USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Winthrop > The history of Winthrop, Massachusetts ; 1630-1952 > Part 21
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Never again did the whistles of the trains echo in Win- throp. Never again were the crossing gates raised and lowered at the four crossings. The road was finished. This was at the beginning of World War II, so steel was precious. The ugly steel pylons which had supported the overhead trolley wire, were ripped down. The wire itself was reeled up and sent to war, for copper, then as now, was very scarce. The motors under the cars were taken off and sent to service elsewhere. Such cars as could be sold were knocked down to the highest bidders (some are reported to have been taken as far away as Brazil). Finally, the steel rails were ripped up. Some ties were removed but most remained, for old ties are not worth the cost of removal. The
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Town covered over the crossings with smooth asphalt and filled in the several bridges (overhead crossings) to save the cost of maintenance. The Narrow Gauge was dead. The right of way can be traced here and there, where it has not been built upon or otherwise employed, but even such marks will not long con- tinue as roads which are proposed are finally constructed.
The morning after the final train, the town found itself served with buses. The Rapid Service line had scoured most of Massachusetts apparently, bought, begged and perhaps borrowed enough buses to move Winthrop's thousands during the two peak hours. Some of the buses were old rattle-traps which lurched and pounded and backfired and smoked like fury. Some of the drivers, wherever the company managed to find so many so quickly, did not even know the routes. In one case at least, the writer had the duty of guiding the driver of his bus from Thorn- ton Park to Maverick. It was wonderful!
Gradually the line acquired new and good buses and service settled down to normal. People who had said they would never permit buses in town, as they had always refused to have electric street cars, found themselves packed in and standing, much of the time, from their homes to Maverick and then standing again from Maverick to wherever they rode on the Elevated. However, it was service and the town settled down to make the best of it. Bus lines are particularly liable to snow troubles. The town kept the roads remarkably clear, and what interruption of traffic there was, and it was never very serious, came in East Boston where the streets were seldom well cleared quickly enough.
It seemed that with buses the service should be stable again. For a time all did go well, but there was some difficulty as the line claimed it was not financially successful and proposed to adjust the matter by reducing schedules. The Public Utilities Committee was given various petitions, and the town officials, although they lacked support from the town, in that few citizens bothered to appear at the public hearings, managed to keep the schedules reasonably good and the fares down to the original dime.
This was so until 1951, when the fare was raised to 15 cents to Maverick, making a total fare of 30 cents from Winthrop to Boston-60 cents round trip-for the Elevated, too, raised its fares from the traditional dime to 15 cents.
However, fares have dropped a nickle to 25 cents one way, for the Elevated has completed its extension to Orient Heights. A line swings out from the East Boston Tunnel underground to about where the Airport is. From there it parallels the B. & A. tracks to Day Square and from there it goes across to the site
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ABOUT 1890. Shirley St., looking north from Sturgis St. on the right and Wash- ington Ave. on the left. Site of the Beach School and Fire House is on the right opposite the large building on the left, which latter was the stable of the St. Leonards Hotel on Sturgis St., later the New Winthrop Hotel.
4 AUGUST 1910. Driving first spike of Point Shirley Street R.R. by Brendan J. Keenan. In rear near center of track is Eugene P. Whittier and next right is Channing Howard.
of the former Harbor View Station and picks up the old right of way of the Narrow Gauge to Orient Heights. Buses from Winthrop now run only to the Heights and the fare, at the time of writing, is a dime. Service may be rapid, but every Winthrop rider, as he changes from bus to tunnel train at the Heights, will still sigh for the good old days on the Narrow Gauge when there was a seat for everyone.
To this account of transportation should be added a few more items. Since the Narrow Gauge was not particularly interested in express or freight carriage, there was for many years a con- siderable express business to and from Boston. Wagons were used at first and then motor trucks. The survivor of this activ- ity into the present day is Tewksbury's Express (established in 1880), operated for many years by Fred Russell and lately by Bill Floyd. This business has shrunken somewhat because most of the supplies in Winthrop, as well as most other purchases made in Boston, come into town by motor trucks operated by the Bos- ton dealers or the organizations themselves, as the First National Stores and the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company.
