USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > The story of Essex County, Volume I > Part 38
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The present officers of the concern are: W. A. Kinsman, presi- dent; H. E. Nock, vice-president; and Jerome A. Hardy, treasurer and secretary. From three hundred to three hundred and fifty skilled operatives are employed.
The granite industry of Rockport has for many years been of great importance in the Cape Ann section of the county. After the first granite was quarried in this district, very early in the nineteenth century, the industry grew until by the 'fifties it had reached large proportions. In 1853 the first steam-hoisting engine was installed in a Rockport quarry, and the next year the steam pump was introduced, permitting much deeper quarrying than was formerly possible.
In 1864 the Rockport Granite Company was formed by a group headed by John H. Stimson, and the property of several granite quar- rying concerns was purchased. In ISS3, Charles S. Rogers, a native of Danby, Vermont, became treasurer and general manager of the company. Mr. Rogers had long been connected with the granite industry, both in his native State and at Rockport, and under his leadership the business flourished. Steam drills were introduced in the Rockport quarries in 1883 and a quarry railroad was constructed a few years later. Compressed air machines, for drilling and hoist- ing, were first employed in 1905.
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At the present time the Rockport Granite Company controls the better resources of Cape Ann, and owns an island of red granite at Jonesport, Maine, the Cape Ann granite being mostly gray or sea- green. Branch offices are situated in Boston, New York, and Chi- cago. The most up-to-date equipment is used in the quarries. Nine miles of standard gauge railroad, privately owned, connect the various quarries with the company's wharves, and all manner of cranes, pneumatic lathes, polishers, and other mechanical devices are employed.
The development of the Rockport granite industry was dependent on several factors. The presence of an almost inexhaustible supply of granite of high quality and great beauty, well suited for building, paving, and monumental purposes, was fundamental, of course, to the success of the industry. But the proximity of the quarries to navigable water, more than any other factor, made possible the profit- able exploitation of the vast stores of granite. Much of the product of the local industry leaves Rockport by the slow but economical coastwise schooners, which ply the coast from Nova Scotia to the Gulf of Mexico. Some, also, is shipped in barges and steamers of a capacity as high as 2,500 to 3,000 tons. By these methods Rockport paving blocks and building stone have been sent to every large city on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. With such favorable natural advan- tages it was inevitable that the granite industry, with the capable management it has had, should succeed at Rockport.
The Rockport Granite Company normally employs about seven hundred operatives at its Cape Ann quarries, and has a capital of $300,000. Charles E. Fisher is president, C. Henry Rogers treas- urer, and Frederick H. Tarr clerk.
The production of rubber goods is carried on in Andover and Lawrence. In Andover the Tyer Rubber Company stands as testi- mony to the inventive talent and genius for organization of Henry G. Tyer. Mr. Tyer, a resident of the Ballardvale section of Andover, did considerable experimentation on the treatment of rubber, and in 1856 started the manufacture of rubber cement in a small way, later turning to rubber shoes, marketed under the name of "Compo." The business increased and was incorporated in 1876 as the Tyer Rubber Company. About this time Mr. Tyer invented a means of compound- ing rubber with zinc oxide, an invention of great importance to the
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whole rubber industry. This invention expedited the manufacture of water bottles and syringes which became standard products of the Andover plant. Among Mr. Tyer's other inventions were white rub- ber and the Congress arctic. From 1909 until 1922 automobile tires and inner tubes were produced, but since then the company has devoted itself to other lines.
The Tyer Rubber Company is capitalized at $1,000,000, and employs about six hundred in the production of rubbers, galoshes, rubber boots, hot water bottles, tobacco pouches, piano tubing, rub- ber bands, and many other articles. Over 700,000 pounds of crude rubber are consumed each year, as well as thousands of yards of cotton and woolen cloth.
The Bolta Rubber Company is a thriving concern recently come to Lawrence. Its products are principally of hard rubber. Combs and trays, as well as other products, are made for such large chain stores as Grant and Woolworth. The Bolta Rubber Company occu- pies a part of the old Everett Mills property, along with other con- cerns recently established in Lawrence.
There are many other branches of industry represented in Essex County, many of which have had a profound effect upon the commu- nities in which they are located, but because of their scattered and varied nature, space does not permit a full account of them. Paper boxes, for instance, are manufactured extensively in Lynn and Bev- erly, while quantities of paper are made in Lawrence. Glue, isinglass, and fertilizer have long been manufactured in Gloucester and Rock- port as subsidiaries to the fisheries, while foundries, machine shops, and many other industries can be found throughout the county.
