Rumney Marsh was originally divided and allotted to twenty-one of
Boston’s most prominent citizens. By 1639, the original 21 allotments
had been consolidated into seven great farms. Farming was, and
continued to be, the principal industry of Winnisimmet, Pullen Point
and Rumney Marsh in particular.
On September 25, 1634, Winnisemmet, Rumney Marsh and Pullen Point
were annexed to Boston. The first County Road in North America
stretched across Rumney Marsh from the Winnisimmet Ferry to Olde
Salem in 1641. Many travelers, attracted by the fertile soil and
lovely crescent beach returned to Rumney Marsh to settle.
In 1739, Rumney Marsh, Winnisimmet and Pullen Point were set off from
Boston and established as the Town of Chelsea. Rumney Marsh was the
largest of the three settlements, and therefore was selected as the
Town Centre.
In its early years, such famous and controversial people as Captain
John Smith, Governor Winthrop and Paul Revere, visited the Town.
George Washington is said to have dined at the home of Isaac Pratt.
Chelsea played a role in the American Revolution as the site of the
first naval battle in 1775 at Rumney Marsh.
Winnisimmet grew more rapidly than the other two sections. By 1846,
2,100 people lived in Winnisimmet and only 900 in Rumney Marsh and
Pullen Point combined. On March 19, 1846 Rumney Marsh and Pullen
Point were set off and incorporated as the Town of North Chelsea. In
1850, nearly the entire population of Rumney Marsh was employed in
farming. Even the Marsh was harvested, producing “salt hay”
for livestock.
In 1852, Pullen Point was set off from North Chelsea and established
as the Town of Winthrop. On March 13, 1857 Chelsea became a city. In
1871, North Chelsea adopted the name of Revere after Paul Revere. The
population was 1,197. The name of the Salem Turnpike, which had been
completed in 1803, was changed to Broadway.
The completion of the Eastern Railroad, in 1838, (later to become the
Boston & Maine) and the Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn railroad
(the Narrow Gauge) in 1875 signaled the beginning of rapid population
growth for the town of Revere and the development of the Beach as a
summer resort. In 1888 the first electric trolley in Massachusetts
began and this increased accessibility of Revere Beach, (formally
Chelsea Beach). The beach became famous as a resort. By 1885 the town
had increased to 3,637 people, more than tripling in size over 15
years. By 1890 the population grew to 5,668.
In 1915, with the growing population, Revere became a city.