains some interesting interior features of the 17th century, but has been greatly altered in appearance by the addition of a hip roof with dormer windows,

Bedford St

& MAINE RR

Hancock

Ave

Hayes

Ave

Clark St

Meriam St

Mussey

Oakland

Stetson St

Chandler St

Glen Rd

Abbott

setts

Waltham St

Circle

Grant

Sheridan

Ave

Fletcher

Lane

Winthrop

Hayes

Hunt

land

Ave

Vine

High

Slocum

Woburn

Avc

BOSTON

Cot tage

Manley

Percy

Eustis

Washington

EMassachusetts

LEXINGTON

Warren

TOUR

Oakmount

Glen

Marriott St

Vinębrook

Massachu

Wallis Pl

MAINE RR

Sherman

Grant

Edgewood

Blake

Ave

Somerset

Franklin Rd

BOSTON

Goodwin

Hancock

Ave

Upland

Bloomfield

CEMETERY

259

Lexington

forming a third story. Here, about the great fireplace on the morning of April 19, the Minutemen assembled to await the approach of the British troops; from the chamber windows above Paul Revere witnessed their arrival; across its threshold that afternoon were brought two wounded British soldiers, one of whom died. Since 1921 it has been maintained as a community meeting place. The inn has a small collec- tion of old bottles, jugs, flip mugs, loggerheads, and tavern table and chairs.

L. from Bedford St. on Massachusetts Ave .; R from Massachusetts Ave. on Clark St.

7. A reproduction of the Belfry from which sounded the alarm to the Minutemen stands on the original site on a low hill, a stone's throw to the southwest of the Green. The bell long ago disappeared, but these weather-beaten timbers vividly commemorate the humble daily functions of its tongue, faithfully year in and year out 'summoning the people to worship, warning them at night to rake up the fires and go to bed, and tolling for them when one after another they passed away.'

Retrace Clark St .; L. from Clark St. on Massachusetts Ave .; R. from Massa- chusetts Ave. on Bedford St .; R. from Bedford St. on Hancock St.

8. The Hancock-Clarke House, 35 Hancock St. (open weekdays 9.30-5, Sun. 2-5, Apr. 1-Nov. 1; weekdays 11-4, Sun. 2-4, Nov. Dec. March; not open during Jan. and Feb .; adm. free), is the eleventh house across the railroad track. The one-story gambrel-roofed ell was the original dwelling, built in 1698 by the Reverend John Hancock, whose son John, father of Governor John Hancock, was born here. The frame is of hand- hewn oak and shows little sign of decay. Enlarged in 1734, at the out- break of the Revolution it was the home of the Rev. Jonas Clarke. Here John Hancock and Samuel Adams lay hidden on the night of April 18, 1775, when Paul Revere sounded his alarm; and Dorothy Quincy, Hancock's betrothed, met them there, bringing a 'fine salmon for their dinner.' An ell contains Revolutionary costumes and the drum beaten at the battle. The large, low-ceilinged kitchen, then the real center of family life, exhibits utensils in use at the time. In all, there are 2400 pieces owned by the Lexington Historical Society which has maintained headquarters in this house since the date of its purchase by the Society in 1896. .

9. The Botanic Garden (open daily; free), 91 Hancock St., was begun in

LEXINGTON MAP INDEX

I. Lexington Battleground

2. Marrett and Nathan Munroe House

3. Old Burying Ground

4. Jonathan Harrington, Jr., House

5. Buckman Tavern

6. Belfry

7. First State Normal School

8. Hancock-Clarke House

9. Botanic Garden

Io. Cary Memorial Building

II. Munroe Tavern

260

Main Street and Village Green

1930 to 'grow, test and display all hardy herbaceous plants.' Most of the labor is voluntarily contributed by friends and members of garden clubs. Beginning with the summer of 1937 the Garden was used as a classroom for the Summer School of the School of Landscape Architec- ture of Harvard University.

Retrace on Hancock St., back to Green; L. from Hancock St. on Bedford St .; L. from Bedford St. on Massachusetts Ave.

