USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Melrose > The history of Melrose, County of Middlesex, Massachusetts > Part 4
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It is most charmingly sit- uated, possessing a surface diversified with a great vari- MELROSE ety of natural scenery; it has hills, valleys, ponds, streams STONEHAM and wildwoods; it contains a REIFRE portion of the famous Mid- dlesex Fells, now embraced M A L N DE S AUGUS in the extensive Metropoli- tan Park System. It is particularly fortunate in possessing numerous high and unwooded summits, from which may be obtained unobstructed views of ocean, cities, towns, wood ranges, surrounding hills and distant mountain peaks.
Perhaps the one from Mount Hood-formerly known as " Bear Hill," situated in the southeasterly part of the town, near the line between Melrose and Saugus, affords the most interesting and far-reaching of these views; although not so much of our own valley and its residences is seen, as from some of those more centrally located. In a clear day the view is one of great grandeur. Some fifteen years ago, Mr. Wen- dell P. Hood built a small house on the top of this mount, sunk a well, set out fruit trees, and ploughed and sowed several of the surrounding acres with grain. But in process of time the house was burned, cultivation neglected, and the region has now resumed its wild and old-time appearance.
From this summit, beginning in the northerly direction, in plain view, there rises the extensive establishment of the Danvers Insane Asylum; thence the eye sweeps along over the Lynn Woods Reservation, crowned with the Lynn Water Works standpipe, which is situated on Pine, or Reservoir Hill, to the City of Lynn, the Town of Nahant, and a portion of Swampscot, with the Town of Saugus nestling in the interven- ing valley; then from Lynn Harbor, a stretch of ocean sweeps around to the south shore and Boston Harbor, dotted with the
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TERRITORY.
white sails of commerce and pleasure, and the smoke of passing steamers; Boston Light and Minot's Ledge Light- house are in view; over the towns of Winthrop and Revere, and the cities of Chelsea and Everett, the gilded dome of the State House rises from out of the midst of the "Hub;" beyond stretches the long line of Blue Hills of Milton, with the observatory on the summit of Great Blue Hill, the whole being now known as the Blue Hills Reservation, and is a part of the Metropolitan Park System; in the west, beyond a reach of wilderness, known as the "Scadan Woods," 9 glimpses of Malden are seen, with Wayte's Mount, crowned with the Malden Reservoir; beyond is College Hill with its cluster of Tufts College buildings; and above the intervening towns and hills, far away, is seen the crown of Mount Wachusett; while still farther north, over Melrose itself, with the hills beyond, stands old Monadnock and many other summits; the whole presenting a most enchanting and soul-inspiring scene.
Nearer the center of the town, yet in the southerly part, on the easterly side of the valley, Boston Rock commands a wonderfully charming landscape; the valley below with the extensive plant of the Boston Rubber Shoe Company, and the still remaining old-time Lynde homesteads, and many highly cultivated acres; Wyoming Cemetery-" God's Acre,"-where sleep those who have joined the " silent majority," directly beneath; an expanse of ocean; the cities of Malden, Everett, Chelsea, Somerville, Charlestown and Boston, and the Blue Hills beyond; nearer, the Pine Banks Park and Wayte's Mount, on which summit was placed one of the beacons during the Revolution, with which to warn the surrounding country of approaching danger. For a number of years Boston Rock was the home of a hermit.10
º Quite an extensive tract, being all that territory embracing the eastern part of Malden, beyond Faulkner, including "Black Ann's Corner," and the southeastern portion of Melrose adjoining, was known under the general name of " Scadan." It had within its bor- ders, not only hills, woods, swamp, plain and upland, but a number of inhabitants were scattered through- out its territory. A number of
roads, some still in use, were laid out therein, by a committee ap- pointed by the town, April 8, 1695, the details of which are given by Corey in his History of Malden, PP. 372-3.
10 The name of this hiermit was J. Wesley Dodge, whose mind had become unsettled in a love affair. and who, about . 1852, erected a small house and workshop on the summit of this rock, where he
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HISTORY OF MELROSE.
