Editing Somerville, Massachusetts (section)

===Independence, urbanization and rapid growth===
With the Revolutionary War over, the residents of Somerville were able once again to devote their energies wholeheartedly to the business of making a living. From the 1780s until Somerville's separation from Charlestown in 1842, material progress was continuous, if a bit slow. As transportation infrastructure gradually transformed the area, new industries sprang up, such as brickmaking, quarrying and dairy farming.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Samuels |first1=Edward A. (Edward Augustus) |url=http://archive.org/details/somervillepast00samu |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 |last2=Kimball |first2=Henry H. (Henry Hastings) |date=1897 |publisher=Boston : Samuels and Kimball |others=New York Public Library}}</ref>

Transportation improvements in the early to mid-1800s factored significantly in the growth of a more urban residential form and Somerville's incorporation as a City in 1872. These improvements included the opening of the [[Middlesex Canal]] through Somerville in 1803,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://mvtf.wordpress.com/mystic-river-walking-tour/sullivan-square-and-transportation-changes/ |title= Sullivan Square: Part 1 of 3 |website= Somerville Development Forum |date= July 22, 2012 |access-date= December 6, 2013 |archive-date= December 18, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131218092412/http://mvtf.wordpress.com/mystic-river-walking-tour/sullivan-square-and-transportation-changes/ |url-status= live }}</ref> various turnpikes such as Medford and Beacon streets, built during the 1810s and 1820s, and especially the introduction of rail lines. In 1841, the [[Fitchburg Railroad]] was built between Boston and [[Fresh Pond (Cambridge, Massachusetts)|Fresh Pond]] in Cambridge, paralleling the route of Somerville Avenue. This led to the establishment of industries along its path. Soon after, in 1843 the Fitchburg Railroad commenced passenger service and enabled residential development along the southern slopes of Prospect and Spring hills. By the early 1840s, the population of present-day Somerville topped 1,000 for the first time.<ref name="The Tufts Daily">{{cite news | url=http://www.tuftsdaily.com/2.5519/the-making-of-somerville-a-working-history-1.600218#.UqO2Z42E6IY | title=The making of Somerville: A working history | publisher=The Tufts Daily | date=April 22, 2004 | access-date=December 7, 2013 | author=Roan, Dan | work=tuftsdaily.com | archive-date=December 13, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213095209/http://www.tuftsdaily.com/2.5519/the-making-of-somerville-a-working-history-1.600218#.UqO2Z42E6IY | url-status=live }}</ref>

Despite the growth, however, discontent was growing steadily outside the "neck". The area's rural farmers paid taxes to the local government in Charlestown, but received little in return. By 1842, the area had no churches, few schools, no taverns, and suffered from poor and impassable roads. For many years after the Revolution the two parts of Charlestown styled "within" and "without the neck" were nearly equal in population; the former had by this time completely outstripped the latter. With this growth of population and trade came the need of city institutions, and consequently greater expenses were involved. Therefore, the rural part of Charlestown found itself contributing to the paving of the streets, the maintenance of a night watch, to the building of engine houses, and various other improvements from which they derived little benefit.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Lund |first=Frederick J. |date=1996 |title=A Brief History of Somerville |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/somervillema-live/s3fs-public/documents/historic/BriefHistoryOfSomerville.pdf |page=10 |access-date=March 29, 2024 |archive-date=March 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329021719/https://s3.amazonaws.com/somervillema-live/s3fs-public/documents/historic/BriefHistoryOfSomerville.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1828, a petition was presented to the [[Massachusetts General Court|Legislature]] asking that a part of
Charlestown be set off as a separate town, to be known as Warren. This petition was subsequently withdrawn. The desire for a separate township continued to spread, and by 1841, becoming impatient at the neglect of the government to adequately provide for their needs, the inhabitants again agitated a division of the town, and a meeting in reference to the matter was held November 22 in the Prospect Hill school house.<ref>{{cite book |last= Adams Drake |first= Samuel |year= 1880 |title= History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts: Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, Volume 2 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=hNaAnwRMedUC&q=Asa%20Pritchard%20somerville&pg=PA315 |publisher= Nabu Press |access-date=December 7, 2013}}</ref>

A petition was accordingly drawn up and signed by Guy C. Hawkins and 151 others, and a committee deputed to further its passage through the legislature, then in session. A bill [[Place (United States Census Bureau)|incorporating]] a new town was signed by the governor on March 3, 1842. The original choice for the city's new name, after breaking away from Charlestown, was Walford, after the first settler of Charlestown, Thomas Walford. However, this name was not adopted by the separation committee. Charles Miller, a member of this committee, proposed the name "Somerville", which was ultimately chosen. It was not derived from any one person's name, and a report commissioned by the Somerville Historical Society found that Somerville was a "purely fanciful name".<ref name=Haskell />

Before Somerville became a township in 1842 the area was primarily populated by British farmers and brick makers who sold their wares in the markets of Boston, Cambridge and Charlestown. As the markets grew, the population of Somerville increased six-fold between the years of 1842 and 1870 to 14,685. With the sharp influx of immigrants to the Somerville area, industry boomed and brick manufacturing became the predominant trade. Before mechanical presses were invented, Somerville produced 1.3 million bricks a year. Thereafter, production increased rapidly to 5.5 million bricks a year, and the success of the brickyards began to attract numerous other industries. In 1851, American Tubes Works opened, followed by meat processing and packaging plants. Other Somerville factories came to produce steam engines, boilers, household appliances, glass, and iron.

