CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The Circumferential Transportation Improvements in the Urban Ring Corridor (Urban Ring) project is
a three-phase initiative of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and the Massachusetts
Executive Office of Transportation and Public Works (EOT) to improve the regional transportation
system in the greater Boston area (Figure 1-1). The Federal Transportation Agency (FTA) is the lead
federal agency for the project. This report presents the results ofa documentation-review reconnaissance
historic aboveground resources survey of the Urban Ring Phase 2 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service
completed by PAL for Earth Tech, [nco
The alternatives under consideration for Phase 2 have changed since the issuance of the Draft
Environmental Impact Report/Draji Environmental Impact Statement (DEIRIDEIS) in November 2004
and are summarized below. This report was prepared to suppOl1 the Phase 2 Revised Draft Environmental
Impact Report/Draft Environmental Impact Statement (RDEIRIDEIS). It supersedes, with exceptions
as stated in Chapter 2, Methodology the earlier PAL report, Architectural Reconnaissance Survey
Circumferential Transportation Improvements Urban Ring Corridor: Phase 2, Volumes I, 2, and 3, of
March 2004 (Mail' et al. 2004).
The purpose of this reconnaissance survey is to identify previously recorded individual propel1ies and
districts within the project Area of Potential Effect (APE) for the new Phase 2 build altematives that
may be eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (National Register), including an
update of the documentary data for resources in the PAL 2004 survey. The results and recommendations
of the survey are intended to provide information that will facilitate consultation between the project
proponent and the responsible review agencies to determine whether the construction ofthe project has
the potential to adversely affect any of the properties judged to be potentially eligible for the National
Register. This data collection effort consisted of documentation review and mapping of known
aboveground resources; no fieldwork was conducted.
Project History and Description
The Urban Ring project is described in the Major Investment Study Final Report, July 2001, the Expanded
Environmental Notification Form, July 200 I, and the Draft EIRIS Scoping SWl1f11a1Y Report, December
2001; and the DEIRJDEIS, November 2004. The Urban Ring project area is 15 miles long and
approximately I mile wide in an ovoid loop around the center of Boston. It encompasses the seven
communities of Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Medford, and Somerville (Figure 1­
2). The three phases are summarized as follows and fUl1her described below:
PAL Report No. 1396.01
Chapter One
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2
PAL Report No. 1396.01
Introduction
---~
Urban Ring
Corridor Study Area
Figure 1-2. Map of Massachusetts showing the communities of Boston. Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea,
Everett. Medford. and Somerville. Massachusetts.
Phase I:
Phase 2:
Phase 3:
New and improved crosstown and express buses (2001-2005)
Bus Rapid Transit with new and improved commuter rail connections (2006-20 I0)
Light and I-Ieavy Rail between Assembly Square and Dudley Square (2011-201 5)
Phase I of Urban Ring has been implemented and includes new, 40-foot, low floor, Compressed Natural
Gas (eNG) powered, low emission buses along new and improved cross-town and express commuter
routes, along with Transportation System Management measures to provide more direct service between
neighborhoods, employment, and other activity centers along the corridor. Phase I has had no effect on
historic resources.
Phase 2 of Urban Ring consists of multiple overlapping BRT routes and new and improved commuter
rail stations providing numerous intennodal connections making it possible to transfer between bus,
rapid transit and/or commuter rail lines without having to travel into downtown Boston. Phase 2 adds
seven BRT routes throughout the corridor. and includes the purchase of 60-foot, articulated, eNG
vehicles equipped with high-tech communications technology. Some routes are new; others are modified
or upgraded versions of routes utilized under Phase I of the project. Several of the routes overlap. Most
of the buses will run on existing streets or dedicated busways along existing rail rights-of-way.
Approximately 25 percent of the corridor includes new construction. Ten miles of separate busways
will be added to the system. Urban residential, educational. commercial, and industrial segments
characterize the affected areas. Phase 2 of the Urban Ring project will include 44 new commuter
PALRepol'tNo./396.0J
3
Chapter One
stations, some single modal, and some intennodal, and improvements to existing commuter rail stations,
for a total of 70 station stops. Phase 2 also includes capital investment strategies, design completion,
and preparation ofan EIS for Phase 3.
Current planning for Phase 2 BRT service consists of refined concepts from earlier planning stages in
combination with new ideas and the results of public comments. The alternatives that are now under
consideration consist of four Build Alternatives (with five additional sub-options) (Figures 1-3 thru I­
ll). The four build alternatives and sub-options as follows:
• Alternative 1 . Surface BRT routes similar to the 2004 DEIRIDEIS (presently identified as the
Local Preferred Alternative [LPA])
• Alternative 2 - Surface BRT routes with increased busway/buslane separations
• Alternati ve 2A
• Alternative 3 - Short tunnel segments in highly congested areas
• Alternative 3A
• Alternative 3B
• Alternative 3C
• Alternative 4 - Longer tunnel segments
• Alternative 4A
Each alternative is geographically divided into three Urban Ring project corridor Segments A, B, and C
(Figure 1-12). Segment A extends from Logan Airport in East Boston to Lechmere Station in Somerville.
Segment B extends from Lechmere Station to Ruggles Station through the communities of Cambridge,
Allston, and Brookline. Segment C extends from Ruggles Station in Roxbury to JFKlUMASS in
Dorcester to the World Trade Center in South Boston. Alternatives 3 and 4 include tunnel sections,
portals and stations: Alternative 3 would have 1.5-2.7 miles of tunnel, three to five portals, and two to
three stations; and Alternative 4 would have 2.5-3.8 miles of tunnel, three portals, and five to seven
stations.
During Phase 3, rail rapid transit service would be added to the most heavily traveled portion of the
corridor between Assembly Square in Somerville and Dudley Square in Roxbury, and where expanded
cross-town bus and BRT transit services are not adequate to serve long-tenn demand.
Project Authority
This aboveground reconnaissance survey was conducted in compliance with the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969; Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act, GL. c.30, ss.61-62H (MEPA), together
with its implementing regulation 301 CMR 11.00 et. seq.; Sections 106 and 110(f) of the National
Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966 as amende<L and the implementing regulations ofthe Advisory
Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) at 36 CFR 800; Section 4(f) of the Department of
Transportation Act of 1966 (49 USC 303); and Chapter 9, Sections 26 et seq. of the Massachusetts
General Laws as amended by Chapter 254 of the Acts of 1988 (950 CMR 71.00).
The NHPA, as amended, was enacted by Congress in 1966 to preserve and protect the nation's historic
buildings, neighborhoods, landscapes, and archaeological sites. The NHPA established the NRHP and
4
PAL Reporl No. 1396.01
Introduction
Urban Ring Phase 2
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PAL Report No. 1396.01
5
Chapter One
Phase 2
Urban
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6
PAL Repol'l No. 1396.01
May 14, 2007
Introduction
Urban Ring Phase 2
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Figure 1-5. Alternative 2A Map, Urban Ring Phase 2, RDEIR/DEIS.
PAL Report No. 1396.01
7
Chapter One
Urban Ring Phase 2
RDEIR/DEIS
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8
PAL Report No. 1396.01
May 14. 2007
Introduction
Urban Ring Phase 2
RDEIR/DEIS
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PAL Report No. 1396.01
9
Chapter One
Urban Ring Phase 2
RDEIR/DEIS
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10
PAL Reporl No. 1396. OJ
May 14,2007
Introduction
RDEIRjDEIS
Urban Ring Phase 2
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PAL Repol'lNo. 1396.01
II
Chapter One
Urban Ring Phase 2
RDEIR/DEIS
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12
PAL Report No. 1396.01
May 14, 2007
Introduction
Urban Ring Phase 2
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PAL Report No. /396.01
13
Chapter One
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14
PAL Report No. /396.01
Introduction
created the ACHP. The NHPA fostered the system by which federal agencies identify and evaluate
impacts to cultural resources. This information is used to plan projects that, where possible, preserve
and protect designated cultural resources. The Urban Ring Corridor Project is an undertaking proposed
by the MBTA with the ITA as the lead federal agency, and thus falls within the purview of this statute.
Under Section 106 of the NHPA, federal agencies are responsible for identifying National Register
listed or eligible resources and assessing the effects of actions to them in accordance with 36 CFR 800.
The ACHP does not have the authority to halt or abandon projects that will affect historic properties;
rather, its regulations emphasize consultation among the responsible federal agency (in this case the
FTA, with assistance from MBTA), the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), and other interested
parties.
Section 4(f) of Department of Transportation Act of 1966 (49 USC 303) and implementing regulations
(23 CFR 772), Section 4(f) as it is commonly known, provides that the Secretary ofTransportatioll may
not approve a project that involves use ofland from a significant publicly owned park, recreation area,
wildlife or waterfowl refuge, or any significant historic site unless: (1) there is no feasible and prudent
alternative to the use of the land; and (2) the proposed action includes all possible plalming to minimize
harm to the property from such use.
Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 9, Sections 26-27C as amended by Chapter 254 directs the MHC,
among other tasks, to advise other state agencies as to the preservation of historic, architectural, and
archaeological resources during any state undertakings; to conduct a statewide survey of historic
properties; to maintain a State Register of Historic Places; and to develop a historic preservation plan.
"Chapter 254 review" is similar to Section 106 review, with one notable exception being that properties
subject to review must be listed in the State Register of Historic Places. The regulations implementing
Chapter 9, Section 27C, as amended by Chapter 254, provide that upon a finding of adverse effect on a
State Register property by the MHC, the state body undertaking the project shall consult with the MHC
regarding, and must adopt, all feasible and prudent means to eliminate, minimize, or mitigate the adverse
effect(s). The MHC conducts Chapter 254 and Section 106 review simultaneously.
Under MEPA, all agencies of the commonwealth are required to determine the impact on the natural
environment of all works, projects, or activities conducted by them and use all practicable means and
measures to avoid or minimize the environmental harm that has been identified. It also provides the
procedure-the Environmental Impact Report-by which that obligation will be satisfied and authorizes
the Secretary of Environmental Affairs to oversee the review process. MEPAapplies to projects directly
undertaken by state agencies and to private projects for which state permits are sought or in which state
funding or land transfer is involved. MEPAdoes not apply to projects needingjust local approvals. The
selection of the preferred alternative for the Urban Ring project is based in part on the consultations
carried out through the MEPA review process.
Area of Potential Effect
One of the first steps in the Section 106 process is to establish the APE, which is defined as " ... the
geographic area within which the undertaking may cause changes in the character of or use of historic
properties, ifany such properties exist" [36 CFR 800.16 Cd)]. A historic property is defined as" ... any
PAL Report No. 1396.01
15
Chapter One
prehistoric or historic district, site, building, structure, or object included in, or eligible for inclusion in,
the NRHP maintained by the Secretary of the Interior" [36 CFR 800.16(1)]. The establishment of a
project APE is based on the potential for effect, which will differ for aboveground historic properties
(historic districts, buildings, objects, and structures) and belowground historic properties (archaeological
sites).
Historic resources survey for the Urban Ring Phase 2 project utilizes three APE variants for aboveground
resources. The APE in areas where the project is within existing utilized streets and rail corridors is
defined as 50 feet on either side of the centerline of the right-of-way. A wider APE of 100 feet on either
side of the rail centerline is applied for sections of the project alignment that encompass abandoned rail
corridors. In addition, at the station locations the APE is a ISO-foot circle around the station site.
Personnel
PAL staff involved in the survey of aboveground historic resources between 2007 and 2008 included A.
Peter Mair U(project manager), Virginia H. Adanls (senior architectural historian), Elizabeth Porterfield
(architectural historian), and Quinn Stuart (architectural assistant).
Disposition of Project Materials
All project infonnation (field fonus, photographs, maps, etc.) is currently on file at PAL, 2 I0 Lonsdale
Avenue, Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
16
PALReportNo.J396.0J
CHAPTER TWO
METHODOLOGY
The methodology for the documentation-review recOimaissance survey ofaboveground historic propelties
of the Urban Ring Phase 2 project altematives was designed to complete a documentary review to
locate and identify aboveground properties, including districts, buildings, structures, objects, and sites,
within the project's APE that are listed or may be eligible for listing in the National Register. The
survey included a documentary update of information regarding the 826 historic architectural resources
that were identified in the 2004 reconnaissance survey completed for the DEISIDEIR (Mair et a1. 2004).
The PAL aboveground survey for Urban Ring Phase 2 covers the four build altemative and five sub~
option maps dated May 14,2007 and station infonnation dated May 23, 2007, and the three geographical
Segments A, B, and C (see Figures 1-3 thm 1-12).
The survey was conducted in accordance with the standards and guidelines established by the
Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) in Historic Properties Survey Manual: Guidelines for
the Identification ofHistoric and Archaeological Resources in Massachusetts (1992) and Survey Technical
Bulletin #1 (1993), and in the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Identification
(1983) and National Register Bulletin 24, Guidelines for Local Surveys: ABasis for Preservation Planning
(1977, revised 1985).
The APE for the project 2004 reconnaissance survey of one potential alignment and for this
documentation-review reconnaissance survey of multiple aligrunents is defined as 50 feet on either
side from the center line, with a wider APE of 100 feet on either side of abandoned rail corridors. In
addition, at the station locations the APE is a ISO-foot circle around the station sites. See Chapter 1 for
a more discussion of the APE.
2004 Reconnaissance Survey Summary
The 2004 reconnaissance survey identified recorded and previously unrecorded individual properties
and districts within the Urban Ring Phase 2 DEIS/DEIR APE for one alignment, as described in
Chapter I, that may be eligible for listing in the National Register. Archival research was conducted in
the Inventory of the Historic Assets of the Commonwealth (Inventory) and State and National Register
files maintained by the MHC, as well as the Massachusetts State Library, and the Boston Public Library.
Archival research was used to guide fieldwork, develop historic contexts, and to evaluate resources.
Field investigations consisted ofa "windshield" survey to become familiar with the number,location,
and types of properties present in the APE followed by reconnaissance field survey, including
photography, of all properties within the APE that were denoted during the windshield survey as likely
being at least 50 years old.
