Dorchester Historical Society

Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1608

This bas relief of Edward Everett is a posthumous portrait made by Thomas Ball, the sculptor who created the equestrian statue of George Washington in the Boston Public Garden.  The bas relief was made about 1870 and belonged to the Taylor family who owned the Boston Globe newspaper.  It was donated to the Society in 1916 by Mr. Geroge W. Taylor.

Edward Everett was born in Dorchester in 1794.  He graduated from Harvard University in 1811.  He studied theology and was ordained pastor of the Brattle Street Unitarian Church, Boston, in 1814; professor of Greek literature at Harvard University 1815-1826; overseer of Harvard University 1827-1847, 1849-1854, and 1862-1865; elected to the US Congresses (March 4, 1825-March 3, 1835); declined to be a candidate for re-nomination in 1834; chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs (Twentieth Congress); Governor of Massachusetts 1836-1840; appointed United States Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Great Britain 1841-1845; declined a diplomatic commission to China in 1843; president of Harvard University 1846-1849; appointed Secretary of State by President Millard Fillmore to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Daniel Webster and served from November 6, 1852, to March 3, 1853; elected as a Whig to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1853, until his resignation, effective June 1, 1854; unsuccessful candidate for vice president of the United States in 1860 on the Constitutional-Union ticket; died in Boston, Mass., January 15, 1865; interment in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, 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. 1607

Postcard. Caption on front: Boston, Mass. Sheep, Franklin Park. Postally unused.  On verso: No. 1012 Printed in Germany. Circa 1910.

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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. 1606

The Soldiers Monument on Meeting House Hill across from First Church has been cleaned and re-mortared this summer with support from the Browne Fund.  Erected in 1867 by the Pickwick Club, the monument lists the names of those who fell in the service of their country during the Civil War.

Postcard. Caption on front: Dorchester, Mass. Soldier’s Monument, Meeting House Hill.  On verso: Germany. E6470.  Postmarked Sep 2, 1907. with one cent stamp.

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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. 1605

Postcard. Caption on front: Lawleys from Tenean Beach, Dorchester, Mass.  Postmarked Boston, Mass. Nov. 5, 1918?.  With one cent stamp.  On verso: The Royal Blue card Pub. by Putnam Art Co., Grove Hall, Boston.

The Lawley Shipyard on Port Norfolk was a fixture on the Dorchester scene from the 19teens till after World War II.

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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. 1604

Petition from 1835:

The undersigned, women of Dorchester, in the County of Norfolk, respectfully pray you, immediately, to repeal all laws in this state, which make any distinction among its inhabitants on account of colour.

You should be able to zoom in on the picture to read it more easily.

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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. 1603

The Convalescents Home was located where the Boston Home is now located at the corner of Dorchester Avenue and Gallivan Boulevard.

Postcard. Caption on front: Convalescents Home, Dorchester, Mass. Postmarked May 19, 1910. Dorchester Center Station, Boston. With one cent stamp. On verso: No. B 13528 Published by The New England News Company. Boston, Mass. Leipzig-Berlin.

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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. 1602

Please note that due to modem replacement and other work, there will be no Illustration tomorrow, but I hope that we will resume on Monday.

The Isaac Newcomb Field House, which is located directly behind the O’Hearn Storage Building in Fields Corner and connected to it, is a two story hip roof brick building (c.1820) that served as home to the Field family and as the headquarters of the currying business he built up.  Though changed, the building’s symmetry and building material make it an important part of the area’s early nineteenth-century development.  The exterior of the building is now brick.

The O’Hearn Moving and Storage Building at 1444 Dorchester Avenue was built about 1886 at the location first occupied by the Isaac Newcomb Field House.  The building was expanded in the 1890s and acquired additions to the rear in the 20^th century.  Isaac Newcomb Field’s grandson Henry moved the house to the back of the lot to make room for the “fine block containing the post office and stores.”   The Dorchester Music Hall occupied the top floor.  Today the building continues to host stores and Post Office on the first floor but has storage space above.  A large business advertisement stencil was applied to the side of the building c. 1920 and can still be seen, especially from the Red line trains entering the Field’s Corner Station.  You can also see the impressions of the filled-in arched windows that allowed light into the Music Hall. 

Don’t forget to sign up for the teen-led tours:

Teen guides will present free tours of Field’s Corner 

Saturday August 6^th and 13^th at 11am and

Sunday August 7^th and 14^th at 4pm.

20 attendee-maximum at each tour – RSVP today!

To RSVP with your preferred tour date and time,

email mydottour@gmail.com

http://www.mydottour.org

www.facebook.com/mydottour

@mydottour    |    (617) 855-8687

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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. 1601

Today’s photo shows a kiosk-like building on what is now Hero’s Square in Fields Corner.  The only map that show a structure in that position is from 1910.

Don’t forget to sign up for the teen-led tours:

Teen guides will present free tours of Field’s Corner 

Saturday August 6^th and 13^th at 11am and

Sunday August 7^th and 14^th at 4pm.

20 attendee-maximum at each tour – RSVP today!

To RSVP with your preferred tour date and time,

email mydottour@gmail.com

http://www.mydottour.org

www.facebook.com/mydottour

@mydottour    |    (617) 855-8687

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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. 1600

The Robinson Building behind Hero’s Square in Fields Corner at the apex of the angle formed by Dorchester Avenue and Adams Street looked much different when it was first built about 1872.  Next time you are Fields Corner, please try to compare the enlarged, stucco-covered building with the original.

Don’t forget to sign up for the teen-led tours:

Teen guides will present free tours of Field’s Corner 

Saturday August 6^th and 13^th at 11am and

Sunday August 7^th and 14^th at 4pm.

20 attendee-maximum at each tour – RSVP today!

To RSVP with your preferred tour date and time,

email mydottour@gmail.com

http://www.mydottour.org

www.facebook.com/mydottour

@mydottour    |    (617) 855-8687

______

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. 1599

Designed by Charles R. Greco for Patrick Finnegan, 1396 Dorchester Avenue was constructed in 1909-1910 and was always intended to be occupied by stores on the first floor with tenements above.  The building permit shows that the cornice is terra cotta and the façade is brick and terra cotta. Some of Greco’s other works in Massachusetts are listed in Wikipedia:

• 145 State Street, Springfield, Massachusetts
• Blessed Sacrament Church Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Blessed Sacrament Church, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
• Cambridge Theatre, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Charles Bulfinch School, Boston, Massachusetts
• Elks Temple, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Our Lady of Pity Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Sacred Heart Church, Middleboro, Massachusetts
• St. Mary’s Church, Quincy, Massachusetts
• St. Matthew’s Church, Dorchester, Massachusetts
• St. Patrick’s Church, Brockton, Massachusetts
• Temple Emanuel, Worcester, Massachusetts
• Thorndike School, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Wyeth Square Fire Station, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Central Square Post Office, Cambridge, Massachusetts

There are rumors that the Fields Corner Community Development Corporation may be making improvements to this building in the near future.

Meanwhile the Corporation has allowed the teen guides of MyDotTour to advertise their tours with posters in the storefront.  

Teen guides will present free tours of Field’s Corner 

Saturday August 6^th and 13^th at 11am and

Sunday August 7^th and 14^th at 4pm.

20 attendee-maximum at each tour – RSVP today!

To RSVP with your preferred tour date and time,

email mydottour@gmail.com  

http://www.mydottour.org

www.facebook.com/mydottour

@mydottour    |    (617) 855-8687 

______

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