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"Sketches of Lynn Or The Changes Of Fifty Years" by David N. Johnson

Transcribed and submitted by Shaun Cook To help transcribe or submit information, please e-mail  Shaun Cook.

LYNN COMMON, pgs. 290-303

    

     The Common of the ante-revolutionary period - as well as of a much later time - was quite a different looking place from the Common as it appears to-day. Precisely what its boundaries were in early times it is impossible to tell, as the earliest town records are almost silent on the subject, and only the vaguest traditions exist concerning a matter that runs behind the memory of the oldest among the living. That its general limits were nearly the same a hundred years ago, as now, is more than probable, as several houses, marking its outline on South Common street on the one side and North Common street on the other, are in existence, whose foundations were laid more than a century ago. There is pretty clear evidence that what is now Ash street was once its boundary on one side at that point, and that the land now covered by the "Arcade" building, and others, extending as far as Elm street, was included within the limits of the Common hardly as far back as the days of the Revolution. Some have supposed that the "Old Burying Ground" was originally included in the Common; but as this spot was used as a burial ground by the earliest settlers, before boundaries had any such significance, and when an indefinite amount of land was designated "common lands," it was probably no more a part of the Common than many other unimproved acres lying adjacent. At the east end, between the old Methodist Church and the Johnson estate opposite - where now stands the City Hall - the space was much narrower as late as 1812, when the church was built. The first church built by this society, in 1791, stood until this time directly in front, about seven feet distant, facing the new structure until that was finished. This brought the old building to a line about eight feet beyond the curbstone of the present sidewalk. The corner of Market and South Common streets then projected several feet into what is now the street at that point, so that travel passed round this somewhat abrupt turn by the rear of the old church.

     There was not much change in the vicinity of the Common for the next fifteen years, except the few houses built on either side. Down to this time there was quite a large number of trees upon and around the Common; and as late as 1848, when it was fenced, there were, as stated by Mr. Newhall in his History, three hundred and forty-seven trees upon it, including those within the railing and along the sidewalk. 

     The first important step toward adorning the Common with shade trees was taken by Aaron Breed, near the close of the last century. Mr. Breed was the uncle of Theophilus N. Breed, well known in our community, and especially well known to all shoemakers of the last generation as the veteran dealer in all kinds of shoe kit; and his old findings store was on the premises near which, and in whose neighborhood, his uncle set those trees, whose beauty attracted the attention of the passers-by for more than half a century, and whose fragrance filled the air with its grateful odors. The trees set out by Mr. Breed were elms, the Lombardy poplar - often called the English poplar - and balm of Gilead. The elms were set in front of his residence - now the estate of Dr. Blethen, next to the east corner of Pleasant and South Common streets - and along the line of the sidewalk for some distance. The balm of Gilead and poplars were set on the southerly side of the Common, extending a considerable distance east and west from this point. One of our oldest residents informs the writer that the elms were set out first. Several of those noble trees remained until a few years since, some having died, as was supposed, from the effects of gas soon after it was introduced into the city.

     In 1820 the next step toward ornamenting the Common with shade trees was made. A public benefactor at this time appeared in the person of William Wood, known to many of the old citizens of Lynn as "Billy Wood." The writer has not been able to gather many facts relating to the history of this gentleman before he came among us, or subsequent to his departure. It is said that he came from Boston, and was supposed to be a retired merchant. He was in the habit of visiting Lynn and Nahant periodically, and when at the latter place boarded with William Breed, who kept the only boarding-house on Nahant at that time. His house stood on the spot now covered by Whitney's Hotel, built in 1819. Mr. Breed was the grandfather of the late William N. Breed. It was Mr. Wood who gave the first impulse of setting out trees on Nahant, ante-dating Mr. Tudor in this particular by several years. Mr. Wood was accustomed to visit the various shops while stopping in Lynn, and of directing the attention of our citizens to the importance of improving her sidewalks and adorning the Common with trees. He made a proposition to furnish the trees if the citizens would lend their assistance in setting them out. One of our oldest residents - James Bacheller, now residing on Summer street - informed the writer that he, with his two brothers, gave a week's time in carrying out this worthy enterprise. Under this arrangement a large number of trees were set out around the Common, the sidewalks in the neighborhood graded, and the general appearance of this locality much improved. Not the least part of the work done by this public-spirited and far-sighted man was the stimulus given to individual enterprise in this direction. Owners of estates on either side of the Common - as well as elsewhere - had their interest awakened at this time to the improvement and adornment of our public streets; and, according to the law which binds the interests of mankind together, the general welfare was subserved by each man's desire to adorn his immediate premises . Mr. Wood was, at this time, about fifty years of age; was regarded as somewhat eccentric, and a bachelor. Whether his eccentricity had anything to do with his being a bachelor is a matter of no historic importance; but it is certain that his eccentricity in this particular had more common sense in its operation than the concentricity of a large part of mankind.

