Dorchester Illustration 2408 Residence and Plant of F. H. McDonald, building contractor
Number 2157 Dorchester Avenue as it appears today is in the upper left of today’s illustration. It is located across from the entrance to Carney Hospital. Its appearance about 1900 is shown in the larger picture to the right. In 1884, the lot did not exist; the land was part of tract of about 8 acres owned by Joseph Churchill. The 1889 atlas shows the new lot of 10,000 square foot with the building at the front. The building at the back of the property, used by F. H. McDonald for his contracting business appears for the first time in the 1898 atlas. The 1910 atlas shows the owner as Clara E. McDonald.
The 1920 census reported that Frank, a carpenter, and his wife Clara were living in the building at the rear with their sons George, 25, and Charles, 22, and daughter Marjorie, 19. By 1926 the McDonald family does not appear in the Boston list of residents for 2157 or 2159 Rear Dorchester Avenue.
By 1933 the property was no longer owned by the McDonald family, and the lot was sub-divided with 6500 square feet for the three-family house facing Dorchester Avenue and 3500 square feet for the building at the rear with address 2159 Rear Dorchester Avenue, fronting on Ruggles Place, later Rugdale Road. The red house at the bottom of the picture at the lower left is at the site of the former contracting building and appears to be the same building.
Anthony Sammarco says “the plant provided numerous pieces of prefabricated mill work for houses being built in Dorchester and the surrounding areas in the late 1800s and early 1900s.”
The American Series of Popular Biographies. Massachusetts Edition. says
“FRANK H. MCDONALD, a well-known resident of Dorchester, is carrying on a substantial business as one of the leading carpenters and builders of that district. He was born in Boston, June 4, 1855, son of John and Adeline H. (Pray) McDonald. His father’s paternal grandparents emigrated from Scotland to Nova Scotia; and there his grandfather, Hugh McDonald, and his father, John, above named were both born and reared.
John McDonald learned in Nova Scotia the trade of a ship-joiner, which he followed in his early manhood. In 1848 he removed to Boston, where he worked for many years as a house carpenter. His wife, whose maiden name was Adeline H. Pray, was born in New Hampshire.
Frank H. McDonald obtained a practical education in the Boston public schools, and at the age of fourteen years decided to learn the carpenter’s trade for which his mechanical ingenuity specially fitted him. He followed this occupation as a journeyman until 1895, when he established himself in business on his own account, and has since continued it with satisfactory pecuniary results.
Mr. McDonald has been twice married. His first wife, Mary H. Chute, daughter of Solomon Chute, of Bridgetown, N.S., died in 1886, a year after their marriage. In 1893 Mr. McDonald married for his second wife Miss Clara E. Willard, daughter of Frederick Willard, of Thomaston, Me. Of this union two children have been born; namely, George H. and Charles B. Fraternally, Mr. McDonald is a member of Macedonia Lodge, A.F. & A.M.,* and of the Golden Cross. Politically, he affiliates with the Republican party.”
*A.F. & A.M. Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.