USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Somerville, past and present : an illustrated historical souvenir commemorative of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the city government of Somerville, Massachusetts > Part 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44
As directed by the act of incorporation, the selectmen, on the twenty- third of September, 1871, divided the town into four wards, which still remain unchanged, and, on the eighteenth day of November following, issued warrants for the holding of an election, in the several wards, on the fourth day of December, of a mayor, eight aldermen, two to be selected from each ward, four common councilmen and three members of the school committee from each ward, and the necessary officers to conduct elections in the several wards ; the mayor and aldermen to be voted for at large, and the remaining officers by the voters of their respective wards only.
The election resulted in the choice of the following named officers to assume the management of the new city, for the year 1872 :-
Mayor, George O. Brastow. Aldermen : William H. Furber and George W. Hadley of ward one ; Clark Bennett and Daniel E. Chase of ward two: Jacob T. Glines and John R. Poor of ward three; Person Davis and John G. Hall of ward four. Common Councilmen : Ezra D. Conant, Edwin A. Curtis, Michael Dechan and Charles G. Pope of ward one ; John T. Bolton, Oren S. Knapp, Patrick Rafferty and George W. Wyatt of ward two; Wal- ter S. Barnes, Stewart French, Albert Kenneson and Henry F. Woods of ward three ; Wesley C. Crane, Thomas H. Lord, Nathaniel Morrison and Christopher E. Rymes of ward four.
George W. Hadley resigned the office of alderman, March 2 ; and March 13, Horace Haskins was elected to succeed him.
The city charter, except in the preliminaries above mentioned, did not
145
146
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
take effect until the first Monday, which was also the first day of January, 1872. On that day, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, the mayor, aldermen and common councilmen assembled, in pursuance of notice from the board of selectmen, in the "Old High School Building," on Highland avenue, which was, soon after, converted into a city hall. The meeting was called to order by Austin Belknap, chairman of the board of selectmen, and after prayer by the Reverend Henry H. Barber, pastor of the First Congrega- tional Society (Unitarian) of Somerville, the oaths of office were adminis- tered to the several officers by Columbus Tyler, Esq., justice of the peace. The common council then withdrew, and organized by the choice of Oren S. Knapp as president, and Solomon Davis as clerk, and, immediately after, the board of aldermen and the common council, in joint convention, elected, as the first city clerk, Charles E. Gilman, who had served as town clerk ever since the setting off of Somerville from Charlestown, in 1842.
Mayor Brastow, in his first inaugural address, made a statement show- ing the growth of the town, the items of which are presented in the follow- ing table, as are also the corresponding items for the year 1896 :-
1842. 1,013
1871.
1872. 16,000
55,000
Assessed value of taxable property
$988,513
$15.775,000
$49,023,550
Whole amount of money
raised by taxation
$4,750
#260 460
#786,412
Number of schools
4 4
52 65
154
Number of school teachers
220
Whole amount appropriated for the support of schools
$1,800
$59,400
$206,000
Amount of debt, including water debt
$593,349 $660,000
$1.506.500 $2.356,620
Valuation of public property Number of church edifices
II
30
1 896.
Population of Somerville .
The most important measure that demanded the attention of the first city government, and one of great magnitude, was the abatement of the nuisance in that part of Miller's River which extended from the Boston and Lowell railroad, at the Cambridge and Somerville line, to the rear of the Union Glasshouse on Webster avenue. This river received the drainage from two large slaughter-houses and several sausage and grease factories, situ- ated in Cambridge and Somerville, and some house drainage; and the ac- cumulation of filth upon its flats, which were bare at low tide, caused an . intolerable nuisance, which was a serious menace to the health and pros- perity of both Cambridge and Somerville. As a result of the joint efforts of the two cities before the legislatures of 1872 and 1873, laws were enacted, in the latter year, for the filling, by the land owners, of the river and the low lands adjoining, and for the construction of a trunk sewer from Craigie Bridge, on the Charles River, in Cambridge, through Bridge street, in Cam- bridge, and Milk street (now Somerville avenue), in Somerville, to Pros- pect street ; the cost of the construction and maintenance of said sewer to be borne by Somerville and Cambridge, in the proportions, which were
GEORGE A. BRUCE.
GEORGE O. BRASTOW.
WILLIAM H. FURBER.
AUSTIN BELKNAP.
