Everett, Massachusetts, USA
Everett Massachusetts, 1890

Everett is a flourishing young town having an attractive site in the easterly part of Middlesex County, three miles northwest of Boston, and on two branches of the Boston and Maine Railroad system. It is bounded north by Malden, east by Revere and Chelsea; south by the Mystic River, which divides it from the Charlestown district of Boston; west by Somerville and Malden; the former also separated from it by the Mystic.

The assessed area is 1,824, acres, including twelve acres of groves. There are also numerous trees, mostly elms from 10 to 20 years old, along the streets. From the higher parts of the town there are delightful views of surrounding towns, of Boston Harbor and of the ocean. The geological formation is upper conglomerate, drift and the St. John's group. The soil is a sandy loam in some parts, in others clayey. It is well adapted to the production of garden vegetables, fruits and flowers, to which its agricultural space is largely devoted.

There are 40 farms having the usual crops, with a proportionately large production of vegetables and greenhouse products; the value of the latter in 1885 being $12,520. The aggregate farm product was valued at $66,076. There are 44 manufacturing establishments. The largest product in point of value was that of the chemical works — $492,497. The Dewey Governor Works, the brickyards, the rubber factory, the furniture factory, are next in order. Other manufactures are hosiery and knit goods, leather, carriages, bleachery, and sporting and athletic goods, emery and sand paper; and cloth, food preparations and drugs and medicines. The aggregate value of the manufactures was $1,496,795. The valuation of the town in 1888 was $6,499,100, with a tax of $13.30 on $l,000. The population was 5,825, including 1,204 voters; and the dwelling-houses numbered 1,624.

Most of the male residents are engaged in business in the metropolis and on the transportation lines. The town has had a rapid growth by reason of its proximity to Boston, with which it has hourly communication by steam and street railways, and because of its remarkably eligible sites for building. From its situation and soil the air is unusually free from dust. It has water-works, supplied from Mystic Lake; while in its midst is a spring of pure water which has been in high esteem by physicians and others for table purposes for 50 years.

There is a graded system of public schools, provided with six commodious school-houses, valued at some $40,000. Seven libraries are accessible to the public; the Everett Public Library and Reading-room having nearly 5,000 volumes. The Odd Fellows Block and the Masonic Block are recent and handsome buildings. The Congregationalists, Baptists, Methodists, Universalists, the Roman Catholic and the American Episcopal Church have houses of worship here. Woodlawn Cemetery, beautifully decorated, lies in the northeast section of the town.

This town was taken from Malden and incorporated, March 9, 1870. It was named in honor of Hon. Edward Everett.

A Gazetteer of the State of Massachusetts, with Numerous Illustrations Rev. Elias Nason, M.A.; revised and enlarged by George J. Varney. Boston: B.B. Russell. 1890, 724 pages

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