Lynn

 

city (1990 pop. 81,245), Essex co., E Mass.; inc. as a town 1631, as a city 1850. Lynn is an old industrial center. The first ironworks (1643) and the first fire engine (1654) in the country were built there. Formerly the shoe industry was important, but jet engines, marine turbines, and electrical instruments have become the major products. The home of Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, is in Lynn.

Lynn, Massachusetts
Seal
Location in Essex County in Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42°28′00″N 70°57′00″W / 42.466667, -70.95
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Essex
Settled	1629
Incorporated	1850
Government
- Type	Mayor-council city
- Mayor	Chip Clancy
Area
- City	sq mi (km²)
- Land	sq mi ( km²)
- Water	sq mi ( km²)
Elevation	ft ( m)
Population (2000)
- City
- Density	/sq mi (/km²)
Time zone	Eastern (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code	01901-01905
Area code(s)	339 / 781
FIPS code	25-37490
GNIS feature ID	0613376
Website: http://www.ci.lynn.ma.us/

Lynn is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 89,050 at the 2000 census. An older industrial center, Lynn is home to Lynn Beach and Lynn Heritage State Park. Currently, Edward "Chip" Clancy, Jr. is serving his second term as Mayor.

History

The area known as Lynn was first settled in 1629 by Edmund Ingalls (d. 1648) and incorporated in 1631 as Saugus, the Nipmuck name for the area.^[1] The name Lynn was given to the area after King's Lynn, Norfolk, England, in honor of Samuel Whiting.^[2]

Colonial Lynn was a major part of the regional tannery and shoe-making industries which began in 1635. The boots worn by Continental Army soldiers during the Revolutionary War are thought to have been made in Lynn. The shoe-making industry drove urban growth in Lynn into the early nineteenth century.^[2] This historic theme is reflected in the city seal, which features a colonial boot.^[3] Lynn would be incorporated as a city in 1850.

On May 21, 1852, after Lynn's cityhood, the northern section of the city, which was growing as a resort town attracting wealthy patrons^[4] seceded from Lynn and became the town of Swampscott. While the two municipalities continue to have strong ties, Lynn headed in an industrial direction, while Swampscott took a more upscale maritime and suburban direction.

Despite industrial expansion as a mill town in the early 20th century, Lynn began to decline in the latter half of the century (the population peaked at 99,000 in 1950). As happened in many older Massachusetts urban centers, the city was plagued by an increase in crime.

This trend earned Lynn the following taunts, the first half of which is well-known throughout New England to this day:

Lynn, Lynn, city of sin.

You never come out the way you went in.

Ask for water, they give you a gin...

it's the darndest city I ever been in.

Lynn's woes were exacerbated by 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 totalling in the tens of millions of dollars. The site has since been largely redeveloped into a satellite campus of North Shore Community College.

Despite its image in the late 20th century, Lynn remains home to some of the jet engine division of General Electric, a major employer, as well as West Lynn Creamery (now part of Dean Foods's Garelick Farms unit) and Durkee-Mower, makers of "Marshmallow Fluff."

In the very early 1990s, the city of Lynn created an advertising campaign to improve the city's image. This was the "City Of Firsts" campaign. "Lynn Firsts" include:

• First iron works (1643)
• First fire engine (1654)
• First American jet engine
• First woman in advertising & mass-marketing -- Lydia Pinkham
• First baseball game under artificial light
• First dance academy in the U.S.
• First tannery in the U.S.
• First air mail delivery in the U.S.

Later, some of these claims were found to be inaccurate or unprovable. For example, the first air mail delivery in the U.S. occurred on Long Island, and the first baseball game under artificial light seems to have actually occurred in Indiana. While the jet engine claim is legitimate, the engine was heavily based on a prior British design.

The twenty-first 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^{[citation needed]}. Encouraged by local developer Tom Kennedy, renowned New Urbanist architect Robert Orr proposed a series of charettes for the redevelopment of Lynn's waterfront in conjunction with Lynnfield Engineering. This plan was ultimately voted down by the city, however, City Hall is encouraging the community's resurgence with new antique-style lighting, signage, brickwork, and a multipurpose municipal football stadium. The North Shore Spirit professional baseball club plays in Lynn at renovated Fraser Field. Lynn has also become home to one of the largest Russian communities in the North Shore. The first wave of immigration began in the early 1990s when Jewish people in Russia were granted refugee status by the American government.^{[citation needed]}

Historical Sites & Museums:

