History – Belmont Citizens Forum

Native Peoples Lived in Belmont

History, March/April 2024 Comments Off

Mar 012024

By Mark Jarzombek It comes as a surprise to people who assume that Boston’s colonization began with the settlement of Boston in 1630 that there was an equally important settlement in Watertown that same year. It was organized by Sir Richard Saltonstall, along with approximately 40 families. Unlike the Bostonians, the group in Watertown consisted of ranchers and farmers living primarily in homesteads spread out over the rapidly deforested landscape. Though Boston takes the glory when it comes to the history of New England, the relationship between a town and its farm and pastureland was critical to the settlers’ success. [READ MORE]

Vision for a Better Belmont: Elizabeth Dionne

Board of Selectmen, Construction and Housing, History, Newsletter, November/December 2023, Select Board, Town Committee Meetings Comments Off

Nov 012023

Vision for a Better Belmont: Elizabeth Dionne

This is the first of a new series of interviews with Belmont stakeholders about their vision for Belmont’s future. This interview was conducted by Jeffrey North. It has been edited for length and clarity. – Ed. BCF: Congratulations on your election to the Select Board earlier this year. What have you learned about how Belmont works—either well or not so well? Overall, having served in an official capacity in Belmont for the past seven-and-a-half years (Town Meeting, Warrant Committee, Community Preservation Committee), I am pleasantly surprised that there are not many surprises. While municipal governance can be daunting and sometimes [READ MORE]

Stewards Keep Ogilby Farm Traditions

Environment, Historic Preservation, History, Newsletter, Plants, September/October 2023 Comments Off

Sep 012023

By Judith Feinleib Henry Ogilby thinks of himself, his siblings, and Mike and Hermik Chase as stewards of the last remaining farmland in Belmont, part of the Richardson Farm Historical District. They are stewards in the classical sense of the term—people whose code of ethics requires them to engage in responsible planning and management of resources. In this case, these resources are the land and houses that have been in the Ogilby family since the 17th century. For the last 11 years, the Chases have cultivated the land of Belmont Acres Farm where they grow and sell vegetables and keep [READ MORE]

Profiles in Belmont: Scott Ferson

History, Newsletter, September/October 2023 Comments Off

Sep 012023

By Elissa Ely The start of the pandemic elongated time in lonely and frightening ways. People craved the consolation of community but were prohibited from human contact. Screens were a brilliant technologic substitute, yet just as lonely in their way. Sometime around then, Scott Ferson drew a hopscotch board on the sidewalk in front of his School Street house, and an inspirational message above it. Solitary pedestrians—who were all of us—found it hard to pass without noticing, and maybe without a small involuntary skip between squares. It was a bright bit of humor we could share without knowing one [READ MORE]

Belmont Was a Town of Market Gardens

Environment, History, March/April 2022, Newsletter Comments Off

Mar 032022

By Jane Sherwin For about a century, areas around Boston that are now suburban housing were in many cases devoted to market gardening. Arlington, Lexington, Belmont, Watertown, Brighton—all grew produce very profitably. A market garden, sometimes known as a truck farm, produces on a small scale a variety of fruits and vegetables for local markets. Around Boston, this intensive form of farming was supported by heated greenhouses. The market gardens were so close to Boston that they had no need to pay railroad charges, using their own trucks and wagons instead. The gardens were profitable, and families could afford the [READ MORE]

Historic Clock Project Seeks Donations

donations, Historic Preservation, History, March/April 2022, Newsletter Comments Off

Mar 032022

By Michael Flamang The First Church in Belmont Unitarian Universalist is seeking funds and a qualified contractor to restore the historic clock in the church’s tower on the town green to functioning condition. In December, the Community Preservation Committee approved a grant application for the repair funds and included it in the projects to be considered by Town Meeting. (See “CPC Recommends Funds for Seven Projects,” in this issue.) There is a great deal of precedent in our area for cities and towns successfully using Commonwealth-designated Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds to implement this type of project in religious buildings. [READ MORE]

Belmont Once Had a Cooperative Market

Historic Preservation, History, July-August 2021, Newsletter Comments Off

Jun 252021

By Jane Sherwin Many people are aware that Belmont was a town of farms until the mid-twentieth century, but fewer may know that we also had a cooperative grocery: the Belmont Cooperative Society Market, which opened in 1911. The Market, the earliest commercial building in Cushing Square, was located on the southwest corner, where the Bradford development now stands. A second store stood in Belmont Center. In his wonderful Footsteps Through Belmont, the late Richard Betts, town historian, wrote that among other things the market sold spring water from a nearby well, and later, gasoline for horseless carriages. A 1905 [READ MORE]

Time to Fix the Town’s Historic Clock

Historic Preservation, History, May-June 2021, Newsletter Comments Off

May 042021

By Michael Flamang Since the invention of mechanical clocks in Renaissance Europe, town governments have installed clocks in prominent buildings in town centers to standardize time in support of commerce. In New England, many of the clocks that we see in historic churches on town greens were purchased and maintained by town select boards. In Belmont, in 1889, Town Meeting voted “that the selectmen be authorized to place a clock in the new Unitarian Church to be erected this year and the sum of $500 be appropriated for the same.” When the church was dedicated in 1890, the clock was [READ MORE]

Jerry’s Pond May Have A Chance to Shine

Environment, History, Newsletter, November 2020, Open Space, Water Quality Comments Off

Nov 062020

By Greg Harris Since developers have targeted the Alewife area for rapid development, with housing interests erecting massive apartment complexes and life sciences companies rushing to turn the area into a second Kendall Square, long-time residents have feared the trampling of their history, quality of life, community health, and the remaining natural environment. But these changes present opportunities as well as risks. If a coalition of long-time residents and neighborhood activists get their way, life science developer IQHQ’s $125 million dollar acquisition of land next to the Alewife T Station may result in the resurrection of Jerry’s Pond. This neighborhood [READ MORE]

BCF Editor Publishes “The Truth About Baked Beans”

History, Newsletter, Sept/Oct 2020 Comments Off

Sep 032020

BCF Editor Publishes “The Truth About Baked Beans”

When she isn’t editing the BCF Newsletter, Meg Muckenhoupt writes about land use, the environment, gardening—and food. Her latest book, The Truth About Baked Beans, was released on August 30 by NYU Press. As the NYU Press states, “The Truth about Baked Beans explores New England’s culinary myths and reality through some of the region’s most famous foods: baked beans, brown bread, clams, cod and lobster, maple syrup, pies, and Yankee pot roast. From 1870 to 1920, the idea of New England food was presented in magazines, newspapers, and cookbooks, often through fictitious and sometimes bizarre origin stories touted as [READ MORE]

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