Lynn, Massachusetts

Lynn is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 89,050 at the 2000 census. An old industrial center, Lynn is home to Lynn Beach and Lynn Heritage State Park and is about 12 miles north of downtown Boston.

17th century
The area known as Lynn was first settled in 1629 by Edmund Ingalls (d. 1647) and incorporated in 1631 as Saugus, the Nipmuck name for the area. The name Lynn was given to the area after King's Lynn, Norfolk, England, in honor of Samuel Whiting.

After Lynn's re-settlement many parts of the town were set off as independent towns. Reading was created in 1644, Lynnfield in 1782, Saugus in 1815, Swampscott in 1852, and Nahant in 1853. Lynn was incorporated as a city in 1850.

Colonial Lynn was a major part of the regional tannery and shoe-making industries that began in 1635. The boots worn by Continental Army soldiers during the Revolutionary War were made in Lynn. The shoe-making industry drove urban growth in Lynn into the early nineteenth century. This historic theme is reflected in the city seal, which features a colonial boot.

19th century
In 1816, a mail stage coach was operating through Lynn. By 1836, 23 stage coaches left the Lynn Hotel for Boston each day. The Eastern Railroad Line between Salem and East Boston opened on August 28, 1838. This was later merged with the Boston and Maine Railroad and called the Eastern Division. In 1847 telegraph wires passed through Lynn, but no telegraph service station was built till 1858.

Lynn Shoe manufacturers, lead by Charles A. Coffin and Silas Abbott Barton, invested in the early electric industry, specifically in 1883 with Elihu Thomson and his Thomson-Houston Electric Company. That company merged with Edison Electric Company of Schenectady, New York, forming General Electric in 1892, with the two original GE plants being in Lynn and Schenectady. Charles A. Coffin served as the first president of General Electric. Elihu Thomson later served as acting president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1920 to 1923.

Initially the General Electric plant specialized in arc lights, electric motors, and meters. Later they specialized in aircraft electrical systems and components, and aircraft engines were built in Lynn during WWII. That engine plant evolved into the current jet engine plant during WWII because of research contacts at MIT in Cambridge. Gerhard Neumann was a key player in jet engine group at GE in Lynn. The continuous interaction of material science research at MIT and the resulting improvements in jet engine efficiency and power have kept the jet engine plant in Lynn ever since.

20th century
Lynn's population peaked around 1930 at just over 102,000 and the population today is roughly where it was in 1910. Yet de-industrialization has meant that median household income for Lynn is well below the statewide average.

Lynn suffered several large fires in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including a devastating inferno among former shoe factories at Broad and Washington Streets on November 28, 1981. The blaze destroyed 17 downtown buildings undergoing redevelopment, with property losses totaling in the tens of millions of dollars. The site has since been largely redeveloped into a satellite campus of North Shore Community College.

Due to a reputation for high crime that has persisted since the beginning of industrialization, a taunting rhyme about Lynn has been known throughout Eastern Massachusetts:

Lynn, Lynn, city of sin You never come out the way you went in Ask for water, they give you a gin the girls say no, but always give in

In order to end the popular chant, city solicitor Michael Barry proposed renaming the city to Ocean Park in 1997, but this failed to pass.

Lynn remains home to a division of General Electric Aviation, a major employer; the West Lynn Creamery (now part of Dean Foods's Garelick Farms unit); C. L. Hauthaway & Sons, a polymer producer; Old Neighborhood Foods, a meat packer; Lynn Manufacturing, a maker of combustion chambers for the oil and gas heating industry; Sterling Machine Co.; and Durkee-Mower, makers of "Marshmallow Fluff".

In order to counter the reputation as "the city of sin", Lynn created an advertising campaign in the early 1990s to improve the city's image. The "City Of Firsts" campaign boasted that Lynn had the:


 * First iron works (1643)
 * First fire engine (1654)
 * First American jet engine
 * First woman in advertising & mass-marketing &mdash; Lydia Pinkham
 * First baseball game under artificial light
 * First dance academy in the U.S.
 * First tannery in the U.S.
 * First air mail transport in New England, from Saugus, MA to Lynn, MA.
 * First roast beef sandwich.
 * First Tulip in the United States, at the Fay Estate near Spring Pond

Later, some of these claims were found to be inaccurate or unprovable. (For example, the first baseball game under artificial light appears to have actually occurred in Indiana.)

The first wave of immigration began in the early 1990s when many Jewish people emigrated from Russia to Lynn, which has become home to one of the largest Russian communities in the North Shore.

21st century
In the early 2000s, a number of new development projects have contributed to what officials hope will be the city's renaissance. Industrial buildings that were formerly vacant have been converted into loft spaces by real estate developers, and bought by young home-buyers who seek the urban lifestyle of Boston proper, but can't afford the higher prices of Boston's South End and similar neighborhoods. Encouraged by local developer Tom Kennedy, New Urbanist architect Robert Orr proposed a series of charettes for the redevelopment of Lynn's waterfront in conjunction with Lynnfield Engineering. City Hall is encouraging the community's resurgence, with new antique-style lighting, signage, brickwork, and a multipurpose municipal football stadium.

