Dorchester Historical Society

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1801

 You may have seen the message that the Dorchester Historical Society’s book Dorchester’s Collections: Illustrating a Community, 1630-1930, published for 2011’s Dorchester Descendants Celebration has won First Place in the New England Museum Association Publications Competition for books costing over $10.  You can buy a copy by sending a check for $25 to DHS, 195 Boston Street, 02125 or you can go to the sales shop tab on the website www.dorchesterhistoricalsocietyblog.org

Today we have another view of the Gilbert Stuart School on Richmond Street.  And yes in response to questions, it was named for the artist.  We don’t have this actual post card in our possession, so we don’t know the mailing date.  Interesting that the school is identified as being in Milton – seems as if some people thought Lower Mills was totally in Milton.

In reference to yesterday’s image, Doug Wynne sent the following:

Thanks for this image, evocative of so many memories.  My mother, my three siblings and I all graduated from “the Gilbie.”  In fact, one of my mother’s teachers (Mary Lanigan) was one of mine.  My mother had her in Miss Lanigan’s first year, and I had her in her last year.  One of the strongest influences in my love for learning was Miss Grace Hickey.  All four of us Wynne kids had her for third grade, but while I was in the fourth grade (Miss Mary Welch), Miss Hickey switched to fifth grade, so I was privileged to be taught by her for a second time.  (without being held back!)  My Aunt Stella Kennedy and her family lived in the house directly behind the Village Tavern, and her front yard ended at the chain-link fence at the back of the Gilbie’s schoolyard.  Many mornings, I would leave home (18 River Street) early and my aunt would feed me a second breakfast, then hold up the bottom of the fence so I could slip under when the bell rang.  I can still remember the names of at least ten of my classmates (one of whom was the Best Man at my wedding) and what they looked like, and could probably do even more if I could find my fifth or sixth grade class picture.  I guess early imprints truly last a lifetime.  Thanks again for the picture.

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The Dorchester Illustration of the Day (DIOTD) is sent weekdays. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1800

The Gilbert Stuart School at 27 Richmond Street stood where the Lower Mills branch of the Boston Public Library is located today.  The school building was constructed in 1896 and closed in 1975.

Postcard. Caption on front: Gilbert Stuart School, Dorchester Lower Mills, Mass.  2335 Published by G. W. Gragg.  Postmarked June 17, 1907, Dorchester Centre Station with one-cent stamp.  On verso: N.E. Paper & Stationery Co. Mfrs, Ayer, Mass.

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The Dorchester Illustration of the Day (DIOTD) is sent weekdays. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1799

Illustration of the birthplace house of Edward Everett at the corner of Columbia Road and Boston Street.  Published in Appleton’s Journal, May 31, 1873.

You may need to zoom in to see the picture at its best.

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The Dorchester Illustration of the Day (DIOTD) is sent weekdays. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1798

Today we have a stereoview of a scene at Savin Hill – note that the picture itself says “Savern Hill.”  Stereoview cards were placed in a holder with lenses, so that when the viewer looked through them, the pictures would merge, producing a 3-d effect.

The house is the 1855 Daniel Denny House at 17 Playstead Road.

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The Dorchester Illustration of the Day (DIOTD) is sent weekdays. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

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 19^th 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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The Dorchester Illustration of the Day (DIOTD) is sent weekdays. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1796

Another photo from Bob Rugo possibly shows the Henry Crane stable that stood at 1167 Washington Street prior to 1890 in the same spot as the building we saw in yesterday’s illustration. 

Looks as if the driver in the photo is all ready for the Super Dorchester Tour.

Super Dorchester Trolley Tour – Sunday June 24

Begins at 12 noon sharp and will take about 2 ½ hours

A box lunch will be provided on the trolley

$35 per person – this is not a fundraiser, just covering the cost of the trolleys and lunch

Meet at 195 Boston Street before noon 

Join us for a guided trolley tour from the north to the south, winding our way from the Dorchester Historical Society, through Upham’s Corner, Jones Hill, Savin Hill, Meetinghouse Hill, Field’s Corner, Harrison Square-Clam Point, Melville Avenue-Wellesley Park, Codman Square, Ashmont Hill, Ashmont-Adams, Adams Corner, Lower Mills, Port Norfolk and back to the Dorchester Historical Society.

