Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1797
It seems that the blurring of the boundary lines between Dorchester and the rest of Boston began as early as the 19th century. Today we have a photograph of Miss Ryan at the Retreat for the Insane, Dorchester, Mass., March 5, 1889. [can’t tell if she was on the staff or one of the patients]
Apparently the Retreat for the Insane was the beginnings of the Boston State Hospital at 591 Morton Street. The problem is that that side of Harvard Street was West Roxbury and not Dorchester (and not Mattapan which was part of Dorchester).
Even The Annual Report of the City Auditor, May 1888 – April 1889. Boston, 1889 identifies its location as Dorchester:
Retreat for Insane, Dorchester
The site purchased by the City for a Home for the Poor contains about 50 acres, and is bounded on the easterly side by Back Street, on the southerly side by Morton Street, on the westerly side by Canterbury Street, and on the northerly side by Austin Terrace, so called, and is now occupied as a retreat for chronic and mild cases of insane persons transferred from Boston Lunatic Hospital. On this estate are a house, barn with silo of a capacity of 325 tons, ice-houses and sheds.
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