In late 2009, Judith Flanagan Kennedy became mayor by a margin of only 27 votes (out of a vote total of over 16,000), beating out two-term incumbent mayor Edward J. Clancy.

Geography and transportation
Lynn is located at °N, °W (42.473996, &minus;70.955583). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.5 square miles (34.9 km²), of which, 10.8 square miles (28.0 km²) of it is land and 2.7 square miles (6.9 km²) of it (19.87%) is water. Lynn is located beside Massachusetts Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Lynn's shoreline is divided in half by the town of Nahant, which divides Lynn Harbor to the south from Nahant Bay to the north. The town lies north of the Saugus River, and is also home to several brooks, as well as several ponds, the largest being Breed's Pond and Walden Pond (which has no relation to a similarly named pond in Concord. More than a quarter of the town's land is covered by the Lynn Woods Reservation, which takes up much of the land in the northwestern part of town.  The town is also home to two beaches, Lynn Beach and King's Beach, both of which lie along Nahant Bay, as well as a boat ramp in Lynn Harbor.

Lynn is located in the southern part of Essex County, and is five miles southwest of Salem, ten miles northeast of Boston, and twenty-two miles west-southwest of Cape Ann. The city is bordered by Nahant to the south, Swampscott to the east, Salem to the northeast, Peabody to the north, Lynnfield to the northwest, Saugus to the west, and Revere (in Suffolk County) to the southeast. Lynn's water rights extend into Nahant Bay, and share Lynn Harbor with Nahant. There is no land connection to Revere; the only connection is the General Edwards Bridge across the Saugus River. Besides its downtown district, Lynn is also divided into East Lynn and West Lynn, which are further divided into even smaller areas.

Lynn is loosely segmented into the following neighborhoods:

Central:
 * Downtown / Business District
 * Central Square

West Lynn:
 * Pine Hill
 * McDonough Sq./ Barry Park
 * Tower Hill / Austin Sq. - Saugus River
 * The Brickyard
 * The Commons
 * Walnut St./Lynnhurst
 * Veteran's Village

East Lynn:
 * Diamond District / Lynn Shore
 * Wyoma Sq.
 * The Highlands
 * The Fay Estates
 * Ward 1 / Lynnfield St.
 * Goldfish Pond
 * The Meadow / Keaney Park

Transportation
Lynn has no full highways, the nearest being U.S. Route 1 in Saugus and the combined Interstate 95 and Route 128 in Lynnfield. Route 1A, Route 107, Route 129 and Route 129A all pass through the town. Route 107 passes from southwest to northeast along a relatively straight right-of-way through town. It shares a half mile concurrency with Route 129A, which follows Route 129's old route through town between its parent route and Route 1A. Route 129 passes from the north of town before turning south and passing through the downtown area and becoming concurrent with Route 1A for a mile. Route 1A passes from Revere along the western portion of the Lynnway, a divided highway within town, before passing further inland into Swampscott. The Lynnway itself stays along the shoreline, leading to a rotary which links the road to Nahant Road and Lynn Shore Drive, which follows the coast into Swampscott.

Lynn has a stop on the Newburyport/Rockport Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail, and several MBTA bus routes that connect it with Boston and the neighboring communities.. There are ongoing studies on the feasibility of extending the Blue Line subway to the city. The nearest airport is Boston's Logan International Airport.

In December 2007, the Massachusetts Seaport Advisory Council approved $750,000 in funding for a commuter ferry from Lynn to Boston. The funding was not continued and the project was terminated as of 2010.

Climate
Lynn gets very cold, snowy winters and mild-to-warm summers.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 89,050 people, 33,511 households, and 21,044 families residing in the city. The population density was 8,233.7 people per square mile (3,177.7/km²). There were 34,637 housing units at an average density of 3,202.6/sq mi (1,236.0/km²).

The racial makeup of the city was 57.9% White, 14.5% African American, 0.4% Native American, 6.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 9.8% from other races, and 4.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 20.40% of the population. Lynn also has the largest Bosnian community in Massachusetts.

There were 33,511 households out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.7% were married couples living together, 17.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.2% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.31.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.0% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 31.0% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 12.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34.2 years. For every 100 females there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $37,364, and the median income for a family was $45,295. Males had a median income of $34,284 versus $27,871 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,492. About 13.2% of families and 16.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.9% of those under age 18 and 14.6% of those age 65 or over.

Recreation
The Great Stew Chase Road Race is a 15K (9.3 mile) event held in early February. It is the 3rd oldest 15K race in the United States.

