F 74 .CI n98 Copy 1 HentiaU- Equate ^ *^ X3 §11 g w S PU Q OO \HU>Jvj X^XxAj , Oou>' I u 3ientraU- Square A BIT OF HISTORY CONCERNING THE NEW LOCATION OF MURRAY AND EMERY COMPANY CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS NINETEEN SIXTEEN r/i- .Ci- Copyright, 1915 By Albert N. Murray / ICI.A420061 OEC 23/9/5 >-i ^ / Ill^ilidsS- THE BBroOE THAT LEADS TO KENDALL SQUARE Vtf)t ♦ ^torp ♦ of ♦ ^enball - Square ETROPOLITAN BOSTON of the present day embraces considerable territory en- hanced by great possibihties of industrial development. Recent extension of the transportation facilities of Greater Boston has brought to the forefront one particular section that is destined within a few years to become a leading manufacturing center. A story of activity is always of interest. The growth of Kendall Square is a story of progress and develop- ment of recent date, and of consequent interest, although the history of over a century is so closely entwined about Kendall Square that one is easily carried back to the early days of Boston and Cam- bridge for a perusal of the history of this locality, now claiming so much attention. Wl)t • ^torp ♦ of ♦ i^enball ♦ Square Obviously the greatest advantage of Kendall Square is its nearness to the heart of the " Hub." Supplant- ing the primitive ferry across the Charles River — the natural separation between two cities that otherwise might have been one — by a modest wooden bridge was an advance step, and Kendall Square gained a point — or would have if it had been present at that time. The substitution, sixty years later, of a more substantial bridge and the introduction of horse cars was another point in favor of Kendall Square — and this time it was there to acknowledge the favor. Fifty years passed, and then a granite bridge came, and with it the Cambridge Tunnel — and Kendall Square was " made." Its history in detail is of interest. In the "Columbian Centinel " of January 7, 1792, there appeared the following advertisement: " WEST BOSTON BRIDGE. As all citizens of the United States have an equal right to propose a measure that may be beneficial to the public or advantageous to themselves, and as no body of men have an exclusive right to take to themselves such a privilege, a number of gentlemen have proposed to open a new subscription for the purpose of building a bridge [6] H.H. IN CU,SB XBS.MB.. -^ --;-'- ^^^VtlS. '^VZIZ^O tCJe ♦ ^torj) ♦ of ♦ Henball ♦ Square from West Boston to Cambridge, at such place as the General Court may be pleased to direct. A sub- scription for two hundred shares in the proposed bridge will this day be opened at Samuel Cooper's office, north side of the State House." History records that this subscription " was filled up in three hours." A petition was immediately presented to the General Court, and on the 9th of March, 1792, Francis Dana and his associates were granted articles of incorporation as " The Proprietors of the West Boston Bridge." This franchise empowered them to construct a bridge " from the Westerly part of Boston to Pelham's Island in the town of Cambridge " and also " a good road from the Island to the nearest part of the Cambridge road." Their articles of incorpora- tion also granted to them the right " to take certain specified tolls during a term of forty years." The completion of this first bridge was heralded in the "Centinel" in its issue of November 27, 1793, as follows: " The Bridge at West Boston was opened for passengers on Saturday last. The elegance of the workmanship and the magnitude of the undertaking are perhaps unequalled in the history of enterprises. [8] r^-^^^ . ~— ~"^~^^ tlTlje ♦ ^torp • of ♦ llenball ♦ S>quare We hope the Proprietors will not suffer pecuniary loss from their public spirit." Dr. Holmes, the historian, witnessed the building of the bridge and records the following detail: " It stands on 180 piers, and is 3483 feet long Bridge over the Gore, 14 do. 275 do. Abutment, Boston side, 87^ Causeway, 3344 Width of the Bridge, 40. " He further writes of it as being a " magnificent struc- ture, erected at a cost of $76,700." By a subsequent act of the General Court, on June 30, 1792, the original franchise was extended to a term of seventy years, and on February 27, 1807, was again further extended for another term of seventy years to date from the completion of Craigie's Bridge (1809). Before the building of the first West Boston Bridge the section now known as Cambridgeport and East Cambridge consisted solely of woodland, pasture, swamps and salt marsh. Indeed, the town of Cam- [91 tK jje ♦ ^tor j> • of • Eenball • Square bridge at that date contained but one hundred and forty-eight houses. Very speedily the new West Boston Bridge and its connecting causeway became the great highway from the towns of Middlesex to the markets of Boston. In the year 1803 the " Cam- bridge and Concord Turnpike Corporation " was established, with authority to construct a turnpike road from the westerly side of Cambridge Common to Concord, and two years later, in March, 1805, this corporation was given authority to extend the turnpike to the causeway near West Boston Bridge. This extension is now known as Broadway, and forms part of Kendall Square. In June of the same year the " Middlesex Turnpike Corporation " was established, with authority to build a turnpike road from Tyngsborough