Dorchester Illustration 2602 98 Centre Street
Postcards came into their greatest era of popularity just after the turn of the 20th century. Soon, homeowners were having photos of their homes made into postcards.
Today we have a postcard written in October 1906 by Florence Collins of 98 Centre Street, explaining that she has been ill with a fever and cold and that she has been confined to eating broths and would like to get back to solid food. The doctor even recommended that she might want to take a trip to warm Jamaica in January. The recent photo of the house shows how enclosing the porches and applying siding have hidden the original features of the design.
The house at 98 Centre Street was built in 1896. Florence and her husband, John, were both born in Maine and were married there in 1887. They came to the Boston area in the 1890s, living first in Quincy then in Roxbury. They bought the house at 98 Centre Street in 1898 and moved in right away. They lived on Centre Street until they bought 41 Tremlett Street and move there in 1909.