PALReporfNo./396.0/
17
Chapter Two
The results confirmed that the majority of the Urban Ring project will be located on existing city streets
and on abandoned and/or active rail corridors. A total of826 historic architectural resources (objects,
structures, and buildings) more than 50 years of age was identified within the project APE. Of these, 20
resources had been previously listed in the National Register, four had been determined eligible for the
National Register by the MHC, and 19 were in areas that have been previously surveyed by the MHC.
Additionally, 312 resources were identified by PAL as potentially eligible for the National Register and
between seven and ten potentially National Register~eligible historic districts were identified (Mair et
al. 2004).
The 2004 survey project aliglilllent was similar to the 2007 Alternative 1 (see figure 1-3), but did not
include a proposed route through the Allston section of Boston to Harvard Square in Cambridge. The
project area was broken up into eight segments to organize the aboveground survey results; this format
was not continued in the current survey eff0l1.
2007 Documentary Survey
The 2007 survey consisted of documentary research in the MHC Inventory, Massachusetts Cultural
Resource Information System (MACRIS), and National Register files; mapping the location of newly
identified resources; renumbering and updating National Register eligibility or listing status for all
resources in the 2004 survey; and entering and organizing the information for all the historic resources
surveyed in 2004 and 2007 in a database and tables for comparison of the alternatives. No fieldwork
was conducted in this eff0l1. It is anticipated that field survey will be completed for the LPA once it has
been determined.
Resources in the 2007 survey were grouped by the standardized project-wide structure of Alternatives
1 tlu'ough 4; Segments A, B, C, and 0; and Sectors 1 thorough 11. As discussed in Chapter I, the 2007
survey APE for each alternative was a corridor extending 50 ft or 1OO-ft from either side ofthe centerline,
depending on present use, and a 150 ft circle around each station location. Due to the limitations of
specific location data associated with the documentary information that was available on individual
propel1ies and areas, ce11ain cultural resources that are strictly speaking outside the defined APE have
been captured. However, this variation applies unifonnly across all alternatives and therefore is not
expected to affect the overall comparison of alternatives with regard to cultural resources.
Documentary Research
Documentary research was completed in the Inventory and National Register files at the MHC, as well
as using Ole online MACRIS database. As in 2004, copies of Inventory and National Register nomination
forms were obtained for all newly identified properties located within or thought to be immediately
adjacent to the project APE for the four alternatives. Due to the large volume of documentation, copies
of forms are not included as appendices in this report.
The historic contexts presented in Chapters 3 through 8 of the 2004, Volume 1 report (Mair et al. 2004)
were confirmed to continue to cover the project APE, including the new Urban Ring project altemative
areas in the Allston neighborhood of Boston and Cambridge. The historic contexts for the Urban Ring
communities of Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, and Somerville are repeated in Chapters
18
PAL Report No. /396.01
Methodology
3 through 7 and Chapter 9 of this report. Medford was found during the 2004 survey to contain a
limited number of architectural resources, none of which were more than 50 years of age or included in
the results. Therefore, a historic context statement for Medford was not developed at that time. However,
the 2007 survey identified several historic parkways and an associated bridge in Medford, and a context
for the community has been prepared and is included in Chapter 8 of this report.
Analysis and Mapping
Analysis of historic resources started with entering information (address, historic name, date of
construction, style, National Register status) of each property and district in a Microsoft Access database.
The 2004 database was integrated into the new 2007 database, and new map numbers were assigned.
All information regarding street address and National Register status was verified and updated using
Inventory and National Register forms, MACRlS, the Massachusetts State Register listing, and other
sources. The National Register evaluation and eligibility criteria are presented below. The affiliation
of each of the resources included in the 2004 and 2007 surveys with the four RDEIS/DEIR build
alternatives, five sUbwoptions, 44 stations, three geographical segments, and 11 project sectors was
assigned and noted in the database so that the historic resources can be sorted by alternative for
comparison purposes in determining the LPA.
All GIS base map data was acquired either through MassGIS or EarthTech. In order to prepare the
database for GIS mapping the location of all individual properties and the boundaries of all historic
districts and areas were indicated by hand on project maps for merging with the 2004 inventory data
and transference to the project GIS base maps. The location of all properties newly identified in 2007
was verified manually from inventory sketch maps or National Register maps, or in cases where there
was no firm address, using Mapquest (wvNI.mapquest.com), Local Live (https://maps.live.com), and
online municipal assessor's files. All MHC survey areas were first delineated by hand on project
mapping using MHC Inventory and National Register forms, town parcels, and building footprints as a
guide, and then drawn as shape files in GIS. Individual resources were mapped based on their address
(in some cases approximate) using a process called "geocoding," whereby known addresses are matched
with a master database of addresses and their global coordinates. Survey staff completed a visual
check ofthe draft maps to COlTect locations. Due to the limitations of the original documentary Iocational
data, the lack offield verification and coordinates, and the margin of error inherent in the GIS mapping
procedures that consequently had to used, some properties may not have mapped correctly. In addition
it is possible that a one or two properties that are in actuality located outside the APE have been captured
on the maps. However, every effort was made to produce the most comprehensive and accurate series
of historic resources maps possible for inclusion in this report.
National Register Evaluation
Evaluation of National Register eligibility for resources identified within the current documentary
research project was based on the eligibility detel1l1inations recorded on the Massachusetts State Register
and National Register listing, Inventory forms (individual properties and areas), and MACRlS, as well
as the findings of the 2004 survey. The basic categories ofNational Register evaluation were identified
as:
PAL Reporr No. 1396. OJ
19
Chapter Two
•
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Individual Property Listed in the National Register
Individual Property Determined Eligible for the National Register
Individual Property Determined, Recommended, or Potentially Eligible for the National Register
National Register Historic District (NRHD) Listed Contributing Property
Detennined, Recommended, or Potentially Eligible NRHD Contributing Property
Local Landmark
Local Historic District Contributing Property
ational Historic Landmark lndividual or District
National Historic Landmark District Contributing Property
Detennined or Recommended Not Eligible
ot Evaluated
In the 2004 reconnaissance survey (Mair et al. 2004), which included a comprehensive field
reconnaissance component, all previously unevaluated resources were evaluated by PAL for potential
National Register eligibility as an individual property and as part ofa historic district. This infonnation
has been updated where indicated by the State and National Register list and MACRIS review. For
2004 field surveyed resources that have not been identified in MACRIS or the State or National Register
lists, the PAL eligibility evaluation remains applicable and is prefaced by "recommended." Additional
field work and research will be required to nominate properties identified during this survey to be
potentially eligible for listing in the National Register.
National Register Criteria
Established by the National Park Service (NPS), Department of the Interior, the criteria for listing in the
National Register (36 CFR 60) are the broadly defined standards for evaluating the significance of
resources. Under Section 106, the criteria act as a guide for federal agencies in their evaluation of
historic resources that may be affected by a proposed undertaking. The National Historic Landmarks
(Nl-rL) eligibility criteria are similar to the National Register criteria, but apply to propel1ies of national
significance. The NPS defines the criteria as follows:
The quality of significance in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering and culture is
present in districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects that possess integrity of location, design,
setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association, and meet the following criteria:
A. That are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns
of our history; or
B. That are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; or
C. That embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that
represent the work of a master. or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant
and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or
D. That have yielded, or may be likely to yield. information important in prehistory or history.
20
PAL Report No. 1396.01
Methodology
Ordinarily cemeteries, bil1hplaces, or graves ofhistoric figures, properties owned by religious institutions
or used for religious purposes, stmctures that have been moved from their original locations, reconstructed
historic buildings, propel1ies primarily commemorative in nature, and properties that have achieved
significance within the past 50 years shall not be considered eligible for the National Register. However,
such properties will qualify if they are integral parts of districts that do meet the criteria or if they fall
within the following criteria consideration categories:
A. a religious property deriving primary significance from architectural or artistic distinction or
historical imp0l1ance; or
B. a building or structure removed from its original location but is significant primarily for
architectural value, or that is the surviving stmcture most importantly associated with a historic
person or event; or
C. a birthplace or grave of a historical figure of outstanding importance ifthere is no appropriate
site or building directly associated with his productive life; or
D. a cemetery that derives its primary significance from graves of persons of transcendent
importance, from age, from distinctive design features, or from association with historic events;
or
E. a reconstructed building when accurately executed in a suitable envirorunent and presented in a
dignified manner as paJ1 of a restoration master plan, and when no other building or structure
with the same association has survived; or
F. a propel1y primarily commemorative in intent if design, age, tradition, or symbolic value has
invested it with its own exceptional significance; or
G. a property achjeving significance within the past 50 years if it is of exceptional importance.
PAL ReporlNo. 1396. OJ
21
CHAPTER THREE
HISTORIC CONTEXT FOR BOSTON
This chapter provides a historic context for Boston and originally appeared in Architectural
Reconnaissance Survey Circumferential Transportation Improvements Urban Ring Corridor: Phase 2,
Volumes 1, 2, and 3 (Mair et a1. 2004).
Boston Proper
Introduction
The city of Boston is located along the eastern shore of Massachusetts. It is a sprawling, irregularly
shaped city, bordered by many smaller towns. On the nOl1h, Boston is flanked by Watertown, Cambridge,
Somerville, Everett, Revere, and Chelsea. To the east of 80Ston is the Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast
the city is bordered by Quincy and Milton, and on the southwest by Dedham and Needham. On the
west, Boston borders Newton and Brookline. Most of the western boundary of Boston is shared with
Brookline, of which the city surrounds almost 75 percent. The topography of the city is generally flat,
with only a few scattered hills rising above 100 feet and none more than 300 feet above sea level. Much
of the present land of the city consists of tidal flats that have been filled over the past four hundred
years. Three of the highest elevations in the city were cut down over the same period, providing some
of the material for these fills. The city is drained by the stream systems of the Neponset River at its
southern border, the Muddy River on its west, and by the Charles River to the nm1h.
The original settlement ofpresent-day Boston occurred on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1625, when William
Blackstone arrived and constructed a house at a place he called "trimountain." In 1630, the Massachusetts
Bay Company formally established Trimoulltain as Boston and delineated its boundaries. Boston
originally consisted of approximately 487 acres of land on the peninsula and 296 acres (783 total acres)
on the neck of land connecting it to Roxbmy. The filling in of tidal marshes and ponds adjacent to this
area throughout the nineteenth century accounted for the growth of Boston to 1,904 acres by 1912.
This area is known as Boston Proper, to differentiate it from lands that were annexed by the city. The
development of East and South Boston, the mmexations of Roxbury in 1868, Dorchester in 1870,
Brighton, Charlestown, and West Roxbury in 1874, Hyde Park in 1912, and the cessation ofland by
Brookline in 1874 (Kennedy 1992:69-70, 131; Warner 1978:35-45) added to the lands filled tlu·oughout
the nineteenth and twentieth cenhlries to give Boston its current land mass.
From its beginning, Boston Proper was destined to be a city of vast changes and rapid development.
The geographic changes (leveling hills, filling bays, tunneling under water) alone altered the city to
unprecedented proportions. Expanding the borders ofBostoll added more land, industry, and population.
Before the annexations ofthe late nineteenth century, however, the population of Boston Proper expanded
22
PAL Report No. 1396.01
Historic Context for Boston
on its own. From the small population that grew consistently throughout the first two hundred years of
the town, immigration during the nineteenth century altered the social fabric of the town permanently,
and prompted changes in its architecture, transportation, and economy, transforming it to a city officially
in 1822.
Boston Proper in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was characterized by its maritime economy.
Trade with the West Indies and England in the seventeenth century was expanded to Continental Europe,
the East Indies and Canton after the Revolutionary War. Shipbuilding and outfitting industries benefited
as a result of Boston's prosperous trade economy, and the city continued to expand both geographically
and in population throughout its first two centuries. In the early nineteenth cenhlry, the industrial
development ofBostol1 diversified, and began to grow independently of the maritime associations that
had previously defined it. With new industries came different types of facilities and the industrial area
of Boston moved away from the water's edge. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries,
the population of Boston almost quadrupled injust 55 years. This remarkable increase, driven in part
by the transformation of the economy, led to challenges in the development of residential areas, which,
in turn, led to changes in the land of the city. Hills were cut down to create more buildable lots,
simultaneously harvesting eal1h for use in the filling of bays and tidal marshes, upon which more
housing could be constructed. The mid~nineteenthcentury saw the industrialization of Boston reach its
fullest extent, with heavy industry entering the economy in conjunction with the arrival of the railroads
in the city. Conditions in Europe led to an unprecedented increase in the population of Boston, as first
Irish, then Italians and Eastern European Jews arrived in the city in large numbers, accompanied by
smaller numbers from other, primarily European, countries. Population numbers in Boston Proper
began to settle then increase at a steady rate again during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
As Boston annexed other towns in these years, however, the total population of the town grew. Though
it was devastated in 1872 by a great fire, the commercial interests of Boston continued to grow into the
twentieth century, when the city was the second largest p0l1 in the country and the financial, industrial,
and trade center of New England. The modernization of the city with the construction of new buildings
and infrastructure has continued this growth, allowing Boston to thrive into the twenty~first century.
First Setdement Period (1620-1675)
Prior to the arrival of European settlers in the area of present~day Boston, the land was in use by local
Native American tribes. The availability of foodstuffs in the form of shellfish, fish, and waterfowl
made the Shawmut Peninsula a pm1icularly heavily occupied area.
The founding of 80Ston by the Massachusetts Bay Company in 1630 brought the first significant groups
of settlers to the area, including an initial 1,500 persons. By 1634, the number of freemen in the town
was said to be 350. From Blackstone's original settlement on the south slope of Beacon Hill, the new
center of the town became harbor cove, with development along present~day Washington Street and the
civic center at State Street.
Boston's role as the home of the colonial governor and the seat of the colonial courts, in addition to its
excellent harbor, made it the center of economic activity for the colony frol11 an early time. Ships left
Boston bound for the West indies and England, initiating the "Triangle Trade" of lumber and produce
from N0I1h America, finished goods from England, and sugar and molasses from the West Indies.
