Somerville, Massachusetts

Somerville is a city next to Boston and north of Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. In 2020, the city had 81,045 people living there. With an area of 4.12 square miles (10.7 km²), Somerville is the most crowded city in New England.

The city started as a town in 1842 after separating from Charlestown. Over the years, Somerville has received many honors, including being named the best-run city in Massachusetts by The Boston Globe in 2006. It also won the All-America City Award in 1972, 2009, and 2015.

Somerville is home to Tufts University, which has its campus near the border with Medford. The city's close location to Boston and Cambridge makes it a popular place for students and professionals.

History

See also: Timeline of Somerville, Massachusetts

Indigenous settlement

The area that would become Somerville was home to people for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. Many places along the Mystic River show that people lived there as far back as the Archaic Period, between 8000 and 1000 BCE. When English settlers arrived in the 1600s, the area was part of the land of the Mystic Tribe of the Naumkeag people, led by the Squaw Sachem and her son Wonohaquaham. Records from the time suggest there was a village near College Hill.

In 1627, Wonohaquaham allowed English settlers to build a village in Charlestown, which later included what is now Somerville. In 1639, the Squaw Sachem gave the land that would become Somerville to English settlers.

Early European colonization

Somerville was first settled by Europeans in 1629 as part of Charlestown. That year, English surveyor Thomas Graves led a group of 100 Puritans from Salem to prepare the area for more settlers moving from England. Graves liked the narrow Mishawum Peninsula between the Charles and Mystic rivers, near today’s Sullivan Square. The first settlers lived around City Square on the peninsula, though Charlestown at the time included all of what is now Somerville, Medford, Everett, Malden, Stoneham, Melrose, Woburn, Burlington, and parts of Arlington and Cambridge. Until 1842, the area was called "beyond the Neck," referring to the narrow land strip, the Charlestown Neck, connecting it to Charlestown.

The first known European settler in Somerville was John Woolrich, an trader who arrived from Charlestown in 1630 and settled near today’s Dane Street. Others soon joined him near Union Square. In 1639, colonists officially got the land that is now Somerville from the Squaw Sachem of Mistick. The population grew slowly, and by 1775, about 500 people lived there. The land was mostly used for grazing and farming.

John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was given 600 acres of land in the area in 1631. Named Ten Hills Farm for the ten small hills there, it stretched from present-day Medford Square to Convent Hill in East Somerville. Winthrop lived there, raised cattle, and built the first ship in Massachusetts, the "Blessing of the Bay." Built for trade, it was later used as a patrol boat for the coast of New England. The neighborhood of Ten Hills in East Somerville still has its name today. Recent research shows that enslaved Native American people were held on the property not long after Winthrop moved there.

Soon, settlers built roads in all directions to find more land for farming and trade with nearby Native American tribes. The earliest road, laid out in the mid-1630s, was probably what is now Washington Street, leading from Sullivan Square to Harvard Square. It was first called the "Road to Newtowne," which later became Cambridge. During the 1700s and early 1800s, Somerville Avenue was known as "Milk Row," a favorite route for Middlesex County dairy farmers to reach markets in Charlestown and Boston.

Broadway was likely the second road built, laid out in 1636. First called "Menotomie's Road," it went from the Charlestown Neck to the village of Menotomy (now Arlington). It started with farms along it but became a busy street after horse-drawn trolleys began using it in 1858.

Role in the Revolutionary War

Somerville was the site of one of the first actions of the American Revolutionary War. In 1774, British soldiers took gunpowder from a storehouse, which caused a big public reaction and helped start the war.

The Old Powder House, built as a windmill in the early 1700s, was sold to Massachusetts in 1747 to hold gunpowder. It was at the corner of Broadway and College Avenue in today’s Powder House Square and held the most gunpowder in Massachusetts. General Thomas Gage, who became military governor of Massachusetts in May 1774, wanted to stop war by secretly moving military supplies from places in New England.

On September 1, 1774, about 260 British soldiers rowed up the Mystic River from Boston to a landing near Winter Hill. They marched about one mile to the Powder House and took all the gunpowder. Most soldiers returned to Boston, but a small group went to Cambridge and took two cannons from Cambridge Common. They took the gunpowder and cannons to Castle Island in Boston Harbor, then called Castle William.