AARON SARGENT.
DOUGLAS FRAZAR.
CLARENCE E. MELENEY.
JAIRUS MANN.
149
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
afterwards determined, of five-ninths for Somerville, and four-ninths for Cambridge.
The carrying out of these measures, which was begun in the year 1873, wrought such a change that a recent comer can hardly realize the previous condition of the district.
The policy of constructing brick sidewalks was inaugurated by the first city government, under an act, obtained from the legislature, authorizing the assessment of one-half the cost upon the abutting estates, and several miles were laid during the two years of Mayor Brastow's administration, viz. 1872 and 1873.
The city council of 1872 also made provision for a public library, which was opened, in the city hall, May 1, 1873, with 2,386 volumes.
Other great improvements made by the government of 1873 were the widening of Highland avenue, between Medford and Central streets, to a uniform width of sixty feet, and the increasing of the width of Milk street (now Somerville avenue) its entire length, from the East Cambridge line to North Cambridge. The greater part of the work on the latter improvement was done in the year 1874.
Mayor William H. Furber's administration, covering the years 1874 and 1875, is specially memorable for the laying out and construction of the Broadway Park and the widening and straightening of Broadway, on the northerly side, between Temple street and Mount Benedict. During the same period the new police building on Bow street was erected, the exten- sion of the trunk sewer in Milk, Washington and Beacon streets, from Prospect street to Kent street, was begun, the widening and reconstruction of Milk street was completed, and brick sidewalks were laid on both sides in its entire length. The name of Milk street was then changed to Somer- ville avenue. Until the erection of the new police building, the police de- partment had occupied the one-story wooden building at the southerly corner of Milk and Prospect streets, now occupied by the water board, and the police court, since the incorporation of the city, had occupied a room in the city hall. Most of the room which the court vacated was added to the space occupied by the public library.
Another most important measure was the introduction of the electric fire alarm system, which was completed and put in operation June 17, 1874.
No other measure, in the history of the city, has caused such intense feeling and bitter controversy as did the laying out and construction of the Broadway Park. Under an act of the legislature passed in March, 1874, a section of land comprising some sixteen acres, lying in a hollow between Winter Hill and Mount Benedict, and extending from Broadway to Mystic avenue, was acquired for the purposes of a public park, and the city also secured, without cost, a strip fifty feet in width, for an avenue, on either side of the park lands, and the filling required for the park and the two avenues. This land was about three feet below the grade established by the city as a sanitary protection, and was, to a certain extent, the natural basin for the watershed of the elevations between which it lay. In the
150
SOMMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
language of Mayor l'urber's inaugural address of 1875, it " was being rapidly and densely built upon, without change of grade, and the drainage of many of the buildings erected allowed to flow unmolested upon the surface, thus forming a nucleus for pestilence and disease, that was tending to depreciate the surrounding property and to jeopardize the health of the dwellers there- on." Before applying to the legislature, the owners of the adjacent lands endeavored to secure the territory by private purchase, but a few of the owners refused to sell at any price.
Although the plans for the improvement of the lands adjacent have not as yet been fully carried out, yet the city is now enjoying a beautiful park, and a nuisance which threatened most serious results has, by its crea- tion, been abated.
The large expenditures made during the first four years of the city, the chief of which have herein been alluded to, involved a rapid increase of the funded debt, and the business depression, and the general shrinkage of values which followed, precluded, for several years, the making of any public improvements that were not actually indispensable. In fact, the heavy debt and high taxes with which Somerville, as well as nearly every other city, was burdened made it the chief duty of city governments to reduce the debt and curtail expenses. The situation was bravely met, and for several years the most rigid economy was practiced.
While Mayor Austin Belknap was in office, during the years 1876 and 1877, the trunk sewer for the southerly side of the city, which had been laid in Beacon street, westerly to Kent street, was extended through Beacon street, Somerville avenue, Mossland street and Elm street, to Davis square.
The public park on Broadway, which was laid out and nearly com- pleted under Mayor Furber, was finished in the year 1876, and on the seven- teenth of June it was formally opened to the public. At six o'clock in the afternoon, the city council met at the park, and, after marching around it, assembled, in convention, at a stand which had been erected under the large elm tree in Broadway, near the park. Mayor Belknap spoke briefly in regard to the conception and cost of the park, and introduced Alderman Jacob T. Glines, chairman of the committee on highways, under whose direction the park had been constructed. Alderman Glines delivered up the custody of the park into the hands of the city council, and Mayor Belknap, after receiving it from the construction committee, made an appropriate address and placed the park in charge of the committee on public property. The exercises were concluded with music and a salute of sixteen guns.