PAL Report No. 1396.01
23
Chapter Three
Distilleries \>,'ere soon established in Boston, as were shipbuilding facilities and the secondary industries
to create materials for ship construction and outfitting. In 1643, a corn mill was established at North
Cove to convert tidal waters to a power source. The cove was converted to a millpond by the construction
of a dam, and drawbridges were constructed across the outlet from the pond. Later mills at the site,
including a sawmill and a chocolate mill, also took advantage of the power provided by the pond.
New construction and improvements to 80ston's infrastructure during the First Settlement period
included a wharf area established at Dock Square, a cemetery, a windmill on Copps Hill (constructed
1632), and fortifications on Fort Hill (1632). By 1634, the town common lands had been established on
the west side of the peninsula for use as pastureland for cattle. In the mid-seventeenth century, the
North End area was settled, which provided the impetus for the construction of a meetinghouse at
North Square in 1650. Throughout the period, Native American trails were improved and supplemented
with new streets to connect the settlements scattered about the peninsula. By 1631, ferries had also
been established to connect the peninsula with Charlestown and Chelsea.
Colonial Period (1675-1775)
The Colonial Period saw continued growth throughout the peninsula, centered on the area around the
civic buildings on State Street. In the North End, dense urban development had begun to fill in along
Hanover, North, and Salem streets by the early pal1 of the eighteenth century, while in the Old South
End, along Summer and Washington streets, an affluent neighborhood was developing. The peak
population in the city during the period was reached in 1743, when, with 16,382 inhabitants, Boston
became the most populated city in the English colonies. The population soon began to drop, as the
Molasses Act of 1733 caused a loss ofjobs and decline in shipbuilding activities. Rampant inflation
during the 1740s, frequent epidemics, and high taxes may also have played a part in the decline, which
dropped Boston to the third most populous city by 1760.
Like its population numbers, seafaring trade and allied industries in Boston were stronger at the begilUling
of the Colonial Period than in the end. By the early eighteenth century, Boston was said to be the
"principal mart of trade in North America" (MHC 1981 a). The construction of wharves continued
from the North End to Fort Hill, including Long Wharf, constructed in 1710 and extending 2,000 feet
into Boston Harbor, with shipbuilding under way at as many as 27 yards, including major facilities at
Battery March and North Street. An increase in open ports in the Caribbean led to the development of
rum manufacture in Boston, elevating it to the town's principal product in the early eighteenth century.
8y the 1740s, however, at least partially as a result of increased inflation and the Molasses Act, which
increased taxes on molasses and thus greatly decreased legal trade with the Caribbean, Boston-based
trade and shipbuilding began to decline. Larger blows to shipping came in the 1760s and 1770s, when
revenue taxes and the tightening of customs controls further limited the viability of trade from Boston.
The end of the Colonial Period saw the ultimate failure of the system when, from 1775 through 1776,
the port of Boston was closed completely by the British govenUllent.
The construction of buildings in Boston during the period was not limited to wharves, for, while the
waterfront was being built up, residential, institutional, and commercial propel1ies were also under
construction. Fires swept through the city in 1676, 1679, 1683, 1690, 1702, 1711, 1759, and 1760,
destroying much ofthe central district and the North End (exact bounds are not known) and necessitating
24
PAL Report No. 1396.01
Historic Context for Boston
new construction in many cases. Residences constructed during the period reflected the popular English
styles ofconstruction, additionally with Dutch influences and detailing in some examples. The Georgian
style, adapted directly from English precedents and popular throughout the English colonies ofNol1h
America, appeared in residential and institutional construction. The Old State House, constructed in
1712, is a Georgian building with an oveniding Dutch influence in its design. Commercial buildings in
the period were primarily small shops of frame construction. The most notable exception to this is
Fanueil Hall, completed in 1742, a large masorrry building with an arcaded first floor and offices above.
While the central parts of the city were developing a dense character, in the South End, large houses
with gardens and fields were the noml. Along the middle section of the west side of the peninsula,
pastures, including the conUllon, dominated the landscape.
Federal Period (1775-1830)
The return ofa stable trade balance after the reopening of the port of Boston brought the town back to
the forefront of what was then American shipping. By 1777, the economy of Boston was said to be
stronger than at the stal1 of the war. In the first half of the 1780s, speculation on imported goods led to
a depression in the local economy, and a temporary lull at manufacturing facilities in the conullonwealth.
The opening of trade with Canton and the East Indies in the 1790s revitalized Boston trade, and brought
demand for the construction of more ships in Boston yards.
After the depression of the early 1780s, manufacturing in Boston relied on the Commonwealth for
assistance. Manufacturing was bolstered in the second half of the decade by the declaration of bounties
on products such as sail cloth and twine, both of which were made locally as a result by 1788. Rope had
been made in Boston since the early days of the town, however, a bounty on hemp increased its profit,
and the number of ropewalks in the town grew to 14 in 1794, most of which were located around Fort
Hill and the West End. While these industries were linked to shipbuilding, a number of other types of
businesses also began in Boston during this period, providing a more diverse industrial base. Founded
in 1787, the Boston Glass House began producing quality glass in 1793. Increased taxes on finished
products from Europe led to the establishment of a calico printing company in the 1790s. Among other
industries established during the period were the production of beaver hats, hard and soft soap, paper
hanging, and spermaceti candles. Existing industries continued throughout the period, including boot
and shoe manufacture, rum distillation, and cabinet making. New processes for manufacturing tallow
candles, cards, and chocolate also made their manufacture more profitable. Provisions merchants, meat
packers, sail makers, ship chandlers, and hide and leather and boot and shoe merchants continued to
produce goods for trade at the waterfront.
Boston's industrial development continued throughout the early nineteenth century, despite the Embargo
of 1807 and the War of 1812. Both events aided the American industrial system by decreasing the
amount of foreign goods available in the United States. The cabinet making industry spawned the
manufacture of pianos before 1806. Carriages, unavailable from England during the war, were
constructed in Boston begitming about 1813. Ropewalks were still present, as was the City Mills flour
mill. Boston's heavy industry was also developed during the period, with the completion of the Mill
Dam in 1821. The Boston Iron Company was in production by 1821, and Holmes Hinckley (later
Boston Locomotive Works) had begun constructing stationary steam engines by 1826.
PAL Report No. 1396.01
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Chapter Three
Transp0l1ation advancements during the period aided in the development of Boston's economy by
linking it to surrounding towns and markets. Turnpikes were laid out as roads were developed at the
edges ofthe town. In Boston Proper, street improvements were made along the waterfront as new land
was created by filling tidal flats. In 1804, the Middlesex Canal was completed, cOlmecting the Charles
River, in Charlestown, to the Merrimack River, near Lowell. The Charles River Bridge, constructed in
1785-1786, was 1,503 feet in length and cOlmected Boston to the industrial town of Charlestown. In
1793, the West Boston Bridge connected across the Charles River to Cambridge, and made a straight
route from the town center to the center of Cambridge. This bridge was twice the length of the
Charlestown Bridge. Additional bridges comlected Boston to South Boston in 1805 (and pennitted the
annexation of Dorchester Neck), to East Cambridge across the Charles River Dam in 1809, to the Back
Bay across the Back Bay Mill Dam in 1821, to Charlestown in 1828, and to South Boston in 1828.
Transportation over these new roads and bridges at the beginning of the Federal Period was by suburban
stage, while hourly omnibus operation was established by the 1820s.
The growing economy of Boston meant more residents within its borders. In the first 35 years of the
Federal Period, from 1775-1810, the population of Boston doubled, from 16,000 to 32,896 persons.
The last 20 years of the period saw the population almost double again, reaching 61,392 by 1830. With
the growing population, the need for buildable land increased throughout the town. A dual solution was
found for tlus problem; leveling the town's hills. In 1799, the top 60 feet of Mount Vernon was removed
to create lots, and the ea11h removed was used to fill tidal marshes. In 1804, Beacon Hill was truncated,
with its removed fill going into North Cove. To supplement the flatten-and-fill philosophy, Boston
arulexed Dorchester Neck in 1805.
Residential construction during the Federal Period was conservative in style, with the Federal style
dominant. In the working-class neighborhoods of Boston, side-hall-plan, brick rowhol1ses were
constructed. These residences differed from the three-story, brick rowhouses ofthe middle class primarily
in their level of ornamentation. The modest houses of the working-class neighborhoods were simple,
with very little, if any, detail, while the rowhouses of the middle-class were more ornate, often with
sidelights and fanlights at the transom. In the Old South End, and at the crest of Beacon Hill, the
affluent neighborhoods that grew during the Colonial Period came of age in the Federal Period. High­
style Federal townhouses, both attached and freestanding, were constructed in these neighborhoods.
These two-and-three-story, brick residences had elliptical porticos, pilasters, and balustrades as their
ornament, which obviously set them apart from houses in the surrounding neighborhoods.
Conunercial and industrial construction during the period was executed primarily in the Federal style
as well, though the Greek Revival style began to emerge at the end of the period. Industrial buildings
erected during the period were concentrated along the waterfront, in sprawling wharf complexes.
Commercial buildings were more scattered, though a cluster of commercial activity was centered on
the Fanueil Hall area, at which Quincy Market was constructed between 1824 and 1826. The Exchange
Coffee House, constructed in 1808, was an extraordinary Federal style building, reaching seven stories
in height. As a result of Boston's growing importance in the country, a number of large buildings were
constructed for public use during the period. Influential architects began to playa role in the design of
the city during the period, pal1icularly in the design of public buildings. Charles Bullfinch designed the
new State House, constmcted in 1795, Holy Cross Cathedral (1800), Suffolk County Courthouse (1808),
26
PALReporINo./396.0/
Historic Context for Boston
and Massachusetts General Hospital (1818). Asher Benjamin, Peter Banner, and Alexander Parris also
designed influential buildings, primarily churches.
Early Industrial Period (1830-1870)
The Early Industrial Period in Boston was defined by the arrival of the railroad and the city's first wave
of immigration. The population of Boston rose from 60,000 in 1830 to more than 141,000 just 35 years
later, in 1865. The peak of this influx came between 1835 and 1855, during which time the number of
annual arrivals did not fall below 2,600 persons. Between 1845 and 1850, the average growth rate of
Boston Proper was 2,940 persons. The majority of these were Irish immigrants attempting to escape
the Irish potato famine of 1846. In 1850, more than half of the population of Boston was foreign born,
with 40 percent of the population of Irish descent. While the Irish made up by far the largest group
among the immigrants to Boston, other countries were also represented. Italian inunigrants had, by
1860, established a small settlement in the North End. By 1865, 70 percent of Boston's foreign-born
residents were of Irish descent, with an additional 12 percent Canadian, and 5-6 percent each from
England and Germany (MHC 1981 a: 15). This increase led to a period of great social change in Boston,
in addition to a construction boom that was unprecedented in the history of the city.
The arrival ofrailroads in Boston during the first pm1 ofthe Early Modern Period changed the industrial
landscape of the town and signaled the beginning of Boston's expansion into surrounding towns. In
1835, the Boston & Providence and Boston & Worcester railroads, two of the three original New
England lines, opened their full routes. Both lines had begun limited service the previous year after
being chartered in 1831. The lines crossed Back Bay and each other on elevated embankments and
trestles, with the Boston & Worcester crossing having a length of 170 feet (Karl' 1995:278-283). By
1839, three additional railroads had come into Boston, all by way of crossings on the Charles River.
The Boston & Lowell Railroad opened full service between the cities in 1835, while the Boston &
Maine opened a line as the Andover & Wilmington the following year. The Fitchburg Railroad opened
its first section of track, cOlmecting Charlestown and Somerville, in 1839. Additionally, the Old Colony
and New York Central Railroads reached Boston in 1845 and 1855 respectively (Karl' 1995; MHC
1981a:14).
Railroads influenced pedestrian transpol1ation throughout the city with the conversion of horse omnibus
routes to street railways in the 1850s. While these railways transported people from the center of the
city to the edges, and to and from neighboring towns, horse railroads continued to operate within
Boston proper.
During the Early Industrial Period, Boston's role in world trade diminished, as it was gradually taken
over by New York. As the economy of Boston moved away from trade as its primmy element,
manufacturing grew in importance. With the near-tripling of the population and the arrival of railroads
as a tranSpol1 mechanism, Boston was able to maintain its prominence in the country, though in a
slightly different role. Cheap labor and cheap transportation made manufacturing more profitable, and
during the period, Boston was awash in both.
Boston's leading manufacturing industry during the Early Industrial Period was the production ofready­
made clothing. Originally a system for manufacturing clothing for sailors and backwoodsmen, production
PAL Report No. 1396.01
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Chapter Three
for other segments of the population was essentially begun in Boston in the first years of the 1830s.
Starting with one producer, by 1837 there were 97 establishments in the trade, which employed 3,000
persons. With the introduction of the sewing machine to the process, and additional contracts provided
by the Civil War, the trade employed 20,634 persons by 1865 (MHC 1981 a: 16).
Second only to ready-made clothing in the hierarchy of Boston's industrial production was piano
manufacturing. Begun in the Federal Period as an outgrowth of local lumber milling industries, the
manufacture of pianos was substantially improved through innovations in the product. When cast iron
frames were patented in 1837, the popularity of the instrument rose, and Boston had 20 firms in the
"new" South End by 1855 (MHC 198Ia:18).
Also active in Boston since the Federal Period were confectionalY manufacturers. By 1832, six such
companies were located in Boston. Because of the invention of the lozenge cutter in the 1850s, this
number had grown to 23 in 1865 (MHC 1981 a: 19). Space issues limited heavy industry in Boston
during the period. Residences for the ever-expanding population of Boston rapidly took up much of the
city's vacant space, forcing heavy industry to the fringes of the city, and often times, into neighboring
towns. The Mill Dam area retained its industrial focus, with railroad equipment being manufactured at
the ironworks that developed in the Federal Period, a paint and dye factory, and rope and chain
manufacturers.
