Jump to A Civil Action links and content.
"Woburn's Water Supply: Clean and Safe" a publication of the City of Woburn.

David Chesler's Woburn page

Please let me know if there are any problems, bad links, images that don't show, etc.

Woburn maps

Tri-Community Bikeway (Includes 140k GIF map)
As of August 20, 1998 the (Massachusetts) Metropolitan Area Planning Council has accepted the application for $1.2 Million to fund Phase I of the Bikeway.
The "official" site for the Tri-Community Bikeway
Woburn Downtown Redevelopment Vision Plan (282k GIF, 3400x3300 pixels, so be sure to scroll)
USGS map of East Woburn, Winchester Center, Stoneham and surroundings. (I hope to draw the Tri-Community Bikeway on it.) 325k JPG, 847x1167 pixels.)
Middlesex East communities, as defined by the Daily Times Chronicle
Lycos map of East Woburn.
Big Orthophotoquad (satellite picture) from MIT (you can see my house from here)

Memorial

To Woburn Police Officer Jack Gibbons

Woburn Pictures

Goodyear School

The Goodyear School in East Woburn stands near the site where Charles Goodyear had his lab, in which he accidentally discovered the process for vulcanizing rubber.

Horn Pond

Best Gas

Paul Devine sent me this drawing of the Best Gas station in Woburn Center (Salem Street and Main Street). The Dairy Dome ice cream on Route 28 in Stoneham is a similar example of this architecture; Paul says this is the only building of several in the area like this as well preserved and still used as a gas station.

Oil Depot

Here is the latest submission from Paul Devine, the oil depot at the end of Green Street, behind the old train station, Woburn Center.

Woburn official sites, Public Library

Home Page of the City of Woburn
~~Defunct - Commonwealth site with town-by-town statistics.~~
City of Woburn Millenium Celebrations
The Woburn Public Library's greatest asset is its HH Richardson building, a National Historic Landmark.

Woburn Industries

Jell-O Kraft's Atlantic Gelatin has a big plant here.

Woburn's oldest businesses

From a sidebar in The (Woburn) Daily Times Chronicle, on the 100th year in business for Mahoney's Barber Shop, July 9, 1999.

1860: Barker Lumber, Prospect Street
1884: Goddard's Insurance, Winn Street
1887: McLaughlin's Funeral Home, Pleasant Street
1894: Moore & Parker, Main Street
1895: Roessler's Monument, Salem Street
1899: Mahoney's Barber Shop, Main Street
1901: Daily Times Chronicle, Arrow Drive

A Place to Shoot

Massachusetts Rifle Association

Walnut Hill
260 Rear Salem Street
Woburn, MA 01801-2029
Phone: 781-933-2138

I Toss For Tracey

Actually, it's my children who are studying with the Gangi Bay State Strutters

My House

Click on the house for pictures of my gargoyle

Woburn, England

Besides sharing a name, it's a sister city.

A Richness of Embarassments

I love my adopted city, but embarassing things keep happening:

Benjamin Thompson becomes Count Rumford (I think this meant he picked the wrong side in the Revolutionary War.)
Charles Goodyear's discovery of the vulcanization process comes of sloppy lab work.
You couldn't stand while holding a drink in Woburn. see below
Toxic Trials see below
During an intense rain storm, fall 1997, some broadcast news outlets report that the Horn Pond Dam has failed, leaving Winchester Center under 13 feet of water.
1996: Anchor Baptist Church is accused of taking children to a "Bastketball Game" and baptizing them without the permission of their parents.
- August 25, 2000: WLVI TV reports that the Church is under investigation for child pornography. (In a year-end wrap-up, December 2000, Woburn Times indicates that no additional information has yet been released.)
A dozen kids at a Boys' and Girls' Club dance become ill after taking prescription medication stolen from a mailbox.
A minister is investigated by DSS for using a belt to spank his son.
May 18, 2000: A Burmese python named Kaa gets loose in Woburn Center. (This is the third loose snake in as many years in the area -- a poisonous snake lost in Stoneham was recaptured at their Robin Hood School.)
- August 28, 2001: Yet another snake, this time a large boa constrictor left in the trunk of a car by the owner's boyfriend.
September, 2000: Vacationing animal control officer charged with attempting to steal a statue of a pig in Cleveland.
Did I miss any? URLs for details?

Around Massachusetts, Attleborough is a close second for embarassing things. This year there's been the Paddleboro scandal, and the incarceration of a pregnant member of the unnamed cult for refusing pre-natal care. October 2000 featured a matricide, and November 2000 featured ticketing of underaged smokers.

Merrimack, NH, my parents' adopted home, also has its share.

Superfund / Toxic Trials / A Civil Action

A report that used to be on the Marine Biological Laboratory (at Woods Hole) web site on Woburn groundwater. Ask them to put it back.
A Civil Action, by Jonathan Harr (the book)
Following links are from The Boston Herald, Tuesday January 5, 1999:
- www.acivilaction.com Touchstone Pictures' site about the movie, with brief overviews of the players, the lawsuit and the cast.
- www.civil-action.com W.R. Grace's Web site, giving the company's perspective and links to related documents.
- www.toxicsaction.org A Boston environmental group discusses Woburn and other regional environmental battles.
- www.geology.ohio-state.edu/courtroom Photos, documents and other materials from a college class devoted to the case.
W. R. Grace & Co. has another Woburn site.
Reporter Dan Kennedy covered the story for the Woburn Daily Times Chronicle. He has a very comprehensive set of links and articles here, including very recent developments.