     Associated with Mr. Wood in this enterprise, and foremost in aiding the work with both time and money, was our venerable, public-spirited citizen, Henry A. Breed. Mr. Breed is still living among us, an active, hale old man, now in his eighty-first year. The record of his long , busy life - a life identified with every step in the march of improvement that has carried us forward from a comparatively insignificant town of four thousand inhabitants to a city of more than nine times that number, would be a great part of the history of the business changes of the last sixty years.

     In 1829 or 1830 - for the town records are strangely silent upon this matter - the third and greatest improvement was undertaken. At this time the Common was plowed up, its surface leveled, and its sides ornamented with many additional trees.

     In 1830 an association was formed which aimed at a scheme of more general improvement. This organization, as will be seen, included nearly all the prominent men in the town at the time. The following was its list of members: Dr. James Gardner, Andrews Breed, George Johnson, Samuel T. Huse, Benjamin Massey, Joseph Breed, 3d, Henry A. Breed, John Caldwell, William Caldwell, Calley Newhall, Jr., Joseph Lye, Christopher Robinson, Paul Newhall, Thomas Bowler, Joseph M. Nye, Daniel L. Mudge, Stephen Oliver, Col. Samuel Brimblecom, Samuel Bacheller, 3d, James Hudson, Theophilus Newhall, Jr., Capt. Amos Attwill, John B. Chase, Joseph A. Lloyd, James P. Boyce, John Lovejoy, Isaac Gates, Esq., John Alley, 3d, Benjamin Clifford, Dr. Richard Hazeltine, Jonathan Buffum, Edmund Munroe, Nathan Breed, Nathan D. Chase, Moses Breed, Abel Houghton, Jr., Gideon Phillips, Samuel Tufts, Richard Richards, Samuel Neal, Ebenezer Brown, Samuel Ireson, Ezra Curtin, Jacob Ingalls, Thomas H. Attwill, Moses Goodridge, Jr., Samuel Larrabee, Matthew Mansfield, William Clark, William Bassett, Micajah C. Pratt and Dr. William B. Brown.

     From the impulse given by this association several of our principal streets at that time were more or less lined with young trees. Many of the fine trees that adorned Summer street, and other streets in the neighborhood of the Common, were set during the prevalence of the "tree fever" that raged at that period; and all parts of the town felt, to a greater or less extent, its influence. Many of these trees, as well as those of an older growth, were blown down, or so shattered as to destroy their symmetry and beauty, in the great tornado that swept over the city on the 8th of September, 1869. The record by the Surveyor of Streets shows that five men and two horses were engaged four weeks in removing the wrecks of noble trees that obstructed the streets and sidewalks in every part of the city.

     Let us now take a look at the Common as it appeared to the eye of the beholder sixty years ago. It wore a very different aspect from that which now presents itself - a level green, crossed with graveled walks, adorned with fine trees, and surrounded with a substantial and ornamental fence. It was then an uneven stretch of grass land, several feet lower at certain points than it is at present, while its highest section was somewhat above the most elevated part of the grade as it now appears. It was an open space, free to all the cows and other animals of the neighborhood, and through its center, or a little to the north of it, run the only "made" street - except the turnpike - within the limits of the town. What is now North Common street was then an ill-defined country road. It was not a "made" street till 1830. Along where South Common street is now there was considerable travelling. in the dry season, as far as the brook which crossed the Common from the north side near the west corner of what is now Baker street. Travel passed over this brook on the south side of the Common on a rickety wooden bridge; and as the land on either side of this bridge was low, heavy rains or melting snows made it a hard road, if not an impossible way, to travel. Then teams would turn out on to the higher and dryer parts of the Common, and as a consequence it was more or less used as a highway as comfort, or convenience, dictated. At the west end of the Common, as now enclosed, was a "knoll," or elevation of land, gradually sloping away to a depression known as "Academy Hollow," so called because it was opposite the old Academy, which stood near the spot now occupied by the residence of R. A. Spalding, a little west of the head of Vine street. In winter this was a fine skating pond for the boys. From this point eastward the land rose to the highest elevation reached between the east and west end of the Common, the land at this point being nearly on the same level then as now. On this rise of land stood the "Old Tunnel Meeting House." Eastward of this section the land was somewhat lower, its lowest point being crossed by the brook above-mentioned. Here the road, which ran at the north side of the buildings then occupying the Common, crossed the brook over a wooden bridge. This brook afterward ran into or rather through the Frog Pond, when that was constructed in 1838 or 1839. The basin of this pond was made under the superintendence of Otis Newhall. It was about three feet deep - its sloping sides measuring some four feet - and enclosed with a fence. In 1848, when the Common was fenced, its sides were walled up, and curbstones set around its edges; and twenty-three years later, in 1871, the brook was turned into the sewer, the bottom of the pond cemented, and the basin supplied with water from Breed's pond.

     The depression on either side of this brook was called "Meeting House Hollow," when it was not called "Goose Hollow." This also was a skating pond for the boys in winter. From this brook eastward the Common was somewhat higher; and at a point opposite Church street (then not opened) there was quite an elevation, or "knoll," as it is termed in the town records, when this part of the Common was designated as the site of the old school house, which was removed from Franklin street in 1752. From this point eastward the land was nearly level.