During the 1850s, Boston's seaborne trade was in the last stage of its success, as Clipper ships shuttled
people and supplies to the gold fields of the new West. East Indies trade was, at the same time, declining
as New York diverted much of Boston's shipping. The proliferation of railroads throughout the East
decreased the need for coastal trade, striking another blow to the city.
Boston's role in trade, still strong in the early years of the Early Industrial Period, held off competition
from other ports to retain some holdovers at the end of the period. Boston became a center for the wool
trade during the early parts of the period, with the establislmlent of offices for wool dealers and vast
warehouses for the product. By the 1890s, Boston's wool complexes in Boston Proper and South Boston
made it the leading wool market in the country. Additionally, Boston was the headquarters of the meat
packing industry in the country, with exports of beef and pork to southern and mid-Atlantic states. The
city also continued its trade with the West Indies in the early years of the period, imp0l1ing sugar,
molasses, and coffee in exchange for lumber. More than half of the nation's trade with the East Indies
and 3/4 ofall trade with Russia was still carried out via Boston in the 1830s and 1840s (MHC t 981 a: 16~
17).
The industrial concerns of Boston in this period did not make their presence felt in the construction of
new buildings in the city. With heavy industry pushed out of the city by the burgeoning residential
population, available buildings of previous periods were re-used, and small-scale industrial buildings
constructed. The exception to this pattern occurred at the city's wharves. The wharves, themselves,
and the warehouses and other maritime-related buildings nearby were constructed primarily at the
beginning of the period, before the establishment of successful railroads to the waterfront. Railroads
constructed a number of buildings fortheir own use during the period, including stations and maintenance
facilities. Many of the stations were in the ltaJianate style, although the Fitchburg Railroad had a
Gothic style station.
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PALReporlNo./396.0/
Historic Context for Boston
Commercial architecture in Boston in the period was centered at Haymarket Square, Kneeland Street,
and Park Square, where stores and hotels sought to cater to the railroad traveler. Brick continued to be
the dominant building material in the period, though trabeated granHe was often used as a less-expensive
alternative, and cast iron appeared in a number of examples. Stylistically, the commercial buildings of
the period tended to be in the Italianate or Second Empire style, though early-period Greek Revival
style buildings were also constructed. Many of the commercial buildings extant at the beginning of the
period were destroyed in the fire of 1872.
The influx of immigrants to Boston during the Early Industrial Period necessitated the construction of
a vast amount of housing. During the 1850s, a Illunber of residential areas, including the North End,
West End, and Fort Hill were turned into immigrant housing districts. The residents of Fort Hill,
displaced in the 1860s as the warehouse district expanded into the area, settled in South Boston, which
became an Irish enclave. Beacon Hill remained an afIluent neighborhood throughout the period, with
high-style Italianate and Second Empire designs, and t1u'ee- and four-story townhouses being constructed.
At the end of the period, as the eastern p0l1ions of the Back Bay were filled, it, too, became an area of
high-style townhouses. These were as tall as five stories, with design cues taken from the Renaissance
styles. More modest residences were found in the South End, where Greek Revival style houses continued
to be built into the 1850s, and later, three-and-four-story bowfront townhouses were erected. Though
some of these were detailed with high-style Italianate elements, the majority were simple, utilitarian
residences.
Of the public buildings in Boston constructed during the Early Industrial Period, ecclesiastical buildings
show the most varied styles. While Gothic Revival designs dominated ecclesiastical construction,
some elements of the Georgian style remained. For other civic buildings of the period, styles varied
widely. The Customs House was constructed in 1837 in the Greek Revival style, while the 1865
Boston City Hall was the earliest high-style Second Empire building in the United States. As it was in
residential and commercial buildings, the Italianate style was used in public buildings of the day as
well, including the Boston Atheneum, the first high-style Italianate building in Boston.
Late Industrial Period (1870-1915)
The most significant change in Boston during the Late Industrial Period was the addition of land to the
original area of Boston Proper, including its annexation ofsurrounding towns. The addition of Roxbury,
West Roxbury, Dorchester, Brighton, Hyde Park, and part of Brookline added significantly to the land
area of the city, to its population, and to its economy. The completion of the filling of Back Bay in the
late 1880s also added valuable land to the city. With the annexations and additions, the pressure of
population and industrial growth on Boston Proper was decreased, however, both increased citywide.
From its average of4,000 additional persons per year in the Early Industrial Period, the annual population
increase of 80Ston Proper fell to 1,300 persons during the Late Industrial Period. In total, the population
of 80S ton Proper grew from 138,781 to 196,300 persons over the 45 years of the Late Industrial Period,
however, the period was marked by cycles of increasing and decreasing population. Following on the
heels of the massive Irish immigration of the mid-nineteenth century, Italian and Jewish immigration
dominated the late nineteenth centUly. Like the potato famine in Ireland, the unification ofItaly and its
resulting famine, and religious persecution of the Jewish community in Europe brought immigrants to
PAL Report No. 1396.01
29
Chapter Three
America in staggering numbers. By 1895, Italians had become the majority group in the North End,
supplanting the Irish. Italians made up 27 percent of the neighborhood's population, with 23 percent
Irish, and 21 percent eastem European Jews. Irish and Jewish abandolUnent of the neighborhood for
other parts of the city had left the North End firmly in Italian hands by 1910.
By the Late Industrial Period, Boston was the center of the national wool market and of the shoe and
leather industry, and was the second largest port in the country as measured by volume of business. It
was the financial, industrial, and trade center of New England, and it was continuing to grow. A decline
in commerce after the close of the Civil War had been reversed by 1870, bringing Boston back to the
point it was at before the war. The 1872 construction of the Union Freight Railway linked the major
railroad terminals with waterfront facilities, greatly decreasing the cost and increasing the efficiency of
railroad transp0l1ation of material. On November 9, 1872, however, the city was dealt a devastating
blow when a 65-acre portion of the business district was destroyed by fire. The area burned included
the center of the wholesale trade in hides, wool, dry-goods, ready-made clothing, and of hardware. The
capital involved in the companies located in the burned area allowed it to be largely rebuilt one year
after the fire.
A decrease in commerce resulting from the Panic of 1872 was resolved by the beginning of the 1880s,
much to the relief of Boston's manufacturers and merchants. New rail connections, including the
Fitchburg Railroad's line through the Hoosac Tunnel, opened the markets of the Midwest and the west
coast to more efficient shipping to and from Boston. The shoe manufacture business grew throughout
the period, with 10 factories operating by 1891. Piano factories also continued to grow in the South
End, peaking around 1910 just as firms began to move out of Boston Proper, into the suburban towns.
The fonner site of the Hinckley Locomotive Works, then occupied by the Boston Elevated's Central
Station, was surrounded by piano and organ factories, and machine and woodworking shops. South of
Causeway Street, brass and ironworks, and chair and casket factories dominated the industrial area.
Factories and warehouses also remained along Commercial Street and near the Boston & Providence
Railroad's Gravelly Point yards.
The buildings constructed during the Late Industrial Period to house Boston's manufacturing companies
tended to be expansive brick structures. Massive brick warehouses five to eight stories in height were
built in the early years of the period to house the city's exports. Primarily utilitarian in design, many of
the buildings nonetheless exhibit neo-classical omamentation. Among the infrastructural architecture
constructed were a number of high-style power stations also in neo-c1assical and Beaux Arts styles.
The fire of 1872 provided architects of the commercial districts of Boston a virtual clean slate upon
which to construct impressive and practical buildings. Five-and-six-story, mansard roof buildings in
the Second Empire and Neo-Greco styles dominated the new construction. Boston architects pushed to
the limits ofbrick construction with these buildings soon began to take advantage ofsteel-frame buildings
to push even higher. By 1900, conunercial architecture in Boston had adopted the national trend of
design in the Beaux A11s and neo-c1assical styles, with simplified fomls predominating. In addition to
the new, tall, office buildings constructed in the commercial district, large department stores, theatres,
and railroad stations were executed in the same styles.
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Historic Context for Boston
Continued economic growth in Boston was a pa11 of the reason for the overall increase in the city's
population over the period. This expanding population fUl1her necessitated the growth of residential
neighborhoods, civic and other institutional construction, and transp0l1ation improvements during the
Late Industrial Period. The focus of residential growth in Boston Proper during the period was in
previously established neighborhoods. Gaps in housing stock were filled in as older buildings were
demolished and replaced with taller, or otherwise more-efficient, higher occupancy units. Tenement
neighborhoods developed in the North End, West End, and the backslope of Beacon Hill toward the
end of the period, in part as a reaction to the threats to safety and of poor sanitation in older housing
stock. The Colonial Revival style was dominant in these tenement districts, where five- and six-story,
brick rowhouses with little detail except for their cast concrete or pressed metal trim and cornices lined
the streets. Modest rowhouses in the Georgian and Colonial Revival styles were constructed in the
areas to the east and west of the Fenway during the latter part of the period. On Beacon Hill, affluent,
single-family residences remained the dominant form, with grand Colonial Revival style homes
constructed after the turn of the century to complement the older style examples in the neighborhood.
With its 450 acres completely filled during the late 1880s, the Back Bay continued to develop. The
Back Bay maintained its affluent status, though with high-style, four- and five-story townhouses, rather
than freestanding structures. Toward the end of the period, residential hotels and apartment blocks,
also meant for the affluent population, were constructed around Copley Square (Cassie and Amadon
1973:8:1-2).
Instihltional construction, including that undertaken by the city, blossomed during the Late Industrial
Period. The Boston Public Library, designed by McKim, Mead, and White, was completed at Copley
Square in 1895. In addition to the library, the Suffolk County Courthouse (1888), Museum of Fine Arts
(1876, 1909 addition), and Symphony Hall (1900), were examples of grand buildings constructed for
the citizens of the city. They also were examples of the multitude of architectural styles that were
fashionable in the period, including Beaux Arts, High Victorian Gothic, and neo-classicist styles. Smaller­
scale buildings, such as schools and fire and police stations, were also constructed tluoughout the city
in Beaux Arts, Victorian Gothic, Romanesque, and Renaissance styles. Churches also constructed
monumental buildings during the period. Trinity Church, designed by H.H. Richardson and completed
in 1877, is one of the best-known examples of the Romanesque Style in New England.
To move the population within the growing maze of buildings and to and from the suburban industrial
and residential areas, Boston continued to develop its transportation system. The Massachusetts Avenue
Bridge was constmcted in 1889 to carry traffic from the Back Bay across the Charles River to Cambridge,
providing a second route to the industrial area of the west bank of the Charles River. Horse railroads
transported people through the streets in the early part of the period, to be replaced by electric street
railways in the 1890s. One of the earliest electric trolley subways was constructed around the Common
in 1897, preceding a subway tluough the central district that was completed in 1908. Elevated railroads
were constructed, including one around central Boston and one to Roxbury, the latter completed in
190 I. An elevated trolley was constructed in 1910 across the Charles River Dam, from Boston to East
Cambridge.
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Modern Period (1915-Present)
Transportation improvements shaped much of Boston throughout the Modem Period. Building on the
landscape that was altered by the introduction ofparkways and highways, Boston utilized Urban Renewal
strategies to construct a modern commercial center and to modernize entire areas of its residential
construction.
TranspOliation routes in the city have continued to affect its growth. The most prominent roadway in
Boston, today's Central Artery, began as an idea in 1909, when a 100-foot-wide road was proposed
between North and South stations. Though never built, the idea resurfaced in 1930 as an elevated
roadway. This incarnation of the idea was delayed by political disagreement and World War rI. In
1948, the concept re-emerged as a formal plan by the Department of Public Works (later to become the
Massachusetts Highway Depaliment) to build an elevated roadway through downtown Boston and a
bypass road to the west. Construction on the elevated section of the road, known as the Central Aliery,
began in 1950 at the Mystic River (now Tobin) Bridge, in Charlestown, and worked south to the area of
the extant Boston Harbor Hotel. Disputes over the proposed route south of this point slowed the
process until it was decided that a tunnel would be built under Chinatown and the Leather District to
contain the south end of the artery. The first portion of the roadway opened in 1954, and the final
section, the Southeast Expressway to Braintree, opened July I, 1959. The bypass road to the west, to be
known as the Inner Belt, was never constructed, due in large part to the opposition raised by residents
ofthe proposed route. Their arguments that the Central Artery had displaced more than 20,000 residents,
necessitated the demolition of more than 1,000 buildings, divided neighborhoods with a massive steel
and concrete wall, and installed a visual blight on the landscape of the city, were undeniable (http://
www.bigdig.com/thtmllhistory.htm).
For all of the disruption that it caused, the Central Artery was initially a successful project. During its
first years, 75,000 automobiles traversed the road daily. By the turn ofthe twenty~first century, however,
traffic had increased to 190,000 vehicles per day. and stop~and-go traffic jams occupied the road up to
eight hours per day. The road simply could not handle the traffic that it was being called on to supp01i,
and a new route was already underway. Construction of the central Aliery/TUlmel Project, known
colloquially as "The Big Dig," began in 1992, and is expected to be complete in 2006. The new project
will remove the elevated Central Aliery and replace it with a system oftmmels under the extant roadway,
creating 27 acres of open space in downtown Boston while increasing the capacity of the route, reducing
congestion, and cutting pollution emissions in the city (Massachusetts Turnpike Authority 2004a).
To the west of the city, a second major transportation project that would affect Boston was under way in
the 1950s. The Massachusetts Turnpike (Interstate 90), which opened in 1957, extends 138 miles from
West Stockbridge, at the New York border, east to Interstate 95, where it becomes the Boston Extension,
which cOlmects to Route lA at Logan Airport, in East Boston. The turnpike and extension are part of
the larger Metropolitan Highway System, which also includes Boston's two harbor tunnels and the
Initial Leverett Circle Connector (Massachusetts Turnpike Authority 2004b).