People across the countryside heard about the raid and thought war was coming. Thousands of militiamen headed toward Boston and Cambridge, and some Loyalists and government officers fled to the British Army for safety. This event was a practice for the Battles of Lexington and Concord seven months later, and it made feelings stronger on both sides.

After the Powder House raid, the colonists hid weapons and supplies in Concord. When General Gage learned this, he decided to take the supplies by force if needed. Americans found out that the British planned to leave Boston for Concord on April 18, 1775. Couriers Paul Revere and William Dawes rode out to warn farmers and militiamen between Boston and Concord, including Sam Adams and John Hancock. Revere mentioned a spot in Somerville in his account of his ride. He escaped them and continued to Winter Hill, warning people so the militia could get ready for battle.

Soon after Revere’s ride, Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith and 700 British soldiers landed near Lechmere Square. Because East Cambridge was an island at high tide, the soldiers had to walk through deep water to reach Somerville. They likely came through Prospect Street to Washington Street and Union Square.

After losing at Lexington and Concord, the British Army went back through Somerville to Boston. At Union Square, British soldiers marched down Washington Street to the base of Prospect Hill, where a small fight happened. James Miller, a 65-year-old militman, was shot after telling a retreating soldier he was too old to run.

Somerville was very important during the Siege of Boston, which lasted nine months. Prospect Hill became a main position for the Continental Army because of its height and good view of Boston and the harbor. It was first held by 400 men but became a big camp after General Israel Putnam left the Battle of Bunker Hill. On January 1, 1776, the Continental Union Flag was raised there for the first time.

Independence, urbanization and rapid growth

After the Revolutionary War, Somerville’s residents could focus on work again. From the 1780s until Somerville separated from Charlestown in 1842, progress was steady but slow. As transportation improved, new industries like brickmaking, quarrying, and dairy farming began.

Transportation changes in the early to mid-1800s helped Somerville grow into a more urban residential area and become a city in 1872. These changes included the Middlesex Canal in 1803, turnpikes like Medford and Beacon streets in the 1810s and 1820s, and rail lines. In 1841, the Fitchburg Railroad was built between Boston and Fresh Pond in Cambridge, going along Somerville Avenue. This led to new industries along the railroad. In 1843, the Fitchburg Railroad started carrying passengers, which helped people live on the south slopes of Prospect and Spring hills. By the early 1840s, Somerville’s population passed 1,000 for the first time.

Even with growth, people in Somerville were unhappy because they paid taxes to Charlestown but got little in return. By 1842, the area had no churches, few schools, no taverns, and bad roads. With more people and trade, the cost of city services went up, and the rural part of Charlestown felt it was paying for things it didn’t benefit from.

In 1828, a request was made to the Legislature to split part of Charlestown off as a new town called Warren, but it was withdrawn. People kept wanting to be separate, and in 1841, unhappy with the government not meeting their needs, they started pushing for division again. A meeting was held on November 22 in the Prospect Hill schoolhouse.

A petition was signed by Guy C. Hawkins and 151 others, and a committee was sent to the legislature. A bill to create a new town was signed by the governor on March 3, 1842. The original name choice was Walford, after the first settler of Charlestown, Thomas Walford, but the committee didn’t pick it. Charles Miller, a committee member, suggested “Somerville,” which was chosen. The name has no link to a person.

Before becoming its own town in 1842, Somerville was mostly home to British farmers and brick makers who sold goods in Boston, Cambridge, and Charlestown markets. As markets grew, Somerville’s population grew six times between 1842 and 1870 to 14,685 people. With many new immigrants, industry boomed, and brick making became a big business. Before machines, Somerville made 1.3 million bricks a year. After machines, production jumped to 5.5 million bricks a year, and the success attracted other industries. In 1851, American Tubes Works opened, followed by meat processing and packaging plants. Other factories made steam engines, boilers, household appliances, glass, and iron.

Somerville became a city in 1872. Population growth was partly because of better transportation, including a new rail line, the Lexington and Arlington Railroad, through Davis Square in 1870. At its peak, Somerville had eight passenger rail stations. The city’s economy was strong, with industries often located near freight rail lines, away from where people lived. By the mid-1870s, meat packing plants were the main employers and money makers.

