Dorchester Illustration 2538 Lyceum Hall
Today’s illustration is a photograph of Lyceum Hall and the fire station behind it on Parish Street in 1953. Construction of Lyceum Hall was completed in February 1840. Walter Baker presided at the opening ceremony.
The idea of having popular lectures was just receiving wide popularity at the beginning of the 1840s, and Lyceum Hall took a place in educating the minds of the community and influencing political opinion. Dr. Jerome Van Crowninshield Smith, afterwards mayor of Boston, lectured on Geology; Mr. Purdett talked on Phrenology; Mr. W. Phillips, Mr. William Lloyd Garrison, Rev. John Pierpont and Theodore Parker cause much excitement in advocating the abolition of slavery. The Hall was opened for enlistment in the Union Army at the time of the Civil War. Over the years, new religious congregations held their first services in the Hall before constructing their own buildings. The Dorchester Whigs once made Lyceum Hall their headquarters. Lyceum Hall was booked for balls and other social events.
In the 20th century the building was used by the School Department, but its condition deteriorated, and in 1955, it was demolished. The Boston Globe reported that year: “It had been condemned by the Boston School Committee after serving for many years as an annex to the nearby Mather School and as a shop training center for exceptional boys.”
The fire station behind Lyceum Hall in the photograph was built in 1928. In 1953, when the photograph was taken, the building had three floors, which is the way it was built, but since then the third floor of the fire station has been removed. The building behind the fire station was at one time the Francis G. Kane Post of the American Legion. It is now the Calvary Church International. The building first appeared on a map in the 1898 atlas. Its visual appearance suggests that it may be from an earlier time period and may have been moved to this site.