The mmexation by Boston of the abutting towns of Dorchester and Roxbury in the early twentieth
century also played a part in the changing development of Boston. As Boston's borders expanded, its
downtovm followed suit. Commercial development expanded into neighborhoods once dominated by
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Historic Context for Boston
industrial and residential buildings as office buildings replaced houses or renovated factories. The
growth of downtown Boston has come primarily in the form of tall office buildings, many with glass
and steel exoskeletons. As a result ofthe transformation ofdowntown into the Central Business District,
large numbers of former residents of downtown Boston moved away from the downtown and took up
residence in nearby towns that were cOlmected by passenger rail or the new automobile highways.
Boston's reach far exceeds its political boundaries, with workers at the end of the twentieth century
traveling from as far as RJlode Island and New Hampshire on a daily basis to jobs within the city. The
transportation routes that were developed in the mid-twentieth century also allowed for commercial
development outside of the bounds of Boston. In the communitjes along routes 93 ,128, 95, and 495,
corporate parks developed in the last half of the twentieth century. Far enough from the center of
Boston to avoid some of the real estate costs of a Boston address, these parks are connected by easily
traveled highways to the economic and transportation center of New England (MDHCD 2001).
Allston
The neighborhood ofAllston, within the city of Boston, is located to the west of Boston Proper and the
Back Bay area. It contains an area bordered on the north and east by the Charles River, on the west by
the neighborhood ofBrighton, and on the south by the town of Brookline. The neighborhood is bifurcated
by the Massachusetts Turnpike, with the village center to the south, in the smaller of the two sections of
the neighborhood.
The land of present-day Allston was granted to Watertown in 1630, a year after it was first explored by
Europeans representing the Massachusetts Bay Company. Four years later, Allston, along with Brighton
and Newton, was transferred by the govemor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony from Watertown to
Cambridge. In 1635, Little Cambridge, as Allston was then known, was opened to settlement.
The development of Little Cambridge was slow in the years before the American Revolution. Roads
through the area, including the Roxbury Highway (Washington Street) in 1638 and smaller streets in
1656, began to be laid out soon after the land was opened for settlement. The first pennanent cOlU1ection
across the Charles River came with the construction of the Great Bridge, in 1662.
Prior to the American Revolution, Little Cambridge remained an agricultural community. Fewer than
300 people resided in the town, however, some of its residents were distinguished local figures who
owned large estates. The turning point in the development of Little Cambridge came during the
Revolutionary War. With the Continental Army headqual1ered in Harvard Square, in Cambridge, Little
Cambridge became a cattle market for the supply of the army. Following the war, the suppliers to the
army turned their cattle trade into a successful business. The Winship family, who had begun the
business for the army, ran the largest meatpacking firm in Massachusetts by 1790.
At the tllm of the nineteenth century, the Cambridge town govenunent refused to make repairs to the
Great Bridge, thus threatening the cattle markets ofLittle Cambridge. In 1807, therefore, Little Canlbridge
voted to secede from Cambridge, taking Brighton as the name for their new town. As a part of Brighton,
Allston was linked to KelUnore Square by the construction of the Mill Dam Road causeway in 1822. A
stagecoach carried passengers into Boston begilming in 1826, to be replaced in the mid-nineteenth
century by horse drawn omnibuses operating hourly runs into the city.
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Chapter Three
As a part of Brighton, Allston became part of a large h0i1icuiturai industry in the 1820s. The success of
the industry made it one of the most important horticultural and market gardening centers in the Boston
area. The cattle markets of Brighton and Allston continued to thrive, with elaborate stockyards
constructed 110i1h of Brighton, and hotels erected to provide lodging to those with business at the
stockyards. The cattle business was improved further with the opening of the Providence & Worcester
Railroad into Brighton in 1834. By mid-century, the number of slaughterhouses in Brighton was rising
steadily, with an estimated 50 to 60 in the town by the 1860s (Marchione n.d.).
The suburbanization ofAllston, and the rest of Brighton, began in 1858 when the Newton Street Railway
was constructed. The decline of agriculture in Brighton began in the 1860s, prompting the division of
fannsteads into residential building lots. Modest subdivisions were constructed around the Providence
& Worcester Railroad depot within the town. In 1870 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ordered
that all of the meatpacking and slaughterhouse activities within 6 miles ofthe capital be consolidated at
one facility, to be located in Brighton. The Brighton Abattoir was constructed in 1872, and opened in
1873, signaling the end of the private meat packing industry in Brighton, and the birth of what would
become the largest stockyard in the country. The abattoir was moved to North Brighton in 1872,
opening 60 acres of land in the central part of the town to residential development (MHC 1980f:5~7).
In 1873 the residents of the Town of Brighton, to improve public services, utilities, and the economy of
the town, voted to annex Brighton to Boston, an act that officially occurred in January 1874. With this,
the official suburbanization of Brighton occurred. The town of Brookline ceded a strip ofland between
Brighton and Boston to Boston in order to connect the capital to its newly acquired lands. The 1880
electrification of the street railways in the town, however, provided much ofthe impetus for large-scale
residential construction. Eight years later, the first trolley line in Boston ran from Allston Railroad
depot to Park Square. In the 50 years following the annexation of Brighton by Boston, from 1875 to
1925, the population of Brighton, including Allston, rose from 6,000 to 47,000 persons (Kennedy
1992:70; Marchione n.d.:l).
In 1892 the construction ofCol1U110nwealth Avenue, running from downtown Boston through Allston
to Brighton, commenced. The broad boulevard was based on plans drawn by the firm of Frederick Law
Olmsted, however, the full details of the plan would not be built. By 1895, the trolley line along
Commonwealth Avenue was the primary route to Alston and Brighton from Boston. The development
of the avenue was progressing rapidly by 1900, and included residential and commercial construction
(MHC 1980f:7).
The first four decades of the twentieth century in Allston were marked by institutional construction. No
fewer than six properties, including churches, a monastery (1908), a convent (1922), and a temple
(1932), were developed by a number of denominations during the period. A new courthouse (1927),
school (1930), and hospital (1947) were among the buildings constructed by the city, while Harvard
College constructed a stadium in 1897, and the Harvard Business School complex in 1927.
The years after World War II saw a great deal of change in Brighton and Allston. As the flight from the
urban core continued, suburbs such as Brighton and Allston experienced a great deal of population
pressure. New housing stock was constructed, including all types of housing, from single-family homes
to multi-unit housing projects. The construction of institutional buildings continued, with Boston
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PAL Report No. 1396.01
Historic Context for Boston
University encroaching from the east and Harvard University continuing to build in the northem part of
Allston. In 1964, the Massachusetts Turnpike segment from Allston to Weston was completed, forming
a physical barrier across the town from west to east.
At the end of the twentieth century, Allston continued to see a large percent of its land under institutional
use. The first of the bioteclmology firms to locate in Boston during the 1990s was Genzyme, which, in
1991, built a $75 million facility at Allston Landing, a large industrial park on the east side of Allston.
The development of Allston Landing, the expansion of the Harvard Business School and stadium
propelties, and the presence of the Massachusetts Turnpike have pushed most of the residential space
in Allston to the south. In 1990, the population of Brighton and Allston combined was more than
70,000, of which only 18,421 lived in Allston, and 8,665, many of whom are students, lived in non­
family households (Mello 2000: 1).
Charlestown
Charlestown is located on a peninsula in the northenmlOst part of Boston, where it extends from the
west shore into Boston Harbor. It is bounded on the n0l1h by the Mystic River, on the east by Boston
Harbor and the Charles River, on the south by the Charles River and Cambridge, and on the west by
Somerville. The original land area of the peninsula was approximately 425 acres, to which an additional
400 acres were added by 1910 through filling. The dominant topographic features of the peninsula are
two drumlins: Breeds Hill on the east end and Bunker Hill (elevation 113 feet) on the west. With the
exceptions of the two rivers that make up its borders, Charlestown has no other inland streams or
bodies of water (MHC 1980c: 1).
European settlement began in Charlestown with the establishment of a blacksmith shop by Thomas
Walford about 1625. Prior to his arrival, the land was settled by Native Americans who likely used it as
a seasonal location, though with dense populations gathering to access the plentiful fish and waterfowl
of the rivers. Trade with Europeans was conducted before the European settlement began, also drawing
Native Americans to the coast. In 1629 the area of Charlestown was acquired as the capital of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony, and Charlestown was established as an independent settlement. The
population of Charlestown spiked at this time, as Governor Winthrop arrived with 1,500 persons, the
majority of whom soon left to settle the Shawmut Peninsula, which would become Boston Proper
(MHC 1980c:I-3).
The development ofChariestowl1 in the seventeenth century was slow, though typical for the colonies.
Native American trails were improved to highway use by the middle of the century, and new roads had
begun to be developed by the late 1600s. The Great Ferry facilitated transp0l1ation to Boston with its
establishment in 1631. A second ferry operated between Charlestown and Malden beginning in 1640.
Settlement was concentrated within the town grid plan laid out by Thomas Graves under the
Massachusetts Bay Company. The civic center of the settlement was established at Town Square, with
the commercial focus at the area of Town Dock cove. Fortifications were made on Town Hill and at
Moulton, Point during the 1630s (MHC 1980c:2-3).
In 1633, the population of Charlestown was measured at 58 men, most of whom had families living
with them. Though data is not available for the remainder of the centtrry, it is estimated that the population
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Chapter Three
may have reached as high as 500 (MHC 1980:3). Farming and building were the primary concerns of
the populous of Charlestown during the first decades of the seventeenth century, though by the 1640s,
commerce had been firmly established in the town. Francis Willoughby constructed the first shipyard
in Charlestown in 1641, just as the seafaring pursuits of whaling, fishing, and trade-particularly the
West India trade-were becoming extremely important to the town.
Trade continued to expand into the eighteenth century, as local manufacturing grew to support both the
import and export facets of the expanding network. Factories processed foreign materials into rum,
loafsugar, candles, rope, tile, and anchors that could be used in the colonies. Many of the manufacturing
concerns were established near the docks to ease in the transport of raw materials and finished goods.
Exports sent to balance trade included furs, lumber, pipe staves, and building frames. With tlle success
of its shipping and its rapidly developing manufacturing economy, Charlestown became the leading
industrial port in the colony in the eighteenth century (MHC 1980c:4-5).
Due in part to the prosperous industrial and trade economies of Charlestown, the population began to
expand at a more rapid pace. By 1765, the combined population of Somerville and ChariestO\\'I1 reached
2,048 persons, of which, it is estimated that between 1,700 and 1,800 lived on the Charlestown peninsula.
The population had declined slightly hy 1775, to 2,000 persons (MHC 1980c:4).
The development ofCharlestO\\'I1 continued to spread during the eighteenth century. The concentrations
of commercial and civic buildings were maintained between Town Square and Ship Cove. An affluent
area grew up at Town Hill, with settlement also expanding west toward the neck and to Moultons Point.
Prior to and during theAmerican Revolution, British forces occupied Charlestown in attempts to control
the mouths of the Charles and Mystic rivers. In 1775, the British set fire to the town, destroying most
ofthe 380 to 400 buildings that existed on the peninsula at the time. While some buildings survived the
fire, many were later burned by American forces in 1776 as a defensive measure. Of the few that
survived the war years, no buildings are known to remain (MHC 1980c:5).
After the Revolution, transportation within the colony began to see significant improvements. The
reconstruction of Charlestown was enhanced by better transportation across the border rivers. The
Charles River was bridged in 1786, cOlmecting Charlestown to Boston at Washington Street, and replacing
the ferry that had previously made the crossing. In the next year, a connection was made to Malden by
replacing the ferry across the Mystic River with a bridge at Broadway. In 1785 Charlestown had a
population of 550 that grew, with the bridges, to more than 1,000 persons by 1790. The 1785 count of
buildings was 151, a number that increased with the growing population after the bridges were
constructed. Breeds Hill became an affiuent district in the post-fire reconstruction (MHC 1980c:6).
In the nineteenth century, the expansion of Charlestown continued, both in population and building
construction. The population increased to 5,000 persons and 670 buildings by 1814. By 1830, the
population of Charlestown and Somerville combined reached 8,783 persons, of which it is estimated
that 8,000 lived in Charlestown (MHC 1980:6). From 1830 through the end ofO,e century, the population
fluctuated as European immigrants came to the Boston area in tremendous nwnbers. In 1842, Somerville
and Charlestown became independent towns, with Charlestown maintaining the majority of the
population. Five years later, in 1847, Charlestown was incorporated as a city. By 1870, tlle population
of Charlestown had reached 28,323 persons. In 1865, 22 percent of the population of the town were
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PAL Report No. /396.01
Historic Context for Boston
Irish, a number that, by the tum of the twentieth century, had reached 90 percent. This influx ofresidents
led to a dramatic increase in the population density of the town. As a reaction to the growing population,
a multiple-family tenement district was constructed along Bunker Hill Avenue, and wooden row houses
began to be constructed in high-density areas. Breeds Hill continued to develop as an affluent
neighborhood throughout the nineteenth century, with modest residential construction spreading outward
from its base. Brick row houses were built in the affluent areas, with townhouses developing later in
the century. The center of Charlestown's civic construction remained at City Square (formerly Town
Square) throughout the century, while the commercial center moved from Ship Cove to Thompson
Square (MHC 1980c:l, 8-10).
The first half of the nineteenth century saw transp0l1ation as the catalyst to much of Charlestown's
development. The bridges of the late eighteenth century, in combination with the Chelsea 8ridge of
1803, the Prison Point Bridge to East Cambridge of1810, and the Warren Bridge of 1828, prompted the
construction of more turnpikes throughout Charlestown and beyond. The Middlesex Canal was
completed in 1803, and brought goods from Lowell to the wharves ofCharlestown. In the mid-nineteenth
century, railroads came to Charlestown. The wharves drew the Charlestown Branch Railroad, which
operated from 1839 to 1845 before becoming part of the Fitchburg Railroad (Karr 1995:201-202). The
Boston and Maine Railroad arrived in Charlestown in 1845 and the Eastern Railroad arrived in 1854.