At one time, perhaps until about the end of the 19th cen- tury, much freight, especially of bulk, was brought down from Boston by sloops and scows. This has practically vanished as the harbor has silted in, and since motor trucks do the work more cheaply and much more rapidly. In the final decade of the 19th century, there was a steamship line which operated from Crystal Cove and from Cottage Park to Boston. It must have been a delightful summer sail, but the silting in of the harbor, the un- certainty of navigation at stated hours because of the tides, and the competition of the Narrow Gauge made this steamer trans- port for passengers merely a summer interlude.
Mention must be made also of the Point Shirley Street Rail- way. This was the little electric car line which ran from the Winthrop Beach Station of the Narrow Gauge to the extremity of Point Shirley. It was built in 1910 by Herbert L. Ridgeway, famed for his operation of various amusement installations at Revere Beach. Most Winthrop people will remember his "Pit", where almost anything could happen to you-and usually did- all in a harmless, thrilling way. This line was originally built with a trolley underground, sort of a third rail reached through a slot from above. This did not prove satisfactory because of water flooding the underground slot, and so the system was changed over to that of powering the motors by storage bat- teries. There is no record of financial operations available but it is doubtful if any profit was ever produced. The Ridgeway family may have considered it a plaything more or less, but to the people
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of the Point the cute, little cars, bouncing and jumping along, were of great value. Eventually the Narrow Gauge took over the line and, towards the end, which was in 1930, ran it at a loss. To cut the loss, the railroad disposed of the cars (there were two of them), scrapped what could be sold, and substituted buses. These buses were operated by the railroad until 1940, when the Rapid Transit line took over and ran its own buses.
Finally, mention should be made of the "Enos Elevated", which was proposed for Winthrop in 1885. This was laughed away, but serious attempts to build electric street car lines were made in 1891, 1893 and 1899. Winthrop people refused to have them at any price.
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Chapter Thirteen REVERE COPPER COMPANY WORKS*
PAUL REVERE, patriot and Revolutionary War leader, was a man of many talents. He was an accomplished silversmith, a map-maker, a publisher and, among other things, a copper- smith and business man. Some dozen years before his death in 1818, he established the firm of Paul Revere and Son, with his son, Joseph W. Revere, as a partner. A plant was established at Canton for rolling and processing brass and copper, and the Boston office was at 22 Union Street. After Paul Revere's death, Joseph W. Revere continued the business alone until 1828 when he formed the Revere Copper Company in association with his nephew, Frederick W. Lincoln, son of Deborah Revere Lincoln, Paul Revere's eldest daughter.
The Canton plant owned by Paul Revere and Son originally, supplied the firm with copper for fabrication by rolling ingots of the metal but this was an expensive method of obtaining the basic material. Thus the Revere Copper Company established in 1828 by merger with a James Davis, determined to smelt its own copper ingots. However, the plant at Canton was not suitable for smelting, because in the roasting of the ore, noxious fumes are given off, fumes which damage and distress the neighbor- hood. The Company looked about for a site which would be suitable in that the fumes would escape without harm and also for a site to which the ore could be cheaply transported. At the time, copper ore was largely imported from Chile and other South American countries, for the American copper mines had not then been discovered. This meant that the site of the smelter should be on deep water so the ships from South America could unload directly into the smelter cars. Point Shirley offered all these advantages, for the sulphurous fumes would "be blown out to sea" and the water at the harbor side of the Point, near the foot of Shirley Street, was then deep enough to float ocean-going sailing ships.
So in 1844, the Revere Copper Company agreed to buy most
* Material for this chapter contributed by Sidvin Frank Tucker.
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of Point Shirley and petitioned the General Court for the right to increase their stock ... "together with the right to possess real estate in their corporate name in Boston Harbour, to the amount of $100,000 for the purpose of erecting furnaces and such other buildings as may be necessary for the smelting of copper from the ore and manufacture of the same ... "
The General Court had no objection and work was started immediately, with the plant being spread over some five or six acres. A wharf was built out from about the foot of the present Otis Street and from it vessels "of the largest size" unloaded the ore from Chile. The furnaces were of ultra modern design for 1845 and were among the first American smelters which were successfully operated on the techniques then in fashion in Europe. The Revere Copper Works employed chemists to test the ores before smelting and to check the process all through its various stages-a real advance for American copper smelteries.