Across the valley, on the west, there is a line of rugged hills, embracing the finest cliff scenery in the vicinity of Boston, in the centre of which Black Rock, the highest point is situated, and from which a very extensive and most beau- tiful view is obtained; even more extensive than that from Boston Rock, on the opposite side of the valley, as it is considerably higher; not only the open plain below with the many grass covered and cultivated acres, but, on either hand the Cities of Melrose and Malden, lay spread out before you in their entirety. The view in the east and south is quite similar to that from Mount Hood, already described; but to the west it is quite different, as it appears to be a dense wilderness; but this wilderness somewhat belies its appearance; for it has not only long been penetrated by innumerable foot-paths, but now has been thoroughly interlaced with good roads and fine boulevards, made under the superintendence of the Metropoli- tan Park Commissioners, which afford a variety of most charm- ing drives to the thousands upon thousands of pleasure seekers who avail themselves of the wild scenery embraced in the Middlesex Fells; and it is a perfect paradise for bicycle riders. And here, in the centre of the bold and rugged cliffs which guard the eastern edge of the Fells, between Black Rock and White Rock, plainly in view from the passing railroad trains and electric cars, a large portion of the year, comes gliding down from the brow of these cliffs, a most beautiful waterfall which forms one of the many attractions of this wild region. This cascade is as attractive, and as well worth seeing, as many another, to which travellers go hundreds of miles to admire. The swamps of the numerous valleys, the springs of the hills, and the overflow of many little lakelets existing in the elevated plateau above, far more extensive than any one unacquainted with them can imagine, unite to contribute their waters to this most charm- ing waterfall. One of its tributaries, the main one, bears
lived as a recluse. He had an inventive cast of mind, but his principal occupation was that of a stencil -cutter. He afterwards married and lived at Oak Grove, Malden, and his former house was burned. The cellar-hole still ex- ists. He died a few years ago. A
very pretty romance connected with these circumstances was contrib- uted to the Roundabout Budget, under the title "The Hermit of Boston Rock," by B. Marvin Fer- nald. It was afterwards printed in the Melrose Journal of March 3, 1888.
THE CASCADE.
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TERRITORY.
the unique name of "Shilly-Shally Brook." In dry seasons the supply of water is so meagre that its beauty disappears, only to come again when the rains and snows of another season form a supply. In the winter a very interesting ice- work formation affords a pleasing exhibition to the visitor.
Of this cascade, the late Artemas Barrett gave this reminis- cence :
From cutting of the forest to clear the land, and turning the water in other directions this cascade flows but little compared with forty years ago. In my boyhood with what admiration have I gazed upon this cascade from this very spot, as the waters came tumbling in such torrents down those rocky sides. Many have been the nights in my
SPOT POND BROOK CASCADE.
youth after retiring to rest, [he then lived in the old " Mountain House," at the corner of Maple and Vinton Streets] that I have listened to the music of these falls when the waters went plunging and roaring down its rocky pathway. Alas, its glory has now nearly departed !
Another pretty but smaller waterfall, which may be called Spot Pond Brook Cascade, is situated not far from the one just described, on Spot Pond Brook, a short distance north of where formerly stood the Haywardville Rubber Works, better known as the Red Mills. Years ago the brook was dammed
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HISTORY OF MELROSE.
to make a pond of water for water-power purposes of the near- by mill, and this cascade is its overflow.
The water that supplies Spot Pond Brook no longer comes from Spot Pond itself, but from Doleful and Dark Hollow Ponds, which are small ponds situated a short distance to the north and west, respectively, of Spot Pond. These waters do not now flow as formerly into Spot Pond, but by open channel and conduits are taken beneath that pond just west of Old Pepe's Cove, and thus supply Spot Pond Brook.
Unlike the Cascade between Black and White Rocks, which is non est in midsummer, the waters from these two sources, Doleful and Dark Hollow Ponds, are sufficient to maintain this waterfall constantly; sometimes it is necessary to hold back by gates a portion of the water, during a wet season, to prevent too great an overflow; thus inundating the lower lands of Melrose.
This charming little waterfall, picturesquely situated in a deep gorge, easily reached, is about ten feet high, and directly over it is a rustic bridge, the view from which is wild and romantic. Thus by the action of the State in taking Spot Pond into the Metropolitan Water System, enlarging and beautifying it as it has, has been added another attraction to the scenery of Melrose, which had ceased to exist after the taking of Spot Pond for the supply of water for Malden, Medford and Melrose.
West Hill, erstwhile called "Vinton Hill," then " High Rock," situated in the northwest corner of Melrose, near the Stoneham and Wakefield line, easily accessible from Franklin Street, affords another view of this charming scenery; more far-reaching than either Boston Rock or Black Rock, but not more extensive than that from Mount Hood, although differing from that somewhat.