Early omnibus service was established between 80ston and Charlestown by 1826, and by 1860, street
railways were operating between Boston and City Square and connecting to Sullivan Square. In 1873,
Charlestown was annexed by Boston, creating further transportation and development opportunities
for the community. By 1890, electric streetcars plied the streets of Charlestown and Boston and ran out
to surrounding towns (MHC 1980c:8-1 0).
The economic base that drove the increased immigration and construction of Charlestown in the
nineteenth century was the town's waterfront. The construction of the Charlestown Navy Yard begilUling
in 1800 brought a number of commercial concerns to the area, including several machine shops. Rail
lines rmilling from western cities to the wharves prompted the construction of warehouses and more
factories to finish raw materials for export. Lumber and ice were the chief exp0l1s in the mid-nineteenth
century, with Moroccan leather and furniture also high on the list. Other commercial ventures located
in the town in the nineteenth century included tailors, bakeries, curriers, a talmery, sugar refineries, and
makers ofpickles and preserves. With the completion of tile Hoosac Tunnel, in western Massachusetts,
the Fitchburg Railroad became the largest carrier of goods to and from the wharves of Charlestown.
Livestock, grain, and apples became the staples of tile wharves on the Charles River. On the north side
of the town, the docks of the Mystic River, after being transferred to the Boston and Maine Railroad in
1887, became the shipping point for Charlestown's lumber trade, and the receiving point for large
quantities ofcoal for use and distribution by the railroad. Heavy industry, including foundries, furniture
factories, and breweries, began to move away from the waterfront and to the west parts of town in the
late nineteenth century (MHC 1980c: 11).
Industrial architecture of the nineteenth century included large, corbelled brick factories of up to five
stories, and simpler, utilitarian warehouses that were constructed primarily near the waterfront.
Commercial buildings of nineteenth-century Charlestown were constructed to exude a sense of fashion
and wealth. The Second Empire and High Victorian Gothic styles were used in the Waverly House
Hotel (ca. 1875) and Charlestown Savings Bank (1875), respectively. Institutional buildings were
PAL Repo/'I No. 1396. OJ
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Chapter Three
constructed in several styles, including the Gothic Revival and Greek Revival styles in the first half of
the century and the Victorian Gothic, Stick, and Romanesque styles in the latter half (MHC 1980c:9­
12).
Residential architecture was the most varied of the classes of buildings, with a wide array offorms and
styles used throughout the nineteenth century. In the first decades of the century, modest side-hall row
houses were erected in the center of the city, giving it a more urban appearance. Toward the edges of
the city, however, wood-frame double houses were more commonly constructed. These were often in
a vernacular or the Greek Revival style. Greek Revival style single-family houses were also built,
though these were less common than the other fonns. In the mid-nineteenth century, rowhouses began
to assume the bow-front design that was often used in conjunction with the heavy ornament of the
Italianate style. By the latter decades of the century, row houses were being constructed in the Panel
Brick, Victorian Gothic, and Richardson Romanesque styles that were prevalent in industrial and
institutional architecture. Frame rowhouses in the Italianate style were also erected as single-family
units. Tenement houses of brick and with wood frames were the most common examples of tile Queen
Anne style, though apartment blocks were another common form for the style. Residential construction
during the nineteenth century began to consume almost every available parcel in Charlestown. By the
turn of the twentieth centUlY, the demolition of old buildings for replacement with new units was
conunon (MHC 1980c:9-12).
New construction in Charlestown was limited in the twentieth century as a result of the building boom
of the late nineteenth century. Residential building was limited to parcels that had been occupied by
earlier structures, and the conversion ofexisting buildings. The formerly affluent area around Monument
Square declined during the period, as its row houses were converted to tenements. New residential
construction continued to promote increased density, as three- and four-story apartment blocks in the
Colonial Revival and vernacular styles were the norm. Other building uses were also affected by the
lack of available building lots. Institutional construction was limited primarily to schools in the Beaux
A11S and Colonial Revival styles during the first two decades of the century. The next significant wave
of school construction would not appear until the 1960s and 1970s. Few conunercial structures were
built in the early decades of the century as well. A few Modeme style conunercial buildings were
constructed, but the style was more popular in renovations of storefronts on existing buildings. Only
two major industrial complexes were constructed during the early part of the century, the Tudor Revival
style Schram's confectionary plant, and the Moderne style Hood Milk complex (MHC 1980c:13).
As with most of the towns surrounding Boston, manufacturing and shipping in Charlestown declined
after the first decades of the twentielh century. Railroads began to decrease freight service in the
middle decades of the century, with passenger service subsequently utilizing some of the lines. The
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority maintains lise of some of the street trolley lines of
Charlestown as electric streetcar lines to the present. The first half of the century saw ever-increasing
growth of the Charlestown Navy Yard, however, with the end of World War II, that activity, too, began
to decline. In 1974. the yard was closed, after 174 years in service. In 1975, 30 acres of the yard
became a part ofthe Boston National Historical Park, which operates as the home ofthe USS Constitution.
The early twentieth century was a time of declining population for Charlestown. The only growth years
were 1920 to 1925, with decreases of 5,400 persons between 1915 and 1920, and 6,300 between 1925
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Historic Context for Boston
and 1930. By 1935, the population of Charlestown had fallen to 29,610, close to the number of persons
who lived in the town when it was almexed by Boston in 1873. In 1990, the United States Census
recorded just 14,775 persons living in 6,834 households in Charlestown
Charlestown has truly become a neighborhood of Boston over the last half of the twentieth century.
This is at least partially a result of the construction of the Central Artery from Boston nQl1h through
Charlestown in the 1950s. The first part of the artelY to be constructed began at the Mystic River (now
Tobin) Bridge, in the nOl1heast corner of Charlestown, and worked its way south into downtown Boston.
This portion of the highway has been reconstructed as a part of the Central ArterylTUlmel ("Big Dig")
project, and includes a new bridge to replace the Tobin Bridge and tunnels under the existing highway.
Though it maintains its historic character and its residents maintain a neighborhood pride, the self­
sufficient nature of Charlestown of the early nineteenth century has been lost in the modern dependency
on Boston for services and jobs.
Dorchester
The neighborhood of Dorchester is located to the south of Boston Proper, south of Roxbury and with
Dorchester Bay to its east. Originally settled as an independent town, Dorchester was annexed in
sections by Boston during the nineteenth century, with the final almexation in 1870. Its 9.7 square
miles of area rise gradually from the east coastal flats to heights of between 50 and 100 feet near
Dorchester Center. The highest elevation in the neighborhood is Wellington Hill (approximately 170
feet) one of approximately 15 drumlins that rise above the generally flat plain. The Neponset River,
which forms the southern boundary of Dorchester, is the drainage basin for the area.
The town of Dorchester was established by the Massachusetts Bay Company in 1630, the same year
that Boston was established. Throughout the seventeenth century, its borders were established and
altered in agreements with Roxbury, Dedham, and Milton. The villages of Hyde Park and Mattapan
were contained within Dorchester at the time of the founding of the town.
Prior to European settlement of the Dorchester area, the region was occupied by Native Americans of
the Massachusett tribe. Part of Dorchester served as an imp0l1ant link in transp0l1ation between the
Shawmut Peninsula and the Neponset River. The area was also the southern terminus of the seasonal
movements of the Massachusetts and was likely densely populated for, at minimum, a portion of the
year. Productive agriculhlral land in the area, seasonal fish nms in the Neponset River, and shellfish
and other marine resources in the Neponset estuary provided a dependable, if seasonal, food source for
the tribe. In addition, the area was known as an established meeting place for European and Native
American traders. Evidence of this was unem1hed when, in the mid-1630s, European settlers digging
foundations found late-sixteenth-century French coins (MHC 1980b:3-4).
An English presence in the Dorchester area was first known in the 1620s, when individual fur traders
occupied the area sporadically. The first European settlers to the area followed in 1630 and established
a community at Savin Hill. The 140 persons were emigrants from England's Devon, Dorset, and
Somerset counties, arriving as passengers aboard the ship Mwy and John. By 1654, there were 140
dwelling houses in the community, and by 1663, more than 200 had been constructed (MHC 1980b:5).
PAL Report No. 1396.01
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Chapter Three
The site of Savin Hill was chosen for the settlement at least partially because it allowed easy access to
abundant pasturelands on Boston Neck. Residents of Dorchester are said to be the first to take advantage
of the Dorchester Bay as a fishing ground, due in pal1 to the lack of an alewife run nearby. A gristmill
was established about 1634 in the southern part of the town, at Lower Falls, on the Neponset River. A
second mill, operated by tidal action, was established at Commercial Point during the 1640s. The early
settlers improved the native trails in the seventeenth century, with meetinghouse center (modem Edward
Everett Square) as the terminus of many of the regional highways. Residences in the seventeenth
century were constructed mainly atop Savin Hill, with small buildings constructed using traditional
English designs (MHC 1980b:5-6).
Eighteenth-century transportation routes were largely based on existing seventeenth-century roadways.
Improvements were made to these and new local roads were laid out as settlements expanded. The
relocation of the town meetinghouse from Allens Plain to Meeting House Hill in 1679 had begun the
shift of the town center to the latter location. By the late eighteenth century, Meeting House Hill had
become the hub of many of the town's roadways. Access to Milton was improved with the construction
of a bridge across the Neponset River at Mattapan in 1733 (MHC 1980b:6).
The begiIUlings of industrial development at both Hyde Park and Lower Mills were the cause ofpopulation
growth in the two neighborhoods. At Hyde Park, the Clark Paper Mill was established in 1733, while
the chocolate industry reached across the Neponset from Milton, with a mill established at Lower Falls
in 1770. In Mattapan, the first mill at the Upper Falls had been established in 1709, while at Commercial
Point and Port Norfolk, on the shores of Dorchester Bay, the shipbuilding trade was active throughout
the eighteenth century. Elsewhere in Dorchester, agriculture was the primary focus, with fishing at
Dorchester Bay continuing to provide a supplemental resource (MHC 1980b:6).
The population of Dorchester continued to grow throughout the eighteenth century, though slowly. The
1765 population of approximately 1,360 persons in 204 houses grew to 1,722 persons by 1790.
Population grO\vlh continued to be focused at Meeting House Hill, though with growth also occurring
at the Hyde Park and Lower Mills areas. Dorchester's eighteenth-century, residential building stock
consisted primarily of modest, vernacular houses. While enlargements to existing houses were the
norm, new houses were also constructed to house the growing population of the town. Among these,
one- and two~stOlY, center chimney houses were the most common, with a few gambrel roof houses and
exceedingly rare, hip roof, Georgian style houses (MHC 1980b:6-7).
Dorchester's relatively small eighteenth-century population blossomed during the nineteenth century.
The growth was sparked in pan by industrialization and progress in transp0l1ation. The end of the
eighteenth century and the first 30 years of the nineteenth centUly in Dorchester were characterized by
slight population growth. Between 1790 and 1830, the population grew from 1,722 to 4,074 persons.
Industrialization was one ofthe reasons for the growth that did occur, though it, too, proceeded relatively
slowly. The industrial facilities of the early nineteenth century included a saltworks founded in 1802, a
mill for carding and spinning cotton begun in 1811, a paper manufacturing facility, and a tinware
factory constructed in 1818. The production of playing cards, said to have begun in 1771 in Dorchester,
was also greatly expanded during the period. Transportation in the first part of the centUly was centered
on the construction of turnpikes and the improvement of roads, including the northlsouth axis through
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PAL Report No. 1396.01
Historic Context for Boston
the town from Boston to the Neponset River. Omnibus routes coursed through the city, cOlUlecting
Boston with Meeting House Hill (MHC 1980b:7-8).
In the middle of the century, the emergence of railroads helped to improve transp0l1ation and increase
industry throughout Dorchester. Horse omnibuses gave way to horse railroads throughout the town,
with lines to Quincy and Meeting House Hill. The Old Colony Railroad plied the shore of Dorchester
Bay by 1844, and had a branch reaching out of the town, through Mattapan and to Milton, by 1847.
With the Granite Avenue Bridge, constructed in 1837, the line reached the Quincy granite quarries. The
larger New York and New England Railroad passed through Hyde Park by 1855, and included not only
freight lines, but also local commuter depots, along its route. The Boston and Providence Railroad and
the New York and New England used a depot constructed at Readville, increasing the importance of
that neighborhood to the tOW11. The introduction of this new mode of travel and the harnessing ofsteam
power helped to diversify Dorchester's industrial base in the mid-nineteenth century. In addition to the
industries that continued from the eighteenth centuty, concerns in 1844 included the manufactures of
starch, cordage, cotton and woolen textiles, confectionary goods, chronometers, and chemicals. In
1837, eleven tamleries led Dorchester's industrial production, while by 1855, fourteen firms were said
to be engaged in the manufacture of furniture. Nine tinware shops operated simultaneously during the
period, as did three paper factories and three confectioners. In the Hyde Park neighborhood, the woolen
industry and Readville car shops of the Boston and Providence Railroad were largely responsible for
allowing the creation of the town of Hyde Park in 1868. While this industrialization helped to increase
the population of Dorchester, the majority of the town remained agricultural in nature, and population
continued to grow slowly. By 1870, the population reached 16,397, a marked increase, but still lagging
behind many of its neighboring towns (MHC 1980b:9-10).
The increased population was at least part of the reason that Dorchester was alUlexed to Boston. In
truth, Boston had been nibbling away at Dorchester since the turn of the century. In 1804, Boston
appropriated all of Dorchester's water frontage on the inner harbor, including Dorchester Heights.
Washington Village was the next portion of the town to be lost, about 50 years later. Finally, on June
22, 1869, Dorchester's residents voted, by a 56 to 44 percent margin, to be amlexed to Boston. In the
city, the vote was not nearly as close: 86 percent of the voters voted in favor of accepting the remaining
portion of Dorchester into the city (Stevens 2000).
