Education
Historical Society of Watertown Essay Contest
The Historical Society of Watertown has sponsored various essay contests dating back to 1928 to encourage students to learn and write about Watertown history. Since 1999, the Historical Society Award has been given annually to the three high school students who submit the best essays based on a choice of four themes: an individual, ethnic group, landmark or historical event in Watertown and its significance to the town and region. Information on contest winners dating back to 2005 is available. Besides the award, the first place winner receives a $250 prize, while the second and third place winners receive $150 and $100 prizes, respectively. The winning essays are chosen by a panel of Historical Society Council members and the awards are presented in June in the Watertown High School lecture hall.
The Historical Society appreciates the effort taken by Social Studies Coordinator Kraig Gustafson and the High School staff to encourage students to develop an interest in the history of their town. The Historical Society Councilors look forward to reading the essays every year.
In 2024, first place was awarded to 9th grader Anastasia Ovchinnikov for their essay "Arsenal at Watertown's Historic & Continued Contribution to the City & the USA," the text of which is included below.
Second place went to 9th grader Layla Hadad for their essay titled "26.2 Miles of Resilience." Third place was awarded to 9th grader Vivian Schreiber for their essay "Mt. Auburn Cemetery's Significance to Watertown."
First Place 2024
Arsenal at Watertown's Historic & Continued Contribution to the City & the USA by Anastasia Ovchinnikov (Grade 9)
The more than one hundred acres on the eastern end of the city, located along the Charles River, that housed the Arsenal in Watertown, Massachusetts, contributed not only to the Civil War, World War I and World War II, but is also listed among the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Historic Landmarks. The Arsenal was crucial in manufacturing weapons for these wars, as well as housing solders and providing employment for people within Watertown; in addition, the Arsenal tested experimental weapons for WWI and WWII, and later served as a United States Army Materials and Mechanics Research Center until it was converted for civilian use in 1995.
After the War of 1812, it was decided that a naval repair yard closer to Boston would be necessary to fix ships that had been used in the war: the Arsenal at Charlestown, Massachusetts would be handed over to the Navy to serve this purpose. An arsenal to replace the one in Charlestown was needed, and so the Watertown Arsenal was constructed. The Watertown Arsenal was first built in 1816 on the northern bank of the Charles River for the processing and distribution of ordnance supplies. Captain George Talcott took charge in finding a new site and proposed Watertown due to its proximity to Boston and closeness to the Charles River. Talcott was also given the responsibility of designing a plan for the new Arsenal. Talcott's plan consisted of 12 buildings arranged in a Quadrangle, modeled after the Arsenal at Gibbonsville, New York (later known as Watervliet), which was built three years earlier. By 1835, the Arsenal switched from serving as a depot of ordnance supplies to a manufacturing facility. Major Thomas J. Rodman, who helped to significantly improve the casting process of iron structures, served as Commanding Officer from 1859 to 1865 and oversaw the construction of the Commander's Mansion, a project which caused controversy due to its carelessly high cost. By the early 1900s, the site experienced expansion as the needs of the Army changed. The site was expanded to encompass 103 acres by WWII. The Army changed the mission of the site in 1968, selling off 45 acres to the Watertown Redevelopment Authority, and used the rest - 48 acres - for an army research center (AMMRC), which was renamed the United States Army Materials Technology Laboratory (MTL) in 1985.
The Arsenal largely produced gun carriages, but later expanded into other military technologies. Originally, these gun carriages were made of wood, but by the time of the Civil War they were made of iron. Production at the Arsenal increased for the Civil War. By World War I it was producing more and more complicated gun carriages for a multitude of different purposes (16-inch seacoast gun carriages, for example) and was making steel weapons by the second World War. In the 1890s, the Arsenal experienced an expansion to accommodate its switch to manufacturing. It became filled with large industrial buildings, with railroads running between them to boost efficiency. At one point in the early 20th century, the great mass of the carriages produced meant that cranes were needed to lift them and place them on railways to be transported to other locations within the Arsenal. The Arsenal was the first major engineering testing laboratory in the United States.
At its peak, the Arsenal employed 10,000 people. Not only that, but the Arsenal had barracks for soldiers that allowed them to contribute to the local economy; these soldiers would be customers for local businesses. Based on the titles of newspaper articles from the time, the Arsenal was very popular during its expansion in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. An article headline from the Watertown Enterprise, dated 11/18/1904 reads: "Heavy Steel-work at Arsenal; Big naval guns and mounts". In the 1940s, for WWII, the Arsenal became a prominent topic in articles again, as it ramped up production for the war and started experimenting with new technology and weaponry.
After WWII, the Arsenal shifted gears from manufacturing to materials testing. In 1959-1960, a nuclear reactor was built for research, called the Horace Hardy Lestor Reactor, which was used until 1970. A burn area was constructed in 1961 to transform depleted uranium waste from the Arsenal's experiments into a more stable state. Potentially due to the oil used to coat the depleted uranium before burning, the soil was found to contain PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in 2010. A Human Health Risk Assessment was done in 2011, which found that exposure to the PCBs, radioactive substances, and certain heavy metals such as lead would be a danger to human health. To prevent health impacts, much of the contaminated soil was moved off site. New soil was placed in areas where construction would be taking place. The United States Army Corps of Engineering (USACE) monitored the recovery of the site.
The site was converted to civilian use in 1995. After monitoring, the site was partially removed from the US EPA's National List of Superfund Sites in 2006 and is no longer considered a threat to human health. In the present day, Arsenal Yards has been built on top of part of the site and houses residential and commercial buildings. The site of the Arsenal at Watertown has had an eventful history, playing a role in producing and testing weapons for three wars and later in experimental research. The site was always an important part of Watertown, and continues to be an economic driver in the local community.