Public Works Records, 1719-1937 (Inclusive)

Watertown Free Public Library 123 Main Street Watertown, Massachusetts 02472 Local History Collection Town of Watertown public works records, 1719-1937 (inclusive) TW008 Watertown Free Public Library Town of Watertown public works records TW008 Page 1 Summary Collection name: Town of Watertown public works records, 1719-1937 (inclusive) Collection number: TW008 Repository: Watertown Free Public Library (Watertown, Massachusetts) Creator: Town of Watertown Extent: 1.65 cubic feet (1 legal document box, 1 letter document box, 1 half legal document box, 2 clamshell boxes, and 1 bound volume) Language: English Source of acquisition: The immediate source of this collection is unknown. Processing information: Records were dated and processed by Watertown Free Public Library staff as several separate items and collections. One of these predecessor collections, HIST 351.7444 SEL 1740-1874 [Public works papers], consists mainly of Board of Selectmen records. It was processed by staff in 2003, though it is unclear if or when these were separated from other Board of Selectmen records. This finding aid was created by Caroline Littlewood in 2020 to unite the records in the Watertown Free Public Library’s Local History Collection that were originally created and/or maintained by the Town of Watertown to document public works activities. Conditions governing access: Collection is open for use in the Local History Room, Watertown Free Public Library. Preferred citation: Town of Watertown public works records, TW008, Watertown Free Public Library Local History Collection, Watertown, Mass. Historical Note The development and maintenance of public works and infrastructure has long been a primary responsibility of local government. For nearly four hundred years, the Town of Watertown has financed the construction of highways and byways, bridges, culverts, sewers, and numerous other public structures. But, despite the significant time and expense devoted to public works projects and maintenance, the town did not create a Public Works Department until 1968. Instead, nearly all public works projects were managed by the Surveyor of Highways, then the Highway Department. Around the end of the nineteenth century and start of the twentieth century, the town created several Watertown Free Public Library Town of Watertown public works records TW008 Page 2 positions and commissions (such as Superintendent of Streets, Superintendent of Cemeteries, Engineer, and Board of Water Commissioners) to oversee all sorts of public works activities including street watering, street widening, dust laying, and the construction and maintenance of sewers, street lights, and sidewalks. Only in 1968 did these units, along with the Park Commissioners, the Tree and Moth Wardens, and Inspectors of Weights and Measures, combine to centralize operations under a single department. For over two hundred years, Watertown public works fell mainly under the purview of the Selectmen and the Surveyor of Highways. The Surveyor of Highways oversaw the construction and repair of local transit routes, with the Selectmen’s input and supervision. Each year, some Watertown taxpayers contributed labor toward road maintenance in lieu of tax payments; the town also allocated funds annually to pay laborers for piecemeal work. Nevertheless, these routes and structures regularly fell into disrepair and were a constant drain on the town’s resources. One such structure was the Great Bridge, now known as the Galen Street or Watertown Bridge, which crosses the Charles River. The crossing was first built around 1641; it was repaired and developed many times over the years to accommodate increased traffic. The town widened the bridge substantially in 1719. Within decades, town officials considered additional improvements. After repeated requests for aid from the county and the Commonwealth, town officials sought to fund work on the bridge with a local lottery. After several years, town officials conceded defeat and cancelled the lottery in 1791. The town continued to make repairs to the bridge at great expense until its reconstruction in 1907. As the local population grew, so did the time and expense required to construct and maintain local roads. In 1870, the town’s Selectmen, acting as the Surveyors of Highways, chose the first Superintendent of Roads to improve Main, Mount Auburn, Arsenal, and Galen Streets. By this time, the town had long stopped relying on taxpayers for highway maintenance. Instead, the Surveyor of Highways hired laborers to clean, repair, macadamize, or pave streets. In the 1860s and ‘70s, local almshouse residents also worked on the roads, picking stones, carting rubble, and operating the town’s new stone crusher. (In fact, for a time, supervision of highways and support of