The last third, and particularly the last decade, of the nineteenth centmy saw Dorchester's largest
population growth. Much of this is tied to the expansion and improvement of the network of streetcars
connecting Dorchester to Boston. Between 1870 and 1890, growth was higher than in previous periods,
but fluctuated, maintaining an average of approximately 800 persons per year, or 16,000 total. The rate
jumped to an average of 2,400 persons per year after the electrification of the streetcar lines in the
1890s, with the average between 1895 and 1900 reaching 6,300 persons per year. This massive growth
tied to the streetcar lines represented a different type of growth for Dorchester. Industry no longer
drove the population increase, but rather, was pushed aside by it. Much of the land in Dorchester was
developed as residential areas, leaving the industrial focus to develop along the railroad lines of the
town. Small numbers of companies did locate along the railroad lines, including machine, refrigerator,
and lithographic shops (MHC 1980b: 12).
PAL Report No. 1396.01
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Chapter Three
The population increases in Dorchester, and its growing importance throughout the nineteenth century­
first as an industrial town, then as a streetcar suburb--manifested itselfas in the architectural development
ofthe town. Both in number and style, Dorchester's architecture became more prominent as the century
passed.
By the turn of the nineteenth century, Federal style houses were becoming common in Dorchester.
Though these, too, were primarily modest residences, brick became more common as a construction
material, leading to increased longevity of the structures. The cottage fonn remained widely used in
the Federal style, with twin rear wall chimney houses also common. Hip roof, end-chimney houses
were also constructed, though these are more rare. By the mid-eighteenth century, the Greek Revival
style was being used for the construction of suburban cottages and homes, fam1houses, and village
homes. As the Greek Revival style faded from favor, the Italianate style became the dominant style of
construction in Dorchester. The majority ofthe Italianate houses were modest, single-family residences,
while some larger, more elaborate houses in the style were constructed in affluent neighborhoods.
Double houses in both the Greek Revival and Italianate styles preceded tlu'ee story, Italianate-style,
brick rowhouses that were built beginning in the 1860s. The Queen Anne and the Stick styles became
fashionable for house construction in the 1860s as well, though primarily for larger, single-family
homes. In the 1880s, while the Queen Anne style continued to be popular, the Shingle and Colonial
Revival styles gained favor for houses from modest to monumental. With the introduction of electrified
streetcar service, a large-scale shift in the construction of housing stock in Dorchester occun-ed, with
the three-decker form becoming the most commonly constructed of the late- nineteenth century. Three­
deckers were constructed with vernacular and architect-designed forms in the Queen AtUle, Italianate,
and Shingle styles, and with flat, hip, or gable roofs. The buildings contrasted greatly with the two­
story apartment buildings and four~ and five-story, brick apartment blocks that were being constructed
in the same neighborhoods (MHC 1980b:8-13).
The only institutional building known to have been constructed during the first half of the nineteenth
century in Dorchester is the Lyceum Hall, a porticoed, Greek Revival building constructed about l840.
Institutional buildings that were constructed in the second half of the century included a number of
churches and schools. Churches in the Victorian Gothic and Romanesque styles were constructed in
stone and brick, after designs by noted architects. Several Shingle style and one outstanding Arts and
Crafts style churches were also constructed in Dorchester during the latter decades of the nineteenth
century. One, or possibly more, High Victorian Gothic style schools were constructed during the period,
while several others were designed in the Renaissance and Romanesque styles at the tum ofthe twentieth
century (MHC 1980b: 11).
Nineteenth-century commercial construction in Dorchester was focused at major village centers,
including Upham's Corner and Hyde Park. Four- and five-story buildings were built in the Romanesque
Revival and Panel Brick styles at Upham's Comer, while QueenAtUle and Colonial Revival styles were
used elsewhere. The industrial buildings of nineteenth-century Dorchester included several massive,
five- and six-story, corbelled brick factories located at Lower Mills, many of which were constructed in
the Romanesque Revival and the Second Empire styles (MHC 1980b:14).
In its role as a neighborhood of Boston, Dorchester's growth during the twentieth century has been
limited. The first half of the century saw the continued expansion of residential areas as agricultural
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PAL Report No. 1396.01
Historic Context for Boston
land in the town was sold off and subdivided. The population of Dorchester continued to rise, averaging
between 2,000 and 4,000 persons per year, and reaching 197,257 in 1935. This growth was limited as
the century progressed, however, by the lack of available space for subdivision and by rising urban
density (MHC 1980b: 15).
Transportation improvements continued throughout the twentieth century with the increased service of
streetcars in the first half of the century and of subways and buses in the second half. Automobile
routes were expanded and improved as areas were developed, resulting in a complex, organic street
pattern. Major roadway arteries were constructed as routes to downtown Boston and the surrounding
conmlUnities, including the construction of bridges over the Neponset River. In the 1930s, parkways
were created throughout the town by the Metropolitan District Commission, including Morrissey
Boulevard along Dorchester Bay, and the Tm11e Pond and Neponset parkways (MHC 1980b: 14-15).
The continued focus on residential development in Dorchester throughout the twentieth century acted
against the expansion of industrial concerns. Relatively few new industries developed during the period,
with some of these occupying the sites ofolder industries that had relocated or simply ceased operation.
Among industries active in the period were a small yacht manufacturing facility, and machine, boiler,
rubber product, insulated wire, glue, awning, piano, refrigerator, and can production facilities (MHC
1980b: 15).
In the second half of the twentieth century, Dorchester suffered, as did many northern communities. As
in Roxbury, a large number of African Americans from the southern United States migrated to the
community, only to be faced with decreasing opportunities for economic gain as industries left Boston
for other regions of the country and world. Dorchester's properties suffered as a result of a lack of
capital, making them prime targets for the Urban Renewal movement of the late 1960s and 1970s.
While some rehabilitation associated with tlus movement was successful in the short term, it was,
overall, not a long-tenn solution to many of the problems faced by the community. In the 1990s,
however, Boston and the surrounding towns regained their viability as technology, higher education,
and financial fields provided a boost for the economy of the city. Neighborhood revitalization efforts
have seen a resurgence in interest over the past decade, as grassroots organizations have been established
in many communities, including Dorchester, in an eff0l1 to recapture the viability and sense of pride in
the community that had fonnerly existed.
East Boston
The community of East Boston is made up of five former islands located at the confluence of the
Mystic and the Charles rivers. Noddles Island, the primary island of the settlement, is one-third of a
mile due nOl1heast of Boston Proper, and consisted of 666 acres of upland and marsh at the time of its
settlement, with three large hills. Beginning in the early nineteenth century, the tidal flat surrounding
the five islands was filled with material excavated from the three hills (Camp, Smith, and Eagle) on the
island. The fill process, which continued into the twentieth century, added a land mass of more than
2,000 acres to the 666 of Noddles Island and 785 of Hog (Breed's) Island, and enveloped Governor's,
Apple, and Bird islands (MHC 1980a: I).
PAL Report No. 1396.01
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Chapter Three
Prior to European occupation of the area, it is likely that Noddles Island was used seasonally by Native
American populations. Useful as an access point for marine resources in the Boston Harbor, the island
had few other resources to offer. The island was first claimed in 1628, and is believed to have been
settled for the first time in 1630, by Samuel Maverick. Maverick constructed a fortified house and a
trading station on the island, where he lived with his family and possibly one other family. Boston
residents used Hog Island as a grazing pasture during the seventeenth century and into the eighteenth.
During the eighteenth century, Noddles Island continued largely as farmland. No more than one or two
families had settled on the island by the days of the American Revolution. A highway connected the
homes of the families with Hog Island, and a bridge and ford across Chelsea Creek allowed access to
Chelsea. A tide mill was constructed on back cove, though the focus of the conununity was at a wharf
between Camp and Smith hills. Two mansion houses and a few small tenant cottages existed on Smith
and Eagle hills at the time of the drawing ofa map of the island in 1775. Later that year,just before the
Battle of Bunker Hill, all of these buildings were bumed by the Colonial Anny to prevent their use by
the British forces. In conjunction with this effort, fortified earthworks were constructed at Camp Hill
in 1776. As compensation for the destruction of the building stock of the island, the American Army
moved its barracks to Noddles Island in 1775, where it remained as the only dwelling until 1833.
After the war, the island retumed to its role as the grazing land for Boston. Salt hay was harvested from
marshes on Hog Island, and milk was sent to the North End of Boston. By 1790, tenants of the farms
were even supplying livestock (including cattle, geese, turkeys, ducks, and fowl) to outgoing ships.
The nineteenth century began as the eighteenth had left off. Only one or two families lived on the
islands, with a population of 18 in 1810, and 24 by 1825. Transportation routes remained from the
eighteenth century, and toward the begilming of the 1830s, houses began to be built. During the War of
1812, Fort Strong was constructed at the east end of Camp Hill, on the site ofthe fortifications from the
RevolutionalY War.
The development of East Boston began in 1833, with the founding of the East Boston Company. The
company created a subdivision plan for the area, consisting primarily of a residential grid street plan.
The cutting down ofSmith and Camp hills began in 1833 to provide material for the filling of tidal flats
(15 years before filling began in Boston Proper). A steam ferry was established between Boston and
East Boston, a bridge was erected across Chelsea Creek (1834), and a steam monorail was constructed
in 1834, all with the goal of making East Boston seem less remote (MHC 1980a:5).
The population of East Boston finally began to rise in the middle of the nineteenth century. From 25 in
1830, the 1835 population reached 607, and by 1840, East Boston was the home of 1,455 persons.
During the 1850s, the population skyrocketed: between 1850 and 1855, 6,000 new residents moved to
East Boston. Street railways were constructed by 1860 to serve the growing community. During the
1850s and t 860s, a large number of Irish immigrants came to the community, bringing the population
to 23,816 persons by 1870. In the last decades of the century, however, Italian inunigrants began to
come to East Boston in large numbers, gradually outnumbering the Irish population (Boston Landmarks
Commission 1990:3; MHC 1980a:5-8).
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Historic Context for Boston
Residential construction consisted of a wide variety of building types throughout the original platted
area. Irish workers' shanties were among the first buildings constructed in the new community, with
modest, side-hall-plan, Greek Revival style houses among the first to be built in large numbers. In the
1850s, three-stOlY, brick, bowfront rowhouses began to be constructed to house the growing population.
Double houses in the Italianate style were constructed after the wane of the Greek Revival style, as
were some three-story, wooden, Italianate rowhouses and fewer, single-family, Italianate villas. Similarly,
Second Empire, Queen Alme, and Stick style houses in two-family, two-decker, tlu'ee-decker, and
rowhouse forms were constructed in the latter years of the nineteenth century, with few single-family
residences erected (MHC 1980a:7-1 0).
Institutional construction also commenced with the establishment of the East Boston Company. The
civic focus of East Boston was at the ferry wharf at Maverick Square, near the center of the conununity.
By 1854, 22 schools had been constructed in East Boston. Five churches were constructed in the
period, including one in the Gothic Revival style, the Church of the Holy Redeemer, constructed in
1858. During the last three decades of the century, a few more schools, most in the Romanesque
Revival style, were constructed, in addition to several wooden churches in the Queen Anne and High
Victorian Gothic styles (MHC 1980a:7-1O).
Railroads also reached East Boston during the mid-nineteenth century, first with the Eastern Railroad,
from Salem, in 1838. A connection was later made from this line, across the Chelsea Creek to Chelsea,
in 1854. With this improved freight connection to the mainland, East Boston's industrial plan could be
more fully realized. In the second half of the century, heavy industry and railroad-related industries
began to fill the void that the declining shipbuilding trades had opened. The East Boston plan allotted
land along the waterfront for industrial development, though land along the Eastern Railroad corridor
was also open to development as a result of the presence of the railroad. In 1834, the first industrial
facility to take advantage of the plan, the East Boston Sugar Refinery, was constructed. Most of the
ensuing industrial development was located along the Chelsea Creek waterfront, while the shoreline
that faced toward Boston and Charlestown was dominated by docks and shipyards. Shipbuilding had
begun to develop in the 1830s in East Boston, and with the discovery of gold in California, the industry
reached its climax. Machine and boiler works were also developing in East Boston during the mid­
nineteenth century, with three companies incorporated in the early 1850s. While some of their buildings
were constructed according to stylistic conventions, they were primarily utilitarian in nature, and include
a number of four- and five-story brick factories along the wharves. Conunercial struchlres in East
Boston were constructed primarily at Central Square, with smaller structures in the neighborhoods.
Two grand hotels were constructed in the first years of the neighborhood's existence, Greek Revival
style conunercial blocks were also constructed, followed by Queen Anne and Romanesque blocks. In
the neighborhoods, many of the commercial buildings took the form of corner stores, with residential
space on one floor above (MHC 1980a:8-10).
The late nineteenth century saw a great deal oftransp0l1ation improvements in East Boston. The tyrm
and Revere Railroad line across the tide flats from Camp Hill to Orient Heights (Hog Island) was
complete by 1888 with a tunnel under Camp Hill. Streetcar routes from earlier in the century were
extended to Orient Heights, Revere, and Winthrop by 1875. Local streetcars also ran to Boston after
1901 through the East Boston subway tmmel, allegedly the first underwater tmmel in the United States.
PAL Report No. 1396.01
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Chapter Three
Ferries still plied the waters above, however, with a second and third line rUlming late in the century
(MHC 1980.:8).
The continued growth of East Boston carried over from the nineteenth century into the twentieth. The
population increase was led by immigration of Italian, Russian and Eastern European peoples, who
drove the total population of the conununity to 62,377 by 1915. The peak population of the community
was reached in 1925, when 64,069 residents were counted. Until 1935, the population remained over
60,000 persons. The increase came partially in the form of immigrant laborers from Russia and Eastern
Europe, who replaced skilled craftsmen who left the area as the shipbuilding trade declined. Both the
Italian and Jewish populations also increased in the early years of the twentieth century, with the Jewish
conuTIunity said to be New England's largest by 1905. Italians continued to be the majority etlmic
group in East Boston, though now they were counted as both first and second-generation residents
(MHC 1980.:8-11).
