USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > Tercentenary history of Newton, 1630-1930 > Part 21
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tion indoors or on sleigh rides, sometimes in large barges when they drove in jingling state to a convenient road- house for an oyster supper and a dance. Those who owned fast horses tempted one another to a brush on the snow path, sometimes in a duel, again in a foursome or a free- for-all. The winners ventured over to the Mill Dam to challenge the fastest steeds in the Boston district.
But the people generally found entertainment in the halls of the city, hailing with special delight the Newton Boat Club minstrels. People's entertainments and star lecture courses were provided by enterprising promoters at a low price that no one need be deprived of amusement and profit. The Star Course at Auburndale in 1882 in- cluded six popular lectures and concerts for a dollar and a half and two dollars a course ticket. The People's Enter- tainments in the village of Newton in 1886 were eight in number with course tickets at one dollar seventy-five and two dollars and twenty-five. Another favorite event for both the entertainers and the audience was the old folks' concert, when the singers clothed themselves in colonial costume and sang to their hearers the favorite melodies of earlier days. More modern and pretentious was the first drama staged by The Players, which occurred on the four- teenth of May, 1887. The Club had been organized two months before in City Hall to study and present plays of a worthy character, which could give pleasure to the ama- teur artists and to their friends. The members took their undertaking seriously, and were received with such enthu- siasm by their first audience that their presentations became a permanent event.
The year 1888 brought the bicentennial of the separa- tion of Newton from Cambridge as a separate town. It seemed appropriate to plan some kind of a celebration, and in December, as the year was drawing to a close, the people gathered in City Hall to observe the anniversary. The
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city was honored by the presence of Governor Ames and visiting mayors from other cities. The session was opened with prayer by Dr. Furber of the First Church, and then Mayor Kimball made introductory remarks, in which he reminded citizens of the advantages of location enjoyed by the city and its rapid growth in recent years, and recalled how the early settlers of the town based their social life on the school and the church, and regarded them as essen- tial foundations of good citizenship. Governor Ames con- gratulated the city on the occasion and on the position of eminence which Newton enjoyed among the cities of the Commonwealth. James F. C. Hyde, who was the main reliance of the town as its historian at all such occasions, delivered the historical address, rehearsing the salient subjects of interest in the past two hundred years.
Less formal remarks followed, in which Leverett Saltonstall recalled John Eliot and his mission to the In- dians, John S. Farlow spoke of his satisfaction in being a resident of the city, and William B. Fowle congratulated the city on the public spirit of its citizens. Otis Pettee referred to past events in the history of the community, and Julius L. Clarke spoke on the educational progress of Newton. These were the men who had had a conspicuous part in making the recent history of the city, and who helped to engineer the change from town to city govern- ment. The day was observed further with a banquet for one hundred guests at the Woodland Park Hotel. The day was also the occasion of another of the anniversary poems of Dr. S. F. Smith, who shared with J. F. C. Hyde the honor of being considered indispensable to historic celebrations. It was in part as follows:
With filial love and reverent thoughts we scan The glimmering dawn in which the town began; Now one by one, with spirits brave and true,
The founders left the old and sought the new;
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Pitched their frail tents upon the virgin sod, Indians their neighbors, and their helper, God; Taught the wild savage from rude strife to cease, And learn the nobler arts of love and peace.
What found they here, those souls so brave and true, Risking the well-known old for the unknown new? A forest home, lands rough and unsubdued, Absence of early friends, a solitude; No civil state, no patent of the free; But taxed by Cambridge for the right to be. The savage warwhoop struck their souls with dread, The Indian arrow round their dwellings sped, And many a timid heart, with bodings drear, Kept Lent of hope and carnival of fear.
