Medford – Somerville Marker

Medford - Somerville Boundary Marker Near Tufts

Medford – Somerville Marker  Often, when I drive up Curtis Street (or is it Winthrop?) I find myself wondering where the Medford-Somerville line is.

How many times did I drive past this granite post before realizing what is was? 

On one side is carved an “M” for Medford – on the other an “S” for Somerville.  Here is the line.

But what’s the “14” carved on the side between the two?

The answer can be found in a 1915 issue of the Medford Historical Register.  Turns out there are – or were – some 30 of these numbered granite posts, marking the boundaries of Medford.   City law requires that municipal officials walk the boundaries – the “metes and bounds”  – every five years.

The article describes a series of photographs of the granite markers, taken during a survey of Medford’s boundaries in 1888. I would love to see the photographs – perhaps the city has them or the Historical Society.  What a perfect way to compare the city – then and now.

I’m going to be on the lookout for the other 29 granite posts.  Let me know if you’ve seen them.

Categories: Everything Else
Tags: Medford

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 8th, 2010 at 3:55 pm and is filed under Everything Else. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1. Denise Hamlin said at August 15th, 2010 at 11:14 am

   Hi Liz ~ This picture of a granite post definitely got my attention. Quite the story attached to it too. Just love this kind of factual background info – right up my street…

   Denise

2. Ron Newman said at October 2nd, 2012 at 10:47 pm

   I have so far found seven of these markers, some as a result of Google Image Search, some by just walking around the Tufts University campus. I made a Google map of them here, with links to your photo and other photos that I either found on the web, or took on my own:

   http://goo.gl/maps/i8Tdc

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