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Timeline of Somerville, Massachusetts

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The following is a timeline of the history of Somerville, Massachusetts, US.

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Prior to 19th century

  • 1630 - Charlestown settled.
  • 1631 - Colonial Governor John Winthrop granted 600 acres of land known as Ten Hills Farm.Francis J. Bremer, John Winthrop: America's Forgotten Founding Father (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), p. 248.Robert C. Winthrop, Life And Letters Of John Winthrop: Governor Of The Massachusetts Bay Company At Their Emigration To New England 1630, (Kessinger Publishing, LLC), p. 64.{{sfn|Britannica|1910}}
  • 1703 - Windmill built (approximate date).{{sfn|Britannica|1910}}
  • 1714 - Peter Tufts House built.{{sfn|Britannica|1910}}
  • 1756 - Powder House in use.{{sfn|Britannica|1910}}
  • 1776 - Continental Union Flag raised at Continental Army fortifications atop Prospect Hill.[http://www.muldermedia.com/prospecthill/history2.html The History of Prospect Hill, part 2] Retrieved 2014-10-11

19th century

=1800s–1860s=

  • 1803 - Middlesex Canal begins in operation.{{sfn|Britannica|1910}}
  • 1804 - Old Cemetery established.
  • 1821 - Middlesex Bleachery and Dye Works established.{{sfn|Haley|1903}}
  • 1834 - Ursuline Convent Riots.{{sfn|Britannica|1910}}
  • 1835 - Boston & Lowell Railroad begins operating.{{sfn|Britannica|1910}}
  • 1842
  • Town of Somerville separates from Charlestown.{{sfn|Fiftieth Anniversary|1922}} {{sfn|Britannica|1910}}
  • Population: 1,013.{{sfn|Fiftieth Anniversary|1922}}
  • 1844 - First Congregational Society formed.{{sfn|Greenough|1875}}
  • 1851 - American Tube Works established.{{sfn|Haley|1903}}
  • 1852
  • Somerville City Hall built.{{sfn|Britannica|1910}}
  • Somerville High School opens.{{sfn|Ueda|1984}} {{sfn|Britannica|1910}}
  • 1853
  • First Orthodox Congregational Church organized.{{sfn|Greenough|1875}}
  • First Universalist Society organized.{{sfn|Greenough|1875}}Harvard University. [http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:DIV.LIB:div00547 First Universalist Church (Somerville, Mass.). Records, 1861-1984: A Finding Aid]
  • 1854
  • Tufts College opens.
  • Union Glass Company established.{{sfn|Haley|1903}}
  • 1856
  • First Methodist Episcopal Church organized.{{sfn|Greenough|1875}}
  • Round House built.
  • 1863 - Broadway Orthodox Congregational Church organized.{{sfn|Greenough|1875}}
  • 1864 - Circulating Library in business at Tufts' apothecary (approximate date).{{Citation |publisher = Alfred Mudge & Son |location = Boston |title = Catalogue of Books in the Somerville Circulating Library |date = 1864 |oclc = 704271104 |ol = 24617840M }}
  • 1866
  • Emmanuel Episcopal Church built.{{sfn|Greenough|1875}}
  • Somerville Carriage Repository and Manufactory established.{{sfn|Greenough|1883}}
  • 1867 - Perkins Street Baptist Church dedicated.{{sfn|Greenough|1875}}
  • 1869 - Morse Grammar School built.{{sfn|Greenough|1875}}

