Kelly’s Roast Beef

Kelly's Roast Beef first opened in 1951 by the McCarthy and Carey family, Kelly’s has been a revere staple for the last 66 years. With five locations starting from historic Revere Beach all the way up to Natick. Known for its roast beef and chowder Kelly’s has stood the test of time, nothing says summer like getting your first burger on the beach with your friends enjoying the day. I remember my very first job was at Kelly’s and there is a life force to the place, from the moment you walk in there to the moment you go home it is one of the main things that makes Revere beach what it is. If you haven’t been to Kelly’s at Revere Beach it will change your world, you have to start with the original, maybe its nostalgia maybe it’s the salt in the air, or maybe it’s just the sun hitting your face on the first day of summer but you’re not truly from the area unless you go to Kelly’s. Then head to Kells Kreme for an ice cream cone.

Art History: Lynn Heritage Mural

   Lynn Heritage Park Mural, (sculpture)

      Kelsie Verdini

Artists: Marvin Rosenburg and Lilli Ann Killen Rosenburg
Lynn Heritage Park Mural, 1987

Medium:  Glazed ceramic and found objects

Owner/Location: Administered by State of Massachusetts Environmental Management Department Massachusetts

Located Lynn Heritage State Park 154 Lynnway Lynn Massachusetts

Summary:

A mural consisting of nine mosaic panels illustrating the past, present, and future of Lynn, Massachusetts is installed on the east side of the Seaport Landing Condominiums. The focus of the mural is the city's reputation as one of the top shoe manufacturers in the world and its future as General Electric's Factory of the Future.

"I've traveled far and wide yet i've kept a feeling deep inside about a place that I know where I belong.  I belong in Lynn.  For history found a place where workers and heroes

set the spirit high.  They knew they’d win in Lynn. Now it’s time to build a future city by the sea to put our minds together make Lynn what it can be. All the world will see how beautiful she is the city by the sea, a city where people can live and work and play want to stay."

(Lyric by Douglass Stevens)

 

            

"Lynn is like no other New England city both in situation and surroundings.  She has a beauty and a charm all her own and in natural physical characteristics is displayed a marked individuality.  All the varied scenes of town, sea-shore and country are found within her borders.  No other city of the New World can boast of such an endless variety of landscape and sea-view, hill and valley, lake and river, cottage crowned cliff and rock bound shore with bright waters of the Bay dimpling and sparkling in the sunlight."

Johnny Pesky aka “The Needle” and Ted Williams aka “Teddy Ballgame”- WWII, Korean War & Red Sox Legends

Johnny Pesky

Born September 27^th, 1919 in Portland Oregon, Johnny Pesky (born John Paveskovich) played for the Boston Red Sox from 1942 to 1952 with a 4 year break where he served in the U.S. Navy during WWII.

Pesky - Middle

He only played a year in the Majors before going off to war. Returning in 1946, Pesky continued to be a huge impact for the Red Sox and led the league in base hits in his first three seasons. He retired with a .307 life time batting average.

In 2006, the Red Sox officially named the right field foul pole after him, “Pesky’s Pole” and 2008 retired his jersey number, 6, to honor his 61 years of dedication to the Red Sox organization.

Ted Williams

Born August 30^th, 1918, Theodore Williams was called “The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived.” Like, Pesky, Williams played on the Red Sox, and also served his country in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.

Williams left for war in 1942, like Pesky. Williams was awarded numerous batting titles throughout his career - 2 triple crown awards, and was a 6 time AL batting champion and 2 MVP awards. He still holds the MLB record for on base percentage at .482. He is also known for being the last pro to hit over .400 over the course of a season.

Both Pesky and Williams were naval aviators in the Navy. Pesky never saw combat, but Williams returned to duty in 1952 in the Korean War as a U.S. Marine fighter pilot. He flew over North Korea 39 times and once crash landed after being hit with small arms fire leaving with only a sprained ankle.

American heroes, and icons. 

Pesky's Pole - Right field at Fenway Park

Williams and Pesky on Navy baseball team

Pesky's Pole 

http://archive.boston.com/sports/blogs/obnoxiousbostonfan/2014/11/ted_williams_39-0_remains_greatest_record_in_boston_sports_history.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Williams

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Pesky

https://blog.usni.org/2012/08/13/red-sox-great-and-navy-pilot-johnny-pesky-dead-at-92

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/05/obituaries/ted-williams-baseballs-last-400-hitter-is-dead-at-83.html

https://www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck/remembering-ted-williams-marine-fighter-pilot

Why is it called Pesky's Pole?
https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-red-sox/2012/08/13/explaining-peskys-pole 

Was the Gannon Golf Course in Lynn Built by the W.P.A.?

