1982 Photo of Orange Line, Washington at Marcella /
Even now, this corner can fill dingy and neglected, but it’s nothing like the weedlot of 30 years ago.
1895 Ward Maps /
From a different site than the other ward maps, here is the 1895 Bromley insurance atlas for Roxbury. Most of Fort Hill between Columbus Ave and Washington Street is on plate 35, with other parts on plates 21 (north of Kittredge Square) and 34 (south of the intersection of Highland and Marcella).
1915 Ward Maps /
Here’s the index map for the Bromley insurance atlas for Boston and Roxbury in 1915. Highland Park and surrounding streets are in plate 24. To the north (Linwood Square, etc.) is bordered by plate 23, to the east by plate 33, to the south by plates 25 and 27, and to the west, across the railroad tracks on the foot of Parker Hill, is plate 21.
Painting with Maps /
Here’s a fun little site that lets you overlay a current aerial view of Highland Park with a variety of older maps from the late 1700s through the 1990s. Using the cursor as a paintbrush, you can see the changes over time.
Fort Hill with Standpipe, BPL photo /
I love this old, undated photo of the standpipe. It’s got lousy composition, cuts off the top of the tower, has some smears of water or something all over it…but it’s so evocative. Oh, and it appears to have been taken right outside or across the street from my front door.
The date’s hard to guess at, but the path to the left would not have existed in 1895, when the ward map shows a building from the St. Elizabeth Hospital in that location. It might have existed in 1915, when the ward map shows that the hospital was gone and there was then a playground on the space, but it’s hard to say.
Map of Boston's Lost Breweries /
I’ve started a map of the locations of all these Lost Breweries. The map is open and editable—feel free to make additions and corrections. I’ve cut and pasted some stuff from the JPHS article into some of the breweries.
Beer in Boston, a brief history /
A 10-year old article on Boston breweries from the geniuses at BeerAdvocate.com. The recent stuff is out of date, but the historical stuff obviously hasn’t changed.
Boston's Lost Breweries /
A great link from the JP Historical Society detailing the former cluster of breweries along the Stony Brook and the Heath Street corridor. Once upon a time, there were porter houses and ale houses and lager houses all along our streets…
1873 Ward Map O on Wardmaps.com /
Contains parts of Mission Hill and Fort Hill. Note that Pynchon St. and parts of Tremont St on this map are now Columbus Ave. Washington St. on this map is now Roxbury St.
Of note: The beginning of the Stony Brook Culvert (the brook is now almost entirely culverted and covered over). The breweries along Pynchon St and the open Stony Brook: Pfaff, Roessle, Norfolk. All replaced now by Roxbury Community College. Roessle could walk to work from his house on Gardner and Centre. On the Parker Hill side at Parker and Station was the Burkhardt Brewery, and at Station and Halleck was the Houghton Brewery (an Ale and Porter House!). Those were the days.
1873 Ward Map P on Wardmaps.com /
The map to the North(ish) of Map M. Bounded by Hawthorne/Ellis and Fort Ave (south), Centre (west), Dudley & Bartlett (north), Shawmut Ave (east). Note that Shawmut Ave is now Washington St.
Of note: Metropolitan Rail Road Co, now the closed MBTA Bartlett Bus Yard, someday to be redeveloped. Cedar Square. The estate of N.J. Bradlee. The home of Edward E. Hale. Norfolk House. Estate of Alvah Kittredge. Lewis Park, now renamed Kittredge Square.
1873 Ward Map M on wardmaps.com /
From School Street in Egleston Square (south) to Fort Ave (north) and from about Lamartine and Parker (west) to Washington St (east), covers Highland Park proper. At the time, Washington St. was called Shawmut Avenue; Columbus Ave. was called Pynchon St.
Of note: the Stony Brook, in its above-ground form. The Roxbury Almshouse, on what is now Marcella Park. The NE Gard Factory (what’s a gard?) on Vale St., later to become the Dennison tag factory (subject of a future post). The SC Thwing Estate on Thwing St. The Highland Park Standpipe, completed in 1868 to provide high service water to Roxbury Highlands.
Boston and Roxbury 1873 Ward Map Index /
Index plate for Boston & Roxbury from the ward map collection of 1873 including Longwood, Mission Hill, Fort Hill/Roxbury Highlands, Roxbury to Blue Hill Ave, Dudley and Madison Squares, and the Roxbury Canal. What, you didn’t know we had a canal?
A blog about the History of the Fort Hill/Highland Park Area in Roxbury, Mass /
Here you’ll find pictures, links, maps, old texts, and maybe once in a while some narration. Enjoy!