The law of 1875, regulating municipal indebtedness, took effect in 1876, when the first contribution of #45,130 was made to the sinking fund.
The Honorable George A. Bruce filled the office of mayor during the years 1878, 1879 and 1880. Attention had been called by Mayor Belknap, and was again directed, by Mayor Bruce, to the unsightly, and in some cases, unsafe condition of the highway bridges maintained by the Fitchburg and the Boston and Lowell railroads over their tracks in our city. The bridge at Washington street, on the Fitchburg road, and the one at Medford street,
2
MARK F. BURNS.
WILLIAM H. HODGKINS.
153
SOMERVILLE. PAST AND PRESENT.
on the Lowell, were specially objectionable; the latter being at a marked angle to the street. During Mayor Bruce's term both of these were re- placed by the railroad companies, in co-operation with the city, with wider and substantial structures that added greatly to the public convenience and to the good appearance of the streets. New bridges have since been built over the Lowell road at Cross street, Walnut street, Central street. Cedar street and Broadway.
The office of mayor of the city was filled by Hon. John A. Cummings during the years 1881, 1882, 1883 and 1884. The work of grading and im- proving the city's land on Central Hill, which had been recommended by several of his predecessors, was begun and continued during his administra- tion, and the battery standing on the brow of the hill, and mounting four cannons used during the war of the rebellion, the erection of which Mayor Cummings warmly recommended, was partially constructed in the year 1884, and completed during the first year of the administration of Mayor Burns.
In the year 1884, the public library having outgrown its quarters in the city hall, and the room it occupied being much needed for city offices, a new building for its accommodation was begun on Central Hill, east of and near the city hall. This building was finished and occupied in the year 1885.
CHAPTER XIII.
HISTORY OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT (Continued).
ADMINISTRATION OF MAYOR BURNS. - THE WATER SUPPLY. - APPLICATION OF THE SINK- ING FUND. - REDUCTION OF THE CITY DEBT. - INTRODUCTION OF THE POLICE SIGNAL, SYSTEM AND ELECTRIC STREET LIGHTING. - CONSTRUCTION OF NEW SCHOOLHOUSES. - ADMINISTRATION OF MAYOR POPE. - INTRODUCTION OF A HIGH WATER SERVICE. -THE OLD POWDER HOUSE. - THIE SOMERVILLE HOSPITAL ORGANIZED AND ESTAB- LISHED.
MAYOR CUMMINGS was succeeded by Hon. Mark F. Burns, who was the city's chief magistrate for the four years beginning with the year 1885. In his first year of office the first floor of the city hall was remodeled so as to utilize the room vacated by the public library.
It had long been felt that the city's contract with the city of Boston for the taking of Mystic Lake water should be modified in the interest of Som- erville, and different city governments had endeavored to secure such mod- ification.
Boston pumps the water from the lake into the reservoir on College Hill, from which Chelsea and Everett, as well as Somerville, are supplied, and thence delivers the water into Somerville's distribution pipes. The rates are collected from our water takers by Boston, and are the same as those charged to her own citizens. Under the old contract Boston paid into the treasury of Somerville fifteen per cent of the rates so collected up to the
154
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
amount of $20,000, twenty per cent on the excess of $20,000 and up to $30,000, twenty-five per cent on the excess of $30,000 and up to $40,000, thirty per cent on the excess of $40,000 and up to $50,000, and forty per cent on all over $50,000. July 1, 1887, a new contract with Boston was made under which Somerville receives from Boston fifty per cent of all col- lections.
