Dorchester Illustration no. 2282 Winter Home of the Sheep
Postcard. Caption on front: Winter home of the sheep, “Franklin Field,” Dorchester. No. 2 Pub. by Boston Post Card Co. Postmarked Dec 31, 1905. Roxbury Station, Boston. With one cent stamp.
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Dorchester Illustration no. 2281 23 Chickatawbut Street
The house at 23 Chickatawbut Street was described in 1978 in a survey report of Neponset for the Boston Landmarks Commission:
Estimated 1840
Grand scale Greek Revival 5 Bay House; pedimented central pavilion with recessed 2nd floor window; 2 ionic columns support entrance porch, columns supporting side porches. Siding obliterates wide frieze and corner pilasters, etc. with addition to rear. House set on granite foundation on terrace. Once one of the grandest houses of its period in Dorchester, the house’s significance has diminished somewhat because of the siding and alterations.
Now, due to the stripping off of the siding, we can see more of the detail underneath. The photo with siding is from 2004, and the photo with siding removed is from December 2016.
The following are selected notes from the summary of the recent neighborhood meeting regarding the property.
Ted Ahern, a local developer, has recently purchased the property at 23 Chickatwabut Street. Over the years it has been used as a single family, two-family, three-family and rooming house. It is currently a legal 3-family. It sits on a lot that is approximately 20,000 square feet.
Mr. Ahern’s proposal is to retain the original structure of the house and remove the non-conforming additions that were added to the rear. These additions do not contribute to the character of the building. He plans to restore the exterior of the building to its original appearance. When complete, the building will have two condominium units, each with 3 bedrooms and two parking spaces in the rear.
In the rear of the lot, Mr. Ahern proposes to construct a new building, which will house 4 condominium townhouse units. The architect has attempted to call out the characteristics of a carriage house typical to the period. Three of the units will have 3 bedrooms, and one will have 2 bedrooms and a nursery/office. All will have 2 parking spaces.
Mr. Ahern also plans to retain as many of the numerous mature tress on the property as possible and clean up the landscaping.
[Editorial note: Mr. Ahern should be commended for retaining a house significant to the streetscape and significant in the history of Dorchester’s development. He has found a way to do a development project without tearing down Dorchester’s past.]
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Dorchester Illustration no. 2280 Houses at Commercial Point
Soon after 1800 Joseph Newell and Ebenezer Niles, who thought Commercial Point would prosper in whale and cod fishing, built neighboring large, square, palatial houses on the south side of the point looking south toward Port Norfolk. They connected themselves as partners in business, built vessels and were actively engaged in commercial matters, but the panic resulting from the War of 1812 put a close to their business speculations and prospects.
In the painting that is today’s illustration, Newell’s and Niles’ houses are the two white federal-style buildings that look identical.
Commercial Point served many commercial interests throughout the rest of the 19th century including Preston’s chocolate factory and wharf, a syndicate in the late 1820s and 30s for the whale fishing, and the Cutter heating fuel company. Cutter started by selling wood for heating homes and later coal. At the end of the 19th century, Commercial Point became dominated with coal gas holders of the Boston Gas Company, and in the 20th century the Point saw the introduction of metal tanks for natural gas. Today we are left with the one colorful tank that serves as a landmark for traffic reports during the morning and evening commute along the Southeast Expressway.
The streets lost to development of the Point by Boston Gas and through the construction of the highway include: part of Preston Street, Plymouth Street, Washington Street, Pleasant Street, Neponset Street and Union Street.
The channel of water visible in the painting was Tenean Creek and its branch Barque Warwick Cove.
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Dorchester Illus
tration no. 2279 O’Brien’s Market
O’Brien’s Market will be the subject of a hearing at the Boston Landmarks Commission on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016, at 6:00 pm in Boston City Hall in response to a petition to designate the property a Boston landmark. The Commission has the option of accepting the petition for further study. Please attend if you can to voice your support
O’Brien’s Market
1911-1913 Dorchester Avenue/175 Ashmont Street
The surge in residential development in the 1880s must have presented an attractive opportunity to offer household provisions to the area’s growing and affluent population. By 1884 there were several dozen homes in the immediate vicinity, and both Carruth’s Hill and Welles Hill were primed for further development. In 1884 Messrs. Frederick P. Jacques and George C. Griffin decided to open a grocery and produce market at the corner of Dorchester Avenue and Ashmont Street in what was then called Ashmont Square.
