LYNN ― On Sunday, city visitors were treated to a tour of the city’s art and history, coalescing around a famous former Lynner, Mary Baker Eddy, who founded the Christian Science religious movement.
The tour titled “Mary Baker Eddy, the beginning of her journey” marked the last of 10 days of Trails & Sails events, an annual series organized by the Essex National Heritage Commission. This year Trails & Sails celebrated 20 years of activities, like hikes, excursions, tours of historic houses and lectures on Essex County history, that bring awareness and appreciation for heritage resources available in the area.
Leading the tour was Michelle Guzman, founder and tour guide for Lynn Walking Tours. Guzman, a Guatemalan-American woman who has been living in Lynn for 25 years, started her tour company in 2019.
“When you learn about history it gives you an appreciation of what is happening now,” said Guzman. “History can inspire you.”
“I have a 13-year-old son and I want him as well as other youth to be proud of Lynn,” said Guzman.
Among other tours she leads are Lynn at Night and Lynn Heritage Park, which is great for foliage peeking in October.
On this tour, Guzman combined the story of Eddy with outdoor modern-art viewing in Lynn. She built the tour around the colorful murals that the city started collecting from national and international artists back in 2017 through Beyond Walls’ Mural Festival.
Murals brought more visitors to the city, Guzman said.
“People were going for the murals and I thought there is more to see,” said Guzman. “There is a story to be told.”
The phrase “Lynn – the city of firsts” inspired Guzman to learn and share facts about Lynn’s achievements during the tour as well.
This time the tour brought eight visitors to Lynn from Marblehead, Salem, Reading, Wilmington, and Foxborough.
The tour started at the intersection of Market and Oxford streets at 2:10 p.m and lasted about one hour and 40 minutes. The location was marked with a plastic lawn sign saying “Event here today! Essex National Heritage Area.”
This intersection is meaningful for the story of Eddy, because on February 1, 1866, she fell on ice there and was critically injured. According to the story, she miraculously recovered through the work of prayer a few days after the fall, and that experience prompted her to write her manuscripts and two books which would eventually start the Christian Science religious movement.
Eddy lived in Lynn for seven years, after she divorced her husband and moved from Swampscott.
Guzman led the group down Oxford Street onto Washington Street, to Frederick Douglass Park in Central Square. Then she proceeded along Exchange Street and up the Broad Street, all the way to Eddy’s house. The house now belongs to the Longyear Museum, which offers tours by appointment.
Guzman would stop at the best spots to observe numerous murals on the walk and talk about the artists and the meaning of each mural. She mentioned various historical facts, dates, and events, starting with the first five families who settled in this area and the first record of a shoemaker in 1635.
Guzman also pointed out different architectural styles and significant buildings on the way, like a former bank on Exchange Street or the Lynn Home for Young Women on Broad Street. She sprinkled in restaurant recommendations along the way.
The group reached Mary Baker Eddy Historic House after about one hour and 10 minutes. The house is located at 8 Broad St., right across from the building where Eddy was renting a second floor prior to purchasing her own property. The house has a beige wooden facade with brown shutters, decorative details, and a brick foundation.
Connie Martin-Wilson, of Reading, came to do the tour with her adult son.
“I have seen Trails & Sails before and I just did something near Ipswich,” said Martin-Wilson. “Since we live in Reading, I never think of Lynn as a place you want to go see anything or do anything here. I like history, I like historical buildings, I like looking at the fact that all of these towns had a heyday and Lynn is one of the towns that I felt, this town must have been hopping and popping at one point. What am I not seeing?”
Martin-Wilson knew of Eddy because of the Christian Science Church in Boston and she became curious about Eddy’s start.
“I think it is just fabulous. You look at these murals and then you come in and you know that behind it all is this structure of historical perspective that you can just glance over and not even see because you are so busy going down these streets.”
Guzman offers these tours through Lynn Walking Tours on Sundays outside of Trails and Sails as well. Tours in Spanish are also available.
Alena Kuzub can be reached at [email protected].