What have they brought us? See! these fair domains, The fruit of patient toil and wearying pains; The fame of wise men, destined still to grow, The fame of progress, real, if, often, slow, The hum of study in our learned halls, The grace and beauty of our pictured walls, Our noble churches of enduring stone, Our public gardens, with their sweet flowers strewn; The fame of men who firing in battle stood, And bought the rights of freedom with their blood, And in the nation's struggle won the field, Too wise to compromise, too brave to yield, And walked, unshrinking, through the deadly fires, The patriot sons, alike, and patriot sires.
These are our jewels, these our joy and boast, Worthy the toils they brought, the wealth they cost,- A rich return for effort, zeal and fears, Blest harvests of those great two hundred years.
IX A STRENUOUS DECADE
WITH the year 1889 Newton entered upon its third century as an independent community. It had passed from the tutelage of Cambridge in 1688. Slowly it had reached maturity, with its own necessary provisions for roads, schools and political government. Within recent years it had exchanged its traditional government from town to city. The first few years of municipal govern- ment had been experimental, and they brought problems which had not been realized before.
In his inaugural address in 1887 Mayor Kimball had referred to certain improvements which seemed to him desirable. First of all he was in favor of a revision of the city charter. The cumbersome organization of a board of aldermen and a common council and their methods of pro- cedure resulted in legislative delay, and the failure of the first charter to separate the legislative and the executive branches caused disagreements and sometimes confusion. It was found, too, that the expense of city government was more than had been anticipated by those who had been eager to try the experiment. It would take time to secure a revised charter from the Legislature, but meantime it was desirable to be preparing the minds of the voters for such a change. A revision of the voting precincts was desirable for greater convenience at elections. The Mayor also recommended high water service for the few hills which had not been taken care of when the water system was installed, the beginnings of a system of sewerage, and plans for municipal playgrounds. The water system had been expensive and it had been necessary to borrow a
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large sum of money, but a sinking fund would take care of the bonds at their maturity. A system of sewerage would be a heavy burden on the city, but it was plain that sani- tary conditions would require it before many years. Play- grounds were not required immediately for there were numerous open lots, but it was important to reserve cer- tain lands when building was going on rapidly.
Mayor Kimball's term of office came to a close before he was able to get far with so ambitious a program, but its beginnings were not far off. In December, 1888, Heman M. Burr of Chestnut Hill was elected mayor on the Repub- lican ticket. He was less convinced of the need of charter revision than of the desirability of simplifying the rules and ordinances and keeping municipal expenditures within the appropriations made by the city council. He agreed with his predecessor that the city should have high water service, sewers and playgrounds, and he saw the need of more polling places. In his inaugural he pointed out the lack of adequate street lighting and the dangers incident to unprotected railroad crossings. He urged the enforce- ment of the liquor law in a city which refused to license the sale of intoxicants. With statesmanlike wisdom he reminded those who administered city affairs that their concern should be for the whole community, not for a particular ward or individual.
The next year Mayor Burr was able to report that high water service had been determined upon, and seven hundred acres of additional land had been secured for an additional water supply. It was proposed to place a stand- pipe on Institution Hill in order to obtain the necessary high pressure, but the Theological Institution protested against the plan, and it was found that land on Waban Hill could be obtained on better terms. A covered reser- voir was constructed therefore on that hill.
A board of public works was proposed, to consist of
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five members, which should have charge of streets, sewers, public buildings, water works, parks, and perhaps health. By such means greater coordination of activities would result. In 1895 a petition for such a board was presented to the Legislature almost without opposition in the city.
Slight gains were occurring in other municipal depart- ments. Police stations had been placed at Newton, Nonan- tum and Newton Centre. Three officers and twenty patrolmen served as a means of protection, distributed among the villages. New voting precincts had been ar- ranged for the convenience of people in Newtonville and Newton Highlands, a Gamewell police signal system with twenty street boxes had been adopted, and better street lighting had been secured. Those persons who had the Newton Centre playground on their hearts were pleased with an appropriation of ten thousand dollars from the city treasury for that purpose. This action encouraged the hope that other playgrounds would be acquired in the future. Provision was made for a soldier's lot in the New- ton Cemetery. Meantime the Legislature was passing the Metropolitan Sewage Bill, which marked the first step towards securing a satisfactory system for Newton and other towns in the metropolitan district.
