Virtual Road Trip - US Route 1 - Part 5

We head into Newburyport over the Merrimack River, on a bridge of course, the river is too deep to drive. Newburyport is a coastal city and as such gets a lot of it's income from boats, both selling and repairing, plus mooring and service industries. Back in the early years of the town, it's industry was concerned with silverware, liquor, and guns. A dangerous combination I would think!

Sadly, Route 1 runs along what is known as the Newburyport Turnpike, that is either elevated or lowered below street level. Pity really, as the town looks quite nice.

Amongst the famous people that are associated with Newburyport are John Quincy Adams, the sixth US President, who lived there for a short time in his early twenties. Joe Keery was born in Newburyport. "Who"? I hear you shout, well he played Steve Harrington in Stranger Things.

Route 1 then passes to the west of Rowley and Ipswich to just cut the corner of...

We only skirt the edge of Topsfield unfortunately, most of the road runs through forested land which in the Fall is glorious.

Topsfield takes it's name from the village of Toppesfield, in Essex in the United Kingdom. Although, in line with other words in the US, some of the letters are missing. (Harbour, Colour, etc)

Topsfield was directly affected by the Salem witchcraft trials, several accused were hanged for their "crime", and many others in the town were imprisoned pending trial. Topsfield was also one of the first places settled by Irish immigrants at the time of the Irish Potato Famine.

Danvers can be considered a suburb of Boston, it was originally called Salem Village, due to it's proximity to Salem which is a few miles to the east. The notorious witch trials began in Danvers (when it was called Salem Village obviously), by local minister Samuel Parris, in 1692.

The town became Danvers in 1752, and is probably named after New York governor and British politician Danvers Osborn.

Originally established as part of Salem, this city then went through the other names of Northfields, Salem Farms, and Brooksby before becoming part of Danvers known as South Parish in 1752. It then broke away from it's neighbour in 1855 to become South Danvers. It eventually took it's current name in 1868, and is named after George Peabody, a local philanthropist sometimes known as the "father of modern philanthropy"

In 1915, a third of the town were immigrants, from Ireland, Russia and the Ottoman Empire. 1915 was also a tragic year in the town, twenty-one children died in a school fire. Their bodies were found huddled together just a few feet from the entrance. As a result of the tragedy, Peabody became the first city in the US to pass a law that all doors on public buildings could be pushed open, rather than having handles and doorknobs.

There isn't much to say about this place, the road just passes through as a turnpike, with little association with the town itself apart from a few gas stations, car lots, and business premises.

Lynnfield was first settled in 1638, and was made a separate entity from the town of Lynn in 1782. The town had a surge of growth after World War II, to become a residential suburb of Boston.

Despite it's small size, Lynnfield has two criminals in it's list of notable people on Wikipedia. Firstly, Theodore Conrad was a bank teller that stole almost a quarter of a million dollars in 1969 from the vault of a Cleveland bank. He evaded capture by changing his name to Thomas Randelle, and settling in Lynnfield, becoming a trusted member of the community with friends in the local police force. He admitted his crimes on his deathbed in 2021.

The other criminal is John Connolly, a former FBI agent that was convicted of racketeering, and murder coming from his association with Boston based mobsters. He was released from prison on medical release in 2021. He lives in Lynnfield in a house allegedly bought from a Mafia extortionist.

We're well into the Boston Metro area now, Saugus is another suburb, and the roads are getting much busier. The area of the town had been inhabited for thousands of years by the Pawtucket tribe of Native Americans prior to the arrival of European settlers in the 17th century. The name comes from the Pawtucket word for "outlet" referring to the estuary of the Saugus River.

Saugus was the site of America's first iron works, it was thought to have been one of the most technologically advanced in the world, producing a ton of iron per day. However it was not financially viable and closed in 1670 after only about 25 years of operation.

The 19th century ice industry began in Saugus, with ice being sent as far afield as Martinique.

It seems that Route 1 is mainly a through road at the moment, bypassing most of the town centres, probably due to traffic constraints close to a major city.

Revere is one of the oldest communities in the United States, it was first settled in 1624, but not incorporated until 1846. Although originally called Rumney Marsh, it was renamed in 1871 in honour of Paul Revere.

Revere Beach is considered the oldest public beach in the US, it has been the location for movies and is referenced in Stephen King's book, Misery.

Just across the Mystic River from our first major city, is Chelsea. Originally called Winnisimmet, by the Native Americans that lived there for thousands of years, meaning "swamp hill", the town was renamed in 1739 after the area of London, England with the same name.

1908 saw the first of two great fires in Chelsea, it made over 50% of the population homeless, although most of the remaining townsfolk provided accommodation for the survivors. The second fire occurred in 1973 and destroyed 18 city blocks, almost a fifth of the city. Both fires originated in the "Rag Shop District" an area of junk shops selling scrap metal and other items.

One of Chelsea's most infamous sons is Albert DeSalvo. You may not know his name, but you will probably have heard of his nickname, the Boston Strangler. He was born in Chelsea, and confessed to the killing of thirteen women between 1962 and 1964. He was stabbed to death in prison in 1973.