• Mary Baker Eddy House
• Lynn Museum & Historical Society

General View in 1909	Market Street in 1911	Newhall House in 1913	City Hall Square, c. 1906
Lynn High Rise in 2006	High Rock Tower in 2006

Geography

Lynn is located at 42°28′26″N, 70°57′20″W (42.473996, -70.955583).¹

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 34.9 km² (13.5 mi²). 28.0 km² (10.8 mi²) of it is land and 6.9 km² (2.7 mi²) of it (19.87%) is water. Lynn is located beside Massachusetts Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

Neighborhoods

Lynn is loosely segmented into the following neighborhoods:

• Central
• West Lynn
• East Lynn
• Diamond District
• Wyoma
• Business District
• The Highlands
• Pine Hill
• The Fay Estate
• Veterans Village

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 89,050 people, 33,511 households, and 21,044 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,177.7/km² (8,233.7/mi²). There were 34,637 housing units at an average density of 1,236.0/km² (3,202.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 67.89% White, 10.55% African American, 0.37% Native American, 6.43% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 9.82% from other races, and 4.85% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 18.40% of the population.

There were 33,511 households out of which 32.5% 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 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.

Transportation

Lynn is served by the Newburyport/Rockport Line of the MBTA commuter rail, and buses that connect it with Boston and nearby communities like Revere. There are ongoing studies on the feasibility of extending the Blue Line subway to the city.

A main commercial thoroughfare through southern Lynn is "The Lynnway", which carries Route 1A. Minor state routes include Route 129 (mostly Eastern Ave. and Lynnfield St.) and Route 107 (mostly Western Ave.).

Points of interest

• Lynn Beach
• Lynn Woods, the largest municipal park in New England, as well as the second largest in the country at 2200 acres, is host to local historical sites such as Stone Tower, Steel Tower, the Wolf Pits, and Dungeon Rock, believed to be the site of still-unrecovered pirate treasure. Visit the Friends of Lynn Woods for more information.
• Lynn Heritage State Park (and new home of the Lynn Museum)
• High Rock Tower, a stone observation tower with a great 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, This 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. Now it is used by the city's four high schools and the independent baseball team called the North Shore Spirit.
• Manning Field, The municipal football stadium. It is the former site of Manning Bowl (circa 1936- August 2005). Manning Field has just recently completed its first season accommodating several high school football games, all of which occurred during construction.
• Lynn Memorial Auditorium This recently renovated auditorium has recently housed such acts as the Boston Pops Orchestra, and upcoming acts such as the off-broadway hit I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, and children entertainment phenomenon The Doodlebops, and singer Lloyd is scheduled to perform here.

Education

Lynn has three public high schools (Lynn English, Lynn Classical, Lynn Vocational Technical Institute ["Lynn Tech"]), four junior high schools, two alternative schools, and 18 elementary schools.^[1] They are served by the Lynn Public Schools district. There is also an independent Catholic high school, St. Mary's High School, and three religious K-8 elementary schools, two Catholic and one interdenominational Christian.^[2]

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

Notable residents

• Harry Agganis, American athlete
• Frank G. Allen, governor
• Alonzo Lewis, poet
• Mary Baker Eddy, religious leader
• Linda McCarriston, poet
• Maria Mitchell, astronomer
• Lyndon LaRouche, American political activist, presidential candidate
• William Dudley Pelley, leader of Silver Legion
• Daniel Pinkham, composer
• Lydia Pinkham, businesswoman
• F. Lee Bailey, defense lawyer of both Albert DeSalvo and O.J. Simpson
• Ken Hill, Major League Baseball pitcher
• Walter Brennan actor
• Ernie Anderson, Television voice announcer and actor
• Josh Fogg, Major League Baseball Pitcher
• Jan Matzeliger, inventor of shoe lasting machine
• Tony Conigliaro, Major League Baseball player
• Castulo Gonzalez, a professional boxer currently residing here.

References

1. ^ Lynn Public Schools. School Profiles. Retrieved on 2007-08-02.
2. ^ Massachusetts Department of Education. Lynn - Directory Information. Retrieved on 2007-08-02.

• United Press International. "Blaze destroys urban complex in Lynn, Mass." 'The New York Times,' November 29, 1981. Page 28.

External links

• City of Lynn
• Chamber of Commerce Information
• The Daily Item, Lynn's daily paper
• St. George, Greek Orthodox Church of Lynn
• Lynn Cyber District (last updated in 2001)
• Lynn Heritage State Park
• Lynn Public Library
• Essex Images

Coordinates: 42.473996° N 70.955583° W

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