History of Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA*

Charlestown, Massachusetts
Middlesex county. The Indian name of this town was Mishawun. First settled, 1628. Incorporated, 1629. Population, 1820, 6,591; 1830, 8,787; 1837, 10,101. Charlestown is a peninsula, formed by Charles and Mystic rivers, and is united to Boston by Charles and Warren bridges. It is also united to Boston as a port of entry, and in its various commercial and manufacturing pursuits. This town is noted for its sacrifices in the cause of liberty; and its soil will ever be dear to the patriot's bosom. The town is not so regularly laid out as Philadelphia, yet it is neatly built, and contains many elegant public and private edifices. The streets are wide and airy, and many of them have recently been planted with trees for shade. Considerable shipping is owned here, engaged in foreign and domestic commerce. The annual value of the cod and mackerel fisheries is about $40,000. The value of the manufactures in Charlestown, the year ending April 1, 1837, exclusive of a...

Charlestown, the oldest town in the county, and called Mishawum
by the Indians, was named after King Charles the First, by Winthrop,
the first Governor, who resided here before he crossed over to Boston.

Charlestown was first settled by some of the Salem people.

The present town is a peninsula, nearly all beyond the isthmus
having been, from time to time, set off into the towns of Maiden,
Woburn, and Somerville.

It is connected to Boston by two free bridges, and to East Cambridge, Maiden, and Chelsea, by toll bridges of great length.

Charlestown has the peculiar honor of containing Bunker Hill,
where the first regular battle of the Revolution was fought,* June
17, 1775.

The State Prison and United States Navy Yard are in Charlestown.

Charles River separates this town from Boston, as the Mystic does
from Chelsea. The Middlesex Canal also has its outlet in Charles- town.

The commerce is considerable, and the manufactures of Charlestown are very various, and...

CHARLESTOWN was settled in 1628, being the oldest town in Middiesex county, and one of the oldest in the state. It was incorporated in 1635. It derives its name from Charles I. of England, the reigning sovereign at the time of its settlement. Its Indian name was Mishawum. In 1628 “six or seven persons, with the consent of Gav. Endicott, traveled from Naumkeak (Salem) through the woods westward, and came to a neck of land, between Mystic and Charles rivers, called Mishawum. It was full of Indians, called Aberginians; and with the unconstrained consent of their chief they settled there.” Their old sachem being dead, his eldest son, John Sagamore, was chief in power. He is described as a man of gentle and good disposition, and was probably induced to give his consent to the settlement on account of the advantages he had derived from the skill of Thomas Walford, a blacksmith, who had previously taken up his residence, and built himself a house, which he had thatched and palisadoed, at the ...

Charlestown, a city and seaport of Middlesex county, Massachusetts, is situated on a peninsula immediately N. of Boston, with which it is connected by the Warren and Charles River bridges. It is 237 miles by railroad N. E. from New York; 200 miles E. by S. from Albany ; and 1 1 1 miles S. S. W. from Portland ; lat. 42° 2' N., Ion. 71° W 33" W. The peninsula extends from the main land of Summerville about two miles in a south-easterly direction, between two small estuaries, formed by the Mystic and Charles rivers. These are crossed by two public bridges ; the one on the right leading from Prison Point to East Cambridge, and the other to Chelsea and Maiden. The surface is remarkably uneven, and near the centre rises into two prominences called Bunker's and Breed's Hills, the summits and slopes of which afford delightful sites for dwellings. The streets, though irregular, are generally spacious and finely shaded. Two broad avenues, Main and Bunker Hill streets, extend nearly through the...

CHARLESTOWN, a township in Middlesex co., in Massachusetts, 1 m. N of Boston, on the peninsula between Charles and Mystic rivers; connected with Boston by two bridges; and with Chelsea and Malden by two bridges crossing the Mystic. The navy-yard in this township covers 60 acres, and contains two large covered slips, under which vessels of the line are built. Breed's hill, commonly called Bunker's hill, celebrated as the scene of the engagement between the Americans and the British troops on June 17th, 1775, is immediately in the rear of this place. Pop. 1,184.

BOSTON, Monday, Dec. 17. A fire in Charlestown last night destroyed the wooden building at the corner of High and Pearl streets, formerly occupied as a Methodist Church. Loss, $10,000. The Armory of the Prescott Light Horse Guard, a school-room and several offices in the building were burned out.