by MaryM in All Ages, East Somerville, Historical
Posted on May 6, 2012 at 1:40 pm
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Sorry for the late notice, but I just found out about this yesterday. On the terrific walk around the Magoun Square area to celebrate Jane Jacobs’ legacy, I was handed a flyer on the May 2012 Preservation Month events around the ‘ville. I’ll transcribe below what I have on that paper, because I can’t seem to find it on the city web site.
Sunday, May 6th: Walking Tour “From Mansions to Mudflats: East Somerville’s Cornucopia of Cultural Treasures”
Edward Gordon, President of the New England Chapter of the Victorian Society of America, will lead this tour of one of the oldest sections of Somerville. Focus will be on the historic homes near Mt. Vernon St., two-families along the “States Avenues”, as well as the changing character and uses within the East Broadway Business District. Sponsored in collaboration with East Somerville Main Streets, the tour begins at 3:30pm, stops at the newly renovated Mudflat Studio/former theatre at 81 Broadway, and concludes ~5:00pm with appetizers provided by local businesses. Rain or shine.
(any errors of transcription are mine)
A Facebook item on this: From Mansions to Mudflats: Walk through Historic East Somerville
Other information on May events: ANNUAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION MONTH EVENTS SET FOR MAY
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That was informative and fun too! I had no idea that the first house to have a phone line was in Somerville: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Williams_Jr._House Somerville had phone numbers 1 and 2 of the Bell Telephone Company.
So of course I had to know more, and I found out that in fact Alexander Graham Bell was using sound from Somerville in his demos of the transmissions! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invention_of_the_telephone#Public_demonstrations
I love that stuff.
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Glad you enjoyed it, Mary, and tx for telling others via FB about it, AND for the add’l from wikipedia above!
Hope to see you next Sun. at the 3 Decker Talk at the Somerville Museum at 2pm, which IS still noticed on City’s website
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So this gave me an idea: I think the city teams should get some grant money and do a project on history/trivia walks. Get Preservation + Public Health together, and encourage people to walk the city with routes and some audio.
Make “walk apps” like the tour of the Boston Public Garden that people with smart phones can take.
My housemate and I are trying to walk more, and we’d like to find new walks with interesting things to see and know.
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What a great idea, Mary! We had already starting scheming about just how to do that, and are in the process of trying to find an someone, perhaps an intern or someone looking for some community service to execute the idea. We have lots of self-guided tour brochures already, have begun discussions w. both Shape Up Somerville and the Council on Aging staff, and need the tech support to follow though — anyone interested??
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I wish I had the tech skills to help, but I don’t code. However, I am a dynamite software tester, have great patience for beta tools, and am willing to test anything.
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