|
This page is a part of the Lynn & Nahant town site. Not for Commercial use. All rights reserved. |
 Sagamore Cottage |
1851 |
|
|
Transcribed by Shaun Cook |
|
LYNN. LYNN is one of the oldest towns in Massachusetts. Its settlement was begun in 1629. The earlier towns are Plymouth, Weymouth, Braintree, Boston, Charlestown and Salem. Lynn was incorporated in 1630, and those persons err who date the incorporation at any other time. In that year the freemen of the eight towns of Salem, Lynn, Boston, Charlestown, Roxbury, Dorchester, Cambridge and Watertown, assembled at Boston, in one great court, which was thence called the General Court. No formal act of incorporation was ever passed for either of these towns, but the act of their assembling was an incorporation. In 1634, instead of a general attendance, the people found it more convenient to have a representative government, and the town sent three representatives, as may be seen, with many other interesting particulars, in the History of Lynn. The Indian name of the town was Saugus, which was changed to Lynn in 1637. Two towns, now called Lynnfield and Saugus, have since been separated from it. Having existed as a town for two hundred and twenty-one years, Lynn was instituted a city on the thirteenth of May, 1850. The previous cities are Boston, Salem, Lowell, Roxbury, Cambridge, Charlestown, New Bedford and Worcester. The opposite engraving represents Lynn, then called Saugus, at its early settlement. It was bounded on the northeast by Naumkeag, now Salem, and on the southwest by Winnisimmet, then part of Boston. Lynn is pleasantly situated on the northern shore of Massachusetts Bay, nine miles northeast from Boston. In variety of scenery, it is probably not surpassed by any town in the union; embracing all the diversity of mountain, hill, valley, plain, field, forest, grove, glade, vale, dale, marsh, meadow, bog, swamp, ocean, bay, lake, pond, river, estuary, channel, harbor, brook, rill, spring, creek, cove, cavern, cliff, cape, grotto, glen, dell, fissure, ledge, bar, bank, bluff, beach, precipice, promontory, peninsula, isthmus and island. Very pleasant and extensive views may be obtained from High Rock, Forest Rock, Lover's Leap, Pine Hill, Tower Hill, Sagamore Hill, Poquannum Hill, Wenepoykin Hill, and many other places. Lynn extends about six miles
on the sea shore from east to west; and, including Nahant, it
spreads out eight miles from south to north, containing fourteen
square miles. It is bounded on the west by Saugus, on the north by
Lynnfield, on the east by Danvers and Salem, and on the south by the
ocean. It contains fifteen churches; nine principal, six
intermediate, and eighteen primary schools, a high school, an
academy, and several private schools. It has a Natural History
Society, possessing a valuable collection of curiosities, with a
library of about twelve hundred volumes attached. There is also a
small library at Nahant, the gift of Boston gentlemen. There are few
books in Lynn in proportion to its population. Two newspapers are
published here, the Lynn News and the Bay State. The other public
buildings are the City Hall, Lyceum Hall, Exchange Hall, and
Sagamore Hall. The houses of entertainment are the City Hotel, Lynn
Hotel, Railroad House, and Washington House. At Swampscot are the
Atlantic House, Swampscot House, and Marshall House. At Nahant are
Drew's Hotel, Whitney's Hotel, Rice's House, and Johnson's House.
There is much travel through Lynn, on the old eastern road, and on
the turnpike from Salem to Boston. It is also intersected by the
Eastern Railroad, on which about twenty trains of cars pass daily.
NAHANT. On the south of Lynn, nearly surounded by the ocean, is the peninsula of Nahant, six miles in circumference, connected to the main land by a broad isthmus beach, nearly two miles in length. Besides the permanent inhabitants, Nahant contains the summer residences of many citizens of Boston, and is one of the most agreeable watering places in the union. The Directory of Nahant precedes that of Lynn.
The eastern extremity of Lynn is called by its Indian name, Swampscot. The inhabitants of this portion are mostly fishermen. Swampscot is conveniently designated from the rest of the town by a straight line from the bridge over Stacey's brook to the east end of Cherry street, and in the same direction to the Salem line. Here are some of the finest villas and villa-sites in New England. In compliance with the request of the people, as well as for convenient reference, a separate Directory of Swampscot has been made, which follows that of Nahant.
It will be seen that for twenty-five years, the increase was only 93. From 1790 to 1800, the increase was 546, or a fraction less than 25 per cent. From 1800 to 1810, after it had become decidedly a shoemaking town, the increase was 1,250 or 44 per cent. Between the years 1810 and 1820, after Saugus, with its 748 inhabitants, had been separated from it, the increase was found to be 1,176, or about 28 per cent. From 1820 to 1830, the increase was 1,623, or 36 per cent. In 1830 the Map and History of Lynn were published, and being widely circulated, and extensively noticed in public papers, perhaps they had some influence in giving a new impulse to the place, by calling attention to it; and the increase for the next ten years was 3,229, or 51 per cent. For the last ten years, from 1840 to 1850, the increase has not been quite so rapid, being 4,039, or 43 per cent. The
particular census of the city, as taken for this Directory, exhibits
the following results: Swampscot, Nahant, Total Should the organization of the
city government give a new start to the business and prosperity of
the place, and the increase be as it was for ten years after 1830,
the city in 1860, or in ten years more, will number 20,000
inhabitants. THE SHOE BUSINESS.
