Dorchester Illustration 2615 Railroad Bridge
Today’s illustration appeared in Ballou’s Pictorial Drawing Room Companion, a 19th-century illustrated magazine published in Boston, in 1855.
The subject of the engraving is the Old Colony Railroad bridge between Savin Hill and Commercial Point. The artist was probably standing on the hill behind the First Parish Church, overlooking Dorchester Bay.
On March 16, 1844 the Old Colony Railroad Corporation was formed to provide a rail connection between Boston and Plymouth. Construction of the line began in South Boston in June 1844 and the 36.8 mile line opened to Plymouth on Nov. 10, 1845. The extension from South Boston to the newly-completed Kneeland Street Station in Boston opened on June 19, 1847.