Mayor Burr was opposed for reëlection by a Citizens party, but he won the election to a second term. His opponent, Hermon E. Hibbard, though defeated in the first contest, was nominated again the next year, and the Citizens party won by a narrow majority of forty-nine votes over Alderman George Pettee, who was the Repub- lican candidate. The issue was primarily a personal one between the two candidates, partly between the north and south sides of the city. Hibbard, the successful candidate, had been a resident of Newton for seventeen years, and was the principal of the Bryant and Stratton Commercial School in Boston. The decision of the election was accepted
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good-naturedly, and the next year the Mayor was not opposed for a second term, but having accomplished its main purpose of breaking up the Republican machine, the Citizens party was dissolved. John A. Fenno was chosen mayor in 1892, and was reëlected without opposition the following year.
During these years the city was feeling the stimulus of national prosperity, which had revived after the long period of depression of business and finance following 1873. The city was not affected seriously by a similar depression about 1893. Evidences of local prosperity were visible on every hand. Nearly twenty thousand people lived in New- ton in 1890. The city ranked eighteenth in population among the cities of Massachusetts. Its property valuation was nearly thirty-five million dollars. More than four thousand dwelling houses were standing, all but a few built of wood. In those houses lived a far less homogeneous people than in colonial days. Newton had felt the effects of immigration, some of it from Europe and some of it from Boston and surrounding towns. Racial classification as shown by the Newton Directory of 1889 accounted for twenty-nine hundred persons of Irish extraction, many of whom were working in the mill villages, twelve hundred and seventy-five who had come from the Maritime Prov- inces of Canada, and six hundred who were of English origin. They too for the most part found employment in the industries of the city. It was not until the last decade of the century that immigration from southern and eastern Europe increased so rapidly. It is therefore significant that while ninety-nine Germans and fifty-one Swedes were among the city's residents, only five Italians were recorded. Two Chinese and a single Turk were among six hundred and seventeen of various origins.
Although Newton had become a satellite city of Bos- ton where men slept at night, there were still ninety-five
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farms within city limits, mainly on the outskirts, as at Oak Hill. These farms were valued at one hundred and ninety thousand dollars. They sent their products to the neighboring metropolis for sale. The Massachusetts census of 1895 enumerated apples, pears and grapes in abund- ance, and large quantities of strawberries. Vegetables were produced in variety. The lettuce crop was valued at nearly seventy-five hundred dollars while pumpkins weighed 17,390 pounds, and there were enough cabbages to supply one to every inhabitant of a city of 35,000 people.
The manufacturing industry had not kept pace with the growth of population, but the aggregate value of manu- factured goods annually amounted to $2,389,018. About one-fourth of this amount was accounted for by the woolen mills which employed about three hundred and fifty per- sons. Thirty-five buildings were in use for the manufacture of clothing, paper, and such other products as furniture. Nearly two hundred men were machinists, iron workers or blacksmiths. The manufacture of cordage, hosiery, and watches took care of one hundred and fifty employees.
New buildings were springing up, especially on the south side of the city, which profited from the construction of the Circuit Railroad, which connected Newton High- lands with the main line of the Boston and Albany. This was no mushroom growth, for most of the people came to stay and built substantial homes. The advancing price of land was an index to the demand. The city was still a col- lection of separate villages each requiring its own public buildings. Thirty-two churches provided for the religious interests of the people, and twenty school buildings housed their children five days in the week. Kindergarten instruc- tion for the small children was introduced in 1893, manual training in the grades three years later. New school build- ings were provided for Waban and Newton Highlands and another was in sight for Newtonville.