through Chelms- ford, Billerica and Bedford to Cambridge and Concord Turnpike near West Boston Bridge. The Cambridge portion of this turnpike is now Hampshire Street. The chief feature of Main Street and the causeway was the inns. There was one located at the corner of Main Street and Broadway, which junction is now known as Kendall Square, and one a little further flOl TUAN'SPOBTATION FROM Kf:NDALL SQUARE TO BOSTON', BY WAT or THE TUNNEL, IS SO RAl'ID THAT IT GIVES THIS SECTION A DISTINCT ADVANTAGE OVER OTUER INDUSTKIAL CENTEB8 l^Je ♦ ^torp • of ♦ ^enball • g>quare east. They had, in connection, vast barns and lengthy- courtyards. Into these were driven the great white- topped market wagons, drawn by double files of six or eight horses. Far into the night their lusty drivers clamored from the red-curtained barroom, while without in the innyard but a single lantern swayed to and fro to show the way to each individual wagon. Beside the market wagons that went over West Bos- ton Bridge there was a stage that once a day made the trip between Harvard Square and Dock Square, Boston. By this time the bridge had become so profitable to the toll-keepers, inn-keepers, stage-drivers, etc., that another was opened to the east, known as Craigie's. The settlement about this bridge was the beginning of East Cambridge, as that about the West Boston Bridge was of Cambridgeport. There was intense rivalry and sectional feeling between the factions supporting the bridges as to which section should open up the most streets, and both places grew very fast. Canals were constructed through the marshes and wharves built at their edge. By 1815 the stage trips over West Boston Bridge were made twice a day, the first leaving Cambridge at [12 1 THE NEABNES8 OF KENDAU. SQUARE TO THE HEAKT OF BOSTON IS HERE APPARENT, DEACON HILL AND THE CUSTOM HOUSE APPEABINQ TO BE WITHIN A STONE's THROW OF THE BBIDQE 1Ef)t ♦ g)torp ♦ of * Eenball ♦ Square eight o'clock in the morning and returning at noon, and the second leaving at two o'clock and returning at six. Later, hourly stages were started, which were always hooted by the " Port chucks " (Cambridgeport urchins). The bridge remained in charge of the Proprietors of the West Boston Bridge until 1846, when it was sold to the " Hancock Free Bridge Corporation," who, in turn, on February 1, 1858, conveyed it to the City of Cambridge " as a free bridge forever." The opening of this as a free bridge, after so many years of toll paying, was an event of great importance to the citizens. The event was celebrated in an en- thusiastic manner by decorations, a monster proces- sion one and one-half miles long, fireworks and general rejoicing. In 1854, West Boston Bridge was rebuilt and widened to fifty feet, and seven hundred and fifty feet at its westerly end and sixty feet at its easterly end were filled solid. An interesting fact in connection with this bridge is that the first street railway built in New England passed over it, and was opened for travel [141 ^f)e ♦ ^torj> ♦ of ♦ Henball ♦ Square across the bridge and causeway on March 26, 1856. After fifty years, this bridge was found inadequate as a connecting Hnk between the two rapidly growing cities, and in 1907 it gave place to the present magnifi- cently designed Cambridge Bridge. This new bridge was constructed at a cost of over three milHon dollars, and was a part of the general plan of the development of the Charles River Basin. Six years later came the opening of the Cambridge Tunnel — operated first from Park Street to Harvard Square, but when completed, having its terminal at Andrew Square, South Boston. This stupendous under- taking was accomplished in four years, at a cost of twelve million dollars, including the power station located in Kendall Square. Some comparisons of the transportation facilities are interesting. Before 1792, one waved for the ferry, and the length of the passage was determined more or less by the velocity of the wind. In 1793, one stage a day favored the traveler; in 1815 two trips a day were possible, and somewhere between that date and 1850 it was possible to ride into Boston once an hour. [15] QTjje * ^torp ♦ of • i^enball • Square Slow, but steady progress! And then in 1857 came the horse cars, followed in 1889 by the electric cars, making the ride to Kendall Square a matter of minutes rather than hours. And finally the Tunnel with its three-minute ride between Kendall Square and Park Street. The name of Kendall Square is first noted in the city records of Cambridge in 1856, and is credited to Deacon Edward Kendall, for over half a century a prominent business man of that locality. Doubtless he patronized the stagecoach; we know he was a passenger on the first train through the new Cam- bridge Tunnel, for a Cambridge paper records that when the guard called " Kendall Square " some one called attention to the fact that Deacon Kendall was on the train, and he was heartily cheered by his fellow passengers. This, in brief, is the story of Kendall Square. But its real history is to be of the future. And in that history the next few years will be noteworthy. That our new plant occupies a central location in Kendall Square is cause for real pride on our part, and we plan to keep pace with the development of this locality. [16] LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 014 014 519 1 %