Somerville ma
In 1630, the area we now know as Somerville was settled as part of the town Charlestown. The area was mainly part of the Massachusetts mainland and not the Charlestown Peninsula and since Charlestown Neck was the name of the narrow strip of land that joined the two places, the area was back then referred to as Charlestown beyond the Neck. While Charlestown was growing and getting urbanized, this area was considered largely rural. So in 1842, it was separated from Charlestown and was officially incorporated as a town Somerville.
Back then, Somerville ma was actually home to many undesirable railway and industrial lands that were squeezed between the Mystic River to the northeast and the Charles River to the southwest. There was a time when Somerville was at times referred to as Slummerville. This was mainly due to the city s large blue-collar population and its reputation for crime, especially in the city's east.
But Somerville ma went through a transition period when its low-cost and physically deteriorated neighborhoods started to experience a physical reformation and even an increase in the property values during the 1990s. As a result, the name Slummerville became less and less prevalent.
The invention of Fluff - the marshmallow crime in the year 1917, just added to the legacy of Summerville s rich industrial background.
Even though Somerville was an ethnically diverse city, there wasn't that much unity. There were signs in real estate windows that stated Irish Catholic need not apply under their Flats for Rent boards. The city s mayor John J. Murphy (1929, hence was the first democratic mayor of
the city) tried to unite the Irish, Italians, Greeks and Portuguese people and did a good job. There were even candle parades with thousands of people marching to massive rallies for this.
Geography:
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city s total area comes up to approximately 10.9 km. Around 10.6 km of it is land, while 0.3 km of it is water.
Somerville ma has three area zip codes 2143, 2144 and 2145. It s also home to seven hills:
- Spring Hill
- Winter Hill
- Cobble Hill
- Walnut Hill
- Ploughed Hill
- Clarendon Hill
- Prospect Hill (one of the earliest American flags was raised here)
Culture:
Somerville boasts of a flourishing arts community. It offers a wide range of opportunities to showcase and enjoy one s art.
The Somerville Arts Council serves as the city's official cultural council. It has developed the Windows Art Project , which is a public art project joining together artists and local businesses. The council even offers programs for youth with it's Art Without Walls program. Not only that, but it also hosts a festival called the ArtBeat festival, which is held every year in the third weekend of July and includes music, dances, performance art, craft vendors, theater and more.
During the first weekend of May, the artists of Somerville open their studios to host one of the largest open studio event in the region. The city also offers a number of small galleries that provide opportunities for local artists, as well the general public to showcase their talents.
Education:
Lynn is home to many schools, such as:
- Edgerly School (preschool 1st Grade)
- Brown School (preschool 6th grade)
- Cummings School (preschool 6th grade)
- Healey School (preschool 6th grade)
- The East Somerville Community School (preschool 8th grade)
- Kennedy School (preschool 8th grade)
- The Lincoln Park Community School (preschool 8th grade)
- West Somerville Neighborhood School (preschool 8th grade)
- Winter Hill Community School (preschool 8th grade); and
- Somerville High School
It also offers a learning center for adults called SCALE (Somerville Center for Adult Learning Experiences).
For higher education, there s the Tufts University. Even though it s formally listed in the town of Medford, you can say its located in Somerville as well, since it actually spans along the Somerville-Medford city line.
POPULATION:
Somerville offers a blend of blue collar Irish-American, Italian-American and (comparatively lesser) Portuguese-American population that are spread all throughout the city.
There are also immigrants from Brazil, Haiti and El Salvador, who mostly reside in the area known as East Somerville. People from South Korea and India are mostly situated in the Union Square area. And college students and young professionals mainly live in areas near the city of Cambridge and even close to the Tufts University.
PROMINENT SOMERVILLE RESIDENTS:
Somerville was, and still is, home to some famous people:
- Linda Fisher artist
- Hal Clement author
- Alan Hovhaness, composer
- Henry Kimball Hadley composer
- Michael E. Capuano U.S Congressman
- Nick Gomez television and movie director
- Keri Rodrigues radio and television personality
- Howie Long football player, also inducted into the Hall of Fame
- Paul Sorrento Major League Baseball player from the year 1989 to 1999
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