IO. The Cary Memorial Building, 1605 Massachusetts Ave., a modern low brick structure which serves as a town hall, is worth a brief visit for the purpose of seeing the painting of the Battle of Lexington, 'The Dawn of Liberty,' by Henry Sandham, and a portrait of Lady Lexington. II. The Munroe Tavern (open weekdays 9.30-5, Sun. 2-5, April 19- Nov. 11; free), 1332 Massachusetts Ave., built in 1695 and subsequently altered, now houses beneath its hip roof a museum collection. Its old rooms, which retain many of their original features, are furnished in the manner of the period. In 1789 Washington was entertained here at a testimonial dinner and the chair, table, dishes, and hatrack which he used are preserved.

12. The Mason House (private), almost opposite, 1303 Massachusetts Avenue, was built in 1680 but is still in a good state of preservation.

13. Another Jonathan Harrington Home (private) is at 955 Massachusetts Ave. near Joseph Rd. Its builder, a relative of the Jonathan Harrington killed in the battle, was the fifer of the Minutemen and the last survivor of the battle. Seventeen years old in 1775, he lived to be 95 and occupied a front seat at commemorative exercises of the 25th, 50th, and 75th anniversaries of the battle, shaking the hands of famous statesmen and always referring to himself as the Minute Boy.

14. The Ben Wellington Tablet (R), Massachusetts Ave. and Follen Rd., commemorates 'the first armed men taken in the Revolution.'

LOWELL . Company Founders and City Fathers

City: Alt. 110, pop. 100, 114, sett. 1653, incorp. town 1826, city 1836.

Railroad Station: Northern Depot, Middlesex St., for B. & M. R.R. and N.Y., N.H. & H. R.R.

Bus Stations: Railroad Station and Lowell Bus Terminal, 44 Bridge St., for B. & M. Transportation Co., Vermont Transit Co., Frontier Coach Lines, Champlain Coach Lines, and Blue Way Line; 70 Central St. for Grey Line. Accommodations: Four hotels.

Information: Lowell Chamber of Commerce, Merrimack St.

261

Lowell

ONE hundred feet above sea level, on a plateau where the powerful Mer- rimack joins the sluggish Concord River, stands Lowell, one of the leading manufacturing cities of New England. Canals and grassy plots criss- cross the crowded metropolitan business section. On the hills beyond are a city's homes from mansion to tenement.

The early history of this region is identified with the town of Chelmsford, of which it was for many years a remote and insignificant part. At that time only a settlement existed here, supporting itself by the handicrafts of the home and the fisheries of Pawtucket Falls.

At the turn of the eighteenth century, the name of Francis Cabot Lowell, known as the originator of American cotton manufacturing, enters the an- nals of this city. In England he had studied British methods of textile operations. Returning to this country he devised and financed a practical power loom for American use. Through Ezra Worthen, the possibilities of the river Merrimack and the recently constructed Pawtucket Canal were investigated. Lowell was enthusiastic, and in February, 1822 (five years after Lowell's untimely death), the Merrimack Manufacturing Com- pany was formed by his associates. Overnight the company founders be- came the first city fathers in what would today be called a huge company town. Both men and women slept in corporation lodging houses, ate in company dining-rooms, shopped in company stores, and were buried in company lots. Employees worked from five in the morning to seven at night. Women received from two dollars and twenty-five cents to four dollars a week, men about twice that. On March 1, 1826, the district was incorporated as the township of Lowell in recognition of its sponsor, and the company associates promptly took over the political reins. Outside capital poured in from the merchants of Boston and many other sources. To the cotton manufacturing of the Merrimack Company was added the Print Works in 1824. The Hamilton Company, with a capital of $600,000, and the Appleton and Lowell Manufacturing Companies were among the many that rushed in to exploit the miraculous water-power of the Merri- mack. Agents of these various companies scoured Europe in search of cheap labor, painting glowing pictures of the promised land across the sea and luring thousands of immigrants into the maw of the hungry, growing city.

Canals formed an integral part of this expansion. The Middlesex Canal, built in the first years of the nineteenth century, was the first American traction canal of a type already familiar in England and on the Conti- nent. Much of the freight and passenger traffic of the new community flowed between its banks.

Europe watched Lowell with something like amazement. Its rapid rise to industrial eminence interested and astounded economists, historians, and writers all over the world. Many of the skilled workers who first came to the factories were the Irish and English, who now occupy prominent places in the city life. After them came the non-English-speaking groups who settled in their own little communities, building their churches,

Conduit Ave

Merrimack

Pawtucket

Perkins

Salem St

Merrimack

Moody

Ford St

Cheever St

Aiken St.