I expected to write a quick post on how the clubhouse at Gannon Golf Course in Lynn, Massachusetts was built as a project of the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A).  I am almost certain I have copies of the W.P.A. registers from the National Archives showing that expenditures went to Lynn for the building, but I am unable to locate the copies right now, so I can verify it as of this posting.

What I have learned since going to the Gannon Golf Course website is that the building was started much earlier than the W.P.A., in 1931-1932.  What is interesting is that it appears the City of Lynn and the Massachusetts State Legislature had created their own W.P.A.

From the website:
. . . John Morrissey, saw the project as a blessing in disguise; a blessing that could prove critical to the survival of countless Lynn families.  Morrissey, the superintendent of parks and playgrounds and one of the most popular members of the citizenry, had stirred up interest in a city-owned golf course with Albert Comstock, chairman of the Lynn park commission from 1918 to 1941. . . Joseph Cole and his supervisors in the Welfare Department had a solution for Comstock and Morrissey. Why not put hundreds of its men, suffering the indignity of placement on the welfare rolls, to work on the course and clubhouse construction? It was a brilliant idea that in the estimation of many ensured the expeditious completion of the project when it might otherwise have been delayed for years.

Thanks to a special act of the Massachusetts legislature, the men, 800 to start and another 700 by the time the construction was in high gear, were allowed the chance to work on the 100-acre project for their welfare checks. They were delighted. Their self-esteem was restored. Full-time Park Department employees also were involved on the course, which was designed by one of the game’s finest course architect’s of the time, Wayne Stiles.

Also from the website is an excerpt from an interview of Dick Walton in the Lynn Sunday Post on July 12, 1981.  He was 81 at the time and had been the construction supervisor of the project.

“The front nine holes were the most difficult to build. We didn’t have enough heavy equipment. A lot of the work was manual.  Laborers received $12 a week, masons $14, all in grocery orders.  The tree stump and rock removal projects were massive.  Every stone in the clubhouse came from the course clearing effort. Leftover rock completed the entire wall at Pine Grove Cemetery.  John Morrissey, park superintendent at the time, cooked massive supplies of his grand beef stew for the laborers, as well as clam chowder on Fridays and baked beans on Saturdays."

The fact that they used leftover field stone for the Pine Grove Cemetery wall tells me that it is likely that the clubhouse was started as a city/state project and finished as a W.P.A. project.  The Pine Grove Cemetery wall project was a project of the W.P.A.  It could be that Massachusetts had created their own W.P.A. and was successful, and then Franklin D Roosevelt built on that success in 1935 when the WPA was created.

Lynn Museum, Fanning the Flames

I live in Lynn and did not know I had such an easy access to such interesting history in the Lynn museum about firefighters and their different methods of fighting fire. In 17^th and 18^th century Lynn.  There were no organized firefighters to douse the flames when a fire broke out. Instead, residents responded to the fire with fire buckets. The leather jugs shown in the picture hung in homes and businesses and were placed close to the entrance of the building for convenience. Local fire clubs were organized and the volunteers were known as “bucket bridges”. The volunteers’ work became easier with the advent of fire engines, machines that were pushed and pumped by hand. Each neighborhood housed and maintained its own engine. These neighborhood engines were a source a pride, and crowds often gathered around the fire to cheer on their neighborhood fire company.

Until the early 19^th century, firefighting equipment was purchased by private sponsors- usually those with businesses to protect. In 1835, Lynn assumed responsibility for providing the tools and the people to fight fires. By the 1860s, new engines pulled by horses and powered by steam were purchased to replace hand pumped engines and fire stations were built throughout Lynn. The necessity to professionalize the industry of firefighting was fueled by growing number of factories, which increased the risk of fire. Stemming from a fire in a glove factory, the Great Fire of 1889 drastically changed the city’s landscape, wiping out an entire section of the downtown, including Central Square. Part of the Gamewell Fire Telegraph system, Box 41 was pulled to alert citizens of Lynn to the start of this devastating fire. Though more recent, the Great Fire of 1981 had similarly destructive effects on the city. This fire consumed the last shoe factory in operation in Lynn and left nearly 800 residents homeless.

http://www.history.org/history/teaching/enewsletter/volume7/sept08/firefighting.cfm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_firefighting

The Pine Grove Cemetery 

     On September 25, 2016 I went to the Pine Grove Cemetery located on Boston St in Lynn and did my first service learning and it was pretty exciting and interesting. I learnt so much, and wish to share some information about this incredible place.

