September 11th Always Remember!
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It is a short story, so here it goes. We like Native American lore and influences, plus our partner in this venture is known as Menotomy Vintage Bicycles aka OldRaods.com (a very famous web site!).
The word Menotomy is an Algonquian word meaning "swift running water". It is also the name of Arlington during the Revolution War era.
So when we started to think about names for our vintage and used bicycle company, I thought, what better name than one that matches the heritage and history of a part of the town I live in and stays in tune with our partner!
So Shawsheen it was!
The Shawsheen River is a tributary of the Merrimack River in northeast Massachusetts. According to Bailey's history of Andover, the name Native American in origin is said to mean "Great Spring.”
Native American word again, it is also a section of Andover, MA. The 25-mile river runs generally northward through the towns of Bedford, Billerica, Tewksbury, Andover, and Lawrence, where it meets up with the Merrimack River.
The Shawsheen section of Andover abuts the City of Lawrence with the Shawsheen River run through the center of this section of town.
Shawsheen Village
In 1905, the American Woolen Company built the largest mill in the world, the Wood Mill in Lawrence Ma., followed by the neighboring Ayer Mill.
In 1919, the American Woolen Company announced plans to build a million dollar mill in the already-existing mill community of Frye Village in the Town of Andover and rename the region "Shawsheen."
The village was completely rebuilt as a "model industrial community" and became the site of the company's headquarters.
The mill began operating in 1922 and within two years the village contained more than 200 houses, several community buildings,
a few tennis courts, a swimming area, a bowling green, an athletic field and a golf course.
The employees rented their homes from the company; the brick structures were reserved for upper management and the wooden buildings for those of lesser position.
The company reached its apogee in the 1920s, when it controlled 20% of the nation's woolen production.
This was also a time that there were very few privately owned automobiles. None of the homes built in Shawsheen Village had garages, most still have none.
This was partly due to the fact that automobiles we very new and only the well to do could afford a car in those days. It was also part of the plan.
So a two garages were built, one of which is still easily noticed out on Main St. Route 28 to house any one who might have had one.
Part of the reasons for the location of Shawsheen was the trolley line of the Bay State Railway Company ran along this road Route 28.
Also, the Boston and Maine line ran right though Shawsheen. This was great for commuters plus shipping and receiving for the mills.
With a five minute walk one could be on the trolley or on the train to place both near and far.
This industrial utopia, however, was short-lived - by the early 1940s almost all of the houses and administration buildings had gone into private ownership.
The mills became a victim of changing technology as synthetic fibers became more popular than wool. The American Woolen Company closed its mills in 1953
and the buildings today house a variety of businesses, homes, and apartments.
There is a move to develop "A Plan to restore a sense of place for historic Shawsheen Village, Andover, MA USA." Check it out!
So just how did people get around before cars, other than by foot?
North and south of Boston various horsecar and streetcar lines had merged into one huge system (the Bay State Railway Company). By 1911, one could travel via their trolleys from Nashua, New Hampshire to Boston to Newport,Rhode Island.
The trolleys or street cars were operated by the Bay State Street Railway Company. They operated street cars in ninety-two cities and towns in Eastern Massachusetts. At one time, Massachusetts had more street railway trackage per square mile than any other state in the Union. Now that was a Mass Transit system! In eastern Massachusetts the remains of this system eventually became what is now known as the MBTA. And with the exception of some cities most of the tracked vehicles have long since been replaced with buses.
Remembering that the idea of automobiles had just started to catch on in the 1910’s and 1920’s bicycles were the other mode of wheeled transport that most people could afford. It was not until after WWII, the later 1940’, 1950’s and most of the 1960’s the automobile becoming affordable for most families plus cheap gasoline made it the easy transportation choice. Bicycles were left for children and perhaps college students to ride. It was not until, the late 1960’s and early 1970’s that a resurgence in bicycles took hold. I bought my first 10 speed road bicycle in 1971 for just over $100 (that would be over $500 in 2008 dollars), and just sold it this past summer 2008. Not a bad return of 37 years of use…and it will live on as a single or fixed!
Ok, so with that bit of history part of which is from our childhood era and through the early resurgence that we look to find most of our bicycles to turn back into that easy, simple, reliable source of transportation and recreational riding. Therefore, our bikes are generally vintage types, yet are ready to ride and easy to maintain. We do have a plentiful supply of 1980’s 1990’s and some newer cycles that we turn over also! Today’s high end bicycles are great for what they are intended for, and we mean no disrespect to anyone who rides one, in fact our best customers are those have several bikes for varied purposes. It is not unusual to have someone tell us they are looking for their second or even third bicycle for commuting, winter beater or a frame to convert to a fixed or single speed.
Bicycles are a tremendously efficient form of transportation, especially in an urban environment. I’ve heard it said that the most efficient animal on earth in terms of weight transported over distance for energy expended is a human on a bicycle. The most efficient machine on earth in terms of weight transported over distance for energy expended is a human on a bicycle. And another general truth is, with the exception of the worst weather bicycles by far the most economical and fastest mode of urban transportation.
With all that in mind we hope we can help you find the bicycle that your looking for and keep it on the road and out of the trash.
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September 11th Always Remember!