Site Map

Melrose...Past and Present

By James McArdle

Melrose was originally called "Ponde Fielde" because of its numerous ponds and streams or "Mystic Side" because it occupied the valley that stretched north from the Mystic River. It was once part of a much larger territory granted to Charlestown in 1633. During the century that followed, portions of this territory were divided and set apart. Early residents wanted to establish their own local places of worship. Thus, in 1640, Malden, including most of present day Melrose, was set off from Charlestown, and became a separate town in 1649.

Greenwood, now part of Wakefield, was annexed to Reading in 1727, and in 1734 the part of Melrose now known as Melrose Highlands was annexed to Stoneham.

The first white men to explore this area were the Sprague brothers, Richard and Ralph, who came from Salem in 1628. By the 1640's, the first permanent settlers, Deacon Thomas Lynde and his family, had come to stay. By the end of the century most of the early families had appeared, many of them original proprietors of Charlestown or Malden - the Lyndes, Spragues, Uphams, Greens, Barretts, Howards, and Waites. They cleared the forest, built their primitive houses, or set up mills at the outlets of the ponds.

As the eighteenth century progressed, these families grew. They built larger houses or extended the original dwellings by raising the roof or adding wings. Many had three or four separate farms. Relative newcomers like the Vinton brothers married into the Green family. By the time of the Revolution, all of these families had members who went off as Minutemen to the battles at Concord and Bunker Hill. The Melrose we know today was a quiet farming community known as the North End of Malden, owned largely by the descendants of the dozen or so original families.

Following the Revolution, many more newcomers came to "North Malden." They were trades people, itinerant merchants, shoe makers, and innkeepers. They included the Pratts, Emersons, and Hemenways. The roads were better now; there was a market in Boston for the goods made here, and, with ferries across the Mystic and Charles rivers, it didn't take most of a day to get to market and back. Also, one didn't have to be a farmer in order to make a living. Still, North Malden remained sparsely populated, a community of modest colonial and Greek Revival houses slightly off the beaten track, an extension of the busier and more established Malden.

All this changed when the Boston and Maine Railroad arrived in 1845. Virtually overnight this quiet village became a desirable place to live for those who worked in Boston, or for those who came from Maine or from across the Atlantic to find their fortune in the big city. Houses soon were built within blocks of the three B&M stations, to make it easy for residents to commute to their jobs in the city. In May, 1850, Melrose was incorporated as a separate town. In 1853, the Melrose Highlands area was annexed back to Melrose from Stoneham.

Except for a brief pause during the Civil War, Melrose experienced a building boom which continued through the rest of the nineteenth century. Farms were subdivided, parks and schools were built, police and fire services were instituted for the first time, and three distinct commercial districts - Main Street, the Highlands, and West Wyoming - came into being. A stunning Second Empire City Hall, complete with clock tower, was built - a symbol of the proud new community.

Every style of domestic Victorian architecture was represented: Gothic Revival, Italianate, Mansard, Queen Anne, Stick, Shingle, and Colonial Revival. These often occurred in neighborhood clusters, with vest pocket parks scattered among them. Many of the grander Victorian houses were built on hillsides to take advantage of the view; the more modest ones were built in rows along the newly laid out streets. These recently arrived Melrosians were bankers, leather merchants, publishers, merchants, tradespeople, teachers, artists, and grocers.

From 1850 to 1900, the population of Melrose grew almost tenfold to over 12,600 residents. By the end of the century, no one doubted that Melrose had already developed its character as a desirable bedroom community for residents who worked in Boston but who wanted to have the clean air and the lack of congestion that "the country" provided. In fact, on the weekends many Bostonians would take the B&M to Wyoming Station in Melrose and they would set off for a walk or a ride into the Fells Reservation or around Spot Pond.

The twentieth century continued the process of transforming what had been North Malden into a "City of Homes." Melrose became a city in 1899, and its first mayor, Levi S. Gould, took office on January 1, 1900. The East Side, relatively undeveloped until this century, was divided into grids. Scattered throughout these blocks were houses designed by the renowned architect Royal Barry Wills, who was born and raised in the city.

The "greenbelt," consisting of Mt. Hood Park, Pine Banks, and the Fells Reservation, helped define Melrose as a distinctive community in the larger urban sprawl of metropolitan Boston. By the late 1970's, the population peaked at roughly 30,000 residents, with virtually no land left undeveloped.

In the 1980's, the core downtown area of Main Street was declared an historic district. Trees were planted, Victorian street lanterns were added, and incentives were given to property owners to restore the facades and signage of their businesses.

Today, as Melrose enters the twenty-first century, its residents realize how fortunate they are. Midway between downtown Boston and the Route 128 belt of business and technology, it has easy access to both, while remaining a city set apart. Once here, people don't want to leave. Once here, residents often become involved in the schools and after-school programs, in city government and in the many cultural, religious, civic, and social organizations that define Melrose. Once here, they are proud to call Melrose "home."