From this summit is obtained by far the best view of our own Melrose, as it embraces the city in all its various parts, with the exception of the western portion of Wyoming, which is hidden by the intervening Sewall Woods Park; all its hills and valleys; its churches, public buildings and dwellings from the extreme southerly part at the Fells to the Melrose Highlands in the north, including Fordell and Columbus Parks, and the settlement of Greenwood, in Wakefield, just beyond. And right here I venture the assertion that but
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TERRITORY.
comparatively few of our thirteen thousand inhabitants ever availed themselves of the beauty and magnificence of this exquisite view, afforded them from this eminence existing in their very midst, so easily reached, and with so little exertion!
Mt. Zion, in the extreme northeast, and Pine Hill in the east, are minor summits, affording a less extended view than those already mentioned; thus is our residential valley centre completely surrounded by elevations from which so much can be seen. One more yet remains to be spoken of; Barrett Mount, situated in the westerly centre of the city. From this you not only get a distant view . down the valley, but a near overlook of the whole city, in all directions; nestled in the valley and climbing the hillsides are the resi- dences of our busy population; church spires and public buildings; and in the very centre lies Ell Pond, with the recently purchased land for park purposes on its northerly side, and many handsome residences on its immediate border.11
Ell Pond is the largest body of water within the bounds of Melrose. It contains about 30 acres, and was so named from its shape. It was thus known as early as 1638, in the Charles- town records. In legal documents it has been variously spelled as Ell, Ele, Eel and L; the different spelling proba- bly arising from a misapprehension of the sound. In 1648, say the Charlestown records: " Robt. Hale and Thomas Lynde were ordered to 'lay out yong Thomas Coitmores twoo lotts by Ell pond.'"
In the inventory of the widow Martha Coytmore's estate, made in 1648, appears the item: "150 acres land at elt pond;" and when the road from Winnissemit to Reading was laid out in 1653, it was called the same. Thus early known and named let us reverence and continue the old name and not try to change it for something a little more mellifluous, possibly.
As early as 1663, a dam was built at the outlet of Ell Pond,
11 Nestling within an embrace of hills of unusual attractiveness, in their native ruggedness and shaded slopes, lives one portion of the town, while on many a command- ing site are pleasant homes which sweep at a glance the country round, including lake and wood, peaceful plain and shaded hilltop,
inland stream and ocean wave, - the church spire, the school house and the town house -exhibiting at one view the beauty which adorns your prosperity and the enterprise which evidences your appreciation of opportunities. Address of George F. Stone, at the dedication of the Town Hall, June 17. 1873. MSS.
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HISTORY OF MELROSE.
by Samuel Howard, whose dwelling was nearby, and a saw- mill erected. A dense forest of large cedar trees once existed on the north side of the pond. Fifty years later it would seem that the surrounding timber had been so exhausted that the mill had been converted into a grist or cornmill, as it is thus referred to in a deed from Jonathan Howard to Samuel Howard, wheelwright, dated Jan. S, 1721.
In this pond both shad and alewives used to be taken in large numbers giving food to the earlier inhabitants. Fish ladders were formerly made at the mill-dams on the brooks below, to enable the fish to reach the pond; and when the mill-owners came to make opposition to this method, it is said that the fish were carried to the pond in tubs of water. Rev. S. Osgood Wright, in his discourse at Malden, Dec. 1, 1831, states that
much excitement has prevailed at different periods in the town, since 1695, concerning the passage of alewives from the tide-water up to Ell Pond, in the north part of the town. Much time and money have been expended upon this subject, to little or no purpose.12
The water is not as high now as formerly; the time has been when it flowed up towards the Highlands quite a distance beyond its present limits. In 1862, an animated controversy took place among our citizens; one party wishing to lower the water, the other to have it remain as it was. Those in favor of lowering it prevailed; and in consequence wells became dry, border walls tumbled, and consequent damages were paid by the town. The pond is fed by two or three brooks which enter it from the west and north, the prin- cipal one taking its rise in the northwesterly part of the Highlands ; and so great is the supply that water is always flowing from its outlet at Main Street, at its southeast corner.