Somerville had faithfully observed the law passed in 1875, regulating municipal indebtedness, and contributed, year by year, to a sinking fund to be applied to the payment of the funded debt. This course imposed a large tax rate and restricted permanent improvements, as all expenditures must, until the net debt exclusive of the water debt was reduced to the limit of two and one-half per cent of the assessed valuation, be met by taxation. Mayor Burns, in his inaugural addresses of 1886 and 1887, recommended an application to the legislature for a special act permitting the immediate ap- plication of the sinking funds to the reduction of the debt, and an extension of the time within which the remainder of the debt might be paid. A law granting these privileges was enacted in the year 1887, and on the 23d of March, 1888, by the application of the sinking funds, which amounted to $654,312.66, the debt was reduced from $1,525,000 to $870,687.36. Under the new act this remaining debt must be paid within twenty years, and the op- tion was given the city of providing for its liquidation by means of a new sinking fund or by paying, directly, a certain portion every year. By an or- dinance passed in February, 1888, the city council established the latter policy, which was to apply to the debt then outstanding and to any that might thereafter be incurred. Under this ordinance, whenever a loan is negoti- ated the bonds are so written that a proportionate part will mature annually up to the limit of time within which the whole must be paid.
Under Mayor Burns' administration the police signal system and elec- tric street lighting were introduced ; also the support of poor department was reorganized, under special legislation, so that the overseers serve with- out compensation and have the services of an agent, who devotes his en- tire time to the business of the department, and a secretary.
During this period the policy was established of constructing four-room schoolhouses, as well as larger ones, of brick, and one of the first of these buildings, which was erected on Cherry street, was appropriately named the Burns School. A hose house, erected on the old ledge lot on Somer- ville avenue at the corner of Lowell street, was also added to the buildings of the fire department.
The Hon. Charles G. Pope served as inayor of the city during the years 1889, 1890 and 1891. An important feature of his administration was the introduction of a water service for the high lands of the city. A tank thirty feet in diameter and one hundred feet high, estimated to hold about five hundred and thirty thousand gallons, was erected on the top of Spring Hill, and supplied with water by a pumping plant on the City Farm on Cedar street at the corner of Broadway. By means of this system the very highest lands in our city were made desirable for building purposes, as an abundance
MELVILLE D. JONES.
L. HERBERT HUNTLEY.
157
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
of water was assured, with an ample pressure for fire protection as well as other purposes.
In the year 1890 the heirs of Nathan Tufts donated to the city, on cer- tain conditions, which were accepted by the city council, about 65,000 feet of land, near Broadway and Elm street, with the Old Powder House, so- called, standing thereon. Referring to the subject, Mayor Pope, in his in- augural address, delivered January 5, 1891, said : -
" Through the generosity of one of the families that have been identified with the history of Somerville from the first, the city has recently come into possession of the ' only ancient ruin ' within the Commonwealth. The story of the Powder House, so far as known, has often been repeated. Erected at some time between 1700 and 1720, as the records show, it was first used as a grist-mill. The Province of Massachusetts bought it in 1747, and in the deed given it is spoken of as the stone edifice formerly a windmill. It was then remodeled for a powder magazine, and used as such by the Province and Commonwealth until 1822. It was the scene of one of the early events in the stirring days of the Revolution, as you all know."
By an act of the legislature approved May 7, 1891, the city council was authorized to acquire additional land adjacent to the site of the Old Powder House, for the purposes of a public park.
During Mayor Pope's term a considerable sum was expended in con- tinuing the construction of the Central Hill Park, and that portion between the High Schoolhouse and the engine house was substantially finished. In his second year of office memorial tablets were erected, marking points of historic interest in our city, as stated at length in another portion of this volume.
The Somerville Hospital was founded during Mayor Pope's administra- tion. Miss Martha R. Hunt, a highly respected resident of Somerville, de- sirous of providing, within our borders, for the proper care of the sick and injured, communicated her wishes to the mayor and agreed to give a gener- ous sum of money, if the citizens would contribute a like sum, for the pur- pose of establishing a hospital. Under Mayor Pope's direction, and largely through his efforts, the requisite funds were secured and the corporation of the Somerville Hospital was organized under the laws of the Commonwealth, Mayor Pope being chosen president of the board of trustees. Land was purchased on Crocker, Tower and Crown streets, and suitable buildings erected, to which others may be added when required. The hospital was opened in the year 1893, and is thus spoken of in the inaugural address de- livered by Mayor Hodgkins at the beginning of the following year : -
" Although this is a private and in no sense a public institution sup- ported by the city, it is one in which Somerville may well feel an honorable pride. Its completion engaged the last labors of the Hon. Charles G. Pope, my predecessor in the mayoralty, who departed this life on the 24th day of April last. He lived long enough to witness its completion, after long and faithful labor in perfecting its organization. It was dedicated on May 17, 1893, and was immediately occupied. Though the need of such an institu- tion has long been recognized, yet such was not fully understood until the hospital had demonstrated it by its humane and noble work. Having no endowment or stated income, it relies for support principally upon the con-
158
SOMMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
tributions of our benevolent citizens. Owing to the fact that it receives and maintains many who might otherwise be a charge upon the city, I trust the citizens will not be heedless to its calls for financial aid."
