USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Sketches of Boston, past and present, and of some places in its vicinity > Part 24
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33
From this window (immediately over the observatory) may be seen, in clear weather, Wachuset mountain, near Princeton, Worcester county, fifty-two miles distant from Boston, west by north, 2018 feet above the harbor of Boston. (This harbor is also visible from the summit of the mountain.) Also Monadnoc mountain (over West Cambridge), Kearsage and the White Mountains, all in New Hampshire. Near the hospital may be seen Winter hill, the location of Washington's army in 1775 - 76, also the ruins of the Catholic convent on Mount Benedict. This building was destroyed by a mob in the year 1834, but no reparation has yet been made by the town or by the State. (In Philadelphia and Baltimore, simi- lar outbreaks occurred, and those cities were compelled to reimburse the parties for their losses in property.)
Within the limits of the town may be seen the old burial-ground, where lie the remains of John Harvard, the founder of the University, who died September 2G, 1623. Within a few yards of the monument may be seen Charlestown high school, dedicated June 17, 1848.
South Window. - From this position we observe the whole city of Boston, with its three hills, - Fort hill, Copp's hill, and Beacon hill. The gas works at the end of the first bridge; Charles river bridge, 1503 feet in length; Warren bridge, 1390 feet; the Fitchburg railroad bridge; the Maine railroad bridge ; Lowell railroad bridge; East Cambridge bridge; Old Cambridge bridge, It mile distant ; the Western avenue leading to Brook. line. On the extreme left of the city of Boston may be seen the shipping, Long wharf, Central wharf, the old North church, &c. In the centre, the Fitchburg railroad depot (Egyptian architecture), Boston and Lowell rail- road depot, Boston and Maine railroad depot.
The State House is the most prominent object, with its immense dome, to the left of which are the Park Street and Hollis Street Church steeples. Over the North End church, farthest to the left, with a tall spire, is visi- ble in the distance the asylum for the blind, a prominent object ; and, in the horizon, the towns of Weymouth, Quincy, Dorchester; and in the har. bor, Sheep island, Thompson's island (with the farm school), Quincy bay, Squantum, Savin hill in Dorchester, a summer resort ; the Old Colony rail- road, immediately over the Old State House ; Roxbury, Mt. Pleasant, &c.
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LOWELL, MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
DMAID
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HUMAN GOOD
THIS thriving city was incorporated as a town, March 1, 1826, and be- came a city in February, 1836. It was originally termed Wamesit, and in the year 1726 was annexed to the town of Chelmsford.
"The first efforts to promote manufactures in this place were made in 1813. In consequence of the restrictions that were laid on commerce, and of the war with Great Britain, the attention of many enterprising men was directed to domestic manufactures. Capt. Phineas Whiting and Capt. Josiah Fletcher, having selected an eligible site on Concord river, at the Wamesit fally, about a hundred rods from the Merrimac, erected, at the expense of about $ 3.000, a large wooden building for a cotton manu- factory. In 1818, they sold their buildings, and their right to the water- power, to Mr. Thomas Hurd. Mr. Hurd afterwards fitted up the wooden factory, and erected a large brick one and several dwelling houses, and improved the same for fabricating woollen goods. The woollen factory was destroyed by fire on the 30th of June, 1826, but was rebuilt immediately after. Mr. Hurd continued the business till the great pressure in 1828, when he was compelled to assign his property for the benefit of his credi- tors, and which was afterwards purchased by the Middlesex Company.
" About the year 1820, Messrs. Patrick T. Jackson, Nathan Appleton, and Kirk Boott, of Boston, entered into a design to form a company for the purpose of manufacturing cotton goods, particularly calicoes. They accordingly commenced an inquiry for a suitable water privilege. A large number of privileges were examined, and, for various reasons, rejected. At length Mr. Paul Moody, then connected with the manufacturing estab-
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LOWELL, MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
lishments at Waltham, while on a visit to his friends in Amesbury, met with Mr. Worthen, a gentleman of taste, with views congenial to his own, to whom he mentioned that an extensive water privilege was wanted by the above named gentlemen. Mr. Worthen replied, ' Why do they not purchase the land around the Pawtucket falls, in Chelmsford ? They can put up as many works as they please, and never want for water.' This con versation resulted in a visit of these gentlemen to this place, and from ob- servation they were both satisfied that the privilege was exactly what was wanted. The Pawtucket canal was immediately purchased by Messts. Jackson, Appleton, and Boott.
