Union Square is a neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, located around the intersection of Washington Street and Somerville Avenue, about half a mile from Inman Square in neighboring Cambridge. The name "Union Square" comes from the square having been used as a recruitment and mustering site for the Union Army in the American Civil War. A plaque commemorating the mustering site sits at the southwest corner of the square between Somerville Avenue and Washington Street. Union Square is now the commercial center of a primarily residential neighborhood with many restaurants, bars and neighborhood stores.
As the oldest and largest commercial area in the city,[1] Union Square is home to a number of community institutions, including the headquarters of the Somerville police. The Prospect Hill Monument, Union Square Post Office, Somerville Community Access Television (SCATV), and BostonFreeRadio.com are all in Union Square.
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Historic Prospect Hill's castle and park overlook Union Square and points south and west and provide outstanding panoramic views. Because of its location and height, the hill, dominating the road from Charlestown, had great strategic importance in the Revolutionary War and became known as the "Citadel".[2] The castle, dating back to 1902, is a monument commemorating the fortifications atop the hill during that war. A tablet inside reads: "This tablet is erected in memory of the soldiers of the Revolution and of the Civil War who encamped on Prospect Hill and of the banners under which they valiantly fought."[3] It is said by some that George Washington first raised an early version of the U.S. Flag, called the Grand Union Flag, on Prospect Hill, on January 1, 1776.[4] Others, however, claim evidence the flag was flown earlier. Somerville is one of several locales claiming to have hosted the flag's first raising.
In its early years, Somerville was an agricultural suburb, supplying the growing urban area surrounding Boston. Union Square, originally known as Milk Row, was a busy sales point for these products. In the 1800s, rail access through Boynton Yards and the Union Square passenger stop served the meat packing and manufacturing district, which included a slaughterhouse, brickyard, and glass shop. Later the rail yards became an industrial area.[1]
Union Square's location at the juncture of working-class East Somerville and the city's tonier western sections have made it the focal point of changing demographics. While Union Square still offered ten dollar Brazilian haircuts as of 2005, more upscale cafes and restaurants have opened since the 1990s, bringing gentrification deeper into Somerville and nourishing pedestrian street life, though with a highbrow twist.
Union Square is a hub for bars, although this feature, too, is fast changing. Current and former establishments include Bull McCabe's (formerly Tir na nÓg), P.A.'s Lounge, The Independent, Precinct (formerly Toast), Choices, Sally O'Briens and Cantina La Mexicana (formerly Irish Eyes, closed in May 2006). Local restaurants include Ronnarong Thai, Journeyman, India Palace, The Neighborhood Restaurant, Sweet Ginger, Taquería la Mexicana, Sherman Cafe, Bloc 11, Macchu Pichu, Jimbo's Famous Roast Beef, and Mama Gina's. The most recent addition, Journeyman, opened in September 2010.
Many markets in the area are run by and cater to the various ethnic groups that live in and around Union Square. International Market is a Salvadoran store, Solução and Pão de Açucar sell Brazilian foods, Little India and New Bombay Market are Indian grocery stores, Capone's is an Italian grocery, and Reliable Market features Asian ingredients, primarily Korean. In 2010, Sherman's opened a store featuring only locally produced foods.
Union Square Main Streets, a local development group, began running a Saturday morning farmers' market in 2005 as one of its first visible efforts in the square.[5][6] A landscaped community garden,[7] with regularly scheduled concerts and artistic events, sits just outside Union Square at the site of an old school, at 22 Vinal Avenue. Marshmallow Fluff was invented in Union Square in 1917. Every September, Union Square Main Streets holds the "What the Fluff?" festival to honor this invention and Union Square's part in marshmallow history.[8]
Several MBTA bus routes, including the 85, 86, 87, 91, and CT2, pass through Union Square. The Fitchburg Line passes along the south edge of the district, but does not stop. The MBTA is planning to serve the Union Square area with the Green Line Extension, which will add a station in the Fitchburg right-of-way.