An effort was made a few years ago to change the name of this pretty little sheet of water in the centre of our city, from Ell Pond to Crystal Lake; and this new name has crept into some of the maps. But the old one, and many others in our immediate neighborhood, Spot, Mystic, Horn, Spy,
12 The Alewife fishery was con- sidered of considerable importance by the town and committees were chosen from time to time to regu-
late matters. Sometimes the right to fish during the season was sold to the highest bidder. Letter of Deloraine P. Corey, April 24, 1899.
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TERRITORY.
Long, Swain's, Smith's and Humphrey's, received their names from the early settlers; ours as early as 1638, and frequent mention of it as such, occurs in deeds and records all the way down the centuries; and "succeeding generations have reverenced the first nomination." During the year 1874, the "Crystal Lake Boat Club" was formed ,and a boat-house built near the outlet of the pond on Main Street; and for several seasons rowing and sailing on the pond was very popular, and many boat races took place; but like the effort to change the name, now seldom heard in speech, if ever, the club is non est; the boat-house stood in ruins for many years, but has now disappeared, and the good old name remains.
The other ponds within our borders are Swain's, Bennett's, and Long Pond. Until within a few years, a small body of water, known as Dix Pond, existed in the rear of City Hall. It has now been filled up and is no longer one of the ponds which contributed to our first name, " Pond Feilde."
Swain's Pond, so known in the Malden records as early as 1695, containing an area of sixteen acres, is in the south part of the town, and is situated in a wild and secluded region, with but one or two habitations near it, being now used only for ice-cutting purposes. There was once, in days gone by, a saw- mill at its outlet, when the surrounding district had a plentiful supply of timber. 13
Long Pond, containing five acres, is in the southeastern part of the town. Like Swain's, it has been known by that name since 1695; and like both Ell and Swain's Ponds, it once had its sawmill, which was situated near the present Upham Street, on the brow of the hill nearly opposite the residence of John Doherty, and a portion of the pond still exists on the northerly side of the street. From here the brook descends, skirting the romantic cliffs on the right, thence on till it reaches the Saugus River. This sawmill is referred to in a deed of 1783, from John Flagg to John Edmunds, the Revo- lutionary soldier, conveying the old Elnathan Breeden house
13 The site of the mill of John Grover could be found in 1894, in the meadow on the easterly side of Swain's Pond Avenue, near its junction with Lebanon street. The (lam was then as distinct as in the
days of its builder; and on the west side of the brook the shape and size of the little mill could be traced. Corey, History of Malden, 447.
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HISTORY OF MELROSE.
and land, situated on the old Saugus and Lynn road, on the present Parker estate, wherein liberty was granted to the owners of the mill, which was near these premises, to flow a part of said land from December I to April 10, in each year. The mill and the house have long since disappeared. In this neighborhood, a little to the cast, there was once a house belonging to a family by the name of Herring; but that also is a thing of the past; nothing but the cellar-hole remains. What was known as Cowen's dam, the site of which is a con- tinuation of Waverley Avenue, reaching from the residence of Frank H. Brown to the road leading to Andrew J. Burnett's homestead, was built to overflow the large meadow at the west of the Pond, thus giving more power to the mill privilege.
Another outlet to Long Pond was an artificial one, made at its eastern end, by a sluice-way built by Frederick Tudor, in the beginning of the nineteenth century, and who also built and. lived in what is now the Saugus Poor House. This outlet was made for the purpose of aiding the overflow of the meadows at the south of his residence. Here was cut in a primitive way, for commercial purposes, " the first ice, which was teamed to Charlestown, loaded and exported to the West Indies, where it was sold for twenty-five cents per pound."B John Edmunds was one of the workmen at this time. A Melrose pond thus furnished the water for the ice, which was here first cut, and first exported by the pioneers in that business, the Tudors.
Bennett's Pond is a small one situated in the northeast part of the town, and is now only utilized for the cutting of ice. Its outlet is one of the tributaries of the Saugus River. Like all of the other ponds, it once had its dam for mill purposes. A gristmill was built by Robert Gerry in 1816, who then bought of Jonas Green, for $25.00, the privilege of flowing an adjoining pasture to a certain height. This mill was burned nearly half a century ago. South of this pond, in the field, about a third of the way between it and Porter Street, there exists an old cellar-hole, where once stood the house of Samuel Green. During the Battle of Bunker Hill,
13 William Tudor, [agent of his brother Frederick] who supplied ice to the tropics, and when a winter failed him in New England, sent his schooners up into Baffin's
Bay to cut ice from the ice-bergs. Edward Everett Hale, in James Russell Lowell and His Friends, p. 264.