Points of interest

 * Lynn Beach
 * Lynn Woods is the largest municipal park in New England, as well as the second largest in the country at 2200 acres. Several historical sites such as Stone Tower, Steel Tower, the Wolf Pits, and Dungeon Rock, believed to be the site of still-unrecovered pirate treasure, are located here. Many schools have cross country track meets in Lynn Woods.
 * Lynn Heritage State Park (home of the Lynn Museum)
 * High Rock Tower, a stone observation tower with a view of Nahant, Boston, Downtown Lynn, Egg Rock, and the ocean
 * Pine Grove Cemetery, one of the largest cemeteries in the country which some locals claim has the "second longest wall in the world."
 * Fraser Field, municipal baseball stadium constructed in the 1940s under the WPA. It has housed many minor league baseball teams and a few major league exhibition games for the Boston Red Sox. Currently, it is the home of the North Shore Navigators of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL).
 * Manning Field, the municipal football stadium. It is the former site of Manning Bowl (circa 1936 – August 2005).
 * Lynn Memorial Auditorium
 * Mary Baker Eddy House
 * Spring Pond, historic retreat of wild woodlands.

Education
Lynn has three public high schools (Lynn English, Lynn Classical, Lynn Vocational Technical Institute), four junior high schools, two alternative schools, and, as of Autumn 2008, 16 elementary schools. They are served by the Lynn Public Schools district. There is also an independent Catholic high school, St. Mary's High School, three religious K–8 elementary schools, and one interdenominational Christian.

KIPP: the Knowledge Is Power Program operates the KIPP Academy Lynn, a 5–8 charter middle school, in Lynn.

In popular culture
Lynn is mentioned in a number of books by contemporary authors, including Stephen King's Cell and Everything's Eventual and a number of books by Keith Ablow.

Many versions of the Mother Goose rhyme "Trot, trot to Boston" include Lynn as the second destination.

Episodes of the reality series Cops focusing on Boston often include one segment in Lynn.

Martin Scorsese's 2006 crime thriller The Departed has a scene take place in Lynn, in which Matt Damon's character investigates a crime scene and exchanges words with a Lynn police detective.

Many scenes from the movie The Surrogates were shot in Lynn.

Notable residents

 * Bill Adams, professional football player.
 * John G. B. Adams (1841–1900), Medal of Honor recipient and Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic
 * Harry Agganis (1929–1955), professional baseball player and college football player.
 * Mabel Albertson, actress
 * Jack Albertson, actor
 * Frank G. Allen (1874–1950), governor of Massachusetts
 * Antonio Anderson professional basketball player.
 * Ernie Anderson, voice over artist.
 * Stan Andrews, professional baseball player.
 * F. Lee Bailey, defense lawyer
 * Les Burke, professional baseball player.
 * Verna Bloom, actress
 * Walter Brennan, actor
 * Freddy Cannon, rock and roll singer.
 * Francis Joseph "Boley" Danciewicz, professional football player.
 * Frederick Douglass, abolitionist leader
 * Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910), religious leader
 * Biff Elliot, actor.
 * Ronald Ellis, 2010 National Golden Glove Middleweight Champion
 * Josh Fogg, professional baseball player.
 * Bernie Friberg, professional baseball player.
 * Barney Gilligan, professional baseball player.
 * Barry Goudreau, guitarist with Boston and Ernie and the Automatics
 * Bump Hadley, professional baseball player.
 * Neil Hamilton, actor.
 * Sib Hashian drummer with Boston and Ernie and the Automatics
 * Jim Hegan, professional baseball player.
 * Ken Hill (baseball), professional baseball player.
 * Chris Howard,professional baseball player.
 * Ruth Edna Kelley (1893–1982), author
 * Lyndon LaRouche, eight-time presidential candidate
 * Maria Lekkakos, Miss Massachusetts USA, 2003
 * Alonzo Lewis (1794–1861), teacher, surveyor, poet, writer, author, historian, publisher
 * Jan Matzeliger, inventor
 * Linda McCarriston, poet
 * Maria Mitchell (1818–1889), astronomer
 * Mike Ness, singer and guitarist with Social Distortion.
 * Jack Noseworthy, actor
 * Glenn Ordway, sports broadcaster
 * William Dudley Pelley (1890–1965), politician and founder of the Silver Legion
 * Daniel Pinkham (1923–2006), composer
 * Lydia Pinkham (1819–1873), businesswoman
 * Larry Pleau, professional ice hockey player, coach, and executive.
 * William B. Poole (1833–1904), Medal of Honor recipient
 * Tom Rowe, professional ice hockey player and coach.
 * Verne E. Rupright, mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.
 * Blondy Ryan, professional baseball player.
 * John Murray Spear, a Universalist minister who attempted to build a mechanical Messiah.
 * Susan Stafford, Original hostess of The Wheel of Fortune.
 * Kevin Trudeau, Infomercial salesman
 * Lou Tsioropoulos, professional basketball player.
 * Al Weston, professional baseball player.