Village?

[Joel S. Berson]

 From New England, I speak.

At 4/10/2006 11:29 AM, Joanne wrote:
>I believe that Danvers, Massachusetts was once called Salem
>Village -- the Salem of the witch trials (not to be confused with the
>modern-day city of Salem, MA).

True.  And Paul Johnston wrote:
>If I am not mistaken, in New England, the TOWNS are incorporated,
>the villages are not, though they are referred to as villages
>(unless they're cities).

True of towns.   In political terms (I believe), towns have town
meetings, either of all voters or of elected representatives, and are
governed by selectmen (a good old word, invented by the
Puritans);  cities have mayors and councils.

I don't know about incorporation of villages; I think of them as
localities, like Brookline Village (this one is definitely not more
rural than the town it is in).

And "Under a spreading chestnut-tree / The village smithy stands" was
written of a quite central location in Cambridge, about two blocks
from both the Common and Harvard Square.

Joel

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