Other Essex County industries, though unimportant in size, are notable for their novelty or reputation. Parker Brothers, of Salem, for instance, have been making such games as ping-pong, rook, and pit for about half a century, until now Salem might be called the game headquarters of the world. The concern employs one hundred and fifty operatives in this unusual business. The Lydia E. Pinkham Medicine Company of Lynn is another of Essex County's unique con- cerns. For two generations Mrs. Pinkham's remedies have been among the most popular of all patent medicines. The distilling of rum, one of the earliest colonial industries, was continued in Newbury- port, where the famous Caldwell's rum was made, until the passage
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of the prohibition amendment, and now, following repeal, a new com- pany is preparing to continue the manufacture of this illustrious brand.
During the last century the character of the economic life of the people of Essex County has changed to a remarkable degree. In the eighteen-forties the main pursuits were agricultural or maritime. The ambitious farm boy still sought his fortune on the sea, and ship- building continued to be an important industry in the lower Merrimac Valley. On the whole, fishermen, farmers, ship carpenters, and small craftsmen comprised most of the population, with a few wealthy mer- chants and ship builders giving an aristocratic cast to the social organization. But the rapid swing to manufacturing changed the whole scheme of things within a generation. By 1880, the new order had arrived, although not developed to the highest degree. Ship- building and shipping had come almost to a standstill, and the mer- chant prince was superseded by the industrial czar. The farmers and fishermen were still with us, but were hopelessly outnumbered by the vastly increased industrial population. Large cities had risen where villages had been before, and a score of languages were spoken by the hordes of foreigners who had come to fill them. The same process has gone on to the present time, until Essex County has become a highly industrialized area, famous throughout the country for its textiles, shoes, electrical supplies and shoe machinery, as well as for countless other products.
BIBLIOGRAPHY-"History of Massachusetts Industries," Orra L. Stone, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Boston-Chicago, 1930, 2 vols.
"The Merrimack River," J. W. Meader, B. B. Russell, Boston, 1869.
"Quarter-Centennial History of Lawrence, Massachusetts," H. A. Wadsworth, Hammon Read, Lawrence, 1878.
"Lawrence Up to Date, 1845-95," Rushforth & Donoghue, Law- rence, 1895.
"The New England States," Vol. I, William T. Davis, ed., D. H. Hurd & Co., Boston, 1897.
"The Shoe Industry," Frederick J. Allen, Henry Holt and Com- pany, New York, 1922.
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"Standard History of Essex County, Massachusetts," C. F. Jewett & Co., Boston, 1878.
"History of Newburyport, Massachusetts, 1864-1905," John J. Currier, Newburyport, 1906.
"History of Amesbury and Merrimac," Joseph Merrill, Haver- hill, Isso.
"Industrial Structure of New England," U. S. Department of commerce, Washington, 1930.
"Labor Laws and Their Enforcement," edited by Susan M. Kings- bury, Longmans, Green & Co., New York, 1911.
"New England Manufacturers and Manufactories," J. D. Van Slyck, Van Slyck & Co., Boston, 1879.
"Society in America," Harriet Martineau.
"Time," February 19, 1934.
"Fortune," "United Shoe Machinery," 1933.
"The Outlook," Newton A. Fuessle, April 16, 1919.
The files of the Amesbury and Salisbury "Villager" and the Ames- bury "Daily News."
The Story of Transportation and Commu- nication in Essex County
CHAPTER XII
The Story of Transportation and Commu- nication in Essex County By R. W'. Higgins and K. J. Barrows
I-THE HIGHWAYS OF ESSEX COUNTY IN EARLY TIMES
Three hundred years ago the settlements located along the New England coast maintained communication largely by water, though occasionally by horse or pack train over Indian trails. Up to 1700 there were few roads, and these were hardly more than narrow paths. The pioneers, eager to go inland, blazed forest trails, later widened for pack trains and still later converted into wagon roads ; but not until about ISoo were there any well-built roads in rural communities.
In the early colonial days the building of roads was done by vol- unteer labor following action taken at town meetings. This pro- cedure was so unsatisfactory that ultimately the towns were obliged to pass ordinances compelling able-bodied men to work on the roads or to pay tax money instead. However, even this did not suffice to keep the roads in good condition.1 The growing demand for better carriage roads between the farms and the larger centers of popula- tion led to the so-called "turnpike era," which began about 1795.
