HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MEDFORD, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT, IN 1630, TO THE PRESENT TIME, 1855.
Charles Brooks, Ed.

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[11] that building the eye has a panorama not surpassed for what might be called a home-view. The spires of twenty-eight churches are in sight; also the State House, Cambridge Colleges, Bunker Hill Monument, the old Powder House, and the most captivating view of Medford. The beauties of upland and valley, of meadows and marshes, of river and creeks, of ocean and islands, of cities and towns, all lie immediately beneath, in that domestic nearness and manageable form which seems to doubly make them the property of the eye.

There are many smaller hills within Medford, making parts of the “Rocks” at the north, which have not yet received names. One fact is worthy notice, that among these hills there are copious springs of the sweetest water; and, in imagination, we can see them falling in beautiful cascades in the future gardens of opulent citizens.

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Climate.

A short record only of this is necessary. Governor Winthrop writes, July 23, 1630: “For the country itself, I can discern little difference between it and our own. We have had only two days which I have observed more hot than in England. Here is sweet air, fair rivers, and plenty of springs, and the water better than in England.” An experience of only six weeks in June and July was not enough to warrant a safe judgment concerning the climate. Another testimony, Oct. 30, 1631, is as follows: “The Governor having erected a building of stone at Mistic, there came so violent a storm of rain, for twenty-four hours, that (it being not finished, and laid with clay for want of lime) two sides of it were washed down to the ground, and much harm was done to the other houses by that storm.” The form of the land in this neighborhood has its effect on our climate. We have neither of the extremes which belong to deep, long valleys; and high mountains. We have very little fog during the year. In Medford there are few, if any, places where water can stagnate; it readily finds its way to the river; and the good influence of this fact on climate and health is considerable. The presence of salt water and salt marshes is another favorable circumstance. Lightnings do not strike here so often as between ranges of high hills; and