Washington Street as it was.
Washington street has always been a much-traveled thoroughfare, and was the first street laid out in the early settlement of the place.
I will write briefly of the houses and their occupants as I remember them from Union square to Medford street on the northerly side of
Washington.
Three houses have been moved, viz.: the house owned by the
Stone family, that stood near the present site of the
Stone building, was moved several years ago to make room for business purposes.
Both the
Prospect Hill and Pope schoolhouses are located where dwelling-houses once stood.
Mr. Bonner, who lived where the
Prospect Hill schoolhouse now stands, moved his house up the hill on Bonner avenue. A family by the name of
Harrington lived where the
Pope schoolhouse is located.
Next below where we lived was the old Shedd place, known to Revolutionary fame, as a British soldier was killed in the house on the retreat from
Lexington.
I do not remember the name of the family who lived there in my childhood days.
It was a pretty
cottage, set well back from the street, surrounded by overgrown and untrained shrubbery, giving it a romantic and pleasing appearance.
The place was sold some years since to
Mr. Walker, who so enlarged and altered it that one could never recognize the original dwelling.
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A few rods from the
Shedd place
Mrs. Frost lived.
Her house stood near the street.
A social-looking pump in front, with dipper attached, invited the thirsty traveler to stop for a cooling draught as he passed by. This house, also, has yielded to the pressure of business, the front of it having been built out for stores.
The substantial looking house now owned and occupied by
George Haven, situated near the corner of Washington and Medford streets, has changed very little in its external appearance.
My earliest recollections of the place are of a family by the name of
Pritchard living there, but they did not remain very long.
The three remaining houses to be spoken of are clearer to my memory than any of the others.
The house occupied by
David Sanborn, father of
David Sanborn who resides on Prospect street, stands near Union square.
Adjoining this is the one then occupied by ‘Grandma’
Bonner, sister of the elder
Mrs. Sanborn, and mother of
William Bonner, who moved his house up the hill.
In the third house, just east of the
Prospect Hill schoolhouse, my father,
Joseph Clark, lived.
These three houses are in possession of the original families, the descendants of two of them (
Mrs. Bonner's and my father's) occupying them.
Although the years have not passed by without leaving their marks on them, and the lovely, old-fashioned flower gardens belonging to them have long since gone, they wear a natural, old-time look, and stand as landmarks to those who were familiar with
Somerville when it was set off from
Charlestown.