In this connection it is interesting to note that but a generation or two previously there were few carts and still fewer carriages in the colony. For instance, in 1768, in Boston, there were but twenty- eight people who kept carriages of one sort or another, and as late
I. The prevailing method of road construction and repair, when any method at all was used, was to plow two parallel furrows about 20 feet apart, for drains, and then scrape the loosened earth upon the space between them to form the road bed. Many of our present highways, however, follow the course of old Indian trails. This explains why many of our older roads are so steep and difficult for autos.
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as 1798 the total number of coaches, chairs, chaises, and carriages of all kinds owned in Boston was one hundred and forty-five. In those days, on the main lines of travel, post chaises-that is, two- wheeled chaises with relays of horses every ten or twenty miles- could be obtained, but stagecoaches were the only regular public means of conveyance overland, and of these there were very few.
In 175I a public vehicle which the owners called "a large stage chair," and which had seats for four passengers, began to run between the ferry landing in Charlestown, Massachusetts, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This was the first public conveyance in Essex County. It made the trip in two days. About ten years later, Bar- tholomew Stavers started his famous stage line over the same route. The fare to Portsmouth was 13s. 6d., and the stage ran once a week. It was called the "Portsmouth Flying Stagecoach," and its proprie- tor made a great point of his determination to run on time, no mat- ter what the weather or the condition of the roads. It must have been his name and energy which gave rise to the phrase "a regular staver."
Some idea of the rigors of stagecoach travel in those days may be gathered from the following comment by President Quincy of Harvard on a typical journey :
"We generally reached our resting place for the night, if no accident intervened, at ten o'clock in the evening, and after a frugal supper went to bed, with a notice that we should be called at three next morning, which generally proved to be half past two, and then, whether it snowed or rained, the traveler must rise and make ready, by the help of a horn lantern and candle, and proceed on his way over bad roads, sometimes getting out to help the coachman lift the coach out of a quagmire or rut."
RISE OF THE TURNPIKE CORPORATIONS-Conditions of travel in Essex County remained virtually unimproved until the end of the century, despite the steady growth in traffic as the Colony increased in population. In the last decade of the eighteenth century the importance of better roads began to be realized, but neither the State nor the several towns had funds which the people were will- ing to appropriate for that purpose. This condition consequently
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gave rise to the turnpike corporations which came into existence at that time-private corporations chartered by the Legislature, with power to build roads between specified points and to collect tolls. These turnpikes radiated from Boston in straight lines to all the principal surrounding towns. Within a few years turnpikes were constructed to Salem, to Newburyport, to Concord, to Worcester, to Dedham and Providence, and to Neponset and Quincy. These were better built and were kept in better repair than other roads, and so people were willing to pay toll for the privilege of using them. Almost without exception they were absolutely straight; they veered neither to the right nor to the left. When a hill was in the way they went straight over it, their builders apparently not realizing that it is sometimes as far, and almost always a great deal harder to go over a hill than around its base. When a "bottomless" pond was encoun- tered, as was the case at Lynn on the Salem turnpike, instead of skirting its shores the builders went to great trouble and expense and built a floating bridge across it.
During the first third of the nineteenth century the new turn- pikes gave a great impetus to stagecoach travel. Stage lines rapidly increased in number and gave more frequent service. Stages on the main routes traveled at the rate of about five miles per hour, includ- ing stops. In 1832 the scheduled time for the trip from Boston to New York, traveling night and day, was 41 hours. This was under the severe competition of the steamboat lines, which were then run- ning from Providence and New Haven. In 1832 the stagecoach fare from Boston to New York was eleven dollars. Since there was active competition, this rate of about five cents a mile was probably as low as any. In that year the stage lines reached their highest develop- ment, there being ninety-three lines of stages running out of Boston.
As a rule the stages running to distant points left very early in the morning. The usual hour was 5 a. m., but there were several lines that started at 4 a. m., and some even at 2 a. m. The New York stage left Boston at 3 a. m., and at 2 a. m. a man was sent around to the houses of those who were booked for the passage. His instructions were to knock, pull the bell, and shout and disturb the neighborhood as much as possible, in order that the person who was to take the coach might be up and dressed when it reached his door When the coach arrived there was no light inside, and the passengers
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waited until daybreak before they could see who were their fellow- passengers.