CHAPTER XIV.
HISTORY OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT (Concluded).
ADMINISTRATION OF MAYOR HODGKINS. - ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATHAN TUFTS PARK .- CELEBRATION OF THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY. - PAVING IMPORTANT THOROUGHFARES. - ERECTION OF THE NEW HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING. - A NEW CITY HALL ADVOCATED. - ERECHJON OF A NEW CENTRAL FIRE STATION. - GREAT IMPROVEMENTS MADE IN VARIOUS DIRECTIONS. - ADMINISTRATION OF MAYOR PERRY. - CHANGES AT THE CITY HALL. - IMPORTANT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SEWER SYSTEM. - HIGH CREDIT OF THE CITY. - FUNCTIONS OF DIFFERENT BOARDS OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT. - SCOPE OF CITY CHARTER.
HON. WILLIAM H. HODGKINS filled the office of mayor of the city dur- ing the four years beginning in January, 1892.
In May, 1892, the city council voted to accept the gift of 68,357 feet of land, including the site of the Powder House, tendered by the heirs of Nathan Tufts in the year 1890, and to purchase in addition, under authority of the act of 1891, hereinbefore referred to, 129,497 square feet at the junction of Broadway and Elm street. The entire tract forms a square of between four and five acres, with the Old Powder House standing on a rocky emi- nence in its midst. The grounds were artistically laid out by the then city engineer, the late Horace L. Eaton, and work thereon was prosecuted throughout Mayor Hodgkins' administration until the year 1895, when it was finished, and a beautiful park on ground of great historic interest was thrown open to the public. It is called the Nathan Tufts Park, as provided in the deed of gift.
March 3, 1892, was the semi-centennial anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Somerville. Because of the general inclemency of the weather at that season the event was observed, and very successfully, on the following 17th of June, by a parade composed of various military organiza- tions, old and distinguished citizens, with the city government and invited guests, and an imposing representation of the trades and manufactures of the city. The program also included a banquet, an oration, and fire- works; and a large and most interesting collection of historic relics was ex- hibited in the High School. Mayor Hodgkins thus spoke of the occasion in his next following inaugural address : -
"On the 17th of June last, in accordance with a plan devised by the Citizens' Association, of which Hon. Charles S. Lincoln was chairman, the fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of Somerville was celebrated. The occasion is of too recent occurrence to require much comment at this time. I doubt if the event will ever be forgotten by those who participated in it. It was a day in which intense and almost insufferable heat struggled for the
JAMES M. ANDREWS.
JOSIAH N. PRATT.
-
---
--
--
--
-
161
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
mastery, only to be overcome by tempest and storm. The gaily decorated city was thronged with spectators, and hundreds of former citizens returned to engage in the festivities of the day. The occasion was favored with the presence of His Excellency Governor Russell and members of his staff, members and ex-members of Congress, mayors of cities, and other men dis- tinguished in various walks of life. During the furious tempest in the after- noon, just at the close of the parade, many lives were in danger, but, provi- dentially, only a few persons were injured. The literary exercises intended for the afternoon were held in the afternoon of the following day in an im- mense tent erected on Central Hill Park, where the largest audience ever assembled in this city listened to an eloquent and admirable historical ad- dress delivered by Hon. George A. Bruce, ex-Mayor of Somerville."
The paving of Somerville avenue had been advocated by many citizens for several years. Somerville had no paved streets, but the bad condition of this avenue, notwithstanding frequent repairs, seemed to demonstrate that it was not possible to maintain a good macadamized road under the heavy teaming which passed over it. A special act of the legislature was obtained authorizing a paving loan of one hundred thousand dollars, and that portion of the avenue extending from Medford street to Park street, including the whole of Union square, was paved with granite blocks, as was also Webster avenue, from Union square to the Fitchburg railroad. Similar paving has since been laid in Washington street, from Union square to Tufts street, and in Medford street, from Somerville avenue to the Cambridge line.,
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.