- Somerville
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/sum"euhr vil'/, n.1. a city in E Massachusetts, near Boston. 77,372.2. a town in central New Jersey. 11,973.
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city, Middlesex county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S. It lies along the Mystic River and is surrounded by Cambridge, Arlington, Medford, and the Boston neighbourhood of Charlestown. Settled in 1630, it was originally known as the Cow Commons and was entirely fenced in until 1685. In the city stands the Old Powder House (c. 1704), from which the British general Thomas Gage (Gage, Thomas) seized gunpowder in 1774. Somerville was the last of the Mystic valley towns to separate (1842) from the early Charlestown colony. Its name is said to honour Captain Richard Somers, hero of the Tripolitan-American War.After the American Revolution, brickmaking became important, and the opening of the Middlesex Canal (1803), which passed through Somerville, added to its desirability as an industrial site. By 1835 the town was a regular stop on the new Boston and Lowell Railroad. Its most rapid growth in population and industrial activity occurred after 1900, when slaughtering and meatpacking developed as the principal economic activities. During World War II its population exceeded 100,000, owing to the demand for workers in the automobile and meatpacking industries.The city is now a largely residential suburb of Boston with a service-based economy; light manufacturing is also important. Tufts University in Medford is a major employer. Inc. town, 1842; city, 1872. Pop. (1990) 76,210; (2000) 77,478.borough (town), seat (1784) of Somerset county, north-central New Jersey, U.S. It lies along the Raritan River, 10 miles (16 km) northwest of New Brunswick. Settled by Dutch farmers in the 1680s, it took its present name in 1801. The Wallace House (a state historic site) was headquarters for General George Washington (Washington, George) during the American Revolution in the winter of 1778–79. Somerville's growth was stimulated by the opening of the Delaware and Raritan Canal in 1834 and by the completion of the Elizabethtown and Somerville (later Jersey Central) Railroad in 1842. The borough is now a trade centre for nearby farm and industrial areas. Its light manufactures include pharmaceuticals and electronic equipment.The Old Dutch Parsonage (1751), a state historic site, was where Rutgers University (Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey) (now in New Brunswick) and the New Brunswick Theological Seminary were established. The Duke estate, established by tobacco magnate James B. Duke (Duke, James Buchanan), is now a research and exhibition centre for the New York Horticultural Society. The Knox-Porter Resolution, ending the state of war between the United States and the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary), was signed (July 2, 1921) by President Warren G. Harding (Harding, Warren G.) at the Somerville estate of Joseph Frelinghuysen. Raritan Valley Community College (1965) is in the borough. Inc. town, 1864; borough, 1909. Pop. (1990) 11,632; (2000) 12,423.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
