Dorchester Illustration 2251 View of Ashmont Hill 1880s

2251 view of Welles Avenue and Roslin Street from 34 Alban Street Ashmont Hill 1880s

Dorchester Illustration no. 2251 View of Ashmont Hill

View of Ashmont Hill from top of 34 Alban Street 1880s. Scan of photo donated to the Dorchester Historical Society by the widow of grand nephew of Frank Wood, first owner of 34 Alban Street.

The Dorchester House Tour is back – come to see Ashmont Hill as it is today. Visit a dozen delightful homes and carriage houses on Ashmont Hill.  Talk with their owners about the ways they have preserved, restored, and transformed their 19th century homes for 21st century living  Also tour the historic 1892 Parish of All Saints, Ashmont, to see the award-winning restoration of this landmark church.

Come to the Dorchester House Tour, Sunday, June 12th and save by buying tickets in advance. You also will be able to start the tour quickly, since you will be in the advance ticket line, where we only check your name off a list.

Watch for House Tour news in the Dorchester Day edition of the Dorchester Reporter this week.

Buy tickets online:

www.dorchesterhistoricalsocietyblog.org

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Dorchester Illustration 2251 View of Ashmont Hill 1880s

Dorchester Illustration 2250 Alban Street Interior 1880s

12132 34 Alban Street interior front parlor looking toward dining room 1880s

Dorchester Illustration no. 2250 Victorian Interior

Does your home look like this one on Alban Street as it was comfortably furnished in the 1880s? Do the homes on Ashmont Hill still look like this?  Find out at the Dorchester House Tour 2016: Ashmont Hill.

House Tour News:

Check out the Dorchester House Tour 2016: Ashmont Hill on Sunday, June 12, 2016 see more info and buy tickets at www.dorchesterhistoricalsocietyblog.org

Visit a dozen delightful homes and carriage houses on Ashmont Hill.  Talk with their owners about the ways they have preserved, restored, and transformed their 19th century homes for 21st century living  Also tour the historic 1892 Parish of All Saints, Ashmont, to see the award-winning restoration of this landmark church.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Dorchester Illustration 2250 Alban Street Interior 1880s

Dorchester Illustration 2249 Welles Mansion

No. 3416 Welles House

The home of the Welles family was the original estate house for Ashmont Hill (see below) when the hill was all open land except the house in the illustration. George Derby Welles, who lived in Paris, inherited the estate from his grandfather in 1870 and asked Edward Ingersoll Browne to have a sub-division plan drawn up for the sale of lots.   The house was replaced by the Edward Pierce School in 1892, and the school was itself replaced by the Codman Square branch of the Boston Public Library in the last quarter of the 20th century.

The rest of Ashmont Hill was developed into a railroad suburb in the late 19th century, now still exhibiting 40 acres of substantial, well-crafted, well-designed and well-preserved late-19th-century residences. Street after street in this residential quarter west of Peabody Square is bordered by wood frame, mostly single-family residences noteworthy for their originality and/or exuberance of design, quality craftsmanship, surviving stables on still-ample lots, etc. Exceptional examples of the Italianate / Mansard, Stick, Shingle, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles (as well as hybrids of these popular late-Victorian architectural modes) appear at every turn.  (Neighborhood description of Ashmont Hill from the Boston Landmarks Commission).

House Tour News:

Check out the Dorchester House Tour 2016: Ashmont Hill on Sunday, June 12, 2016 see more info and buy tickets at www.dorchesterhistoricalsocietyblog.org

Visit a dozen delightful homes and carriage houses on Ashmont Hill.  Talk with their owners about the ways they have preserved, restored, and transformed their 19th century homes for 21st century living  Also tour the historic 1892 Parish of All Saints, Ashmont, to see the award-winning restoration of this landmark church.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Dorchester Illustration 2249 Welles Mansion

Dorchester Illustration 2248 Patent Medicine Bottle

2248 rock and tar bottle found n Blake House dig

 

Dorchester Illustration no. 2248  Patent Medicine Bottle from Blake House Site

The bottle shown as today’s illustration was found in the archaeological dig at the Blake House site on Columbia Road.  When the house was moved to its current site in 1895, surrounding homeowners were encouraged to contribute solid fill to the fill the area that had been excavated for the construction of the new cellar for the support of the house.  The bottle is an example of patent medicine sold over the counter to cure a variety of ills.  I am guessing rock and tar was derived from petroleum.

Hear more about the archaeology of Boston, and how Boston’s history can be told through artifacts on Sunday, May 15th at 2 pm at the Dorchester Historical Society, 195 Boston Street.  Joseph Bagley, the city archaeologist, will talk about his new book The History of Boston in 50 Artifacts.