Fletcher St

Dec atur

Au stin

bot

Cross

Market

Suffolk

Willie

Tilden St

Rock St

Dummler

(8 St

Worthen St

Dutton

Market

·Merrimack St

Thorndike

Summer O

LOWELL

South

Common

South St

TOUR

Brown St

Fayette

Middlesex

Appleton

Bridge St

St.

Wannalancit St

Bowlers St

School

Mt Vernon

Butter field

Coolidge St

Tremont St

Hall St

Broadway

River

Riverside

263

Lowell

schools, and convents and preserving the culture of their homeland. The French-Canadians, the Poles, and the Greeks today have their own clubs and newspapers. The Greeks dominate so large a section of the city that Lowell has often been called a modern American Athens.

The peak of the city's industrial development was achieved in the period of artificial prosperity preceding 1924. After 1924 there was a general de- crease, ending in the devastating debacle of 1929. Many of the mills moved south. Other industries were liquidated. The whole textile indus- try of the city was reduced by fifty per cent, and thousands of workers were left jobless and homeless. Lowell lost its position as the most impor- tant textile center in the world. It ceased to be the 'Spindle City.' Yet in place of these losses, it began slowly to make gains and to change its aspect. From a concentration on textiles it broadened its scope to include many kinds of manufactures. By 1934 it seemed to have entered the up- ward grind toward recovery.

TOUR - 11.7 m.

S. from Appleton St. on Thorndike St.

I. South Common is a 22-acre recreational center.

L. from Thorndike St. into Central St .; R. from Central St. into Wamesit St .; L. from Wamesit St. into Rogers St., crossing the Concord River, tribu- tary to the Merrimack.

2. Rogers Hall, 196 Rogers St., facing a hilly park, is a preparatory school and junior college for girls.

R. from Rogers St. into Park Ave. and straight up the hill.

3. Fort Hill Park, beautifully planted in open vistas framed by birches, maples, beeches, poplars, oaks, pines, spruces, cedars, and tamaracks, has from its crest a magnificent view.

Down the hill into Park Ave .; E., as a direct return is prohibited; L. from Park Ave .; E. at cemetery into unmarked Knapp Ave .; L. from Knapp Ave. on Rogers St., bearing R. from Rogers St. into Nesmith St .; L. from Nesmith St. into E. Merrimack St.

LOWELL MAP INDEX

I. South Common

4. Immaculate Conception Church

5. St. Anne's Church

6. Lucy Larcom Park

7. Cardinal O'Connell Bust

8. Birthplace of Whistler

9. Greek Orthodox Church

IO. St. Patrick's Church

II. North Common

12. Statue of Father Garin

13. Lowell Textile Institute

14. Wannalancit Park

15. Spaulding House

16. The Francis Floodgate

264

Main Street and Village Green

4. The Immaculate Conception Church (Catholic), corner of Fayette St., is a Gothic edifice of the gray granite which abounds in this region. The truncated tower of the church, its delicate spires, and its great rosette window on the side are reminiscent of the cathedrals of France.

5. St. Anne's Church (Episcopal), corner of Kirk St., is the gem of the city's smaller churches. This is a plain Norman house of worship with a square tower, constructed almost entirely of small, irregular field-stone blocks, smooth-faced and almost slate in color. The low wing of the church vestry and the rectory at its farther end break the monotony of the line.

6. Lucy Larcom Park, adjacent to St. Anne's, is a long, narrow strip of greensward extending along the Pawtucket Canal, which here swirls sud- denly up from gatelocks after flowing for some distance beneath the city. This parkway was named in honor of Lucy Larcom, a 19th-century New England poet who wrote 'Hannah Binding Shoes' and the prose 'New England Girlhood,' which tells of her early days as a mill hand at Lowell. At the Merrimack St. end of the park is a section of the Railroad Track laid in 1835 for the Boston and Lowell Railroad, the first steam railroad in New England.

L. from Merrimack St. into Cardinal O'Connell Parkway.

7. The Cardinal O'Connell Bust surmounts a granite bird bath in the mid- dle of the Green, commemorating the fondness of St. Francis of Assisi for the winged creatures of God. The bust is an excellent likeness of the Cardinal, a native of Lowell.