The Late Industrial Period (1870–1915) was a time of big growth for Somerville in many areas, including city and business projects. Infrastructure like rail, water, telegraph, and electricity was built and connected to nearby towns. The population grew from 15,000 to 90,000. Brickmaking grew after railroads came in the 1830s, and Somerville’s brickyards boomed until 1870. Meatpacking then became the main industry, and Somerville was called “The Chicago of New England.” The city’s location next to Boston and its good rail and road links made it perfect for distribution centers.

During this time, Irish immigrants moved to Somerville to work in brickyards and on railroads. Older residents from East Boston and Charlestown also moved to Somerville for a quieter life. They worked to keep political control over immigrant groups, using slogans like “Keep Somerville Republican” and creating a local branch of the anti-Catholic American Protective Association.

From 1915 to 1930, population growth slowed as industries consolidated instead of expanding. The main businesses were meat packing, dairy processing, ice, and food distribution. In 1920, 73% of meatpacking in Massachusetts happened in Somerville. The McGrath Highway was built in 1925, marking a shift for Somerville as an industrial city. This sped up when Ford Motor Company built a plant in Assembly Square in 1926. After that, Somerville changed into a major industrial center as car assembly became more important than meat packing.

By 1930, 70% of Somerville residents were either born outside the United States or had parents who were. About 60% of the population was Catholic at the time.

Union Square and Davis Square were the biggest commercial areas in the first few decades of the 1900s, but smaller squares also grew. Ball Square, Magoun Square, and Teele Square developed with one- or two-story commercial buildings, and Gilman Square had multiple four-story commercial buildings around the park. Retail and banking also spread. During this time of industrial success, which lasted through World War II, Somerville reached its highest population of 105,883 in 1940. Building continued until the 1940s, creating the dense residential areas the city is known for.

Deindustrialization and decline

By the middle of the 20th century, social and economic changes caused a period of industrial and population decline that lasted into the 1980s. After World War II, the rise of cars had big effects on Somerville. Streetcar lines that had crossed the city since 1890 were removed, and commuter rail service stopped at the city’s eight stations one by one. Passenger rail service on the Fitchburg and Lowell lines had been decreasing for some time, and stations like the Winter Hill station at Gilman Square were taken out as early as the late 1940s. All passenger rail service stopped by 1958.

More and more cars filled Somerville’s streets, and road building projects increased. The Alewife Brook Parkway, Mystic Valley Parkway, and Fells Connector Parkways, first planned in the 1890s for city residents to reach parks, became busy roads for people commuting from the suburbs. Highway projects, supported by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, sometimes destroyed whole neighborhoods. The Brickbottom neighborhood was torn down in 1950 for a planned Inner Belt Expressway, and building Interstate 93 destroyed homes in The States neighborhood in the late 1960s.

In 1970, the state allowed rent control in cities with more than 50,000 people. Somerville, Lynn, Brookline, and Cambridge started rent control. Rent control was ended statewide in 1994 through a vote. At the time, only Boston, Cambridge, and Brookline still had rent control.

Industry moved outward to the edges of the metropolitan area, drawn by highways and cheaper, empty land. The Ford Motor Plant in Assembly Square, one of the region’s biggest employers, closed in 1958, which hurt the local economy. From the late 1950s to the early 1970s, Finast Supermarkets used the building that had been the Ford plant on Middlesex Avenue, but it closed in 1976. By 1976, Assembly Square was becoming empty: Finast Stores, the Boston and Maine Railroad, and Ford Motor Company, which each paid the city over $1 million a year in taxes, were all gone. By the late 1970s, Somerville was losing people, money, and jobs.

Contemporary revitalization

In the late 20th century, Somerville’s situation stabilized and growth returned, starting in West Somerville and then spreading.

Almost thirty years after passenger rail service stopped, the Red Line Northwest Extension reached Davis Square in 1984. The city and community used the new station to help renew the area, bringing new businesses and making improvements. But when the station opened, businesses around Davis Square didn’t do well at first. The number of retail stores dropped from 68 in 1977 to 56 in 1987.

However, many non-retail businesses, like beauty salons and real estate offices, moved into empty retail spaces. With the Boston area recovering from a long recession, the area began to come back. By 2009, the community’s goal of renewing commercial activity and public transit was achieved. Retail empty spaces around the square were almost gone by 2013.