SUNDAY TRAVEL PROHIBITED-In those days the law prohibited traveling upon Sunday, except for necessity or charity. Josiah Quincy, in "Figures of the Past," tells an interesting story in regard to this law in the town of Andover :
"The good people of that town, being very much disturbed by wicked violations of the law, appointed a worthy deacon to see that it was strictly enforced. He accordingly denied himself the privilege of going to church, and stationed him- self with a number of officers at a toll gate just outside of the town. A gentleman traveling in a carriage was stopped and told that he could go no farther. With great courtesy he said, 'Gentlemen, I am fully aware of the provisions of the law, but the fact is that my mother is lying dead in Boston and I ask that I may be permitted to pass.' After consultation they decided that he came indeed within the exception of 'necessity or charity,' and allowed him to pass. When he had reached a safe distance, he stopped and called back, 'Don't forget to tell the good people of Andover that you permitted me to pass because my mother is lying dead in Boston, and you may add also, if you please, that she has been lying dead there for some twenty years.'"
The Salem and Boston Turnpike was built as the result of a long- standing need for a better highway between those two cities. Public attention was directed to the matter, and in March, 1802, the Com- monwealth granted a charter to the "Salem Turnpike & Chelsea Bridge Corporation." Work was begun at Salem in June, 1802, and the road was opened to Lynn one year later, on July 7, 1803, and throughout its whole length (twelve and three-quarters miles) on September 22, 1803, at a cost of $182,000.
THE FLOATING BRIDGE AT LYNN-Of interest in connection with the building of this turnpike is the story of the famous "Floating Bridge at Lynn." In the northeasterly part of Lynn, near the Salem boundary, the builders encountered a small but peculiarly deep pond, locally known as Collins' Pond. This pond is of great depth and has a soft, peaty bottom, which did not permit the use of any feasible
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means of constructing bridge piers. The board of directors of the turnpike corporation authorized Captain Moses Brown to bridge the pond in the best way possible. The famous floating bridge was the result. This bridge, 511 feet long and 28 feet wide, was virtually a raft moored at the ends, which were imbedded in trenches dug in the shores of the pond at each of the approaches. The original struc- ture consisted of five layers of pine timber, each at right angles to the ones next to it, the lower course being of logs hewn on one side and the upper three courses being about one foot square, and the whole mass secured together by three-inch dowels, and, with the top planking, about five and one-half feet thick. The method of joining
PUBLIC NOTICE.
B OSTON, READING, ANDOVER & HAVERHILL ACCOMMODATION STAGE, will in future start from J. BARNARD'S, No. 9, Elm-street, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, at 9 o'clock, A.M. Arrives at KENDALL'S, in Haverhill, by 2, P M. Leaves KENDALL's on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, at 9, A.M. and arrives in Boston by 2, P.M Stage Fare through, Fifty Cents -- to Andover, 75 cents. Stage Books kept at the above places and at STE- PHEN HAMMOND'S, Salem Stage Office, Brattle-street.
Boston. July 14, 1820. eptf
J. MILLET. Agent.
the timbers together by doweis rendered the bridge flexible to con- form to the varying heights of the water without any injury to the structure at the approaches, but allowed the water to overflow the sides of the bridge whenever a particularly heavy load was being drawn across it. The logs were largely cut in Salem Great Pastures, and were dragged over the turnpike to the pond, where the bridge was made in three sections, these being separately floated to the site of the bridge and assembled there. The bridge was built at a cost of $55,469 in 1804. It was used uninterruptedly for the better part
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of a century, and required only a new layer of three-inch planking every third year during that period; the heavy timbers forming the under portion having been continuously under water, they remained sound and were never replaced.
THE SALEM AND BOSTON TURNPIKE-The completion of the Salem and Boston Turnpike proved a great boon to travelers between those cities. A glance at the map will show the difficulties which had beset land travelers in Essex County since the early days. The many broad creeks meandering back into the country, and the many swamps still to be seen, made the trip one of wide detouring and extra mile- age. The passage by sea was exasperatingly long, and travelers by either route begrudged the time consumed in passing from place to place, only thirteen miles apart. Efforts to maintain a stage between Boston and Salem had commenced as early as 1766, but nothing regu- lar or satisfactory was accomplished until the new turnpike was thrown open to the public in 1803, after which the route became one of the most traveled in New England. June 1, 1813, was the day on which the Salem Turnpike did the greatest day's business in its history. This was the day of the famous sea fight between the "Chesapeake" and the "Shannon" off Salem Bay, and one hundred and twenty stages passed over the turnpike filled with passengers eager to witness the combat from the commanding hilltops of Salem. Thousands viewed the spectacle with prayers on their lips, only to retire gloomily to their homes when the issue was but too plainly seen. In 1868 the State Legislature declared the turnpike a public highway, it having long since ceased to make any adequate return to its proprietors because of the railroad flanking its route. For its entire length today the Salem Turnpike is a busy and important thoroughfare, being the principal street of the cities of Chelsea and Revere and passing through the manufacturing district of West Lynn.
