UNIQUE AND ENTERTAINING TRIVIA ABOUT SWAMPSCOTT
Here are some facts about Swampscott that you will find interesting and informative.
The town’s first piece of fire fighting equipment, the Atlantic One Handtub, was built 1852 by Walter Hunneman, an apprentice of Paul Revere.
The Swampscott Club, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean, was once visited by President Ulysses S. Grant.
President Calvin Coolidge once spent a summer at Marian Court here in Swampscott.
Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Christian Science religion, was a resident of Swampscott when she found the “healing power of Christ” which is now a major religion throughout the world.
The Town Hall is the former home of Elihu Thompson who founded the Thompson-Houston Electric Company which is now General Electric.
Barry Goudreau, the lead guitarist of the rock groups Boston and the Lisa Guyer Band, is a Swampscott resident.
Former Red Sox third baseman and now pro baseball coach Johnny Pesky lives in Swampscott.
Channel 5’s sportscaster Mike Lynch grew up and graduated high school in Swampscott. Leslie Stahl of CBS’s 60 Minutes grew up and attended school in Swampscott. Also, Kim Carrigan, formerly of Channel 7 News and Channel 5 Sports producer Frank Shorr are residents of Swampscott.
Detroit Lions running back Dick Jauron grew up and attended schools in Swampscott. He’s now head coach of the Chicago Bears NFL football team. And Bill Adams, a retired player for the Buffalo Bills, grew up in Swampscott. Boston Bruins’ defenseman Ken Linseman also lived here.
TV and movie star and Oscar winner Walter Brennan grew up in Swampscott. He was Grandpappy Amos McCoy and lawman Will Sonnett. Also, MTV’s Real World filmed a segment of their popular show in Swampscott near King’s Beach. Miss Jean (Harrington) of Miss Jean’s Romper Room was a Swampscott resident. And actresses Carol Channing and Estelle Parsons resided here.
Our center of town, called Monument Avenue, was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the same designer of New York’s Central Park. It’s shaped like the sole of a shoe and most the streets off the Monument were named for Civil War generals or admirals like Grant, Walker, Farragut, Devens and Sheridan.
Two young men, H. Allen Durkee and Fred L. Mower, both graduates of Swampscott High and veterans of the United States Infantry in World War I, had formed a partnership in the manufacture of Marshmallow Fluff. The actual date that they started working together is hard to pin down, because they had been making candies together before they started making Fluff. The company numbered two men in those days, and they started out cooking their confections in the kitchen at night and selling them door to door in the daytime.
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