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The south side of the city was booming. Newton Highlands had the new Stevens Block as evidence of its prosperity, but the block was burned soon afterward with a loss of forty-five thousand dollars to the building, besides the gutting of several stores and the rooms of the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs. A community club was formed at the Highlands, and the Highland Club house was erected on Walnut Street near the railroad station. It was opened in the winter of 1893 with a brilliant reception to which six hundred guests were invited. The building was in the colonial style, and contained an assembly hall, parlor, reading and billiard rooms, card room and kitchen. Land sales were being made at Eliot near the railroad. Two large tracts in Waban were put on the market. Now that the Circuit Railroad gave ready access to Boston Waban land was in demand for something besides farming. James F. C. Hyde contracted for half the front page of a single issue of the Newton Graphic for an advertisement of one hundred and thirty house lots in Waban, and fifty-three of them were sold. In Newton Centre Mellen Bray built a large brick block near the railroad station in 1893, which set a high standard for public buildings, and with the new Baptist church in the Square vastly improved the appear- ance of the village centre. Bray Block provided assembly halls for the village, and the large hall became the favorite place for concerts, dances, and other entertainments. It was in Bray Hall that a four days' fair was held under the auspices of the Newton Athletic Association of eighty members, which had been organized recently. The Asso- ciation had ambitious plans for a club house near the play- ground in Newton Centre, and two thousand was realized from the fair for that purpose. It was in the same hall that indoor tennis matches were arranged, inaugurated in 1895 by singles and doubles matches in which Hovey and Wrenn were the stars. There, too, was an old-fashioned husking
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bee a few weeks later, the last entertainment of the season by the Newton Centre Improvement Association.
On the north side of town there was a land boom at Hunnewell Hill, which resulted in new streets and build- ings. Estates were being broken up at Newtonville and West Newton. One of the first indications of future tend- encies to apartments was the erection of the "Caroline," an apartment block in West Newton, which was designed for seven stores and fourteen family apartments. The building stood on the old Barker estate. The estimated cost of construction was seventy-five thousand dollars. A large memorial was proposed for the soldiers of the Civil War, and a memorial association was formed to finance and sustain it, but the building never materialized. At Nonantum a new hose house and a police station were built to provide more protection and oversight there. An addition was made to the engine house at West Newton so that Number Two Steamer could be accommodated. It was in these ways that the city was trying to make up for past deficiencies. The best evidence of municipal growth was that the city added more than two million to its valu- ation in a single year. All this building activity made it seem desirable to regulate such construction, and a new building ordinance in 1893 provided for an inspector of buildings, who should issue a permit to build or alter a building before the work of construction began.
The convergence of three lines of railway at Nonan- tum Square stimulated trade at that point. A new build- ing was planned next to the Nonantum House to provide seven stores on the ground floor and bowling alleys in the basement. The second story was to supply thirty or forty hotel rooms, with the expectation that the old Nonantum House would be used as an annex. Other buildings were on the way, a block for seven or eight stores on the Hyde estate, and a smaller building for stores on the site of the
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Graphic's former office. In the Waverley Avenue section the estate of Mrs. Marion Lord was being developed early in 1896. Ward Seven was a section of large estates, includ- ing the Farlow, Ward, Kenrick, Sargent, Brackett, and Lancaster estates, contented thus far to remain as they were, but after the Lord development had started des- tined to break up. There was a disposition to favor a car line through the section as an aid to development. Con- siderable vacant land was put on the market in 1897, in- cluding the transfer of a large tract to a real estate operator to be cut up and sold. The development of Newton was indicated by another gain in valuation that year of about five and a half per cent, amounting to $2,323,650, and by nearly a ten per cent gain in the number of polls, the larg- est increase in the history of the city.