=1870s–1890s=

  • 1870
  • Somerville Journal newspaper begins publication.{{sfn|Haley|1903}}
  • St. Thomas Episcopal Church built.{{sfn|Greenough|1875}}
  • Boston and Lowell Railroad connected through West Somerville to the Lexington Branch.
  • 1871
  • City incorporated.{{sfn|Fiftieth Anniversary|1922}} {{sfn|Britannica|1910}}
  • Somerville Samaritan Society organized.{{sfn|Greenough|1875}}
  • 1872
  • Somerville city government inaugurated.{{sfn|Fiftieth Anniversary|1922}}
  • City seal design adopted.
  • Population: 16,000 (approximate).{{sfn|Fiftieth Anniversary|1922}}
  • 1873
  • Public Library established.{{Citation |publisher = Somerville Journal Print |location = Somerville, Mass. |title = Finding list of the Public Library of the City of Somerville, Mass. |date = 1895 |ol = 22094495M }}
  • Luther V. Bell School built.{{sfn|Greenough|1875}}
  • Broadway Methodist Episcopal Church organized.{{sfn|Greenough|1875}}
  • 1874
  • West Somerville Baptist Church organized.{{sfn|Greenough|1875}}
  • West Somerville Congregational Church organized.{{sfn|Greenough|1875}}
  • Sprague & Hathaway Portrait Copying House established.{{sfn|Haley|1903}}
  • 1876 - Somerville Citizen newspaper begins publication.{{cite web |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/search/titles/results/?state=Massachusetts&city=Somerville&terms=&frequency=&language=ðnicity=&labor=&material_type=&lccn=&rows=50&sort=date |title=US Newspaper Directory |location=Washington DC |work=Chronicling America |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=August 28, 2012}}
  • 1886 - Third Universalist Church established.Harvard University. [http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:DIV.LIB:div00528 West Somerville Universalist Church (Somerville, Mass.). Records, 1884-1950: A Finding Aid]
  • 1890
  • Broadway Winter Hill Congregational Church built.
  • North Packing Company established.{{citation needed|date=August 2012}}
  • Population: 40,152.{{sfn|Britannica|1910}}
  • 1891 - Somerville Hospital founded.
  • 1892 - McLean Hospital relocates to Belmont.
  • 1898
  • Somerville Historical Society incorporated.{{sfn|Galpin|1901}}
  • Historic Festival.{{Citation |publisher = Somerville Journal |title = Ye olden times at the foot of Prospect Hill: handbook of the historic festival in Somerville Massachusetts, November 28, 29, 30, December 1, 2, and 3 MDCCCXCVIII; Margaret MacLaren Eager, director |author=Somerville Historical Society |date = 1898 |oclc = 11271884 |ol = 6940324M }}
  • 1899
  • Forthian Club for women organized.Harvard University. [http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:RAD.SCHL:sch00583 Forthian Club of Somerville (Mass.) Records, 1889-1979: A Finding Aid]Boston Evening Transcript - Nov 11, 1899
  • First Unitarian Church built.
  • 1900 - Population: 61,643.{{sfn|Britannica|1910}}

20th century

21st century

{{Expand section|date=August 2012}}

  • 2002 - P.A.'s Lounge opens.
  • 2003
  • Won-Buddhist temple opens.{{cite web |url= http://www.pluralism.org/directory/index/country:US/state:MA/city:somerville/tag:-1 |title=Somerville, Massachusetts |work=Directory of Religious Centers |author= Pluralism Project |publisher=Harvard University |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |access-date=October 15, 2013}}
  • GreenGoat in business.{{cite web |url=http://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/search?utf8=✓&q=somerville&state%5Bid%5D=MA |publisher=ProPublica |location=New York |title=Somerville, Massachusetts |work=Nonprofit Explorer |date=9 May 2013 |editor=Mike Tigas and Sisi Wei |access-date=December 13, 2013 }}
  • 2004 - Joseph Curtatone becomes mayor.{{cite web |title=Meet the Mayors |publisher=United States Conference of Mayors |location=Washington, DC |url=http://usmayors.org/meetmayors/mayorsatglance.asp |access-date=March 30, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080627104834/http://www.usmayors.org/meetmayors/mayorsatglance.asp |archive-date=June 27, 2008 }}
  • 2005
  • Union Square Main Streets organized.
  • Union Square farmers' market begins.
  • Sikh Sangat Society Boston and Harry Potter Alliance{{citation needed|date=December 2013}} headquartered in Somerville.
  • 2006 - Honk! music festival begins.{{cite web |url=http://artery.wbur.org/2013/10/13/honk-marching-band-fest |title=Photos: Honk! Marching Band Festival In Somerville |date=October 13, 2013 |publisher=WBUR |work=The Artery }}
  • 2007 - Highland Kitchen restaurant in business.{{citation |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/brackets/munchmadness2015 |title=Munch Madness 2015 |work=Boston Globe |access-date=26 March 2015 }}
  • 2009 - Sister city relationship established with Tiznit, Morocco.
  • 2010
  • Population: 75,754.
  • Sister city relationship established with Nordeste, Portugal.{{cite web |url= http://www.somervillema.gov/news/somerville-nordeste-finalize-sister-city-agreement |title=Somerville Nordeste Finalize Sister City Agreement |year=2010 |publisher= City of Somerville }}
  • 2014 - Legoland in business.
  • 2022 - Katjana Ballantyne becomes mayor.

See also

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

Bibliography

{{Refbegin}}

  • {{cite book

|title= Somerville, Arlington and Belmont Directory: 1869-70 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HfYCAAAAYAAJ |date=1869

|publisher=Dudley & Greenough |location=Boston, Mass.