"This canal was projected about the year 1790, and the proprietors were incorporated in 1792, by the name of 'The Proprietors of the Locks and Canals on Merrimac River.' It was open for the purpose of facili. tating the transportation of wood and lumber from the interior to Newbu- ryport. It is about one mile and a half in length, had four sets of locks, and was built at the expense of $ 50,000. Its direction is nearly east, and it enters Concord river, just above its junction with the Merrimac, where the water is thirty-two feet lower than at the head of the Pawtucket falls.
" It is worthy of remark, that a few years before the purchase was made by Messrs. Jackson, Appleton, and Boott, an engineer was sent to exam- ine this place, by a number of gentlemen in Boston, who made a report that there was no water privilege here. The company made the first pur- chase of real estate on the 2d of November, 1821. They began their work about the Ist of April, 1822. On the 10th of July, they began to dig the canal broader and deeper, and let the water into it about the Ist of Septem. ber, 1823. Five hundred men were constantly employed in digging and blasting. The gunpowder used in blasting amounted to $ 6,000, at one shilling per pound. The whole expense of digging the canal was about $ 120,000. It is now sixty feet wide, has three sets of locks, and the water in it is eight feet deep, and is calculated to supply about fifty mills. In digging this canal, ledges were found considerably below the old canal, which bore evident traces of its having once been the bed of the river. Many places were found worn into the ledge, as there usually are in falls, by stones kept constantly in motion by the water; some of these cavities were one foot or more in diameter and two feet deep.
" The company was first incorporated by the name of the 'Merrimac Manufacturing Company.' In 1825, a new company was formed, called the ' Proprietors of Locks and Canals on Merrimac River,' to whom the Merrimac Manufacturing Company sold all the water privilege and all their real estate, together with the machine shop and its appurtenances, reserving water power sufficient for five factories and the print works, and also the buildings occupied for boarding-houses, and the land on which they are situated."
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LOWELL, MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
23
Lowell has grown very rapidly since its first settlement in the year 1822. In 1830, the travel and business between Boston and Lowell had become sc great, that a charter was obtained for the Lowell Railroad. This work was prosecuted with great energy, and was opened for travel in June, 1835. The distance from the Boston depot to Lowell is twenty-five miles and one thousand feet. An expensive cutting through solid rocks on this route, 600 feet in length, was made at a cost of $ 40,000. There are now eight trains daily between the two cities. Fare, sixty cents for a single ticket. Season tickets, for three months, $ 22.50; six months, $ 41.25; twelve months, 8 75.
The population of Lowell, in 1828, was 3,532; in 1840, it was 20,796 ; in 1850, it was 33,385. The present capital employed in the mills and machine shops is above $ 16,000,000.
THE LOWELL MANUFACTORIES.
The following statistical details have been derived from a letter sheet cir- cular issued at the office of the Lowell Courier.
They show the capital, number of mills, number of spindles, number of males and females employed in each of the Lowell Mills. Together with the weekly consumption of cotton and wool ; the number of yards made, dyed, and printed, weekly. Also, the annual consumption of coal, charcoal, firewood, oil, starch and flour, in each of the mills, and the gen- eral aggregates. To which are added the dates when operations were com- menced, and the current prices of their stocks in the Boston market, June, 1851.
Commenced.
Capital.
No. Mills.
Spindles.
Looms.
Merrimac Man. Co.,
1623
$2.500.000
6
69,440
2,108
Hamilton Man. Co.,
1825
1.200.000
4
38,416
1,124
Appleton Company,
1528
600.000
2
17,920
600
Lowell Man. Co ,
1829
1.500 000
3
11.362
154
Middlesex Company, .