Simultaneously with the building boom occurred cer- tain city improvements. New attention was given to the appearance of the streets, and waste barrels were provided at various points. Telephone lines were laid in under- ground conduits along Centre Street, Newton, from Wash- ington to Church Streets, and later similar burying of wires was carried out in business sections. The street lighting controversy of several years standing was settled by a three-year contract with the Newton and Watertown Gas Light Company. Improvements were being made in the water system. Meantime sewer construction was being extended. The Metropolitan Sewerage System had advanced far enough so that Newton began to make pipe connections in 1891, and gradually the sewer mains were extended to the different parts of the city with house con- nections. Ninety-one miles of small sewer pipes cost one and a half million dollars. An appropriation was neces- sary in order that the city might bring Cheesecake Brook under control, because increasing drainage from city drains was causing the brook to overflow into cellars, flood lawns
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with impure water, and kill the grass. After the break had been confined properly, Cheesecake Boulevard was laid out to beautify the district through which it flowed.
Playgrounds and parks were added in different parts of the city. The playground at Newton Centre had stimu- lated other developments elsewhere. It seemed desirable to drain Boyd Pond at Nonantum and turn it into a play- ground for the children of that vicinity. Several public- spirited men on the north side of the city made a present of fourteen acres of land off Cabot Street for a Newtonville park at the foot of Mount Ida on the west side. It was intended to furnish special opportunities for boys' sports and a picnic grove. It was promptly named Cabot Park. Linwood Park at Newtonville was incorporated into the park system of the city, and improvements were made on the streets and sidewalks of that village. At Auburndale the city bought twenty-two acres along the river with the assistance of private contributions, and planned the devel- opment of the tract for pleasure purposes. It also pur- chased twenty-two acres for a park on the river at Lower Falls.
The city benefited from improvements made along the river by the Metropolitan Park Commission. The Com- mission protected the banks from defacement, and pre- served their natural beauty without attempting to do much in the way of boulevards. At Hemlock Gorge, Upper Falls, a small but beautiful reservation was set apart for the public, where a hemlock grove and rugged rock forma- tions jutted upon the river. A steep climb carried the stroller from the water level to the west end of Echo Bridge, or by a diverging pathway he could wander among the birches and listen to the rush of the waters over the dam or to the notes of thrushes and warblers dropping from the trees. Muskrats swam in the shallows of the stream and squirrels chattered on the branches. In winter
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an enlargement of a small stream attracted skaters. Echo Bridge Park was equipped by a public-spirited citizen, who leased the grove that the people of Upper Falls might have a place to play. The grove near the river was supplied with a dancing pavilion forty by a hundred feet in size and open on all four sides. Seats were placed in the grove as well as along the sides of the pavilion, and a stand was provided for a band. Swings and a merry-go-round pleased the children. The park was opened to the public on the seventeenth of June, 1893.
Downstream the river raced under a new arched bridge which carried Boylston Street over the current, and for two miles farther down Quinobequin Road was con- structed through to Washington Street with reserved land between the road and the river. Below Lower Falls the reservation followed the course of the stream to Riverside and Norumbega. Altogether the Commission held one hundred and twenty acres in Newton.
The street system needed overhauling. To provide better superintendence the experiment was tried of divid- ing the city into five sections and placing each section in charge of a foreman. This was a plan which had been tried in England with good results and it was thought worth experimenting with here. It was planned to offer prizes for the section which was kept in the best condition, and abuttors were urged to cooperate with the men in charge. It was imperative that certain streets like Washington, Walnut, Chestnut, and Centre Streets should be widened before long.
The most ambitious project was to build an east and west boulevard through the centre of the city where the distance from the villages on the periphery of the city was so great and accessibility to the west side of Boston was so lacking that there was small prospect of that large area being opened up for residences. Yet the future centre of
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the city as a single whole must be there. Various sugges- tions were made and discussed in private conversation and wherever groups met together. One suggestion was for a highway to start at the Boston line near Chestnut Hill, circle northward around Waban Hill, crossing Waverley Avenue and passing through a widened Cotton Street along the south side of the old cemetery. Thence after crossing Centre Street, the line would cut athwart the Colby estate and continue along a part of Mill Street to Bullough's Pond and beyond. This would open up the Waverley Avenue section on the east side and the Cabot woods section west of Centre Street.
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