Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA*
1845 - CHARLESTOWN. [Pop. 11,484. Settled 1628.]

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 to a great amount.

Distance from Concord, 16 miles.


*The battle was actually fought on Breed's Hill, a small eminence between Bunker's Hill and Boston, but it is too late now to correct the popular error.

An Elementary Geography for Massachusetts Children by William Bentley Fowle and Asa Fitz, 1845
Get it HERE!

Visit Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA*
Discover the people who lived there, the places they visited and the stories they shared.