The following chronology of the Industriplex Site appeared in the Woburn Daily Times on May 17, 2001, on the occasion of the opening of the Anderson Regional Transportation Center:

An open letter from Woburn Mayor Robert M. Dever, that appeared for several days in the Woburn Daily Times:
City of Woburn
MASSACHUSETTS City Hall
10 Common Street
Woburn, MA 01801-4139

(617) 932-4501 [sic DSC]
FAX (617) 932-4506 [sic DSC]

ROBERT M. DEVER
MAYOR
January 4, 1998
Dear members of the Woburn community.
This the week the film "A Civil Action" will open in local theaters. This movie is about tragic events involving our water supply almost twenty years ago. The movie revisits a part of Woburn's past that tore at the fabric of our community. What happened to those eight families was a tragedy. We need to be ever mindful of their loss and their courage. The city has learned a great deal from what happened. What is important now -- as local officials -- is ensuring the health and safety of our residents. Outlined below are some of the many steps the City of Woburn has taken to ensure that our water is safe:

Wells G and H were permanently shut down in 1979.
Since 1979 none of our drinking water has come from the Aberjona aquifer nor will it ever in the future.
The city constantly monitors drinking water quality with tests for as many as 100 types of potential contaminants such as bacteria and VOCs (volatile organic compounds).
We perform ongoing rehabilitation and preventive maintenance of our wells near Horn Pond.
A groundwater Protection District was established in 1995 to further protect the Horn Pond aquifer.
A water treatment plant is currently in the design phase which will help us meet or exceed the ever-increasing State and Federal standards for water quality and safety.
We have obtained $3 million in bond authorization for rehabilitating and improving the city's water distribution and sewer systems, beginning in 1999.
We understand that people may continue to have questions or concerns about the Woburn water supply. If you would like further information, please feel free to contact my office at 932-4501
Respectfully,
/s/
Rober M. Dever
Mayor

"Woburn's Water Supply: Clean and Safe" a publication of the City of Woburn.
Liquor
Woburn is listed in the Dumb Laws web site for its ordinance (since repealed) prohibiting standing while holding a drink, or carrying a drink, in bars.
As with most dumb laws, it's not so dumb.
In this case, the law was drafted in the 1970s to allow restaurants that serve cocktails (Massachusetts has several dry towns, and liquor [packaged, and to be consumed on the premises] is strictly licensed) but to prohibit out-and-out bars. It works well for that premise, but as recently as 1998 local restauranteurs successfully worked for the repeal of the ordinance, noting the change in cultural attitudes towards alcohol.
Not that young parents get out much anywhere, but Woburn needs destination places, and establishments that serve either alcohol or coffee could serve that need.
Stoneham
Here are a great set of links for neighboring Stoneham and other parts of metro Boston
For scannists

Industrial History
Date	Owner/Operator	Use

Frequency (MHz)	PL	User
482.8125	146.2	Woburn Police
483.6125	131.8	Woburn Fire
482.6875		NEMLEC 2
482.6375		NEMLEC 3
482.3875		NEMLEC 4
485.3875		NEMLEC 5
483.2875		Metrofire District 13
483.2875		Metrofire Fireground
483.2625		Metrofire Hazmat
482.7625		Woburn Public Works
471.7125	131.8	Listed as Woburn Special Operations, sometimes reported as a SWAT or TPF frequency. I've heard, rarely, drug busts here, also normal Andover stuff
482.6125		SWAT ? reported
464.4875	146.2	Woburn Mall
464.4750		Cummings Property
35.02 / 154.600		McDonald's, Montvale Avenue
154.57		McDonald's, 4 Corners
33.4 / 154.540		Dunkin Donuts, Cummings Park
???		Bill & Bob's Roast Beef
467.7500		Atlantic Gelatin Listed
471.3625	131.8	Winchester Police
483.6875	131.8	Winchester Fire
482.5375	146.2	Stoneham Police
460.6250	131.8	Stoneham Fire
482.3125	146.2	Wilmington Police
154.2350	118.8	Wilmington Fire
482.4875	146.2	Burlington Police
483.3625	131.8	Burlington Fire
471.1875	131.8	Lexington Police
154.3400	131.8	Lexington & Bedford Fire
482.7125		Bedford Police
483.6625	146.2	Reading Police
483.4125	146.2	Reading Fire

Picture gallery
Not yet. Hope to include

The library, of course          [photo taken]
Middlesex Canal, Baldwin mansion
View of Boston from Rag Rock
First Burial Ground, Isahel Porter's grave          [photo taken]
Montvale Jewish Cemeteries          [photo taken]
A Civil Action stuff

Riley site (now NE Industrial Truck)          [photo taken]
Murray tannery (now industrial park)
G & H Well sites (access off Rifle Range Rd? What is the brick structure on the west side of the B&M tracks, between the Salem Street bridge and the old Lechmere flag stop?
Salem Street bridge over the Aberjona River          [photo taken]
W.R. Grace building          [photo taken]

Massachusetts Rifle Association          [photo taken]
Congregation Church - larges auditorium of its construction
Winning Farm, point where Woburn, Winchester and Lexington meet

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