Several years ago, in an excavation at the Point, a very large and heavy iron mortar and pestle, which had been used by these chemists, was found on the property of Mrs. Mollie Haggerston Lougee at the Point. Mrs. Lougee presented the relics to the Winthrop Public Library Museum. She is a daugh- ter of one of the original employees of the Revere Copper Works.
The entire plant was surrounded by a board fence about five feet high, and a small railroad was built from the wharf through the various buildings of the works to move heavy material swiftly and easily. The plant consisted of twenty-four roasting ovens and twelve shaft furnaces. The ovens had a capacity of about 20,000 tons of copper annually, when under normal operation.
Labor costs by modern standards were very low. For ex- ample, the wage scale in 1860 for a furnace crew was:
One overseer, $2.50 a day
One assistant overseer, $1.75 a day
Four laborers, $1.00 a day, each
Fourteen furnace men, $1.75 a day, each
Fourteen assistant furnace men, $1.25 a day, each
The Copper Works continued to operate successfully through the Civil War, when the demand for copper was very great. The large number of men employed there, and their families, required additional housing and the company built sev- eral dwelling houses, some of which are still in use as residences. Point Shirley then was the most important section of Winthrop. At about this time considerable deposits of copper were found in Michigan and other states and, to protect the American mining investors, a duty was placed by Congress on South American copper ore. After the metal scarcity caused by the Civil War had come to an end, and prices had dropped back to "normal",
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POINT SHIRLEY
ABOUT 1910. "School Bus" of those days on Shirley Street, southerly side of Cottage Hill, looking toward the Center. Boy standing back of the driver is Albert J. Wyman. Girl in gingham dress inside right rear "bus" is Evelyn Floyd Clark.
ABOUT 1860. Looking North from pier head toward the smelting works of the Revere Copper Co. at Point Shirley which were established there by Joseph W. Revere, son of Paul, and operated from 1844 to 1869. Man on right is thought to be George W. Wyman.
the duty made the importation of copper ore prohibitively ex- pensive and the operations at Point Shirley became more and more abbreviated. Finally, in 1872, the plant shut down com- pletely.
For some time the Copper Works were entrusted to care- takers but the Revere Copper Company finally commissioned George B. Elliot to sell the entire property, which included most of the Point. Mr. Elliot sold the property to Governor Hale of New Hampshire. Hale was interested in railroads and in real estate developments and he believed that the Point could be made into a very popular summer resort if good transportation were provided. He had plans for a railroad and for steamers from Boston and Nahant. Mr. Elliot some time later formed the firm of Elliot and Whittier (Eugene P. Whittier) and this firm led in the development of the Point as a residential section as well as a summer resort. The firm of Elliot and Whittier, now Elliot, Whittier and Hardy, has been active in Winthrop to the present time.
There are still many vestiges of the old copper works at the Point. Sheets of black slag, looking like plates of black lava, litter the beaches on the harbor side and also cover a large area in and around the end of Shirley Street. Now and then, someone digging a foundation for a new house or digging in their garden, strikes the base of one of the ovens or furnaces-as was the case with Mr. Harold Winter, of Elliot Street.
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Chapter Fourteen WINTHROP CHURCHES
NOTE
In the interest of accuracy, the following accounts of Win- throp churches have been prepared at my request by representa- tives of each individual church. They are arranged in order to correspond to the dates of their respective establishment- W. H. C.
FIRST CHURCH OF WINTHROP, METHODIST BY LAURENCE W. C. EMIG, Minister
A Methodist minister came to Pullin Point, Friday, January 17, 1817, "to preach the gospel". The Reverend Daniel Fillmore made the somewhat difficult journey by boat from Boston or on a "one hoss shay" through Charlestown, across the bridge to Chelsea, thence to Rumney Marsh (now Revere). On April 21, 1818, a meeting to organize a Methodist Society was called to order by John Sargent Tewksbury, moderator. Bill Burrill, Joseph and Samuel Belcher were appointed a committee of this new church.
