Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, Wakefield, Mass.

Title

Wakefield Common, circa early 1860s

Description

"According to documented history, Wakefield has always had common lands since the first division of land among the early settlers. A special committee was selected in 1727 to lay out the 'ways and watering places' through the Common, and a vote was taken in 1742 that required that land remain unfenced and that parish land 'never be disposed of for any other use whatsoever, without the consent of every freeholder in the parish.' The trees on the 'upper' Common, now the Veterans' Memorial Common, at the right, were planted in the mid-1800s by a 'band of public spirited residents.' who viewed the opportunity as a 'general neighborhood celebration.' Both the upper and lower Commons were unkempt and uncared for, with water coursing through the center, forming a pool of water referred to as Ken's Pond, named after a blacksmith who had a shop on the west side of the Common. In 1859, the Common was drained and graded and, in 1860, the townspeople accepted a committee report and authorized the fencing of the public Common at an estimated cost of $700. The final cost to erect a fence at the Common was $636.75. On May 1, 1871, the Town voted to purchase land between the 'old Common' and Lake Quannapowitt to extend the Common, and authorized the Town Treasurer to 'hire a sum, not to exceed $19,600 for a 10-year term.' In 1883, the townspeople accepted a $10,000 gift from the will of Cornelius Sweetser which was to be 'used and expended in furnishing and beautifying a public park.' At the left of the picture stood the Third Meeting House of the First Parish, the Town House (both not shown), the brick Yale engine House, and a blacksmith shop on the lower Common."

Image from the Wakefield Municipal Gas and Light Department annual calendar, 2016

Photo courtesy of the Wakefield Historical Society.

Contributor

Institution: Lucius Beebe Memorial Library

Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department (Wakefield, Mass.)

D'Onofrio, Jayne M.

Coverage

Massachusetts--Middlesex (county)--Wakefield

Wakefield Common (Wakefield, Mass.)

Date

1860-1863

Format

image/jpeg

Publisher

Wakefield, Mass. : Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department

Type

still image

Photographs

Original Format

1 picture: b & w

Extent

25 x 23 cm.