By Matthew McLaughlin

About 70 cyclists rode through the streets last Saturday for the seventh annual Historic Somerville Bike Tour on Saturday.  The tour was sponsored by the Somerville Bicycle Committee and the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission.

The bike tour was one of the last events for Historic Preservation month in Somerville. The theme of this year’s tour was ‚ÄúRails of the past: Guiding the Green Line of the future.‚Äù 

Brandon Wilson, executive director for the SHPC said train lines have played an important role in Somerville’s history.  Several of the tour’s stops were former train stations that were used during the city’s industrial era.  Wilson said the proposed Green Line, like the old lines, will have a significant effect on the community.

The tour also focused on Somerville’s importance in the Revolutionary War. The tour rolled to Prospect Hill, where the first American flag was raised in Jan. 1, 1776.  A replica of the original flag tops the tower, which was built in 1903 to commemorate the historic occasion.

 
Riders also learned about the Powder House, where the first act of the Revolutionary War occurred. British troops seized gunpowder the local militia stored there.  This event happened before the historic battle at Lexington and Concord, said Dick Bauer, Chairman of the Historic Preservation Commission.

“In many ways, the Revolutionary War did not start at Lexington and Concord in 1775,” Bauer said. “It happened the fall before, here in Somerville.”

Prior to the Revolution, the Powder House was used as a windmill and pickle factory.

‚ÄúPowder House Mill had pickles?  Who knew?‚Äù said Alex Feldman, a Ball Square resident.  Feldman said he enjoyed the bike tour and looks forward to bringing his children to more events.

‚ÄúI can’t wait to bring the kids down to the train line before the Green Line,‚Äù he said.

“You could not get more bang for your buck.”

The tour also stopped at several historic houses.  One house on Sycamore Street dates back to the 1830’s.  Wilson said the tour tries to give Somerville residents a greater appreciation for the details of older houses.

‚ÄúWhen you grow up in a place, you tend to not look around in a critical fashion,‚Äù she said.  ‚ÄúWhat we try to do on all these tours, whether they be by bike or walking is to ask people to look at the little nuisances of the houses.‚Äù

Wilson said she hopes that more Somerville residents, both new and old, come to more SHPC events in the future.

‚ÄúWe hope we can get the old timers who have lived here a while and the newer residents of the city who don’t know anything about the city,‚Äù she said.