L. from the Parkway into Market St .; R. from Market St. into Worthen St.

8. The Birthplace of Whistler (open weekdays 10-5 except Mon .; Sun. 12-5), 243 Worthen St., is a shrine for artists who often know nothing of Lowell except that it is the birthplace of James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834- 1903), America's most renowned painter, dandy, and wit, son of an Army engineer. The house, built in 1824, stands directly on the sidewalk in what is now a shabby but quiet byway near the Greek quarter of the city.

R. from Worthen St. into Broadway; R. from Broadway into Lewis St.

9. The Greek Orthodox Church, corner of Jefferson St., established in 1907, was the first of its denomination in America. It is a Byzantine structure in yellow brick, with a squat central red dome surmounted by a gilded Greek cross and fronted by two still lower domed towers. This section is Little Greece, a center of humble, nondescript frame dwellings and small variety shops bearing signs in modern Greek.

L. from Lewis St. into Jefferson St., crossing the canal.

IO. St. Patrick's Church, on Suffolk St. facing Jefferson St., is an im- pressive Gothic gray-stone church, distinguished by its very tall tower with tapering spire.

L. from Jefferson St. into Suffolk St .; R. from Suffolk St. into Cross St.

265

Lowell

II. North Common is a recreational center, serving the Acre, a section tenanted by Irish, French, and Greeks.

Retrace Cross St .; L. from Cross St. into Suffolk St .; L. from Suffolk St. into Merrimack St.

12. The Statue of Father Garin, on the small side lawn of St. James's Catholic Church, was erected by the French-Canadians to their parish priest of this name. A fine bronze statue of heroic size, by Philippe Heber, it presents a tall, bareheaded, commanding figure, with strong but sensi- tive scholarly face.

R. from Merrimack St. into Pawtucket St .; L. from Pawtucket St. into Moody St.

13. The Lowell Textile Institute (co-educational), corner of Colonial Ave., established in 1897, is probably the largest school of its kind in the world and the only one offering instruction in textile processes. Among technical schools of every nature, it ranks at the top. Of especial interest is an ex- hibit (open) of the various processes undergone by cotton from the boll to the finished cloth. In connection with this exhibit are spindles and looms in full operaticn.

L. from Moody St. into Riverside St .; straight ahead on Varnum Ave., the continuation of Riverside St.

14. Wannalancit Park, a grassy embankment shaded by trees, traversed by footpaths and dotted with benches, extends for several miles along the river.

Retrace Varnum Ave .; R. from Varnum Ave. into Mammouth Rd., crossing the bridge; R. from Mammouth Rd. into Pawtucket St.

15. The Spalding House (private), 275 Pawtucket St., originally a tavern, erected in 1760, presents a carefully restored exterior of two-and-a-half stories with hip roof, its twin chimneys, later than the single central type, its yellow clapboards with white trim, and its 18-paned windows. The narrow black blinds are a variation from type. The curved iron hand rail with brass knob, at the front steps, and the green-paneled front door are restorations.

L. from Pawtucket St. into Wannalancit St .; R. from Wannalancit St. into Clare St .; R. from Clare St. into Broadway.

16. The Francis Floodgate consists of a guard lock of massive timber 27 feet wide, 25 feet deep, and 2 feet thick, built in 1848 and at the time known as 'Francis' Folly.' Major Francis, its builder, at that time chief engineer of the Locks and Canal Co., was the target of sharp criticism and caustic derision to the day of his death. But 88 years after its construction the gate was dropped and reinforced by sandbags, just in time to save Lowell from the havoc wrought by the river in cities to the north.

L. from Broadway into Wilder St.

17. The Lowell State Teachers' College (1894), 850 Broadway, is con- structed of the yellow brick which Lowell favors whenever tempted from

266

Main Street and Village Green

its allegiance to gray granite. It is notable for its beautiful location in a broad-landscaped campus on a spacious hilltop.

L. from Wilder St. into Liberty St.

18. The Lincoln Memorial, in Lincoln Square, is a medallion head of the Emancipator by Bela Pratt, given to the city by its school-children.

LYNN . Machine City

City: Alt. 34, pop. 102,320, sett. 1629, incorp. town 1631, city 1850.

Railroad Stations: Central Square for B. & M. R.R .; Market and Broad Sts. for Boston, Revere Beach, & Lynn (Narrow Gauge).

