1891.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 5 



We are proud of our city, — of its well-kept highways 

 leading to the fertile farms upon the outskirts. No city 

 could ask for more attractive pleasure drives than lead from 

 Worcester in all directions, down to the beautiful Lake 

 Quinsigamond on the east, or among the farms on the west. 

 In these drives the thrift of the farming population is very 

 noticeable in wel!-painted buildings and close-cut lawns, 

 ornamented by shrubs and flowers. The roadsides are 

 shaded by rows of trees set out by private individuals or 

 the park commission. Upon Arbor Day certain varieties 

 of shade trees are given by the park commission to those 

 who will take the trouble to set them out by the roadside. 

 Many have availed themselves of this opportunity, and in a 

 few years hence we shall see the beautiful results. Nature 

 has been very lavish in her gifts to Worcester. The well- 

 rounded hills, green to their summits, combine with the 

 fertile valleys in one beautiful landscape. 



Worcester was settled in 1064, by half a dozen families 

 from Sudbury, Watertown and Charlestown, and was first 

 called Quinsigamond, from the name of a tribe of Indians 

 located here. The fertile country around Worcester attracted 

 the attention of the first settlers. They were interested in 

 the development of the country, and to gain neighbors they 

 petitioned the Great and General Court to have a committee 

 appointed to make surveys, investigate the country, and 

 report their findings. The committee was appointed in 

 1665. In 1667 they reported that they had viewed the 

 location, and found it twelve miles from Marlborough on 

 the road to Springfield, about half-way between Springfield 

 and Boston, and that it was a tract of very good chestnut- 

 tree land, of meadow not so much. However, they reported 

 in favor of a small plantation or town of thirty families ; 

 or, if it was to include the territory which had previously 

 been granted to others, it would in their estimation support 

 sixty families. Now, after the lapse of more than two 

 centuries, as we look upon these hills and valleys of that 

 very good chestnut-tree land, thickly dotted with homes of 

 the people engaged in many trades and professions, and 

 supporting a dense population, the low estimate of the 

 capacity of the tract of land, which might possibly support 