Entrance from Boston St.

     The Pine Grove Cemetery was established in the mid 19th century and consists of 82 developed acres. It contains approximately 88,000 to 90,000 interments. It was established as a private cemetery in the 1800's, and was sold to the City of Lynn in 1850. The cemetery was designed by Henry Dearborn, who also designed the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts and the Forest Hill Cemetery in Boston. In the 1930's, a wall was built to surround the cemetery, and it was said to be the second contiguous wall in the world according to "Ripley's Believe it or Not. This cemetery has a rich history and is home to, inventors, political leaders, artists and many more.

      The cemetery has many architecturally distinct structures, such as: The Copeland Sunken Gardens, the Rhodes Memorial Chapel, Receiving Tombs and a view of Boston.

The Copeland Sunken Gardens

Designed by architect and gardener Robert Morris Copeland in 1874. 

Rhodes Memorial Chapel

Designed by Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, in 1891. It was funded by a donation from Mrs. Amos Rhodes in memory of her husband. The stain glass window value over 10,000. The Pine Grove name comes from the wealth of the pine trees that frame he chapel and entrance from Boston street.

Receiving Tomb (front)
Constructed from 1866 to 1868 in Ruskinian Gothic style. It was a part of a building campaign following the Civil War. It remains intact as a part of the mid 19th century landscape design. It is made of granite ashlar construction with a cast iron doorway. 

Receiving Tomb (back)

View of Boston

  

This graveyard holds some well known names such as, Charles Herbert Woodbury, who was  member of a group of artists who were known as The Lynn Beach Painters. James N. Buffum who was mayor of Lynn twice, 1869 and 1872, a state representative in 1873, a industrialist and an abolitionist. He would travel alongside Frederick Douglass,Wendell Phillips, and Abby Kelly on antislavery lectures. Francis Moore, who participated in the Boston Tea Party, and Benjamin Franklin Falls who earned the Medal of Honor for his bravery during the third day of The Battle of Gettysburg, on July 3, 1863 simply reads, "capture of flag." These are just a few of the well known people that were buried at The Pine Grove Cemetery.

Finally, the cemetery holds many from World War I and II, as well as, many other battles. There is a section for Police Officers, and even babies. If anyone wants to learn more history about the cemetery and the people that are buried there, they can go on a Trails and Sails tour, which happen every year in different parts of Massachusetts.

Additional Pictures

Charles Herbert Woodbury 

James N. Buffum

Francis Moore

The Civil War Lot

Harry Aggnis

The Ornamental Grave Stone

The only two graves that are designed this way in the graveyard.

Chelmsford's One Room Schoolhouse.

Old Schoolhouses or One-room schools are found throughout rural portions of various countries like the United States, Norway, Spain, New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland. One teacher would teach the academic basics to several grades, all mixed from grades 1 through 8, boys and girls. The schoolhouse would also be sometimes used as the local chapel on Sundays, and evening/Saturday meeting area and used for activities. The schoolhouse was painted red in some locations like the one shown below.

The regular school day would be from 9am to 4pm with morning and afternoon recesses, both 15 minutes each, and an hour lunch period. A few notable students that went to one-room schools were Abraham Lincoln, Herbert Hoover, and Joyce Carol Oates.

I couldn't snap pictures of the inside due to it being closed but if you've want to know how it looks inside I left the link below. It is the first link.

I also snapped a photo of the United States flag with just 15 stars and 15 stripes. It was the only U.S flag to have more than 13 strips and was authorized by the Flag Act of January 13, 1794. The photo of the schoolhouse is located in Chelmsford, MA and is the first Chelmsford schoolhouse in 1802. Also it was the oldest Town-owned property in Chelmsford.

https://merriam1.smugmug.com/TownofChelmsford/1802-Schoolhouse-Restoration/
http://www.usflag.org/the.15.star.flag.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-room_school