_____

The Dorchester Illustration is sent occasionally. 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 contacting Earl Taylor at EarlTaylorDorchHistSoc@gmail.com

If you value receiving the illustration, 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

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Dorchester Illustration 2248 Patent Medicine Bottle

Dorchester lllustration 2245 Dorchester Trolley

2247 Dorchester Trolley

Dorchester Illustration no. 2247

Today we have a photo of a Dorchester trolley car and crew ca. 1900.

_____

The Dorchester Illustration is sent occasionally. 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 illustration, 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

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments Off on Dorchester lllustration 2245 Dorchester Trolley

May 15, 2016 Dorchester Historical Society – The History of Boston in 50 Artifacts

book cover History of Boston in 50 artifacts

2 pm, Sunday, May 15th at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA  02125

The Dorchester Historical Society’s program for May is a talk by Joe Bagley, the city archaeologist, and his new book The History of Boston in 50 Artifacts.  Joe highlights a fascinating hodge-podge of history–from ancient fishing grounds to Jazz Age red-light districts–and demonstrates how these objects offer a unique and accessible introduction to Boston’s history and physical culture.

The Society will take a few minutes at the beginning of the meeting to hold its annual meeting.  Then we will hand the floor over to Joe.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments Off on May 15, 2016 Dorchester Historical Society – The History of Boston in 50 Artifacts

Sad Day for Preservation

The attached photos show a demolition and the appearance of the building prior to today.
It makes sad to lose an unusual property that is so evocative of our past.
Earl Taylor884 Adams Street 4-25-16 and before
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Sad Day for Preservation

Dorchester Illustration 2246 Lyman Fountain

2246 Lyman Fountain original

Dorchester Illustration no. 2246

Today’s illustration is a scan of an illustration published  in Proceedings of the Dedication of the Fountain on Eaton Square, Ward 24, October 24, 1885, in memory of Theodore Lyman, Jr., Mayor of Boston in 1834-35. Boston: Printed by Order of the City Council, 1886.

If you have ever wondered what the fountain on Bowdoin Street at the bottom of Meeting House Hill looked like, here you have it.

_____

The Dorchester Illustration is sent occasionally. 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 illustration, 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

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Dorchester Illustration 2246 Lyman Fountain

Dorchester Illustration 2245 Laban Pratt House

2245 Laban Pratt House from American Architect and Building News

Dorchester Illustration no. 2245

The Laban Pratt Laban house on Pope’s Hill appeared in American Architect and Building News, March 11, 1882, vol. XI, no. 326 following p. 138

Laban Pratt (1829-1923) was a prominent manufacturer and lumber merchant at Port Norfolk who lived on Pope’s Hill at the corner of Train and Boutwell Streets overlooking Dorchester Bay.

_____

The Dorchester Illustration is sent occasionally. 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 illustration, 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

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Dorchester Illustration 2245 Laban Pratt House

Dorchester Illustration 2244 stone excavated at Four Corners

2244 stone at corner of Washington and Bowdoin Streets dug from excavation for new housing nearby

Dorchester Illustration no. 2244

The stone in today’s picture was excavated when foundation work was begun about a year ago at a development at Four Corners.  The stone is now located at the southeast corner of Washington and Bowdoin Streets but appears to have come from the development now under construction between Washington Street and Bowdoin Avenue on the north side of the intersection at approximately 324-336 Washington Street.  The stone has been described as a corner-stone, but it looks to me as if it may have had another purpose.  Please let us know if you have ideas.

Note:

The Dorchester Historical Society will host a program to mark the birthday of Edward Everett on Sunday, April 17 at 1 p.m. at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U S. Senate.

Edward Everett, who was born in Dorchester, was elected to United States Senate and served from March 4, 1853 until June 1, 1854. Among his many achievements as a preeminent public man of the nineteenth century, Everett’s career included ten years in the House of Representatives, four years as governor of Massachusetts, an appointment as United States Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Great Britain from 1841-1845, and, briefly, Secretary of State.

At the Kennedy Institute, whose mission is to educate the public about the important role of the Senate in our government and encourage participatory democracy and civil discourse, visitors will learn about the history of the Senate through the use of interactive technology and have the opportunity to become a senator in training.

 

DHS has arranged for a specially guided tour for its members, and has secured a group admission rate of $8. Tickets will be available for purchase soon at the Society’s website, www.dorchesterhistoricalsocietyblog.org. Members will also receive an invitation in the mail.

Join us as one of Dorchester’s oldest institutions pays a visit to its newest.

_____

The Dorchester Illustration is sent occasionally. 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 illustration, 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

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Dorchester Illustration 2244 stone excavated at Four Corners