Powder House Square
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Powder House Park
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View of the Powder House Square rotary from Warner Street
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| Location | Somerville, Massachusetts, United States |
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| Coordinates | 42°24′04″N 71°07′00″W / 42.40111°N 71.11667°WCoordinates: 42°24′04″N 71°07′00″W / 42.40111°N 71.11667°W |
| NRHP Reference # | 75000287 |
| Added to NRHP | May 21, 1975 |
Powder House Square is a neighborhood and landmark rotary in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States. It is also known locally as Powder House Circle. It is the 6-way intersection of College Avenue, Broadway, Warner Street, and Powder House Boulevard. Powder House Square stands at the southern tip of Tufts University's main Somerville/Medford campus, and borders the northern edge of Nathan Tufts Park. The square takes its name from the 18th century Powder House which overlooks the rotary from Nathan Tufts Park.
Powder House Square was home to one of the first hostile acts of the American Revolutionary War. The removal of colonial gunpowder by British soldiers, and the massive popular reaction known as Powder Alarm that ensued, are considered to be a turning point in the events leading up to war.
Broadway was one of the earliest highways running through what would later become Somerville, originating in the 17th century. Originally called "Menotomie's Road," it ran from Charlestown to the settlement at Menotomy (present-day Arlington).
Powder House Boulevard was created in 1900, extending northwest from Broadway at Nathan Tufts Park. According to a plaque placed at the center of the rotary island, the circle was dedicated in 1940 as the James A. Reynolds Traffic Circle, in honor of a Tufts College professor.
First built for use as a windmill by John Mallet in the early 1703 or 1704, the Old Powder House was sold to the colonial government of Massachusetts for use as a gunpowder magazine in 1747. It is the oldest stone building in Massachusetts. Located at the intersection of Broadway and College Avenue in present-day Powder House Square, the Old Powder House held the largest supply of gunpowder in the colony. General Thomas Gage, who had become the military governor of Massachusetts in May 1774, was charged with enforcement of the highly unpopular Intolerable Acts, which the British Parliament had passed in response to the Boston Tea Party. Seeking to prevent the outbreak of war, he believed that the best way to accomplish this was by secretly removing military stores from storehouses and arsenals in New England.
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