1832
1,000.000
4
16,340
403
Suffolk Man. Co.,
1832
600.000
3
17.523
590
'Tremont Mills,
1832
6400.000)
2
14,560
557
Lawrence Man. Co.,
1833 - 4
1,500,000
5
44,800
1,382
Lowell Bleachery,
1832
262,100
Boott Cotton Mills,
1826
1.200.000
5
49,434
1,432
Mass. Cotton Mills.
1840
1,800.000
6
45,720
1,556
Lowell Machine Shop,
1845
600.000
Total. 12 Companies,
$ 13 362 100
40
! 325,520 | 9,906
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LOWELL, MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
WEEKLY.
Name of Companies.
Females Employed.
Males.
Y'ds. Made.
Lbs. Cotton
and Wool.
Yards Dyed
and Printed.
Merrimac Man. Company,
1,614
645
310,000
74,000
299,000
Hamilton Man. Company,
810
325
200,000
66,000
90,000
Appleton Company,
400
120
150,000
60,000
Lowell Man. Company,
550
225
110,000
* 86,000
Middlesex Company;
730
575
20,477
+ 33,000
Suffolk Man. Company,
400
100
120,000
48,000
Tremont Mills,
400
100
110,000
42,000
Lawrence Man. Company,
1,200
200
260,000
95,000
Boott Cotton Mills,
870
262
320,000
90,000
Mass. Cotton Mills,
1,250
250
475,000
150,000
Total, 12 Companies,
8,274
3,202 :2,135,477
744.000|$ 9,889,000
ANNUALLY.
Name of Companies.
Tons Coal.
Bushels
Charcoal.
C'rds Wood.
Galls. Oil.
Lbs. Starch
Merrimac Man. Company,
7,500
3,555
400
7,260
205,000
Hamilton Man. Company,
3,780
2.148
200
6,000
130,000
Appleton Company,
350
1,000
4,000
75,000
Lowell Man. Company,
2,600
2,000
17,000
Middlesex Company,
4,000
2,000
700
45,000
Suffolk Man. Company,
340
1,600
30
2,500
100,000
Tremont Mills,
350
900
50
3.600
75,000
Lawrence Man. Company,
1,000
3,000
120
8,217
140.000
Lowell Bleachery,
3,000
500
2,000
260.000
Boott Cotton Mills,
1,100
1,800
70
7.000
190,000
Mass. Cotton Mills,
2,700
2,000
100
12,000
220,000
Lowell Machine Shop,
1,800
15,000
100
3,000
Total, 12 Companies,
28.520, 31,993
2,270
107,577
1.390 000
Lowell Bleachery,
20
200
9,000,500
Lowell Machine Shop,
700
It will be seen that the average rates of sales of stock are from 58 to 64, and that only two of them are above par.
Average wages of females, clear of board, per week, $ 2,00. Average wages of males per day, clear of board, $ 0,80.
* 50,000 lbs. cotton, 36,000 lbs. wool. t Wool. 1 Total, 1,190,000 yards cotton, 20,477 yards woolen, 15,000 yards carpets, 40 rugs. § 301,000 yards printed, 9,515 yards dyed.
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LOWELL, MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
ANN.
Name of Companies.
Bbls. Flour.
Warmed.
Agents.
Price of Stock.
Merrimac Man. Co., Hamilton Company, Appleton Company, Lowell Man. Co.,
750 Steam. 200
J. Hinkley,
John Avery.
George Motley. Alexander Wright.
$ 1,160 to 1,180 720 to 760 600 to 700 400 to 500
Middlesex Company,
Fur. & Steam. Steam.
W. T. Mann.
800 to 900
Suffolk Man. Co.,
John Wright.
600 to 700
Tremont Mills,
50
C. I. Tilden.
500 to 600
Lawrence Man. Co.,
W. S. Southworth.
700 to 750
Lowell Bleachery,
600
C. A. Babcock.
200 to 220
Boott Cotton Mills,
Linus Child.
850 to 900
Mass. Cotton Mills,
40
Joseph White.
700 to 750
Lowell Machine Shop,
W. A. Burke.
500 to 525
Total, 12 Companies,
1,640
Medium produce of a loom, No. 14 yarn, yards per day, 45.