The two proprietors of what was initially called the Ashmont Market engaged the architect W. Whitney Lewis to design a building to accommodate their provisions business and also to provide two four-room residential suites for the proprietors on the upper floors. (George O’Brien started out as a clerk in the store in 1895, later succeeding to the ownership of the business; hence the current and long-standing name of the building.)
It is not known whether Lewis was first drawn to the Ashmont area by Messrs. Jacques and Griffin or by Frank Fairbanks, a prosperous Boston hatter, for whom Lewis designed a house at 1 Fairfax Street in 1884 (along with several other houses in that neighborhood at the same time), but regardless, in the design of the market, Whitney Lewis placed the first significant building in Peabody Square.
The Peabody Square “Ensemble”
O’Brien’s Market is a critical element in the collection of buildings that make up Ashmont’s historic village center in Peabody Square, an assemblage of 19th century structures that is National Register-eligible and exceptional in the quality and diversity of its components. In addition to the Market, Peabody Square comprises:
The Hotel Argyle (1882-92), an architecturally complementary building to O’Brien’s, and an adjoining red-brick stable directly across the street (166-170 Ashmont Street). The buildings were likely designed by Lewis; the stable was was remodeled to a car barn in 1910 by architects Guy and Proctor.
The Ashmont Block (1892), which housed club rooms and a large, second-floor function hall, designed by local architect-builder H.M. Wallis (164 Ashmont Street).
All Saints Church, Episcopal (1892-1894), designed by Ralph Adams Cram and Bertram Goodhue. All Saints was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a Property with National Significance in 1980 (NR #80000678) ; the 2012 Historic Structures Report prepared as part of the church’s recent restoration recommended that its status be upgraded to National Historic Landmark, which the parish intends to pursue.
Peabody Square Park (1893), a green space in the center of Peabody Square with horse-watering trough.
The Peabody Square Fire House (1895), designed by City Architect Edmund Wheelwright.
The Peabody Apartment Building (1895-1896), designed by Edwin J. Lewis, Jr. (no relation to W. Whitney Lewis), who also designed numerous houses, primarily in the Shingle Style, in both Ashmont Hill and Carruth’s Hill. The Peabody was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001, as a Property with Historic Significance for Architecture, Community Planning and Development (NR#01000872).
The Peabody Square Clock (1909), designed by William Downer Austin and manufactured by the E. Howard Clock Company. It was designated a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission on November 1, 1983.
This remarkable and coherent ensemble of buildings and structures satisfies the National Trust’s Criteria for Evaluation A and C and might also be designated a Boston Landmark District (Criteria A and D). Each of the buildings is makes an essential contribution to the character of the Square, which enhances the neighborhoods surrounding the square as some of the most desirable in Boston.
Text from Vicki Rugo.
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Dorchester Illustration no. 2278 Christmas Postcard
Christmas postcard sent to a home on Kilton Street (now Norwell Street) in the early 20th century.
Sunday, December 11, 2016 2pm
William Clapp House, 195 Boston Street.
Dorchester Historical Society
Holiday Party
DHS members and friends gather to ring in the holiday season at the annual Holiday Open House. Dorchester-based pianist Bil Mooney-McCoy will play music of the holiday season and lead the gathering in a lively carol sing. Enjoy food, good company and shopping in our specialty gift shop.
Dorchester Historical Society
195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125
Dorchester Illustration no. 2277 St. William’s Church
St. William’s became a Parish set off from St. Peter’s in 1909, consisting of territory south of St. Margaret’s nearly to Glover’s Corner, and including the Savin Hill district. The Reverend James J. Baxter was the first pastor and was succeeded by James McCarthy. Baxter bought the Worthington estate at the corner of Dorchester Avenue and Belfort Street. The old mansion was adapted as a rectory. St. William’s first building at 1048 Dorchester Avenue was in the Spanish Mission style designed by Edward Sheehan, a Dorchester resident. The Pastor in 1930 was David J. Murphy.
