Eagle Feathers #308 – Historic Clarendon Hill

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

It wasn’t until after the Civil War that Somerville began enjoying her western border, the of Town of Arlington.   Historically, the two towns shared in Paul Revere’s ride, the Battle of April 19th, the Pawtucket Indian’s Queen Squaw Sachem’s deeded land, and sports.

On Bunker Hill Day, June 17, 1867, Arlington, formerly West Cambridge, renamed itself after our sacred National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. Since then, an impressive eagle-surmounted Civil War Memorial has commanded the view of Arlington’s Center.

Somerville, like Arlington and other locations, was greatly impacted by the Civil War. Its citizens didn’t want future generations to forget the sacrifices that were made to protect the Union.  Those sacrifices were made by her soldiers, the places they fought at, and the men they fought along with.

At the beginning of the war, local troops were recruited in Union Square and trained at Prospect Hill.  As the war progressed from 1861-1865, thousands were required and were trained locally at the 140-acre, 30-building Camp Cameron site.  It was a basic training camp in Somerville/Cambridge and its location was between today’s Massachusetts Avenue and Holland Street, and Teele and Davis Squares.

In the Summer of 1863, our city’s hallowed eagle-surmounted Civil War Monument was the first in the country and honored the Somerville Light Infantry’s fallen heroes.  That remembrance only scratched the surface of the war that cost over 360,000 Northern lives. It was a war that could not be forgotten.

In West Somerville, Clarendon Hills, Seven Pines Avenue, Malvern Avenue, Glendale Avenue, Fair Oaks Street and Yorktown Street bring to mind Civil War battles, while Camp Street, Cameron Avenue and Day Street recognize the training camp.

After the Union was saved, the city memorialized its area with street signs paying tribute to over thirty Army, Navy and civilian heroes and the States that saved the Union.  Our Clarendon Hill mirrors a section of the Arlington National Cemetery called Clarendon Village.      

Somerville and our western neighbor, Arlington, might have more historic tie-ins than we realize.