By Peter F. Stevens

On the Fourth of July 1855, Dorchester threw a party - not just any party, but one of the largest Independence Day celebrations in the nation's annals to that point. Over 2,000 locals gathered in a massive tent "erected on Meeting House Hill" for a community dinner, the precursor of the Fourth of July barbecues of later generations.

Dorchester's Fourth of July feast proved so big an event that the Boston newspapers, as well as others throughout the region, lauded the Meeting House Hill banquet as "the most prominent celebration of the day in this vicinity," an event "observed in a spirited and patriotic manner."

At dawn on that summer day in 1855, a cannon's roar rattled the town's windows and rousted residents from bed. Few minded, however, as the cannon's peal and the din of church bells that followed signaled the "patriotic ceremonials of Independence morn."

A local man recalled: "At the same time [dawn] the beautiful flag of our country was thrown to the breeze from a hundred different flag-staffs, and as it floated over and among [Dorchester's] delightful groves, it looked more beautiful than ever."

Perhaps the sight of that flag carried more significance that day than in many other Fourth of July celebrations, for the United States was lurching closer to the Civil War. In Dorchester, the 1855 gala would eclipse or equal similar gatherings throughout the nation.

Around 8 a.m., people from Savin Hill to the Neponset River and all surrounding local points, and "hundreds [of people] from the city [Boston] and surrounding towns headed for Meeting House Hill, some strolling on the streets, others riding horses or nudging carriages through the throng. The tent atop the slope would hold some 2,000, but thousands more had come to see the town's "Grand Procession," which would wind along a parade route to a pavilion erected atop Webster Hill. There, an even larger tent than the one on Meeting House Hill had been raised, the Webster Hill canvas clotted with nearly 5,000 spectators.

Marching or riding first through the crowded streets in the procession were the Independent Corps of Cadets, who "turned out 57 guns," the Weymouth Brass Band, and "invited guests in carriages."

A Boston Daily Journal reporter wrote, "Next came a party of 'United Americans' in a carriage drawn by eight fine gray horses. The persons in the carriage were dressed in three-cornered hats and scarves.

"Next came a boat on wheels called the 'Everett Barge.' It was filled with a delegation of children from the Everett School, fifteen in number - all handsomely attired.

"Next came the Fire Department. The members were in uniform, and their [fire wagons] dressed with flags, flowers and evergreens."

All along the parade route, flags and bunting adorned homes. Shortly after 11 a.m., the procession picked up the celebration's featured speaker, Edward Everett, "New England's gifted orator and statesman," at the house "in which he was born," at the corner of Pond and Cottage Streets.

The Boston Daily Journal related: "As the procession entered Webster Street, it was greeted by the school children of Dorchester, drawn up on each side of the road, dressed in neat attire…each school bearing a neat banner having on it the name of the school. The children greeted [the procession] with the most enthusiastic cheers."

The parade halted at the Webster Hill pavilion around noon, the entire expanse of the hill and tent mobbed, "a very large portion of the audience being ladies." A program of patriotic music and speeches followed, and the highlight, listeners and the press concurred, was Everett's "able and eloquent oration, occupying two hours and twenty minutes, and which was listened to with the most earnest attention" and evoked "hearty applause."

As inspiring as Everett's speech was, the event that followed - "the Proceedings at the Dinner Table" - would linger in Dorchester's fond collective memory as one of the era's finest community events and one that any American city would have been hard-pressed to match. At least 2,000 people streamed from the pavilion to the Meeting House Hill banquet tent and sat down at long tables"profusely ornamented with beautiful bouquets from the many splendid gardens in Dorchester" and groaning beneath platters of food and pitchers of spirits and non-alcoholic drinks alike. The horde of diners tore into "the sumptuous dinner…provided by Mrs. J.B. Smith."

Second and third helpings of Mrs. Smith's mouth-watering repast, toast after toast to the town and to the nation, laughter, song, and an all-encompassing sense of community pride - the sights and sounds atop Meeting House Hill on the Fourth of July 1855 comprised an unforgettable day for all who entered the tent.

As one satisfied reveler remembered, "Old Dorchester is proud today."