Medium produce of a loom, No. 30 yarn, yards per day, 33.
Average per spindle, yards per day, 1 4.
The Middlesex Company make use annually of 6,000,000 teasles, 1,716,000 lbs. fine wool, 80,000 lbs. glue, $ 60,000 worth dye-stuffs, and $ 17,000 worth of soap. They also own the Wamesit Carpet Mill, on the Concord river, where are consumed annually, 93,600 lbs. coarse wool, and 36,400 lbs. of worsted yarn, producing 91,000 yards ingrain carpeting.
In addition to the above, the Merrimac Manufacturing Company use 1,000,000 lbs. of madder, 380,000 lbs. copperas, 60,000 lbs. alum, 50,000 lbs. sumac, 40,000 lbs. soap, 45,000 lbs. indigo, per annum.
The mills are now lighted with gas, - lessening thereby the consump- tion of oil.
Other manufactures are produced in the city, than those specified above, of a value of $ 1,500,000, employing a capital of $ 400,000, and about 1,500 hands.
There are four Banks, -the Lowell, capital $ 200,000; the Railroad, capital $ 600,000; the Appleton, capital $ 150,000; the Prescott, capital $ 150,000.
The population of Lowell, in 1823, was 3,532. In 1840, it was 20,796 ; in 1850, it was 33,335. Increase in ten years, 12,589.
The Lowell Machine Shop, included among the above mills, can furnish machinery complete for a mill of 6,000 spindles, in three months, and a mill can be built in the same time.
The several manufacturing companies have established a hospital for
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BROOKLINE, NORFOLK COUNTY.
the convenience and comfort of persons employed by them respectively when sick, which is under the superintendence of one of the best surgeons and physicians.
There are two institutions for savings, the Lowell and the City. The Lowell had on deposit, the first Saturday in November, 1850, from 4,609 depositors, $ 736,623.12. The City, at the same time, had on deposit fromn 615 depositors, $ 75,970.51. The operatives in the mills are the principal depositors in the above banks.
A vast amount of laudable and successful enterprise of a more strictly private character might not be inappropriately alluded to in this place, not the least of which are the extensive powder mills of Oliver M. Whip ple, Esq., and the paper and batting mills of Perez O. Richmond, Esq., both on the Concord river, within the precincts of the city. Messrs. Fiske & Norcross's extensive lumber yard and sawmills, on the Merrimac, are also worthy of notice.
A reservoir of great capacity has been built on the high ground in Bel- videre, east of the city, for the purpose of furnishing a ready supply of water to any part of the city in cases of fire. The water is conveyed into the reservoir by force pumps from the Lowell Machine Shop. Pipes are laid from the reservoir to various parts of the city, at which points hose can be attached to the hydrants without delay, when necessary.
BROOKLINE, NORFOLK COUNTY.
This is one of the most delightful towns in the vicinity of Boston. It is one of the many towns within a small circuit of the metropolis, that are becoming the residences of the Boston merchants. Brookline lies on the north bank of Charles river, and distant from two to five iniles fromn Boston. Wood, in his " New England's Prospect," in 1633, says : - "The inhabitants of Boston, for their enlargement, have taken to themselves farmn-houses in a place called Muddy River, two miles from the town, where there is good ground, large timber, and store of marsh land and meadow."
In December, 16S6, the inhabitants of Muddy River had obtained an or. der-from the President and Council that said hamlet should henceforth be free from town rates to the town of Boston, and have the privilege of meeting " annually to choose three men to manage their affairs." The conditions of this grant were, that the town should bear their own ex. penses, erect a school-house, and maintain a reading and writing master.
Brookline was incorporated as a town, November 13, in the year 1705. It is supposed that the name was adopted from the circumstance that Smelt.brook was a boundary between this town and Cambridge; and that
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BROOKLINE, NORFOLK COUNTY.
another brook, which falls into Muddy River, was the boundary between Brookline and Roxbury. Further particulars of the settlement of the town may be found in the Century Sermon, delivered by the late Rev Doctor Pierce. He remarks, - " Previously to its incorporation in 1705. it formed a part of Boston ; and was denominated Muddy River, from the stream which is one of its eastern boundaries. It was assigned to the in- habitants of Boston, on account of their narrow limits within the penin. sula. They used to transport their cattle over the water to this place, while the corn was on the ground at Boston, and bring them to town in the winter. Finding it highly inconvenient to attend town business in Boston, and increasing in numbers and in wealth, they were at length in- corporated."
