Powder House Square - History

History

Broadway was one of the earliest highways running through what would later become Somerville, originating in the 17th century. Originally called "Menotomie's Road," it ran from Charlestown to the settlement at Menotomy (present-day Arlington).

The Powder House was built in 1703 or 1704 by John Mallet. It was originally used as a windmill, but the owning family sold it to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1747, and it was used as a powder magazine thereafter.

On September 1, 1774, British troops landed at the Ten Hills Farm on the Mystic River in present-day Somerville, and marched up Broadway to the Powder House in order to seize all 250 barrels of gunpowder that were stored there. This act led to a massive public reaction known as the Powder Alarm. Thousands of irregulars from surrounding towns prepared to march toward Boston for battle, but the rumors of war turned out to be premature. The public outrage forced the British General Gage to cancel a planned second expedition to seize more arms, and prompted the area colonists to amass their weapons at Concord and other more remote locations. The Powder House would be used as a magazine for militia troops besieging Boston in 1775.

Massachusetts sold the land containing the Powder House to Peter Tufts in 1818. The estate, known as the Powder House Farm, was used as a farm and residence for the Tufts family for most of the 19th century, passing to Peter's heir, Nathan Tufts. Incidentally, another Tufts relative - Charles Tufts - donated the land across Broadway on the Somerville/Medford line to found Tufts College (now Tufts University). The college was founded in 1852, on Walnut Hill slightly to the north of present-day Powder House Square. The descendants of Nathan Tufts donated the Powder House Farm along with its namesake structure to the City of Somerville in 1890, and from this Nathan Tufts Park was established in 1893.

Powder House Boulevard was created in 1900, extending northwest from Broadway at Nathan Tufts Park. According to a plaque placed at the center of the rotary island, the circle was dedicated in 1940 as the James A. Reynolds Traffic Circle after a Tufts College professor.

Nathan Tufts Park (along with the Powder House) was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, the first of many landmarks in Somerville to be added. The City of Somerville designated the park a local historic district in 1985.

An accidental fire damaged the Powder House in 1998, leading to extensive repairs and renovations in 2000-2001.