Prides Crossing

Prides Crossing is a neighborhood of the city of Beverly, Massachusetts.

For other uses, see Prides Crossing (disambiguation).
Prides Crossing station in 2013

Location

It is bordered to the east by Beverly Farms, and to the west by the Beverly Cove areas of Beverly. Although no formal boundaries have been determined, most locals consider it to exist between numbers 407 and 600 Hale Street.

History

The name is associated with John Pride – supposedly a nephew of Thomas Pride – who was granted land in the area in 1636.[1] In the late 1800s and early 1900s grand mansions were built as summer "cottages' for wealthy business magnates. Henry Clay Frick,[2] who made his fortune in steel (Carnegie Steel) was among the best known of these summer residents. He built "Eagle Rock",[3] located between Hale Street and the Atlantic Ocean. Edward Carelton Swift,[4] at one time the owner of the largest meat packing operation in the U.S. built a mansion, "Swiftmoor"[5] on Paine Avenue in Prides Crossing. Eleonora "Eleo" Sears a flamboyant female socialite and world class tennis player owned a residence that still exists where Paine Avenue and West Beach meet. These wealthy residents were known to travel to Prides Crossing in their own rail cars, disembarking at the Prides Crossing Railway Station, located on Hale Street across from the entrance gates to Paine Avenue.

Entrance to Paine Avenue

The train station still exists and has been the location of a general store, hardware store and now houses a candy manufacture. The current MBTA Commuter Rail station consists of a single low platform adjacent to the old building.

Notable former residents
  • Henry Clay Frick (Steel Magnate)
  • Alice Roosevelt Longworth (eldest daughter of former President Theodore Roosevelt)
  • Richard D. Sears[6] (U.S. Open Tennis Champion)
  • Edwin C. Swift (Swift Meat Packing)
  • Frederick Ayer[7](Textile Manufacturer)
  • William Henry Moore (One-time owner of the National Biscuit Company and Diamond Match)
  • Norman Prince, co-founder of the Lafayette Escadrille
  • Prince Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte II, grand nephew of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte

Local points of interest
  • Prides Crossing Railway Station
  • Prides Crossing Post Office
  • Prides Beach

See also

References
  1. Historical markers erected by Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary Commission. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 1930. p. 10 – via Internet Archive.
  2. Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919) Archived 2014-05-06 at the Wayback Machine. Frick Art & Historical Center. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  3. Residence of H.C. Frick, Prides Crossing near Beverly, Mass. Primaryresearch.org. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  4. "Funeral of Edwin C. Swift" (PDF). New York Times. 9 April 1906. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  5. Swiftmoor, estate of Edwin C. Swift, Prides Crossing, Beverly, Mass.. Primaryresearch.org. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  6. Richard Sears Archived 2011-08-07 at the Wayback Machine. International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  7. "Frederick Ayer dies in Georgia at 95" (PDF). New York Times. 15 March 1918. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  • Wright, John Hardy (2000). Images of America, Beverly (Paperback ed.)Charlestown S.C. Arcadia. ISBN 0-7524-0814-3

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