The Old Schwamb Mill has announced the return of their Music at the Mill series. Enjoy the sounds of live jazz at the Old Schwamb Mill in Arlington on Thursday, August 12 at 6:30 pm. Described as “electric jazz with an Italian flair”, the music employs world rhythms and Mediterranean melodies with a funk edge. Musicians Sergio Bellotti, Tino D’Agostino, and special guest Maxim Lubarsky will perform. Admission is free, with a $5.00 suggested donation.
The Mill is also featuring a current art show, “Three Views of a Secret,” featuring the work of Gwen Chasen, Bill Cohn, and Dan Cianfarini.
For more information, contact the Old Schwamb Mill at telephone 781-643-0554 or via email at info@oldschwambmill.org.
Music at the Mill, Old Schwamb Mill.
Music at the Mill
Short History of Old Schwamb Mill
In 1838, Jacob Schwamb emigrated to Boston from Untenheim, Rhein Hessen, Germany. Jacob was the first of the Schwamb brothers to emigrate to the United States. By 1857, six of the seven Schwamb brothers had emigrated from Rhineland Pfalz to the United States.
In their heyday, nine separate mills, each with one or two backup mill ponds, dotted the Mill Brook Valley along Massachusetts Avenue from East Lexington as far as Mystic Street in Arlington. The water of the Mill Brook was used by each mill wheel in turn, and the water was then passed on to the next. After 1872 the mills were forced to gradually convert to steam when the Arlington Heights residential plan was laid out and the town dug a reservoir on Lowell Street, in anticipation of the professional class expected to populate the Heights. The influx was not realized because a prolonged recession cut demand and the Arlington Land Company went bankrupt within two years. Complaints were also lodged that the water was not clean. In 1898, Arlington applied to join the Metropolitan water system and in 1899, its petition was granted. Thus, the Heights were able to escape the fate of having the waters of the Great Meadows flow into their sinks…
