Dorchester Illustration 2610 Hebre Home for the Aged

Dorchester Illustration 2610 Hebrew Home for the Aged

The top image, published in the Sept. 10, 1905, edition of the Boston Sunday Post, shows a house on Queen Street in Dorchester.

On Jan. 28, 1903, a small group of Orthodox Jews ­– five women and one man – created the Hebrew Moshav Zekainim Association. Its goal was to “establish a Home for the taking care of the old and infirm Jewish men and women in the City of Boston.” Two years later, “owing to the demand for a Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews in our city, where the ritual of orthodoxy will be strictly adhered to,” the Association announced that it had purchased a building at 21 Queen St., Dorchester.

The Hebrew Ladies’ Home for the Aged Association raised $10,000 in charitable donations, to buy the mid-19th century home on 17,109 square feet of land. The house was described as a large wooden structure with a broad piazza, spacious rooms, surrounded by beautiful grounds in the form of a garden. The house was adapted to accommodate 45 men and women, and a room for worship on the lower floor. It opened its doors in September 1905 with 15 residents.

By 1910, a wooden addition had been built, and by 1918, a masonry extension was added (shown in the bottom image).

In 1956, ground was broken for a new facility at 1200 Centre St., Roslindale and on Sept. 22, 1963, more than 260 residents moved from 21 Queen St. to the new 475-bed residence. The name was officially changed from “Hebrew Home for Aged” to “Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aged,” reflecting its new charter as a chronic care hospital and home “for aged and ill men and women of Boston who require nursing care.” (http://www.newbridgeonthecharles.com/body.cfm?id=70)

Today, the site on Queen Street is home to the Neighborhood House Charter School.

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