|
By Ethan Norton
Fish Flake Hill, located in the heart of Beverly’s
harbor, from the waterfront up to Stone Street and Rantoul Street
over to Bartlett Street, is Beverly’s oldest and smallest neighborhood.It
was first settled in 1626 by a group of people led by Roger Conant,
who came across the water from Salem.Fish Flake Hill quickly became
a strong waterfront community with widespread activity all over
the many wharves of Water Street.(see image)
The Privateers, hired by the Colonial Navy, which came into
these wharves, had the greatest economic impact on Fish Flake Hill.Regardless
of the money though, it was the fishing boats and many merchants
that docked in Fish Flake Hill that had the greatest impact on the
neighborhood as a whole.In fact, the name Fish Flake Hill can almost
be credited to the fishing boats themselves, since it comes from
the many fish flaking tables that were setup all over the hills
of the small waterfront community.1
Unfortunately, by the time the twentieth century
hit Fish Flake Hill had undergone some drastic changes both economically
and physically, due to the declining waterfront businesses and increased
use of railroads.Despite everything though, Fish Flake Hill’s sense
of community and pride was stronger than ever.Most of the residents
were English speaking American born, lower class families who worked
either on the docks or in a nearby shoes factory or were unemployed.(see
image) (see image)The trade
ships and fishing boats that had once made this neighborhood so
strong began to fade out and were replaced by boats bringing fuel,
but this business would not last long.In the early 1900s there were
more than half a dozen wharves located on Water Street, mainly dealing
with coal and other sources of fuel and all independently owned.Within
the next forty years this began to change.Wharves began to move
and combine with each other; New England Coal and Coke Co. bought
out one of the independent oil and coal companies and caused others
to close.The economy slowly changed and people started to have less
money.Surprisingly they dealt with it quite well since they had
never really known much better lives.2
(see
image)
Recreation was important in Fish Flake Hill, despite
the lack of organized recreational groups or clubs directly in Fish
Flake Hill.There were plenty of groups and clubs nearby downtown,
but most of the people spent their recreation time down at the waterfront.They
spent their time fishing and boating and doing other water related
activities.Due to the small size of Fish Flake Hill, there were
no parks directly in the neighborhood, and rather than leave their
home area, most of the children also spent their free time down
by the docks playing and fishing.They became known as the ‘wharf
rats’ and were extremely happy with the lives they lead, not knowing
how poorly they had it sometimes.3
Due to the small size of Fish Flake Hill there
were no churches located directly in the neighborhood; although
religion was still an important aspect of the community.It claims
to have been home to the first Sunday School in the United States.(see
image) And even though there were no churches directly in
the neighborhood, there were many located a short way down Cabot
Street, so all the members of the community made the short trip
downtown to celebrate mass and such.As for transportation to get
downtown, most people probably drove automobiles.Unfortunately,
the train, which so drastically changed the economy of Beverly,
did not run through Fish Flake Hill, so they had to depend on automobiles
for intercity transportation.They could however, use boats and ferries
for transportation to Salem and other neighboring cities on the
water.4
One of the few common neighborhood attributes that
was not affected by Fish Flake Hill’s size was public services.Being
so close to downtown it would seem that when it came to fire and
safety they would just depend on the central fire station on Hale
Street, that was not the case though.At the far corner of Fish Flake
Hill, where Rantoul Street and School Street meet, there was a small
fire station.This fire station was home to one engine, originally
the number two hose engine and later, in the mid 1900s, the second
main engine.Fish Flake Hill also had a school of its own.In fact,
by 1914, there were two schools located in Fish Flake Hill.5
The South School, located at fifteen Stone Street
had been a part of Fish Flake Hill for most of Fish Flake Hill’s
history.But in 1914 the population in Fish Flake Hill, Goat Hill
and the lower half of downtown became too large to be housed in
just the South School, so the Edwards School was opened directly
across the street from the Rantoul Street Fire Department building,
in the upper left corner of Fish Flake Hill, right where Rantoul
Street and Edwards Street meet.6
Fish Flake Hill is one of Beverly’s strongest neighborhoods.It
was one of the founding neighborhoods in Beverly, and without the
support of Fish Flake Hill’s waterfront based economy built up in
the 1600s, 1700s and 1800s, Beverly may not have become the well-built
city that it is today.Fish Flake Hill was even able to adapt and
change when the economy of Beverly moved away from the waterfront
and left Fish Flake Hill behind.In honor of Fish Flake Hill’s great
historical significance, in 1971 it was declared a historical district,
Beverly’s first.This caused Fish Flake Hill’s historical buildings
and wharfs that were falling apart to begin to be preserved as opposed
to turned into waterfront condos and for the neighborhood as a whole
to being to turn around economically and begin its journey back
to being the glorious waterfront neighborhood it once was.7
(see image)
Footnotes
1) Historic Fish Flake Hill Brochure and Map
2) Beverly City Directory Volume II (Beverly:
Crowly and Lot [1903])
Beverly
City Directory Volume XXX (Beverly: Crowly and Lot [1933])
Lindsey, Jay. 1966. History brings
renaissance to Fish Flake Hill. Beverly Citiczen, 13 December,
5.
1910 Census.
3) Beverly
City Directory Volume II (Beverly: Crowly and Lot[1903])
Lindsey, Jay. 1966. History brings renaissance
to Fish Flake Hill. Beverly Citiczen, 13 December, 5.
4) Beverly City
Directory Volume II (Beverly: Crowly and Lot[1903]) Lindsey,
Jay. 1966. History brings renaissance to Fish Flake Hill. Beverly
Citiczen, 13 December, 5.
5) Beverly City
Directory Volume II (Beverly: Crowly and Lot[1903])
Beverly City Directory Volume XI (Beverly:
Crowly and Lot[1912])
Beverly City Directory Volume XXX
(Beverly: Crowly and Lot[1933])
6) Beverly City
Directory Volume II (Beverly: Crowly and Lot[1903])
Beverly City Directory Volume XI (Beverly:
Crowly and Lot [1912])
7) Lindsey, Jay. 1966.
History brings renaissance to Fish Flake Hill. Beverly Citiczen,
13 December, 5.
Historic Fish Flake Hill Brochure and Map
All photos courtesy of the Beverly
Historical Society
|
