fitchburg-hometown
In 1777, two teenage black men, Caesar Carter and Eden Lonnon (a slave),
enlisted from Fitchburg in the Colonialists' cause.

(Next the pen and ink drawing shown in
http://www.ziplink.net/users/kjones/jay_st.gif
appears with the caption. " From the crest of Jay Street can be seen a
panorama of the city, from Prospect Street eastward along the river to
Laurel Hill"

Fitchburg has a host of unusual streets and public ways, which relieve the
monotony of traffic choked highways and thoroughfares characterizing many
industrial cities.  Most of these interesting streets were laid out before
the advent of the automobile, at the time when rigid zoning laws were
unheard of.  Today it would be impossihble to build a narrow, winding lane
without geing entangled in legal hassles over width specifications and
regulations.

Central St., running between Main and Prichard Sts., has probably the most
charm of any on the city.  There is barely enough room for two cars to pass
and even less room for pedestrians, as attractive little houses closely
front the street, pre-empting sidewalk space.  Park 
St.  is a little lane off Main St. slightly west of the Upper Common.
Sequestered by fine old brick houses and large trees, this crooked street
soon peters out into the hillside below Arlington St.  Most people passing
by this busy section of town are not even aware it exists, Park St. being so
narrow.

Likewise, Fitchburg's remaining cobblestoned streets are often overlooked.
Yet, if you possess an eagle eye, you will be able to count portions of six
streets which have never seen a blanket of asphalt cover them.  The only one
whose surface is entirely cobblestoned is Jay St., which steeply ascends the
hill above Pleasant and Spring Sts.  From its crest can be seen a panorama
of the city, from Prospect St. eastward along the river to Laurel Hill.  Its
grade necessitates closing it off during snowstorms, as vehicles would find
it too steep for safe travelling.  Again, Huron St. in Cleghorn is a
cobblestoned street whose vertical rise is quite impressive. Not only is the
street barricaded in winter, but it is sometimes too risky to attmpt in wet
weather, as a combination of slippery stones and trash littered onto the
street transforms it into an obstacle course.  Eaton St. in West Fitchburg
is lined with dignified Federal-period houses at the foot of the hill and
describes a somewhat prettier scene.  The intersection of Eaton and River
Sts. hasn't changed perceptiblay in a hundred years, cobblestohnes and
clapboards keeping each other company just as they did when trolleys clanged
by.  Two miles farther out can also be found a cobblestoned section
ofPrinceton Rd.  Above the narrow railroad underpass sits Wachusetts Depot,
astride a bed of cobblestones which was the otiginal section of road.  This
station and the one on Depot St. in West Fithcburg are the only now
remaining in the city Union Depot having been torn down in 1961.