}}

  • {{cite book |title=Somerville City Directory for 1873 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-vUCAAAAYAAJ |publisher=Greenough, Jones & Co. |location=Boston |date=1873

}}

  • {{cite book

|title=Somerville City Directory for 1875-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QAMDAAAAYAAJ |publisher=Greenough & Co. |location=Boston |date=1875

| ref = {{harvid|Greenough|1875}}

}}

  • {{cite book

|title=Somerville City Directory for 1883 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=me0CAAAAYAAJ |publisher=Greenough & Co. |location=Boston

|date=1883

| ref = {{harvid|Greenough|1883}}

}}

  • {{cite book |title=Somerville City Directory |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sesCAAAAYAAJ |publisher=Greenough & Co. |location=Boston |date=1884

}}

  • {{Citation |publisher = Samuels and Kimball |location = Boston |author1 = Edward A. Samuels, ed. |author2=Henry H. Kimball, ed. |title = Somerville, past and present: an illustrated historical souvenir commemorative of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the city government of Somerville, Massachusetts

|date = 1897

|ol = 13439695M }}

  • {{Citation

|location = Somerville, Mass |publisher = Somerville Historical Society |title = Publication, no. 1: History of Somerville Journalism; with a list of members, officers, and committees of the Somerville Historical Society |author=Barbara Galpin |date = 1901

| ref = {{harvid|Galpin|1901}}

|ol = 14036554M |author-link = Barbara Galpin }}

  • {{Citation |publisher = Writer Publishing Co. |location = Boston |author = M. A. Haley |title = Story of Somerville |date = 1903

| ref = {{harvid|Haley|1903}}

|ol = 23342477M }}

  • {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Somerville (Massachusetts) |volume= 25 | pages = 391–392 |date=1910 |ref= {{harvid|Britannica|1910}} |short= 1}}
  • {{Citation |publisher = Somerville Journal Print |location = Somerville |title = Fiftieth Anniversary of the City of Somerville |date = 1922

| ref = {{harvid|Fiftieth Anniversary|1922}}

|ol = 14007850M }}

  • {{Citation |location = Boston |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |series=American Guide Series |title = Massachusetts: a Guide to its Places and People |author = Federal Writers' Project |date = 1937

|chapter=Somerville |hdl=2027/mdp.39015014440781?urlappend=%3Bseq=457 |chapter-url= http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015014440781?urlappend=%3Bseq=457

|author-link=Federal Writers' Project }}

  • {{cite journal

|title=The High School and Social Mobility in a Streetcar Suburb: Somerville, Massachusetts, 1870-1910 |author=Reed Ueda

|date=1984

|journal=Journal of Interdisciplinary History |volume=14

| ref = {{harvid|Ueda|1984}}

}}

  • {{citation

|work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/travel/out-of-the-shadow-of-boston-and-cambridge.html?_r=0 |date=October 2, 2014

|title=Out of the Shadow of Boston and Cambridge

}}

Further reading

  • {{cite book| title=Somerville (Images of America: Massachusetts) |year=2003 |author=Anthony Mitchell Sammarco |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-0738512907}}
  • {{cite book| title=Somerville, Mass.: The Beautiful City of Seven Hills, Its History and Opportunities |year=1913 |url=https://archive.org/details/somervillemassbe00some |author=Somerville Board of Trade |publisher=A. Martin and Sons}}
  • {{cite book| title=Somerville, Massachusetts: A Brief History |author1=Dee Morris |author2=Dora St. Martin |publisher=The History Press |isbn=978-1596294240 |year=2008}}

{{refend}}

External links

{{commons category|History of Somerville, Massachusetts}}

  • {{cite web |url=http://www.somervillepubliclibrary.org/localhistory/ |title=Somerville and New England History Collection |publisher=Somerville Public Library }}
  • [http://dp.la/search?utf8=✓&page_size=100&q=Somerville+Massachusetts Items related to Somerville], various dates (via Digital Public Library of America).
  • [https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/5415298753/ View of Charlestown, Mass., as seen from Somerville]. Gleason's Pictorial, c. 1850s.
  • [http://macivilwarmonuments.com/2018/07/07/somerville Somerville's Civil War monuments] at [https://macivilwarmonuments.com/ Massachusetts Civil War Monuments Project]

Images

Image:1864 Somerville Circulating Library Massachusetts.png|Somerville Circulating Library, Milk Street, 1860s

Image:1883 Somerville Carriage Repository ad SomervilleDirectory.png|Somerville Carriage Repository, est. 1866 (advertisement from 1883)

Image:1884 map wards Somerville Massachusetts USA BPL12900.png|Map of Somerville, 1884

Image:Union Glass Company Somerville Massachusetts.png|Union Glass Co., est. 1854 (cover of catalog, c. 1911)

Image:1915 Somerville Pageant of World Peace Massachusetts USA.png|Somerville Pageant of World Peace, July 1915

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