For sixteen years The Methodist Society met regularly on Sunday in the Pullin Point School House which stood on, or very near, the site now occupied by the Winthrop Post Office.
A revival swept through the village in 1832 that brought many into the Society of Methodists. The first church edifice of the First Church of Winthrop was erected on Winthrop Street, near the corner of Madison Avenue, and was dedicated Novem- ber 19, 1834. When Winthrop became a town in 1852, a print of this first church was incorporated in the town seal. Twice this building was on fire and both times saved. It was never com- pletely torn down and later became known as the "MacNeil Block".
Ground breaking ceremonies for the second church building were held September 14, 1870, on a new site where now stands
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EL YOURE
First Methodist Church - 1834.
the Methodist Church. Dedication services were held June 22, 1871. "The few fishermen and farmers were increased by Boston merchants seeking a summer home. Thus by slow degree the hamlet and congregation were built up."
In January 1916, twenty-four members of the Ladies' Social Union as well as the Sunday School Board "appealed for in- creased accommodations in order that their efficiency might not be restricted nor their development prevented". The Board of Trustees were of the same mind. The cornerstone of the third church building was laid November 10, 1929. With gratitude to God and with great rejoicing, loyal and devoted members and friends entered the new building Sunday, June 1, 1930. The new church is New England Colonial in architectural style. The Sanc- tuary has a seating capacity of over 400. The new edifice includes the Seavey Chapel, the Parlor, the Burnside Room, class rooms, modern kitchen and kitchenette and Assembly Hall. This build- ing venture of faith was completed at a cost of $225,000.
"Praise God from whom all blessings flow" was the doxology in the hearts of the people assembled for the mortgage burning ceremony March 12, 1946.
At the 155th session of the New England Conference of the Methodist Church held May 1951, First Church of Winthrop re- ported : members in full connection, active and inactive 985, Church School enrollment all departments 407, Young People's Societies 110, Woman's Society of Christian Service 230. Long
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has been the journey, enduring have been the achievements and many have been the prayers and sacrifices since Methodist preaching began, when one standing on the hill, later known as Floyd Hill, could see all of the thirteen houses of Pullen Point.
A violin, a flute, a bass viol accompanied the choir and con- gregation who sang at the dedication of the first church building. Today worshippers are uplifted as they sing accompanied by the organist at the console of an electric pneumatic, three manual organ with 25 cathedral chimes and a Deagan Vibra Harp.
When the first Methodist preacher came to Winthrop pulpit utterances in churches set forth denominational differences in proclaiming the unsearchable riches and far-reaching influence of the gospel. Today in our town the spirit of cooperation pre- vails. Christian Churches are members of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Stalwart pioneers have built churches and our beloved commu- nity. We are united in fellowship of faith in the One True Living God.
The writer of this sketch acknowledges full measure of indebtedness to historians of our church in Winthrop, David Floyd 2nd, and Mrs. Sarah Lee Whorf, who at the celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the Methodist Church in Winthrop placed this paragraph at the beginning of a more comprehensive and very interesting historical statement: "In the annals of any community there are certain endeavors, or events that stand out clearly as of great moment, each like a landmark that points toward a definite goal."
ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST PARISH BY RIGHT REVEREND RICHARD J. QUINLAN, S.T.L., LL.D.
The beginnings of Catholicity in Winthrop actually go back to the days before the Civil War. In the years just before the Civil War and until the year 1866, there was at Point Shirley an industry known as the Revere Copper Works. A number of Catholics were employed by this concern. In fact, early statistics indicate that at the time of the Civil War, there was a Catholic population of about one hundred and fifty people in what is now the Town of Winthrop. The great majority of these Catholics lived in the Point Shirley Section of Winthrop.
The records of the Archdiocese of Boston indicate that from 1853 to 1854 Catholic services were conducted by the Reverend Patrick Strain, who was then the Pastor of a Catholic parish that included all the territory of the present cities of Chelsea
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and Lynn. Point Shirley in these early Church records was designated as a Church Station.