     Looking westward from the east end of the Common, the first building that would attract attention was the Ward Five Grammar School House, which stood between the site of the Soldiers' Monument and Franklin street, occupying a portion of what is now the road-bed of North Common street at that point. This school house was built in 1810 for Ward Six - Ward Six then including, for the most part, what is now Ward Five and a portion of Ward Four - and was removed to Franklin street, opposite the present site of the Cobbet School House, in the Fall of 1823.

     The first building within the limits of the Common, as one looked from the east, was the Old Town House, its wide doors, like the gates of Janus, facing both ways - east and west. The southwestern corner of the lower floor was used by the Light Infantry as an armory, and a room on the southerly side was occupied by the Selectmen whenever occasion required. The remainder of the lower story was an open space, through which the military marched on "training days" to the Gun House in the rear, to stack their arms, when the service of the day was over. It stood about mid-way between North Common street and South Common street. It was built in 1814, and was removed from the Common, in 1832, to the lot on South Common street, nearly opposite, on the spot where Blossom street enters it - Blossom court, when opened, ending at the rear of the Town Hall yard. It was destroyed by fire on the night of October 6th, 1864.

     Next came the Gun House, standing several rods at the west, and in range of the Town Hall. It was built in 1809 to receive the "great guns" sent by the United States government at that time when the disturbed state of our relations with Great Britain threatened the war which came in 1812. It was removed from the Common the same year - probably - in which the Town House was removed, and occupied a lot in the southwest corner of the Town House yard.

     Next came what was known as the Attwill House. According to common report, it was built in 1682, by the first parish as a residence for the sexton of the church. It came into the possession of the Attwill family some seventy-five years later. There seems to be pretty, good evidence that it was built at the above date. The present occupant of the house - Miss Ruth A. Attwill - remembers that she saw a tablet brought to light, when a partition was taken down, on which was inscribed: "BUILT JUNE, 1682." It stood about mid-way between North and South Common streets, nearly opposite the head of Baker street, and was built from timber cut from the Common - oak and pine - and its walls filled in with brick, as was common in those days. It is a two-story, low-posted structure, its narrow windows of irregular sizes, and its massive beams furnishing a contrast with the capacious, light - framed and more symmetrically - planned dwellings of the present day. As it stood on the Common, it was surrounded by a picket fence, which inclosed a half-acre of land, on which was an orchard of fifteen apple trees, two peach trees, and two cherry trees, besides a plat cultivated as a garden. The house formed part of the western end of the enclosure, and was a few rods east of the brook above-mentioned. It was moved from the Common, in 1835, to the lot where it now stands, on Whiting street, on the right, entering Whiting street from the Common. It is now (1879) one of the oldest houses in the city, and is still occupied by Miss Ruth A. Attwill, the granddaughter of Zachary Attwill, who purchased it of his great aunts about the year 1780. In its external appearance it has not undergone much change; and its internal arrangements remained the same for about a century, since which time it has been subject to various modifications.

     The next building was the old engine house, built in 1797 for the first engine used in town - the "Relief." It stood a little west of the brook on the north side of the Common. It was moved, in 1832, across North Common street to a lot near the corner of Harwood street.

     The next building was the Old Tunnel Meeting House, built in 1682. It stood in the center of the Common, nearly opposite - a little to the west - the head of Whiting street. It was removed in 1827 to its present site, corner of Commercial and South Common streets, at which time it was remodeled, and to a considerable extent rebuilt.
 
     The next building was the school house belonging to the sixth district. It stood opposite the eastern end of what is now the "Arcade" building, or just outside the west end of the Common as now enclosed. It was built, probably, about the year 1790.

     The fence, already alluded to, was placed around the Common (1848) at a cost of $2,500. The town was mainly indebted for this needed protection and ornament, to the efforts of a company of public spirited ladies. In the last three days of September, of the above-named year, they held a fair in Exchange Hall - then just built - by which they obtained the sum of about $1,400. Other sums were obtained by subscription sufficient to complete the work.

     A small plat at the easterly end was enclosed at the same time as a Park. Directly in front of the east end of the Park the Soldiers' Monument was placed, and dedicated September 17th, 1873.

     During the past few years the grade of the Common has been gradually raised, and its general appearance improved. Under the charge of an efficient forester new trees are planted, and old and unsightly ones removed. There are at present on the Common two hundred and thirteen trees, about four-fifths of which are elms, the rest lindens, rock maples and horse chestnuts. In the Park there are fifty trees, mostly elms.

     As late as 1825 there were nineteen houses- including two meeting houses and one bank - on South Common street, and twenty-six on North Common street, including the Lynn Hotel. Besides these there were four on the Common at that date. Of these forty-nine buildings, there are ten now standing on the south side, and nineteen on the north side. The Common contains seven and one- fourth acres.

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