Quincy, in Norfolk county, Massachusetts, was settled in 1625, under the name of Mount Wollaston. Extensive quarries of fine granite are wrought here; the first rail-road constructed in America was built for the purpose of conveying the granite from the quarry to the landing. This town is very pleasant, and contains many handsome country seats; among which is that of ex-president Adams. Population, three thousand three hundred and nine.
Raleigh, city and capital of North Carolina, in Wake county, near the west bank of the river Neuse, is pleasantly situated in an elevated tract of country. Besides the government buildings, it contains other convenient and elegant public edifices. In the centre of the town is a large square, from which extend four wide streets, dividing the town into quarters. In the centre of this square stood the state house, with the splendid statue of Washington, by Canova; the edifice was burnt down in 1831, and the statue almost destroyed. In the neighborhood of the town is an excellent quarry of granite. Population, one thousand seven hundred.
Reading, the capital of Berks county, Pennsylvania, is a beautiful town, situated on Schuylkill river, fifty-four miles north-west of Philadelphia, on the road to lake Erie. It is a flourishing place, regularly laid out and inhabited chiefly by Germans; it contains the usual county buildings, an elegant church for German Lutherans, another for Calvinists, one for Roman Catholics, a meeting-house for Friends, and other public edifices. In the neighborhood of this town are a number of fulling mills, and several iron works. Population, eight thousand seven hundred and fourteen.
Richmond, the metropolis of Virginia, and seat of justice for Henrico county, is situated at the falls of James river, on the north side, one hundred and fifty miles above its mouth, and contains twelve thousand inhabitants. The site is very uneven, and the situation is healthy, beautiful and picturesque. On the opposite side of the river is Manchester, connected with Richmond by two bridges. The falls and rapids extend nearly six miles, in which distance the river descends eighty feet. A canal with three locks is cut on the north side of the river, terminating at the town in a basin of about two acres. Few cities situated so far from the sea, possess better commercial advantages than Richmond, being at the head of tide water, on a river navigable for batteaux, two hundred and twenty miles above the city. The back country is fertile, and abundant in the production of tobacco, wheat, corn, hemp, and coal. Some of the principal buildings are the capitol, penitentiary, armory, court house, and eight houses of public worship. The capitol stands on a commanding situation, and is a conspicuous object to the surrounding country. In 1811, the theatre at Richmond took fire during an exhibition, and in the conflagration, seventy-two persons lost their lives, among whom was the governor of the state. An elegant Episcopal church of brick, styled the Monumental Church, has been erected on the spot, with a monument in front, commemorative of the melancholy event. Population, 20,152.
Rochester, in Monroe county, in the western part of New York, is the most populous and important village in the state. Its growth has been wonderfully rapid. Thirty years ago there was a wild uninhabited tract, where now is a flourishing population of more than twenty thousand people. This growth has been owing to the passage of the Erie canal through the town, thus furnishing a conveyance to the numerous manufactureswhich the great water power of the Gennessee enabled them to carry on. The canal crosses the river three hundred yards above the falls. For the distance of three quarters of a mile in the village, the river is walled with hammer-dressed stone, to the height of from ten to twenty feet. The power which is furnished by this river, in the course of two miles at this place, at low water, is equal to that of six hundred and forty steam engines of twenty horse-power each. The manufactories are very numerous; they consist of sixteen flour mills, four woolen factories, two of cotton, three marble, and others of almost every description. There are twelve religious and seventeen benevolent societies; the literary institutions are numerous, and there are many well-conducted schools. The receipts of the canal toll office of this town are larger than those of any town in the state, except Albany. Population in 1815, three hundred and thirty-one; in 1840,twenty thousand one hundred and ninety-one.[67]
Rutland, seat of justice of Rutland county, Vermont, is a village of irregular form, and was first settled in 1770. During the revolution, two picket forts were built here. There are quarries of blue and white marble, in a range extending from Berkshire county, Massachusetts. Population, two thousand seven hundred and eight.
Saco, port of entry in York county, Maine, is situated at the head of tide water on Saco river. The falls at this place afford a great water power, and carry many saw mills; numerous factories might be erected onthe shore. The lumber trade of this town is extensive and profitable. Population, four thousand four hundred and eight.
St. Augustine, city of Florida, situated on the Atlantic shore of that territory, is the oldest settlement in North America, having been founded by the Spaniards forty years before the landing of the English at Jameston, in Virginia. The breakers at the entrance of the harbor have formed two channels, whose bars have eight feet of water each. A fort, mounting thirty-six guns, defends the town. When Florida was ceded to the United States, in 1821, the number of inhabitants was about two thousand five hundred, and it has not increased.
St. Genevieve, a town of Missouri in the county of the same name, is situated on the second bank of the Mississippi, about one mile from the river, and twenty-one miles below Herculaneum. It was commenced about the year 1774, and is a depot for most of the mines in the neighborhood, and the store-house from whence are drawn the supplies of the miners. Its site is a handsome plain; the little river Gabourie, whose two branches form a junction between the town and the river, waters it on its upper and lower margins. The common field, inclosed and cultivated by the citizens, contains about six thousand acres. A road runs from this town to the lead mines, and the greater part of the inhabitants have an interest in, or are employed in some way in, the lead trade. Population about one thousand five hundred.
St. Louis, the principal town of Missouri stands nearly in the centre of the Great Valley on the right bank of the Mississippi, seventeen miles below the mouth of the Missouri, one hundred and seventy-five above the mouth of the Ohio, one thousand three hundred and fifty miles from the Gulf of Mexico, and eight hundred and fifty from Washington. It was founded in 1774, but remained a mere village while under the French and Spanish colonial governments. It has easy water communication with the country at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, two thousand six hundred miles distant, by the course of the river, on one side, and with Quebec and New-York, between one thousand eight hundred, and two thousand miles, on the other; and with New-Orleans, one thousand two hundred and fifty, to the south, and Fort Snelling, eight hundred and sixty miles to the north. The site of the town rises gently from the water, and is bounded on the west by an extensive plain. The buildings mostly occupy several parallel streets beside the river. Here are a Catholic College, and several other seminaries of learning. The Catholic Cathedral is a magnificent structure. The hospital, and orphan asylum, under the care of the sisters of Charity, the convent of the Sacred Heart, the City Hall, &c., are among the public buildings. The population is twenty-one thousand, five hundred and eighty five, including many Germans and French.