It may seem a work of
supererogation for a civil engineer to attempt to teach a shoemaker;
but as it happens to be a simple fact that no lasts are made to fit
the feet, and having for many years suffered more torments than
Peter Pindar's pilgrim from ill-shaped shoes, we shall venture, out
of our pure regard for suffering humanity, to suggest an
improvement. Nothing like science has ever been introduced into the
construction of a last or shoe. It is quite time that a beginning
were made. We shall take out no patent for our invention, though
thousands of patents have been given for things of less importance.
It should be observed that the feet of many persons have an outward
inclination at the toe. THE DIRECTORY.
" I never knew an oft removed tree, Nor yet an oft removed family, That throve so well as those that settled be." If young men would seek to have fixed abodes of their own among the many lovely hills and dales that abound in the city, and spend their leisure hours in reading and study, and form societies for mutual improvement, they might find their happiness greatly augmented.
In numbering the houses, the people will perceive the propriety of omitting as many numbers, where there are spaces between the houses, as it is probable there will be buildings in future to occupy those spaces. It is proper to remind persons who remove buildings into other streets, that the old numbers should be taken off, and a new one put in its place, otherwise confusion will be caused. It is also very desirable that signs should be placed upon the corners of the streets. In naming new streets, people
are often at a loss for names. It might be well, having exhausted
the names of all the trees of the forest, and of eminent men, to
take the names of states, or, more fancifully, of females. What
could be prettier than Caroline or Ianthe street ?
Most persons are pleased with external beauty in dwellings as well as in persons; therefore it is proper to call the attention of those who erect new buildings to the importance of having a design from the hand of taste. Many people imagine that to pay a surveyor for measuring the grounds, or an arehitect for preparing a plan, is a mere waste of money; but if they knew, as well as we do, the many quarrels and law suits that are occasioned by a neglect of the former, and the great saving that may be made in carpenters' bills by attending to the latter, they would soon change their opinions in regard to these matters. As few people have leisure to consult works on architecture, it will not be improper to suggest a few evils which should be avoided: Great improvement has been manifested within a few years in the construction of houses and cottages, but there is room for much more. It is very displeasing to good taste to see a spot which the Creator has beautified with natural loveliness, marred into deformity by the erection of some uncouth structure, devoid alike of style, symmetry, or convenience, The practice of putting Gothic cupolas upon Grecian churches, and inserting Gothic windows beneath Grecian mouldings, is only not offensive to those who have not formed the first conception of correct taste. Still more objectionable is the custom of building a dwelling house in the form of a Corinthian temple, and cutting windows through the entablature. The addition of ornamental gables upon cottages, when directed by enlightened skill and taste, is exceedingly pleasant; but when uncouth figures are cut from thin boards, by those who seem to imagine that what is fantastic must be beautiful, because it is new, that which was intended for ornament becomes ridiculous, and makes us sigh for simplicity. To be sure, every man has a right to build such a house as he may like, and so a woman has a right to dress as she pleases; but if she dress proposterously we have a right to laugh at the display of her fancy. The difference however is in favor of the latter; for if a woman emobe herself absurdly, there is a relief to the mind in the probability that she will change her dress in a month; but if a man builds an uncouth fabric, it must remain until a better taste or the merciful hand of time shall remove it. The practice of constructing piazzas where there is no door or long window to enter upon them, is absurd; as is the custom of placing shields over the windows of a lower story, which are already protected by a piazza roof. Everyone would perceive the absurdity of wearing a cap beneath a broad-brimmed hat. It is often convenient to have basement rooms, especially where the ground seems to require them; but to construct such where they are not so required, and where there is room to have the kitchen on the same floor, is generally in bad taste; and to live in them still worse, as it is detrimental to health. But if people will have cellar kitchens, it is well, if possible, to avoid placing them on the street side, where there is no place for the offal and slops but the sidewalk. A house elevated upon pillars is commonly as offensive to good taste as would be a man ,walking through the streets upon stilts. The builder of such a fabric forgets, or more probably never heard, the advice of John Hogers, the martyr, to his children, "Build not your house too high! " One of the greatest ornaments to a house is the chimney top; but nothing is more common than to see a building deformed by an uncouth chimney. We have often constructed plans for cottages, and directed the workmen to finish the chimney with a base,as represented at A, but they usually mar the design, by carrying it up as at B, Among all the cottages built in accordance with our plans, there is not a single chimney which the owner has found it requisite to surmount with smoke-drawers. When chimneys project from the summit of a roof, they appear to be supported by it, and when properly constructed, they impart a finish and a beauty to the house. They also invariably draw better, than when they are placed near the eaves. A book devoted exclusively to chimneys, showing the best method of constructing them so as to carry smoke and prevent fire, with designs for ornamental chimney tops, exhibiting minutely the method of laying brick modillions and cornices, would be of great service. It is somewhat surprising that people who erect large and valuable buildings in thickly populated streets, should build so many with clapboards and shingles; especially in a place that abounds with clay, and where there is rock material enough for all the houses in Lynn for five centuries to come. They will probably improve upon this wooden custom, when a few destructive fires shall have taught them better. As our streets, generally, are fifty feet or more, in width, and in excellent repair, there is little to be said on that subject, except that it might be well to plow down certain hills and high places to obtain gravel. As our citizens are also very neat in regard to the appearance of their houses, keeping them in good repair and well painted, they need no suggestion on that subject; only if their eyes were offended, as ours are, with the incessant glare of white, they would occasionally vary them by the introduction of some more fanciful color. This glare might be pleasantly relieved by the multiplication of shade trees. Indeed there would be no cheaper or more agreeable mode of ornamenting the city, than by setting trees through all the streets.