Over the Tobin Bridge to Boston, named after Maurice J. Tobin, the mayor of Boston from 1945 to 1947. Boston is the capital of Massachusetts, and as such has much history. I'm not going to go into too much detail, we need to get on and you probably know about most of it anyway. The Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere's midnight ride are two of many events that are well known throughout the US and other places. Boston was named after it's namesake town in Lincolnshire, in the United Kingdom.

Boston has a rich musical history with bands such as Aerosmith, Boston (who knew), and The Cars hailing from the city.

I don't think I've covered Boston to the extent it deserves, but Route 1 largely passes the city by. Never mind, I'm sure there will be better views further down the road.

Heading out of Beantown and into the southern 'burbs we come to Milton. Archaeological finds have dated settlers in the area back as far as ten thousand years prior to the arrival of Europeans. It was named after Milton Abbey in Dorset, England.

Milton was one of the earliest industrial areas in the United States, with mills producing many different products including iron, paper, and chocolate. One of the first attempts at negotiations with the British Empire occurred in Milton, the Suffolk Resolves declaration of 1774, which became a model for the eventual Declaration of Independence.

George H.W. Bush, POTUS41, was born in Milton on Adams Street. Adams Street was named after the Adams family, no not that one, the one that brought you John Adams (POTUS2) and John Quincy Adams (POTUS6) who were born on the same street. Speaking of Quincy...

Quincy was the birthplace of John and John Q Adams, POTUS 2 and 6, as well as John Hancock, the first signer of the Declaration of Independence. The city of Quincy was named after Colonel John Quincy, grandfather of Abigail Adams, mother of John Quincy, who was also named after her grandfather.

The city had a thriving granite quarry that made way for the first commercial railroad in the United States, the Granite Railway. Howard Johnson's and Dunkin' Donuts were both founded in the city. The reputed originator of the "Kilroy was here" graffiti featuring a face with it's nose over a fence or wall, James J. Kilroy, was a worker in a shipyard in Quincy.

Route 1 continues as I-95 until we get to the exit for...

Dedham was first settled in 1635 by English immigrants, they built Fairbanks House in 1641, which is the oldest surviving timber framed building in the US. They also built the first man made canal in 1639. Dedham was named after the village in Colchester, Essex, UK.

Several films have been partly or wholly shot in Dedham, including scenes from The Perfect Storm, Shutter Island and Anne of Green Gables.

We only drive through the edge of Westwood, but it's already better than being on the boring Interstate. Westwood was first settled as part of Dedham in 1641, in fact it was called West Dedham until it was incorporated in 1897. It was originally meant to have been called the Town of Nahatan, however an opposition from Nahant, another settlement to the north of Boston, made this impossible. Westwood was chosen instead.

Westwood has the oldest animal pound in the United States. Until 2005, you couldn't buy alcoholic products in Westwood, it was what is called a "dry town", restaurants can now apply for a liquor licence.

Robert Steele is buried in the Old Cemetery of Westwood, I know, I can hear you shouting "Who's he?". Well, at the age of fifteen he joined the Continental Army and served in the Battle of Bunker Hill as a drummer boy. He survived the war and died at the age of 73.

One of the largest employers in Norwood is Moderna, famous for producing vaccines including the Covid19 vaccine. The initial part of Route 1 in this town, as well as the last part of Westwood, is the site for many car dealerships, so much so that the strip is known as the "Automile"

Walpole was named after the first Prime Minister of Great Britain, Sir Robert Walpole.

The Walpole High School teams are nicknamed The Timberwolves, all teams that is except for the girls field hockey team. They have the unfortunate name of The Porkers, I'm sure it's not derogatory, but even so, maybe it's time for a change?

The High School has changed it's team names in the past, they were originally called the Rebels, Dixie was used for chants and cheerleaders cheers, their main coach had the nickname General Lee, and the Confederate flag was used on the school yearbook. However, in 1994, it started to change due to the racist undertones of the Confederacy, and in 2020, following the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota, the school and local alumni voted to change to the Timberwolves.

Now seems to be a good time to stop, 15 entries in this blog and at number 70 in the town list, just have to find somewhere to book in for the night...

The agonies of choice, a grotty motel that does truck parking, or a nice clean hotel that is part of the Hilton chain? Now, it may be that the Walpole Motel is very nice, but first impressions aren't good. I wonder what TripAdvisor says?

Walpole Motel - The most recent review states, "One of the dirtiest hotels I've ever stayed at" Entry Here.

Home2 by Hilton - Their most recent review, "Checked in and had to leave within a few hours because our room was completely infested with bed bugs!" Entry Here.

Oh dear, what to do? Good job I checked the other reviews, the Home2 bad review was the only one, whereas Walpole Motel has several. Decision made, Home2 it is, I'll check the bed first I think!.

Mileage so far...552 + 68 = 620

Is that all, I'm going to have to organise more time off work at this rate.