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TERRITORY.
his wife Hannah, was so frightened at hearing the reports of the cannonade, that she died in convulsions. Possibly a hus- band, son or relative had gone thither to participate in the fight ! Up to within a few years there existed on Franklin Street, at the Highlands, a pretty little sheet of water, fringed with large and handsome willows, known as High- land Pond. But the stream which entered it, on its way to Ell Pond, has been diverted, the pond drained, its bed filled, and all signs of its former existence have disappeared; and a portion of its site is now occupied by the old church building, which stood on the opposite side of the street, where now stands the new and handsome edifice of the Highland Con- gregational Church. This old building was bought by the Shepard Manufacturing Company, which carries on a large silver-ware business therein.
Spot Pond is not within the limits of Melrose, but lies so close to its border, and has been so closely connected with its history that it deserves mention here. It is a most beautiful sheet of water, situated among the higher lands of Stoneham and Medford. The surrounding country is mostly wild and wooded; but there are a few fine residences on its border, with the "Langwood Hotel" charmingly situated on an eminence, overlooking the pond.15
This view was taken from " Saddleback Hill," near " Old Pepe's Cove," in 1876, and shows the pond as it appeared when supplying the three municipalities of Malden, Medford and Melrose with water, the history of which is given under " Spot Pond Water Works." 16
Spot Pond is first mentioned by Governor John Winthrop in his Journal, under date of February 7, 1632. He says:
The governour, Mr. Nowell, Mr. Eliot, and others. went over Mistick River at Medford, and going N. and by E. among the rocks about two or three miles, they came to a very great pond, having in the midst an island of about an acre. and very thick with trees of pine and beach : and the pond had divers small rocks, standing up here and there in it.
15 The "Langwood " was burned April 1, 1902. The original stone mansion to which additions had been made for hotel purposes, is to be restored and used for a sani-
tarium, by Dr. Charles H. Coggs- well, the present owner.
Reproduced from a photograph by Charles E. Swain, the negative being owned by Frank E. Wood- ward, of Malden.
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HISTORY OF MELROSE.
which they therefore called Spot Pond. They went all about it upon the ice. From thence (towards the N. W. about half a mile,) they came to the top of a very high rock, beneath which, (towards the N.) lies a goodly plain, part open land, and part woody, from whence there is a fair prospect, but it being then close and rainy, they could see but a small distance. This place they called Cheese Rock, [ now Bear Hill, with its observatory.] because, when they went to eat somewhat, they had only cheese, (the governor's man forgetting, for haste, to put up some bread.)
From that day to this the pond has borne the name then given it. "Succeeding generations have reverenced the first nomination."
" Spott pond," with its island, appears on a map of this part of New England, in William Wood's New Englands Prospect, which was published two years later, in 1634.
A thrilling tragedy, the murder of David Gould, occurred Nov. 25, 1819, in the Gould homestead, then standing on the Stoneham road, now Pond Street, only a little distance from the border of the pond.
The inevitable saw-mill once existed at the pond's outlet, long a thing of the past, which was built by James Barrett, in 1706.
The accompanying repro- duction is from a sketch by Hannah Lynde in 1844. The house was built before 1700, was torn down in 1850, and was the home of Jacob Gould and his two sons, all three GOULD HOMESTEAD. minute-men in Capt. Samuel Sprague's Company at Lexington. The house pillaged and son David murdered as above.
Spot Pond has now been taken into the great Metropolitan Water System, and has become a storage and distributing reservoir, and is under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Board. To prepare the Pond for this purpose, the State, through the Metropolitan Water Board, before its consolidation with the Board of Metropolitan Sewer- age Commissioners, in 1901, expended ; the sum of $541,474.36, in ¿draining, cleaning, excavating,j and enlarging; in gate-
SPOT POND - 1876.
1
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TERRITORY.
houses, and the draining of Doleful Pond and Dark Hollow Pond into Spot Pond Brook. 17
Spot Pond has been raised to a minimum depth of fifteen feet, and when full has an area of 326 acres; and will have a level of twenty-nine feet above that of Chestnut Hill reservoir. In its enlargement its former beauty has been greatly enhanced.
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