WARD 1. - SWAMPSCOT. - To commence at the bridge which crosses Stacey's brook near King's beach, then running northerly to the southern corner of Ebenezer Burrilrs field, then northeast to the Salem line, thence following the Salem line to the ocean, following its margin to the first boundary. WARD 2. - WOODEND. - To commence at the bridge which crosses Staccy's brook near King's beach, to run on the seashore westerly to a point that would intersect with the continuation of Atlantic street to the ocean, thence through the centre of Atlantic street to a pump at the head of Chestnut street, thence on a direct line to Newhalrs court, passing through the centre of said court to Essex street, to include all the houses in Chestnut street, and all, if any, that it may intersect in passing to Newhalrs court, thence northerly to a bridge in Chestnut street, near John Carrage's house, thence north to Salem line, and to run down on the Salem line until it intersects with ward 1, and to include all territory within these lines and west of ward 1. WARD 3. - GRAVESEND. - To commence on Chestnut street at the bridge near John Carrage's house, to run westerly to the point that Maple street intersects the Salem turnpike, thence northwesterly to Forest Rock in Pine Grove Cemetery, thence northeast to Mansfield's Hill, thence to a bridge at the western end of Spring pond, then southeasterly on the Salem line until it intersects the line of ward 2. WARD 4. - CENTRAL DEPOT. - To commence at the pump at the head of Chestnut street, to run southeast through the centre of Atlantic street to the ocean, thence by the shore to the eastern end of Long Beach, where Beach street intersects said beach; thence westerly by the shore to the western end of the Railroad House, thence northwesterly to the bridge at the head of Harrison Court, thence northerly on a direct line to the magazine in Rock's Pasture, thence northwesterly to the point that Maple street intersects Salem turnpike, from thence to bridge near John Carrage's house, and from thence on the westerly line of ward 2, to pump at the head of Chestnut street. WARD 5. - MARKET STREET. - To commence at the bridge at the head of Harrison court in Market street, and run to the westerly end of Railroad House, and continue the shore round until it intersects a continued line of Shepard street to said shore, thence northerly to the house of Kimball Ramsdell, including said house and the western side of Shepard street, from thence to the western end of the house of the late Micajah Newhall, and all the houses intersected by this line to be in ward 5; thence to the western end of Capt. Bubier's house, thence by the eastern side of Lover's Leap to the northwest corner of J. C. Stickney's ground, and all houses intersected by these lines from said Newhalrs house to belong to ward 6, and from thence to the centre of Forest Rock in Pine Grove Cemetery, from thence to the point that Maple street intersects the turnpike, thence to the magazine in Rock's Pasture, thence to the bridge in Market street, and all houses intersected in the last line to be in ward 5. WARD 6. - LYNN HOTEL. - To commence at the western end of Kimball Ramsdelrs house, to run to the shore on the western line of ward 5, thence to continue the shore round to Fox Hill bridge, then to follow the stream to Chase's mills, thence to follow the stream until it intersects Boston street at the foot of Tower Hill, thence northerly to the western end of J. G. Perley's house, and William Mulliken's, to Sadler's Rock, thence easterly to northwest corner of J. C. Stickney's land, thence southerly, on the eastern side of Lover's Leap, to the house of Capt. Bubier, thence to house of late Micajah Newhall, and all houses intersected by the last two lines to be in ward 6, thence to house of Kimball Ramsdell. WARD 7. - TOWER HILL. - To include all the inhabitants west of ward 6 and south of ward 9. WARD 8. - NAHANT. - To include the peninsula of Nahant and Long Beach, until it intersects with the lines of wards 2 and 4. WARD 9. - WYOMA. - To commence at the bridge at the western end of Spring pond, and to run to Mansfield's Hill, thence to Forest Rock in Pine Grove Cemetery, thence to northwest corner of J. C. Stickney's ground, thence to Sadler's Rock, thence north to Dungeon Rock, thence west to Saugus line, and to continue the outer boundary of Lynn until it reaches the point from which it started. |
|
This site may be freely linked to but not duplicated
in any fashion without my permission. |