In the year 1717, the first church in Brookline was established, and in 1718, the Rev. James Allen was ordained first minister.
The Western avenue, leading from the foot of Beacon Street in Boston to Brookline, was an important improvement for both towns, and was opened for public use on the 2d of July, 1821.
There are yet remains of the Fort on Sewall's Point, one of the breast. works erected in Brookline in the Revolutionary war. A road now divides this relic of the struggle for liberty in 1775-76. This was one of the strongest positions taken by the American army at that period.
Brookline, in 1951, is noted for its variety of surface; numerous gar- dens, highly cultivated; fine dwellings; picturesque views and pleasant drives. It furnishes some of the most beautiful sites near Boston for the erection of private residences. Brookline contained, in the year 1840, 1,123 inhabitants; in 1850, the number had increased to 2,353. During the same period, its property valuation had increased from $ 700,000 10 8 5,400,000. There are now three churches, and another about to be erected; five public school-houses, including a part of the town house used for school-rooms. The town covers about 4,400 acres, and is to a great extent under high cultivation.
The leading object for visitors is the Cochituate reservoir, an elegant structure, of an elliptic shape. The west end of this reservoir is distant 8,966 yards from the Beacon Hill reservoir, and about one mile from the depot in Brookline. The former has a surface of 22} acres, and will hold one hundred millions of gallons of water, a quantity sufficient for the sup- ply of Boston for the space of two weeks. A branch of the Worcester Railroad runs from the main stem, 2} miles from Boston, to the Brookline station, distant four miles from the depot in Beach street. On this branch road there are nine trains daily. Fare, ten cents, or twelve tick- ets for one dollar. Per annuin, thirty dollars.
A
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CAMBRIDGE,
MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
NOVIS
ANTIQVIS
INSTITVTIS
LITERIS
C
CIVICO RE
A
G
A
CONDITA
D. 1630.
DECORA. '9+ 81'Q'V
18
NE
D
To the stranger passing from Boston to Cambridge, the first impressions of the latter city are far from prepossessing. Huge staring warehouses, exhibiting a marvellous deficiency of paint ; unsightly and dilapidated dwelling-houses, singly or in blocks, sad memorials of a short-lived pros. perity ; innumerable cabins, of mushroom growth, the unmistakeable lurk. ing-places of the Irish; with here and there a half-filled cellar and heaps of charred and blackened timbers, partially overgrown with weeds, or the yet sinouldering mass of ruins, attesting the fearful visitations, more or less recent, of the law-defying incendiary ; - these are the objects which meet lis eye as he passes along the road, through the "Lower Port," to the second or " Little Bridge," so called. A few rods from the latter, on the left, is the extensive establishment of Messrs. Davenport and Bridges, for the manufacture of Railway cars, -almost the first evidence of healthy life and activity which relieves the monotonous desolation of this district, - and not far beyond, in a fork of the road, stands the Universalist Meet. ing-house, with a tall flag-staff before it, reared in honor of Lafayette, who visited Cambridge in 1821. Signs of life have been more and more appa- rent as the passenger has approached this point ; and now he is in the cen- tre of the business section of the "Port." Following the course of the no- ble avenue which stretches away, between rows of trees, to the old town, something like a mile beyond, and leaving the Baptist Meeting-house on the left, the first object which attracts attention is the new Athenaeum. It
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CAMBRIDGE.