The growth in telecommunications and biotechnology in the mid-to-late 1990s helped Somerville’s renewal. Like the housing boom a century earlier, the sudden increase in jobs in Somerville, Boston, and especially Cambridge—and in nearby areas—caused a new rise in demand for housing. The end of rent control in Cambridge in 1995, along with the economic recovery, increased demand for Somerville’s more affordable housing.

The city once had a very high car theft rate, being the car theft capital of the country at one point, and its Assembly Square area was famous for this. Until the 1990s, Somerville was nicknamed “Slumerville” because of low property values, its blue-collar residents, and its reputation for crime. However, after a period of gentrification in the 1990s and an influx of artists, this nickname mostly disappeared, and the city gained a reputation for its active arts community and effective government, being named the best-run city in Massachusetts in 2006. In 2022, the Green Line Extension was completed, bringing passenger rail service to five new stations in Somerville.

Today, grassroots groups are working to keep Somerville’s “small-town” neighborhood feel by supporting local businesses, public transit, and gardens. For some residents, efforts like the Green Line extension present a balance between making public transit more accessible and keeping housing affordable.

Geography

Somerville, Massachusetts, is a small city that covers 4.2 square miles, including a little water. It is next to several places like Cambridge, Medford, Everett, Arlington, and the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown. The city is close to the Mystic River.

Long ago, glaciers changed the land and made hills. These hills are called the "Seven Hills" of Somerville, and they give nice views. The shops and businesses in Somerville are not all in one downtown area. Instead, they are in different squares and neighborhoods, like Davis Square and Assembly Square. Each of these places has its own special feel because of old train stops and the shape of the land.

Demographics

See also: List of Massachusetts locations by per capita income

Somerville grew a lot after the Red Line of Boston's MBTA subway was extended there in 1985. Many new people moved in, especially near Cambridge, close to schools like Harvard University, Lesley University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This growth happened quickly during the dot-com bubble in the late 1990s.

People in Somerville come from many different backgrounds. Many students and young professionals live near Cambridge. There are also families from different cultures, like Irish American, Italian American, Greek American, and Portuguese American families.

In 1997, the Utne Reader named Davis Square in Somerville one of the coolest places to live in the U.S.

Somerville has a strong arts community with many artists.

Racial and ethnic composition

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Somerville had a population of 81,045 and was very crowded, with many people living close together.

The median age was 31.4 years. Most people in Somerville lived in urban areas.

The city offers translation services and alerts in Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, and Nepali.

Income

The median income for a household in Somerville was $108,896 (in 2021 dollars). About 10.4% of people lived below the poverty line.

Economy

Somerville has a fun history making popular foods, like Marshmallow Fluff, invented by Archibald Query. The city was also where the first Economy Grocery Store opened, which later became the Stop & Shop chain. Nearby, Steve's Ice Cream and Bertucci's restaurants started in Davis Square.

Today, Somerville has many businesses, such as Gentle Giant Moving Company, Formlabs, Candlewick Press, and Evergage. In 2016, a big healthcare system called Mass General Brigham moved its main office to Assembly Square. Since then, more companies have built offices in areas like Assembly Row and Union Square. Plans are underway to connect these areas better with walking and cycling paths.

Arts and culture

Davis Square is home to the Somerville Theatre, which used to house the Museum of Bad Art and hosts the Independent Film Festival of Boston each spring. Union Tavern and the Crystal Ballroom are places where live music is played in the city.

Somerville holds Porchfest every May, a festival with around 200 bands performing at people’s homes. This event started in 2011. There are also two big art studios, Brickbottom Artists Building and Joy Street Studios, in the Brickbottom area. The Brickbottom Artists Association has held open studio events every fall since 1987. Starlab Studios, a space for artists, opened in Union Square in 2009. Artisan's Asylum on Tyler Street is a place where people can make and create things, with many members and students joining since 2011.

The Somerville Public Library has three branches. The Somerville Arts Council and Somerville Open Studios organize yearly events that include the community in local arts. The Boston group Dorkbot meets in Somerville. Every year since 2006, the Fluff Festival celebrates the invention of Marshmallow Fluff in Somerville, with fun activities and a special event called "What the Fluff?" led by Union Square Main Streets.

The Halloween song Monster Mash was written and performed by Bobby "Boris" Pickett, who was born in Somerville.

Points of interest

Dilboy Stadium

George Dilboy Memorial Stadium is a public stadium used for many sports. It is where the Boston Renegades women's football team plays. It was also home to the Boston Militia women's football team from 2008 to 2014 and the Boston Breakers women's soccer club in 2012 and 2013. The stadium is named after George Dilboy, who received a brave award during World War I.