The building was burned in September 1980 and was replaced with a church of modern design.
From the 1990s through 2004 the Archdiocese of Boston endured the consequences of allegations and lawsuits involving misconduct by priests with the result that the Archdiocese paid out large monetary settlements. The Archdiocese studied its parishes and determined that low attendance and large expenses warranted the closing of some. St. William and St. Margaret were the only two parishes, out of 11 Catholic parishes in Dorchester, that felt a direct impact of the Archdiocese’ reconfiguration process of early 2004. In 2004, these two parishes will merged under the name of Blessed Mother Teresa parish, and the new parish is located at 800 Columbia Road in the building that was St. Margaret’s Church. The parish is now named St. Teresa.
For more information, consult:
Emery, S.L. A Catholic Stronghold and Its Making. A History of St. Peter’s Parish, Dorchester, Massachusetts, and of Its First Rector the Rev. Peter Ronan, P.R. Boston, 1910.
Lord, Robert H., John E. Sexton and Edward T. Harrington. History of the Archdiocese of Boston. New York: Sheed & Ward, 1944. 3 vols.
Shand Tucci, Douglass. The Gothic Churches of Dorchester. Issued by the Dorchester Savings Bank. Boston: Tribune Publishing Company, 1972.
Dorchester Illustration no. 2276 Trolley Car Yard at Park Street
Paul Cifrino purchased the land on Park Street at Fields Corner adjacent to the T station to develop a retail shopping plaza in 1962. Before the shopping plaza, the site served as a trolley car yard and barns.
Today’s illustration shows trolley snow plow #2015 at Park Street plus a view of the yard from the 1930s or 40s. In the lower photo, Park Street is on the left, and the photographer seems to have been standing on top of a building on the east side of Dorchester Avenue looking west.
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Dorchester Illustration no. 2275 James McIntosh, Harness Maker
Illustration from 1868 Business Directory for James McIntosh, Harness Maker and Carriage Trimmer. Located at Glover’s Corner, this business carried all sorts of items related to horses and harnesses. it took a lot more work to keep horse and harness in good repair than what we do today for our automobiles. Most of us are satisfied if we take our cars through a car-wash once a week or so.
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Dorchester Illustration no. 2274 King Cleansers, Geneva Avenue
Postcard at Boston Public Library showing King Cleansers, 435 Geneva Avenue, ca. 1930-1940. Number 435 is at the corner of Geneva Avenue and Dakota Street.
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Dorchester Illustration no. 2273 Account of the Manufacture and Use of Cocoa
The first known recipe pamphlet issued by Walter Baker & Co. was entitled An Account of the Manufacture and Use of Cocoa and Chocolate and was published in 1876. The next was Chocolate Receipts, which was published about 1880. In addition to publishing recipes, Baker extols the nutritional value of chocolate and cites many experts. Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland, a German physician, is quoted: “I recommend good chocolate to nervous, excitable persons; also to the weak, debilitated and infirm; to children and women. I have obtained excellent results from it in many cases of chronic deseases of the digestive organs.”
The first teacher of the Boston Cooking School, Maria Parloa, wrote many of the recipes for Walter Baker & Co.’s 1899 pamphlet, Choice Recipes. She was a well-known cookbook author and teacher. The Appledore Cook Book, her first, was published in 1872. Though little is known of her early life, she attended the Maine Central Institute when she was 28 years old. The Appledore Cook Book, published the next year, tells us that she had worked as a cook in private families and had worked as a pastry chef in several New Hampshire hotels. She went into teaching in Mandarin, Florida, where she gave her first lecture on cooking to raise money for the purchase of an organ for the local Sunday School. Encouraged by her success, she opened a cooking school in 1877 on Tremont Street in Boston. In 1879 she agreed to teach at the Boston Cooking School, a project of the Women’s Education Association. Over the years she published Miss Parloa’s New Cook Book and Marketing Guide (1881) and Practical Cookery (1884) as well as writing many articles for the Ladies’ Home Journal, of which she was a part owner.
The archive of these historical posts can be viewed on the blog at www.dorchesterhistoricalsocietyblog.org