is not yet finished ; but coming events cast their shadows before, and one can see that it will be a tolerably good-looking building. There, on the op- posite side of the way, with a beautiful lawu in front, and shaded by fine old trees, is a truly noble mansion. Previous to the Revolution it was owned and occupied by Ralph Inman, a wealthy tory, who was unceremoniously dispossessed, and his fine house assigned as headquarters to the redoubta- ble General PUTNAM. The street which leads up to the side entrance of the house perpetuates the name of its original owner. Time was, when not a solitary dwelling stood between the " Inman House " and the man- sion of the late Judge Dana, on Dana Hill. But times have changed, and the eye of the beholder now rests upon rows of fine houses and tasteful gar- dens, the residences, for the most part. of gentlemen who daily visit the metropolis for purposes of business, while they find in Cambridge a pleas- ant retreat from the noise and bustle of the crowded city. The ridge of land called Dana Hill, which is approached by an almost imperceptible as- ceut, forins the natural boundary between the "Port " and " Old Cam- bridge." On the summit of this ridge, on the right-hand side of the road, was located one of the chain of redoubts erected by the Americans at the outset of the Revolution. Traces of it have been visible within a very few years, but they are probably now obliterated in the march of improvement, -- that same spirit of progress which made it necessary to cut a road through another old fort, a little beyond the one just mentioned, on the opposite side of the way. The land never having been required for build- ing purposes, this redoubt continued in a fine state of preservation, and its embankment and fosse were plainly distinguishable, even at considerable distance. What remains thereof is now concealed by the intervening houses on Putnam street. Still following the "Main street," it is not long before the turrets of Gore Hall, - the library building of the Univer- sity, - come in sight, and a side glimpse of the other College buildings is obtained through the trees. On the left, opposite Gore Hall, is seen a large, square, old-fashioned house, at a little distance from the street, which is noted as having been the residence of Burgoyne, while prisoner of war, after the battle of Saratoga. With the College yard still on our right, and leaving the University Bookstore and Press on the left, we come to the venerable mansion, which, for more than a hundred years, has been the residence of the Presidents of the College. It is now occupied by the Hon. Edward Everett, Mr. President Sparks preferring to remain in his own house, which is situated in the rear of the College buildings, on the corner of Quincy and Kirkland streets. Next comes the Law School, and then the other College buildings, and here we are at the grand entrance to the College grounds. Opposite Is the Unitarian Meeting-house ; to the right is that of the Baptists; hard by the latter are the buildings of the Scientific School, and in its rear the residence of the late Rev. Abiel Holmes, the well-known American Annalist. Beyond the Unitarian
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UNIVERSITY AT CAMBRIDGE.
Meeting-house, with the ancient grave-yard between, is Christ Church ; and still farther beyond may be seen the waving branches of the venerable WASHINGTON ELM; while to the north stretches the Common on which was mustered the little army, whose responsive shouts first welcomed the great Chieftain of his country.
THE UNIVERSITY AT CAMBRIDGE,
commonly called Harvard College, and frequently, though with little pro- priety, Harvard University ; - terms indiscriminately applied, by those ig- norant of its true organization, to one and the same Institution, composed of five distinct DEPARTMENTS, each complete in itself, with its own par- ticular government and body of Instructors, each having its separate funds, its own pupils, and its peculiar objects, but all subject to one su- preme head.
These five Departments are, the Academic, or more properly, Collegiate Department, or HARVARD COLLEGE as originally constituted; and the several Professional and Scientific Schools which have been successively gathered around it. They are all under the general superintendence and management of a board of seven members, called the Corporation, subject to the visitatorial power of the Board of Overseers.
THE CORPORATION is composed of the President, five Fellows, and a Treasurer, respectively chosen, when a vacancy occurs, by the remaining members, with the concurrence of the Overseers. They constitute "one body politic and corporate," established by the Charter of May 31st, 1650, and legally styled "The President and Fellows of Harvard College"; but being the first, and, during the whole of the 17th century, the only corpo- rate body in the then Province, they acquired the familiar title of " T'he Corporation." With this board rests the power of appointing all officers, of every description, subject, however, to the approval o the Overseers; and it is their duty to prescribe the general rules by which each Depart- ment is to be governed, and to see that they are carried into effect. The President is the presiding and executive officer of the Corporation ; and it is his duty to call meetings of the board, to report thereto such meas- ures of the Faculty as require their concurrence and approbation, and to act as the ordinary medium of communication between the Corporation and the Overseers.
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