Bus Station: Costello's Book Store, Lambert Square, for Greyhound Lines. Piers: Yacht Basin, Lynn Harbor, end of Washington St.

Accommodations: One first-class hotel, rates same winter as summer. Apart- ment hotels, tourist homes.

Swimming: Lynn Beach, two miles in length, end of Nahant St. Fresh water, Flax Pond, bath-houses, etc.

Information: Hotel Edison, Lynn Chamber of Commerce.

FROM the General Edwards Bridge, the industrial city of Lynn sprawls across a plain flanked by rocky hills to the north and west, and by the sea and miles of tidal flats to the east and south. The vast River Works plant of the General Electric stretches beyond the Saugus River, and ahead are the dreary Victorian buildings of the shoe factories. From the congested heart of the industrial district tenement roofs, spires, and brick walls rise in a chaotic jumble to the distant city heights, in fantastic contrast with the great woods and the several quiet lakes which lie, sur- prisingly, within the limits of this noisy machine city.

Lynn, first known as Saugus, was named in honor of King's Lynn in Norfolk County, England. Appropriately, Lhyn to the ancient Britons signified 'Place of the Spreading Waters.' Very early the town began to swing toward industrialism.

One of the first settlers was a tanner, and his establishment laid the foundation of a related industry that was to make Lynn famous through- out the industrial world. Two highly skilled shoemakers, Philip Kirtland and Edmund Bridges, settled near the tannery in 1635 and began to fash- ion shoes that compared favorably with those produced elsewhere. By the beginning of the eighteenth century almost every house had its

267

Lynn

'back-yard' shop, and presently Lynn was supplying most of the foot- gear for Boston. John Adam Dagyr (1750), a Welsh shoemaker, set a high standard of workmanship which lasted for many years after his death.

The beginning of the nineteenth century brought new life, resulting in part from the activities of Ebenezer Breed, who was influential in per- suading Congress to protect the growing industry with a tariff. In 1800 the State Legislature passed an act to encourage the manufacture of shoes, boots, and 'arctics' (galoshes). An army of craftsmen toiled early and late in their small shops, and in 1810 manufactured about one million pairs of shoes.

With the introduction of the first shoe sewing machine in 1848, the fac- tory system began to take over. The domestic production units of the craftsmen were liquidated and the workers were absorbed into huge plants. With bewilderment and resentment, they saw their craftsmen's status fade into insignificance when they took their places at the alien machines. The ensuing friction brought about the shoe strike of 1867, when all shoe factories were closed down for seven weeks. Demanding better living conditions, the employees organized parades in which several thousand men and women marched with brass bands, fire companies, military organizations, and sympathizers from neighboring towns.

The new system attracted foreign workingmen by the thousand and al- tered the racial complexion of the city. The French-Canadians, the largest racial group, dispersed through the city. The Irish, second in numbers, were forced by religious intolerance to settle in a compact dis- trict. The third most numerous group, the Italians, as well as Greeks, Poles, and Armenians, formed distinctly bilingual communities but lost most of their picturesque color. The Greek district in the vicinity of Pleas- ant and Tremont Streets has several restaurants which feature native dishes, notably Turkish coffee, nutritious yoghourt, and baclava. There are five large Jewish districts where Yiddish is still widely spoken and orthodox customs are maintained.

An interesting episode of the period of immigration was the sojourn of Charles Bata, a Czechoslovakian, who came here to learn the trade. Having observed factory methods, he returned to Czechoslovakia, and built one of the largest and most modern shoe factories in the world, capable of producing footgear at a very low cost, somewhat to the resent- ment of his industrial alma mater.

Until the last decade of the nineteenth century Lynn was the leading shoe center in the country. In November, 1889, fire ravaged thirty-one acres of the business section, with a property loss of about $5,000,000. By 1915, it had fallen to third place. The introduction of modern machinery decreased the reliance on skilled craftsmen, and manufacturers began to remove into areas of cheaper, less-skilled labor. Recently, this migration seems to have halted. There has also been a recent noticeable expansion of the leather industry.

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Massachusetts : a guide to its places and people, Part 30

Author: Publication date: 1937 Publisher: Boston : Houghton Mifflin Company Number of Pages: 802

Author:
Publication date: 1937
Publisher: Boston : Houghton Mifflin Company
Number of Pages: 802