During the years of the Civil War, the Reverend James Fitton, one of the extraordinary early churchmen of New Eng- land, was the pastor of all East Boston. Father Fitton was an indefatigable worker. In his zeal for souls, we are told, he came twice each month by horse and carriage from East Boston to Point Shirley to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the Catholics who worked in the Copper Works. In due time, under the direction of Father Fitton, a modest Chapel was built at Point Shirley, described as being located close to the water's edge. In the year 1866, when the Copper Works closed, the Chapel was placed on a scow and moved to East Boston.
Between the years 1866 and 1887, the few Catholics who lived in Winthrop, had to go to East Boston for religious serv- ices. They either journeyed by stage coach or walked to the Star of the Sea Church in East Boston, which was then the nearest Catholic Church to Winthrop. In these early years, we are told, Catholic children would walk to the Star of the Sea Church for Mass at eight o'clock in the morning and would remain for Sun- day School and Vespers in the afternoon. During these difficult years, Catholicity in Winthrop was kept alive by the ardent faith and devotion of a few Catholic families who considered no sacrifice too great in order that they might practice their religion.
In 1881, when the Reverend Michael Clarke was the resi- dent Pastor of the Star of the Sea Church in East Boston, he arranged with a Mr. Jessup, a well known confectioner of Bos- ton who lived at Ocean Spray, to purchase the land which is now the site of the present St. John the Evangelist Church and Rec- tory. This site is the geographical center of Winthrop. Shortly after the purchase of this land, Father Clarke was appointed Pastor of the newly established parish of the Sacred Heart in East Boston. He was succeeded by the Reverend John O'Donnell, who, in turn, was succeeded by the Reverend Hugh Roe O'Don- nell, a priest who is still remembered with affection by many Catholics of Winthrop and East Boston because of his sturdy character and inspiring priestly leadership.
Father "Hugh Roe", as he was affectionately known by his parishioners, began the construction of a Church in Winthrop early in the spring of 1887. This Church was dedicated under the patronage of St. John the Evangelist on Sunday, June 19, 1887. It became the third church edifice of the town of Win- throp in 1887. The new church at first was open only on Sundays during the summer months for religious services because, in the year 1887, there were only twelve families in addition to twenty Catholic individuals who permanently lived in Winthrop. How-
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ever, during these years, Winthrop was the summer home of many distinguished people who came here to live during the vacation months. Many of these were Catholics and their gen- erosity made possible the erection of the first St. John the Evangelist Church in the year 1887.
The establishment of good transportation connections with the City of Boston through the extension of the famous "Narrow Gauge Railroad" in 1886 contributed greatly to the growth and development of Winthrop so that in the year 1895, the Catholic population was large enough to warrant keeping the Church open on Sundays throughout the entire year both winter and summer. Mass was celebrated in the Church every Sunday morning by priests who came from the Star of the Sea Church in East Boston. Sunday School classes were conducted after Mass under the direction of the Sisters of Mercy who taught in the Star of the Sea Parochial School.
Worthy of note, also, was the establishment of Winthrop Council, No. 162, Knights of Columbus, on March 22, 1896. Two of the charter members of Winthrop Council Knights of Colum- bus are still active members of St. John the Evangelist Parish- Mr. Frank H. Jenkins and Mr. John J. Kennedy.
On January 3, 1907, St. John the Evangelist Parish was made a permanent parish with a resident pastor. Reverend John H. Griffin was appointed the first resident pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church. The appointment of Father Griffin as the first pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church was a very happy one. For seventeen years, Father Griffin had served faithfully as an Assistant at the Star of the Sea Church in East Boston. Frequently he had come to administer to the spiritual needs of the Catholic people of Winthrop. He came, therefore, to Win- throp not as a stranger but as a friend and admirer of the people of Winthrop both Catholic and non-Catholic.
Father Griffin was a priest of great energy, vision and courage. He was a tireless worker. He loved people and during his eighteen years as pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church, he endeared himself to all the people of Winthrop both Catholic and non-Catholic.
In 1907, Father Griffin completed the building of a new rec- tory, which still remains the parochial residence of the priests of St. John the Evangelist Parish. Shortly after being appointed the first pastor of the new parish in Winthrop Father Griffin with remarkable courage and foresight began plans for building a new and larger Church. He realized that the wooden Church, which was then being used as the parish Church, would soon be inadequate to meet the needs of his steadily growing parish. And
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