Historic places

Somerville has eighty-four special places listed as important in American history. These include homes, libraries, roads, churches, and other important spots.

Somerville Museum

The Somerville Museum keeps items and stories about the city's history and art. It is located at 1 Westwood Road, on the corner of Central Street.

Parks and recreation

The Somerville Community Path is a tree-lined rail trail that runs from Lowell Street to the Cambridge border near Davis Square. It connects with the Alewife Linear Park, which links to the Minuteman Bikeway and the Fitchburg Cutoff Path. Community activists hope to extend the path to Lechmere Square, connecting it to the Charles River Bike Paths and the proposed East Coast Greenway.

The Recreation Department offers many fun activities for people of all ages, including summer playgrounds, outdoor games and sports leagues, theater groups, and a busy Senior Citizens Club.

Government

Somerville has a mayor and city council that help run the city. The council has four members who represent the whole city and seven members who represent different parts of Somerville. The city has had a mayor since 1872. The current mayor is Jake Wilson.

Somerville is part of Massachusetts's 7th congressional district and is represented by Ayanna Pressley in the United States House of Representatives. For state representation, Somerville is in the Second Middlesex district for the Massachusetts Senate and parts of it are in the 26th, 27th, and 34th Middlesex districts for the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

In 1987, Somerville became a sanctuary city, meaning it supports people who have come to live here even if their papers are not in order. This status has been confirmed many times.

Somerville also has many homes for people who need help paying for their housing. Over 4,000 people live in these homes.

Education

Somerville has a School Committee with seven elected members, plus the Mayor and the City Council President, who help decide on school budgets.

The city runs ten schools from pre-kindergarten to secondary levels. Most schools go from kindergarten through 8th grade.

Somerville High School is next to City Hall in Winter Hill. The school offers many programs, including music and sports.

Somerville is also home to Tufts University, which is mainly located in the northwestern part of the city. Other schools, like Lincoln Technical Institute and Lesley University, also have campuses in Somerville.

Media

Somerville has several news sources that help share information with its community. These include Somerville Community Access Television, The Boston Globe, The Transcript & Journal, The Somerville News Weekly, and The Somerville Times.

The public radio show Living on Earth is recorded in Davis Square. Somerville is also home to Candlewick Press, a company that prints children’s books.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Somerville was built to make it easy to use public transportation. Its streets are arranged so walking and using buses or trains is simple. The city has many stops for the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA), which helps people travel around.

Rail

Somerville has seven train stations where people can catch the subway. There is Davis station on the Red Line, Assembly station on the Orange Line, and several stops on the Green Line including Union Square, East Somerville, Gilman Square, Magoun Square, and Ball Square. Some of these stations were built recently in 2022.

Road

Even though many people in Somerville use public transport, there are big roads that go through the city. One important road is McGrath Highway, which connects different parts of the city. Another major road is the Northern Expressway (Massachusetts), which runs through Somerville and separates some neighborhoods.

Walking and cycling

Somerville is a great city for walking and biking. Many people ride bikes to work, and the city has special paths for walking and biking. There are also stations for Bluebikes where people can rent bikes to get around.

Bus

Many people in Somerville use the bus to get around. There are lots of bus routes, and thousands of people ride the buses every day.

Emergency services

Somerville has firefighters who work to keep the city safe. They have fire stations all over the city and work with medical services to help people who are sick or hurt.

Waste

The city helps people get rid of their trash. They pick up recycling, yard waste, and other types of trash for people who live in smaller buildings. They also have special ways to recycle clothes and other materials.

Notable people

Somerville has been home to many interesting people over the years. Some of them include Gregory H. Adamian, who was a leader at Bentley University, and Mike Capuano, who served in the House of Representatives and was mayor of Somerville.

Other notable individuals include Gosder Cherilus, a player in the National Football League, Neil Cicierega, a musician and filmmaker, and Randall Munroe, a well-known cartoonist and writer. There are many more people from different fields who lived in or were born in Somerville.

Sister cities

Somerville has special connections, called sister cities, with places in other countries. These include:

• Gaeta in Italy
• Nordeste in Portugal
• Tiznit in Morocco
• Yucuaiquín in El Salvador