HAVERHILL, hi'ver-11, Mass., city is Essex County, on the Merrimac River at the head of navigation, and on the Boston and Maine Railroad, about 30 miles from Boston. It is an important centre of street railway traffic, electric lines radiating from it connecting it with all of the important cities and towns of northeastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire. Four highway bridges span the river, connecting the city respectively with the Bradford district, with Groveland and with West Newbury. Haverhill, including Bradford, which was annexed to it 4 Jan. 1897, is 9 miles long and miles wide, and covers an area of 32 square miles. Bounding the entire southern length of the original city and sep arating it from its adjunct, Bradford, from Groveland and from West Newbury, flows the Merrimac River, navigable from the sea to the very heart of the city, and affording for freightage or pleasuring a delightful waterway. From the river on both sides the land slopes upward, the lower parts near the river being occupied for manufacturing and commercial purposes, the higher lands for residences. Five large lakes — Kenoza, Round Pond, Saltonstall, Crystal and Chadwick's Pond—lie entirely within the limits of the city, and with a large artificial lake at Mill Vale, afford ap abundant supply of water for all purposes. The eastern and western parts of the city are known as East Haverhill and West Haverhill, their more thickly settled parts being respectively Rocks Village and Ayres Village; the southern portion, in the Bradford district, is known as Ward Hill.
was the first city in the East to adopt the commission form of government. The administrative heads of the city are a mayor and four commissioners elected at large regardless of ward lines. The mayor receives $2,500 a year; the aldermen $1,800 a year; each is elected for a two-year term. Each alderman is at the head of a specific department and is responsible for what goes on in his department. The school board consists of four members, elected for two-year terms without regard to politics or ward lines. The adminis
trative officer of the board is the superintendent of schools. The water board consists of five members, each appointed by the city government for a term of five years; the park commission consists of five members, each appointed by the city government for a term of five years; the trustees of the public library, six in number, and the trustees of the Hale Hospital, five in number, hold office for life, vacancies being filled by the boards of trustees.
Financial.—The assessed valuation of the city, 1 April 1918, was $47,649,919. The tax levy for 19J8 was $1,038,768.23; State tax, $105, 600; county tax, net bonded debt, 31 Dec. 1917, $1,481,711.37; municipal loans, $1,182,823.95; water loans, $298,887.42.
According to the latest available figures for the year 1913, taken by the State Bureau of Statistics, Haverhill has 316 manufacturing establishments with an ag gregate capital of $17,582,966. The average number of wage-earners employed is 13,697 and they receive $8,809,239 in wages. There are 116 shoe manufacturing establishments with an aggregate capital of $9,467,208 and the value of the shoes produced is $27,508,440. The Board of Trade estimates that approximately 22,000,000 pairs of shoes were made in Haver hill in 1914. There are 115 concerns in the boot and shoe cut stock and finding trade; their aggregate capital is $4,014,039 and the value of their products $9,583,640. The Board of Trade estimates that in 1916 about 17,000 peo ple were employed in wage-earning industries in Haverhill, 13,000 of these in the shoe manu facturing industries in which they received an average wage of $673 a year. Haverhill has built an average of one modern factory a year since 1903, when the Board of Trade erected a factory containing 75,000 square feet of floor space. Other important industries in Haver hill are the manufacture of hats, woolen goods, box board, wooden and paper boxes, tacks, nails and machinery.