Shortly thereafter Somerville incorporated as a city in 1872. The population growth was due in part to improvements in pre-existing transportation lines, as well as a new rail line, the [[Lexington and Arlington Railroad]], introduced through [[Davis Square]] in 1870. At its height, Somerville was served by eight passenger rail stations. Somerville's buoyant economy during this period was tied to industries that tended to locate at the periphery of the residential core, near freight rail corridors. By the mid-1870s [[Meat packing industry|meat packing]] plants were the primary employers and profit centers of the community.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UY5SjKPbaGoC&pg=PA116 | title=The Hub's Metropolis: Greater Boston's Development from Railroad Suburbs to Smart Growth | publisher=MIT Press | author=James C. O'Connell | year=2013 | location=Cambridge, Mass. | page=116 | isbn=978-0-262-01875-3}}</ref> 
[[File:Martha Perry Lowe School.png|thumb|[[Martha Perry Lowe]] School (1904)]]
The Late Industrial Period (1870–1915) was a time of phenomenal growth for Somerville in all spheres including civic and commercial ventures. Infrastructure such as rail, water lines, telegraph and electricity were established and connected to surrounding towns. The population soared from 15,000 to 90,000. While brickmaking had taken a hold in the area after the railroads first arrived in the 1830s, Somerville's brickyards boomed through 1870. Meatpacking soon displaced brickmaking as the primary industry in the city, dubbed "The Chicago of New England". Additionally, Somerville's location adjacent to Boston and proximity to rail and road transportation made it an ideal location for distribution facilities.<ref name=":3" />

It was in this period that Irish immigrants moved to Somerville to work in the brickyards and on the railroad.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Ueda|first=Reed|date=1979|title=Suburban Social Change and Educational Reform: The Case of Somerville, Massachusetts, 1912-1924|journal=Social Science History|volume=3.3/4|issue=3–4|pages=167–203|doi=10.1017/S0145553200022963|s2cid=147002944 }}</ref> At the same time, older residents of East Boston and Charlestown moved to Somerville to seek a more bucolic setting than that of more densely populated areas. They also worked to maintain political control over immigrant groups, using slogans such as "Keep Somerville Republican" and establishing a local branch of the anti-Catholic [[American Protective Association]].<ref name=":0" />

Between 1915 and 1930 population growth slowed slightly as Somerville's industries consolidated rather than expanded, and the period's most important enterprises were meat packing, dairy processing, ice and food distribution. In 1920, 73% of meatpacking in Massachusetts occurred in Somerville.<ref name=":0" /> Construction of the McGrath Highway in 1925 marked the turning point of Somerville as an industrial city, which accelerated when the [[Ford Motor Company]] built [[Somerville Assembly|a plant]] in [[Assembly Square]] in 1926. In the years that followed, Somerville would see itself transformed into a major industrial center as automobile assembly surpassed meat packing as Somerville's most important industry.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://digboston.com/boston-news-opinions/2013/06/the-somerville-files-part-2-ghosts-of-assembly-square/ | title=The Somerville Files: The Ghosts of Assembly Square | publisher=Dig Boston | date=June 26, 2013 | access-date=December 7, 2013 | first1=Chris | last2=Vaccaro | first2=Adam | last1=Faraone | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130806092410/http://digboston.com/boston-news-opinions/2013/06/the-somerville-files-part-2-ghosts-of-assembly-square/ | archive-date=August 6, 2013}}</ref>

By 1930, 70% of Somerville residents had either been born outside of the United States or had parents who were. The population was then estimated to be 60% Catholic.<ref name=":0" />

Although Union Square and Davis Square continued to be the largest commercial areas during the first decades of the 20th century, smaller, less-developed squares grew as well. [[Ball Square]], [[Magoun Square]] and [[Teele Square]] were developed with one- or two-story masonry commercial buildings, and the public green at [[Gilman Square]] was surrounded by multiple four-story commercial buildings.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Gilman Square Station Area Plan|url=https://2xbcbm3dmbsg12akbzq9ef2k-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Gilman-Square-Station-Area-Plan-Final-Web.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021230801/https://2xbcbm3dmbsg12akbzq9ef2k-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Gilman-Square-Station-Area-Plan-Final-Web.pdf|archive-date=October 21, 2020|access-date=May 25, 2021|page=24}}</ref> Retail development and banking facilities also spread. During this time of industrial prosperity, continuing through World War II, the city of Somerville reached its population apex at 105,883 residents in 1940. The building boom continued until the 1940s, creating the dense residential fabric the "city of homes" is known for.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ci.somerville.ma.us/sites/default/files/documents/C%20Econ.%20%26%20Comm%20Development%20Final.pdf | title=Five Year Consolidated Plan 2008-2013 | publisher=City of Somerville Office of Strategic Planning & Community Development | date=February 2008 | access-date=December 7, 2013 | series=Section Two: Economic & Community Development | website=somervillema.gov | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106040644/http://www.ci.somerville.ma.us/sites/default/files/documents/C%20Econ.%20%26%20Comm%20Development%20Final.pdf | archive-date=January 6, 2014 | url-status=dead }}</ref>