For Tickets: go to www.dorchesterhistoricalsocietyblog.org or call Earl Taylor 617 293-3052 or email him at ERMMWWT@aol.com

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The Dorchester Illustration of the Day (DIOTD) is sent weekdays. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1795

Yesterday we saw a bit of Lower Mills from a bird’s-eye view.  There was a building about where the Spukie’s pizza store is located today.  Today’s illustration is a photo from Bob Rugo showing that building and at the right a building where the convenience store Metamorphosis is located today.

The alley to the left is Miller’s Lane, now essentially a driveway for the parking area for the Baker Chocolate apartments.  The main building in the photo at 1167 Washington Street was built in 1889 or 1890.  It replaced a stables owned by the Crane family.  This building still shows up in the 1933 atlas.  Does anyone know when it was demolished?

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The Dorchester Illustration of the Day (DIOTD) is sent weekdays. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1794

Today we have a detail from the 1890 bird’s-eye view of Lower Mills.  Although the print shows mostly the Dorchester side of the river, the title is: Milton Lower Mills, Massachusetts. Boston: O.H. Bailey & Co., Lith. & Pub., 1890.

The building squarely in the middle is Young’s Hotel.  To the left down the alley is the Stone Mill building of the Baker Chocolate Company-no. 16.  The Webb Mill of the Baker Chocolate Company is on the Milton side of the river. In the upper left you can see the Village Congregational Church, no. 6.  Across the street you can see the Stoughton School building.  The Baker Chocolate Administration Building has not been built; neither have the two Baker Chocolate buildings on the same side closer to the river: the Baker and Forbes mills.

In the illustration the numbers indicate:

6 Village Congregational Church

11 Odd Fellows Hall

14 15 16 W Baker & Co.’s Chocolate Mills

25 E.R. Wendemuth Block, Dry Goods, Millinery, Boots and Shoes, Milton School of Music, R. W. Lanigan

26 J.C. Talbot, Importer General Grocer

28 J. Edwin Swan Stores, Kitchen Furnishings, Plumbing, etc.

39 Henry Crane and Son, Lower Mills Stable (sort of where Spukie’s Pizza is)

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The Dorchester Illustration of the Day (DIOTD) is sent weekdays. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1793

Today’s illustration is an early 19^th-century certificate for good behavior for Miss Mary E. Tolman from her school teacher.

This is probably Mary Elizabeth Tolman born April 10, 1809, to Robert P. & Mary Tolman.  The instructor, J. Pierce, has not been identified.

Girls began to attend public schools in Dorchester in 1784.

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The Dorchester Illustration of the Day (DIOTD) is sent weekdays. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1791

Today we have another Dorchester photo published in 1895 in Picturesque Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury, Dorchester and Vicinity. The main features of the photo are the Soldiers Monument, First Church and Lyceum Hall.  Notice the girl leaning against the pole.

From the text accompanying the photo:

Meeting House Hill—Dorchester

The first meeting house of Dorchester did not stand on Meeting House Hill, for as the settlement of the town began at Allen’s Plain and Savin Hill, the site of the first church was a point in that vicinity, close to the corner of Pleasant and East Cottage Streets.  It was a log cabin [not!], surrounded by a high stockade, and it combined the functions of a house of worship, a block house, a town house, and a “safe deposit vault.” 

A “town meeting” was held every Monday. 

Cannon were mounted on the roof, and a sentinel was kept constantly on guard, for this was a veritable “fort,” and was utilized as a power house and an arsenal.

Every evening it became a “safe deposit vault,” as the townsmen then conveyed their valuables there for safe keeping.  [never heard of this] 

This meeting house was replaced in 1645 by a much larger and better on which, in 1670, was removed to Meeting House Hill, and in 1743 was succeeded by a new house so much larger and more elaborate that its cost was 3,500 pounds, while the one it replaced cost but 250 pounds. 

This meeting house was enlarged just a hundred years ago—in 1794—and might be standing to-day were it not so injured by a great storm in 1815 as to necessitate the construction of a new building. 

This was dedicated in December, 1816, and is the church which crowns Meeting House Hill to-day.  [too bad it burned in 1896]

Its bell was presented to the society by the Dorchester proprietors, in 1751, and has been in use ever since, with the exception of an interval when it was being recast on account of a crack which appeared in it after service of more than a century.

The Soldier’s monument, which stands on the Square near by, is not only a memorial of bravery and devotion to country but marks the site of the meeting house which the present one replaced, while an elm some thirty feet north of the monument, stands on the spot where the pulpit was placed.

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The Dorchester Illustration of the Day (DIOTD) is sent weekdays. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com

If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org