Arlington Real Estate
About Arlington, MA
European colonists settled the Town of Arlington in 1635. As a village within the boundaries of Cambridge, it was called Menotomy, an Algonquian word meaning “swift running water.” A larger piece of land that would later become the town of Belmont, which was previously a part of Charlestown, was incorporated on February 27, 1807 as West Cambridge. In 1867, the name “Arlington” was chosen in honor of those buried in Arlington National Cemetery; the name change took effect that April 30.
By the time Europeans arrived, the local Indians, The Massachusett tribe, had been devastated by disease. The tribal chief, Nanepashemet, had been killed by a rival tribe in about 1619. Nanepashemet’s widow, known only as “Squaw Sachem”, sold the tribal land to the colonists for ten pounds, with provisions that she and her tribe could remain on her homestead land around the Mystic Lakes. She’d also be given a new winter coat of wool each year for the rest of her life. She is thought to have lived until about 1650.
The Mill Brook stream flows through Arlington. which played a role in its economy. Seven mills were built along the stream, including the Old Schwamb Mill, which has been a working mill since 1650, making it the longest working mill in the country.
Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride to warn the colonists took him through Menotomy, now known as Arlington. Later that day, more blood was shed in Menotomy than in the battles of Lexington and Concord combined. The surrounding town’s Minutemen converged on Menotomy to ambush the British troops as they retreated from Concord and Lexington. In all, 25 colonials and 40 British troops were killed.
The Jason Russell House, a yellow colonial, now a museum stands a remembrance to those twelve Americans, including Russell himself, who were killed in and around this pictured dwelling on April 19, 1775. Bullet holes are visible in the interior walls to this day.
In its early years, Arlington was a thriving farming community, had its own popular lettuce, even had a large ice industry on Spy Pond. From the mid-19th century until the last ice house burned in 1930; much of the ice produced was shipped to the Caribbean and India by “Ice King” Frederic Tudor.
During the 1920s, the population in Arlington grew by over 90 percent. In 1979, the first spreadsheet software program, VisiCalc, was developed by Bob Frankston and Dan Bricklin in the attic of the Arlington apartment rented by Bob Frankston
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The Jason Russell House, a yellow colonial, now a museum stands a remembrance to those twelve Americans, including Russell himself, who were killed in and around this pictured dwelling on April 19, 1775.
At the time of the American Revolution, the population was at about 1,000 people. The citizens were involved in the early resistance against the British oppression. They boycotting the consumption of tea in 1770 to protest the Revenue Act of 1766, and it was also the first town to petition the colonial government to withdraw from the British Empire.
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