THE NEWBURYPORT TURNPIKE-The Newburyport Turnpike, constructed in 1804 for horsedrawn traffic, and afterwards long neg- lected and fallen into decay as a result of the competition of the rail- road, was rebuilt by the State in 1922 as a motor highway. Its original charter, issued by the Commonwealth in 1803, called for an "air line" from Newburyport to Boston, and the officials of the new turnpike company, standing at the head of State Street, Newbury-
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port, instructed their engineer to point the telescope of his transit south twenty degrees west, and to follow the course as directly as possible to Chelsea bridge. The engineer followed his instruc- tions exactly : over hills and through valleys, across rivers and swamps he ran his line, and the builders followed his stakes with rigid exact- ness. In thirty-five miles the road deviates only eighty-three feet from a straight line.
The Newburyport Turnpike was constructed in record-breaking time, it being nearly completed within one year. In December, 1804, the directors were able to announce "That there is already made thirty-five miles of the Turnpike road; that bridges over six rivers are built; that in some instances hills have been reduced twenty-five feet; and that two houses of entertainment are erected." The turn- pike was much used during the War of 1812 in the transportation of military stores eastward, but, in general, it was a great disappoint- ment, most private travelers preferring the old route through Row- ley, Ipswich, and Salem. In 1840 the Eastern Railroad was com- pleted to Newburyport, and the turnpike tolls in that city and in Newbury were collected but seven years longer. The portion in Rowley, Ipswich, Topsfield, Danvers, and Peabody became free in 1849, and in Lynnfield and Saugus in 1852.
On November 6, 1921, the State Highway Commission began operations in reconstructing the turnpike in accordance with the demands of modern motor traffic, employing a force of from two hundred and fifty to three hundred men continuously for one year. The cost was nearly a million dollars. The renovated highway was officially opened to the public on Sunday, November 4, 1922. This road is today the major link in the seaboard route from Boston to eastern New Hampshire and Maine, thousands of vehicles passing over it daily.
The Essex Turnpike, popularly known as the Andover Turnpike, was projected from the New Hampshire line across the Merrimac at Andover Bridge (now the city of Lawrence) and thence via Dan- vers to Salem, the county seat. This turnpike forms a link in the much-traveled road between Boston and points in New Hampshire and Vermont. It became a free highway in 1829.
FAMOUS STAGE LINES-Before leaving the subject of turnpike roads, it is necessary to say something about the stagecoach lines,
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without which the turnpikes would have lacked much of their old-time glamour. The stagecoach was, in its day, as great an advance, perhaps, upon the prevailing modes of transit as the railroad car was, in a later time, upon the stagecoach; at all events, it thoroughly revolutionized the current modes of travel. The first stagecoach line established within Essex County was set up in 1774 by Ezra Lunt. The stage, drawn by four horses, ran between Newburyport and Boston, via Salem, and made three round trips per week. A smaller coach, drawn by two horses, had been running for several years between Portsmouth and Boston, on the line set up in 1751, but its schedule had been erratic, and it had afforded little convenience to travelers in Essex County. Adequate facilities for stagecoach travel in the county did not come until about 1796, and in this business Benjamin Hale, of Newburyport, seems to have been a pioneer. From that date the business grew steadily, and reached its zenith with the incorporation in 1818 of the famous "Eastern Stage Com- pany," which for many years enjoyed a virtual monopoly of the transport business between Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Bos- ton. Its stages ran at first on alternate days, leaving Portsmouth for Boston at 9 a. m., reaching Topsfield by dinner time, and Boston by night. Next day they returned by the same route, which ran, in part, over the famous Newburyport Turnpike. The company met with great success, so that by the year 1833 they were free of debt and with a business that employed five hundred horses. In October, 1834, their stock, with a par value of $100, was worth $202.13. The next year they were paying eight to nine thousand dollars in tolls, adding constantly to their landed property, and feeling secure against all competition.
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