the poor were so inseparable, both were managed by a single board: Overseers of the Poor and Highways.) In 1891, a new Board of Road Commissioners assumed responsibility, with the Town Engineer, for all streets, sidewalks, curbs, sewers, and drains. The growing population also required a safe and steady supply of water. In 1869, the town formed a committee to arrange a municipal water supply source and system. Through the 1870s, the committee solicited and reviewed reports on local water supply, drainage, and sewerage. Finally, in 1884, Watertown contracted with the Watertown Water Supply Company, which drew groundwater from a pumping station near present-day Pleasant and Watertown Free Public Library Town of Watertown public works records TW008 Page 3 Bridge streets. The Watertown Water Supply Company served Watertown and Belmont for the following decade. When the Metropolitan Water Supply Act of 1895 created the Metropolitan Water District, Watertown opted to connect to the metropolitan supply. The town officially joined the metropolitan network and formed a Water Department in 1898. During this period, the town also developed a more extensive sewage network. The Highway Department began installing sewers in 1892, with two main pipes—one from the east and one from the west—leading to seven outlets which connected to the Metropolitan Sewer System. In the first couple decades of the twentieth century, Watertown’s population doubled. The Boston Elevated Street Railway (the “El”) connected Watertown to downtown Boston, and the town set about widening streets to accommodate the trolley cars and increased traffic. In 1907, the town contracted with Boston Edison to connect homes to electricity and install all-night electric street lighting. A new Galen Street Bridge was completed, though construction was temporarily halted by a labor strike. By the 1920s, increased motor traffic strained the Highway Department and the Police Department. The town worked with residents and the Massachusetts Department of Public Works to round street corners, designate throughways and parking, and install traffic lights to moderate and manage traffic flow. The town convened a Public Works Study Committee in 1968, which recommended the town centralize all public works activity under a single department. Following the committee’s report, the town voted overwhelmingly to join the Highway, Water, Engineering, Park, Tree and Moth, Wire, and Cemetery Departments and the Inspector of Buildings, the Sealer of Weights and Measures, and the Plumbing and Gas Inspector under a municipal Board of Public Works, consisting of the Selectmen and led by a Superintendent of Public Works. Organization and Arrangement This collection consists of six series. The series are arranged as follows: Series I. Loose correspondence, reports, and receipts, 1769-1872 (inclusive) Series II. Great Bridge loose correspondence, reports, and receipts, 1719-1822 (inclusive) Series III. Street widening committee records, 1896-1913 (inclusive) Series IV. Contracts and specifications, 1891-1907 (inclusive) Series V. Traffic permits, signals, rules, and regulations, 1920-1937 (inclusive) Series VI. Sidewalk orders and assessments, 1920-1931 (inclusive) Watertown Free Public Library Town of Watertown public works records TW008 Page 4 Scope and Content Note This collection documents public works projects in the Town of Watertown. It includes records created by or documenting the activities of the town officials, departments, and committees that would be combined under the authority of the Public Works Department in 1968, though the collection precedes that date. The collection consists of committee records, correspondence with town and state government officials, loose financial records, blueprints, contracts bids, and permits granted by the state. I. Loose correspondence, reports, and receipts, 1769-1872 (inclusive) Extent: 7 folders Arrangement: Chronological Scope and content: This series contains loose correspondence, committee reports, resident petitions or agreements with Selectmen, and financial records (including receipts and lists of expenses and supplies) related to the construction and maintenance of local bridges and roads. These loose records, mainly created by the Surveyor of Highways, Selectmen, or Treasurer, are interfiled with perambulation reports, district descriptions, and various other documents created by Fence Viewers, Perambulators, and Assessors. There are committee records relating to the construction of a wharf (in 1773), the construction of a pound (in 1779), and the sale of common lands (in 1788), as well as various efforts to lay out or widen roadways or bridges. Records of the 1850s document town interest in street widening and sewer construction.

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