The rising population caused an increase in urban density in the community, with the only undeveloped
areas of East Boston left after 1915 at Orient Heights and some neighborhoods along Bennington
Street. By the mid-twentieth century, the full development potential of the original East Boston plan
had been reached. Camp and Eagle hills continued as affluent residential neighborhoods, with Orient
Heights gaining status in the mid-twentieth century as elaborate single-family houses were constructed.
Multiple-family districts in the flatlands below Orient Heights continued to be filled with three-deckers.
Georgian Revival style brick apartment blocks were constructed early in the century, with Craftsman
and Colonial Revival style two-family houses after 1915.
The expansion of railroads into East Boston continued during the first half of the twentieth century.
Narrow gauge tracks were replaced with electric trolley tracks by the 1920s, and the East Boston Subway
Tunnel was constructed in 1901 for streetcars, enhancing the ability to travel from East Boston to
Boston Proper more rapidly. Transportation outside of East Boston was increased with the continued
improvements to automobile highways radiating out of town, and to the Revere Beach Parkway, north
of tile conuTIunity. In 1923, the General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport was established
on filled mud flats between Noodle's and Governor's islands. Its first passenger flight was in 1929. In
1934, the SmTIner Tunnel, the first automobile crossing of Boston Harbor, was completed between East
Boston and Boston Proper. This was followed by the Callahan Tunnel in 1961 (Boston Landmarks
Commission n.d.; MHC 1980.: 11).
Industry in East Boston continued to grow through the first half of the twentieth century, but fell off
after the end of World War II. The Maverick Cotton Mills opened in 1910, followed by the General
Electric Lamp Works, constructed between 1913 and 1918. Hoist equipment, shoes, and candy were
also manufactured in the community. The commercial focus of the conuTIunity remained at Maverick
and Central Squares throughout the century. Gas stations, movie theaters, and other commercial structures
were erected to provide for the growing, mobile population. In the latter years of the century, strip-type
development occurred in small segments along the McClellan Highway (MHC 1980a: 11-12).
The late twentieth century saw the destruction of some of East Boston's original building stock for the
promise of the Urban Renewal movement. East Boston became a mix of old and new buildings during
this period. The etlmic diversity of the population continued to expand, with immigrants from South
46
PAL Repor/No. 1396.01
Historic Context for Boston
and Central America, and Southeast Asia added to the primarily European immigrant population.
Neighborhoods in East Boston retain their strong sense of community through the continuation of
neighborhood commercial interests and continue to build the conununity of East Boston as a whole
through community organizations that are dedicated to improving the quality of life in East Boston.
Fenway
The Fenway neighborhood is located in the northwest part of 80Ston, between Brookline and the Back
Bay neighborhood. The topography of the area is flat, with the Muddy River running through it over a
meandering course from the southwest comer to the northeast quadrant. As a result of the presence of
the river and flat surroundings, the area was largely covered with marshes prior to 1850. In 1851, a
project began to fill the Back Bay area, including land around the Muddy River. A large portion of the
Fenway area was thus created in the second half of the nineteenth century through filling (Krieger et al.
1999:128; Pollan etal. 1984:1).
In 1875 a park conunission was created by the city govenmlent as an offshoot of the Back Bay filling
project. Its sole purpose was to solicit and approve a plan to re-engineer the course of the Muddy River
to fill land and reduce the amount of urban industrial and residential effluent from Boston, Brookline,
Roxbury, and Dorchester that collected in its marshes. in 1878, the commission asked Frederick Law
Olmsted, already at work on the Franklin Park project, to review others' plans that had been submitted
for the Muddy River area. Olmsted rejected all of the proposals and developed his own plan for the
area. This was the plan that would be under construction as part of the Back Bay project throughout the
second half of the nineteenth century (Krieger et al. 1999: 128; Pollan et 81. 1984: I).
The name initially given to the new park surrounding the Muddy River was Back Bay Park. Olmstead
had given the area the moniker Back Bay Fens, and the road that was built alongside the park the
Fenway. In the end, Olmstead's names were used. By the 1870s, the Fens area was already garnering
attention from land speculators. Many business owners and residential developers who lost property in
the fire that burned downtown Boston in 1872 became interested in the new lands around the Back Bay
Fens. When the city auctioned the new lands, developers of apartments and hotels were some of the
earliest purchasers.
By 1881, the Back Bay project was virtually finished, and only work arowld the Muddy River, proceeding
according to Olmsted's plans, was incomplete. The course of the river had been drastically altered,
with some of the marshes and redundant chamlels already filled in, and the Fenway, designed as an
elevated road along the eastern edge of the Fens, was complete. By 1885, in addition to re-routing the
river, its banks had been landscaped to a more natural appearance, tidal gates had been constructed on
the river, and a sewage interceptor had been installed to catch runoff (Krieger et al. 1999: 128; Pollan et
al. 1984: I).
The Back Bay Fens, in its completed form, is a pal1 of the Emerald Necklace, a series of parks designed
by Frederick Law Olmsted as a way of countering the urbanization ofdowntown Boston. The Necklace
began at the Charles River, then continued into the Fens via the marshes of Back Bay, then along the
Muddy River toward South Boston via Olmsted, Ward, and Jamaica ponds, the Arnold Arboretum, and
Franklin Park (Krieger et al. 1999:212).
PAL Report No. 1396.01
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Chapter Three
With the completion of the Fens and the extension of streets into the area by the mid 1880s, residential
development began. Horsecar railroad lines were operating in the area before 1890, connecting the
Fens with downtown Boston, Brookline, and later Cambridge. In 1887, the West End Street Railway
Company assumed control of these lines, and by 1889, it began operating the first electric streetcar line
between Boston and Brookline via the Fens neighborhood (Jenkins 1984). These lines helped to foster
the development of the Fens area as well. Development in Audubon Circle, almexed by Boston from
Brookline in 1870, began about 1888 with apartment blocks (Pollan et al. 1984:4).
As the Back Bay area developed to the north and east of the Fens with block after block of beautiful,
stylish houses, south of the Fens, the South end faltered. Losing its status as the fashionable housing
area, the South End became an area of tenements and boardinghouses. Between the two residential
areas, the Fens developed in an entirely different manner.
The desire for new, unbuilt land in large urban parcels brought cultural institutions to the area in larger
numbers than residential developers anticipated. Alongside the apartment blocks and townhouses,
grand, public buildings were constructed. By the first years of the twentieth century, these institutions
included the Massachusetts Historical Society (1897-1899), the Massachusetts Horticultural Society
(1901), Symphony Hall (1899-1900), the New England Conservatory of Music (1902), the YMCA, the
Museum of Fine Arts (1907-1908), and the Opera House (1909, demolished 1958) (Krieger et aJ.
1999: 10). Learning institutions also took advantage of the space available in the Fens to build their
campuses. The Harvard Medical School built its campus in 1906 on Longwood Avenue. Simmons
College, Emmanuel College, and the Boston Latin School all followed in the early years of the century.
Harvard Medical School was followed by another type of institution: hospitals. The Peter Bent Brigham
Hospital was completed in 1912, and was followed by Children's Hospital, the Collis P. Huntington
Memorial Hospital, the Boston Lying-In Hospital, and the Beth Israel Hospital (Whitehill and Kelmedy
2000:184-187).
When plans for the filling of the Fens area were developed in the mid-nineteenth century, it was seen as
a potential area of large, single-family homes for the wealthy. The first such home was constructed in
1892 at number 48 The Fenway (Pollan et al. 1984:21), While this residential vision was achieved in a
small number of cases, speculation, institutional use, and increasing expenses associated with large
houses proved ovelwhelming, and the single-family residential plan was never fully realized.
The majority of residential construction that occurred during the first half of the century in the Fenway
area was centered in the West Fens. Here, four- and five-story apartment blocks dominated early
development. These buildings, largely constructed between 1915 and about 1931, were designed in a
wide range of styles, including Georgian Revival, Beaux Arts, and Classical Revival.
In the East Fens area, residential development began earlier than in the West Fens, but was not as
widespread. Single-family row housing was the most prolific form in the East Fens, with buildings in
the Second Empire and Queen Anne style palticularly common in the 1880s and early 1890s, Later in
the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, multiple-family residential units were constructed, Three­
and four-family houses and large apartment buildings were the dominant [onns of these years, in some
of tile same styles as their predecessors, but also in the Beaux Arts and Classical Revival styles (Pollan
et aJ. 1984:31-32).
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Historic Context for Boston
By the late 1930s, much of the land in the Fenway area was covered with buildings. Large institutional
edifices and multi-building campuses occupied large swaths ofland, and apartment blocks and rowhouses
stretched across street-side parcels to create seamless facades. The middle and second half of the
century did not see much new construction in the area. Some new buildings were erected on the sites of
demolished buildings, and a few undeveloped sites were built up, primarily for large, institutional
buildings or the expansion of existing structures. The architectural character of the area, however,
because of the multitude oflate-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century buildings, remains largely as it
was in the first 30 years of the twentieth century.
Roxbury
The community of Roxbury is located to the south of Boston Proper, at the base of the neck of land
upon which the city was originally built. The topography of Roxbury is generally sloping, rising from
east to west, up to a height of200 feet above sea level. A prominent ridge of drumlins is located in the
northeast part of Roxbury, while the highest elevation is Bellevue Hill, at 370 feet. Roxbury is drained
by four brooks, all of which empty into the Charles River (MHC 1981 b: 1).
Like most of the Boston area towns, Roxbury was established by the Massachusetts Bay Company. Its
original borders were set in 1630, though these were altered multiple times tlu'ough the many annexations
and land forfeitures that the area underwent between the 1830s and 1880s, In 1846, the 16.4 square
miles of Roxbury, including West Roxbury, was incorporated as a city. Twenty-two years later, in 1868,
Roxbury, without West Roxbury, was annexed to Boston (MHC 1981 b: 1-2; Warner 1978:41-42).
Prior to the arrival of European settlers in the present-day Roxbury area, the land was used extensively
by native peoples. The area likely supported dense populations that were present on a seasonal basis.
The Muddy River and Jamaica Pond provided abundant seasonal fish runs, while shellfish were plentiful
in the tidal flats of the area. Waterfowl and migratory birds likely provided additional food supplies. In
the years of European coastal trade, the area may have provided a rendezvous point for traders and
Native Americans (MHC 1981 b:4-5).
The town of Roxbury was established on a hill above Boston Neck in 1630, with a defensive position
and a meetinghouse constructed soon after settlement. The village consisted of 120 houses in 1652,
with its focus at present-day Eliot Square. Roxbury was primarily agricultural in the early years, its
fields extending west into Jamaica Plain and south into West Roxbury. Early industrial ventures, including
a gristmill constructed in 1633, were sited along Stony Brook. Transp0l1ation routes in the town were
centered at the meetinghouse, though the most heavily traveled route was the road across Boston Neck
and into Boston Proper. Other roads branched off from Roxbury to Dorchester, Dedham, and Braintree
(MHC 1981 b:5-6).
The population of Roxbury grew slowly during the eighteenth century, reaching only 1,493 by 1765,
the majority of whom lived at the northern end of the town. Elsewhere in the town, country estates
were constructed for prominent men from Boston. These estates included a number of high-style
Georgian residences, many with gambrel roofs differentiating them from the modest houses with gable
roofs and end chimneys. Roxbury remained an agricultural town during the eighteenth century, with its
farms supplying produce for both Roxbury and Boston. The town focus remained at Eliot Square,
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Chapter Three
though a secondary settlement had developed at Jamaica Pond at the end of the seventeenth century.
West Roxbury spawned a third settlement centered upon a parish church and burial ground, in the same
way that Roxbury and Jamaica Plain had developed previously. Commercial activity was centered at
Dudley Square (the junction of Washington, Dudley, and Warren streets), at the southern end of Boston
Neck. By the early part of the eighteenth century, milling enterprises had expanded to present-day
Boylston and Center streets, in addition to those concerns still operating at the original sites along
Stony Brook. In total, two gristmills and one chocolate mill now operated in the town. Clock making
and tanning, two industries important to the development of Roxbury, were started in the eighteenth
century. The Willards began making clocks in Roxbury in 1773. The tanning industry developed over
an extended period, beginning in small shops. By 1780, eighteen tanning houses and slaughterhouses
had been established in Roxbury to supply Boston's growing shoemaking trade (MHC 1981 b:6-8).
The opening of the Roxbury Canal in 1795 further added to the industrial opportunities of Roxbury.
With the canal, a new area of small industrial operations, including a distillery, provisions packing and
warehousing facilities, and a new tannery, began at the new town docks. This tannery, in addition to
those founded at the end of the eighteenth century and others, made Roxbury the most important town
in the country for the trade, with 12 major finns in operation by 1810. The arrival of heavy industry in
Roxbury in the 1820s began a new type of industrialization in the town. Pushed and lured to Roxbury
by the intense competition for space in Boston and the completion of the Mill Dam in 1821, large
manufacturing facilities began to be constructed near Gravelly Point in the 1820s. One of the fLfSt
fimls to take advantage of the Mill Dam was the Boston Iron Company, which constructed its plant on
Gravelly Point in 1822. Other industries that operated in the town in the first half of the nineteenth
century included rope walks, Roxbury's first brewery, chemical manufacturers, carpet manufacturers,
and a lead works (Hales 1830; MHC 1981b:7-9).
Growth in these industries in the latter half of the nineteenth century was driven by the emergence of
new firms and the resultant expansion of existing firms in the area. Tanning declined in the middle of
the century, giving way to rope manufacturing as the leading industry in Roxbury, while ironworks for
rolling, splitting, and nail manufacture were the chief employers in the town. The development of
heavy industry brought stove and iron forges into Roxbury for the first time. Printing presses and fire
engines were produced, as were belting and the first mass~produced watches. The Roxbury India
Rubber Company, founded in 1832, would be the corporation for which Charles Goodyear would develop
vulcanization, revolutionizing the industry. The American Agricultural Chemical Company built a
plant in the tovm, and two fireworks factories were spawned by the availability of products. The largest
factory in Roxbury in the middle of the century was said to be that of Louis Prang, who introduced
chromolithographs to the United States. Toward the end of the century, finns such as Boston Car
Spring, James Crackers, New England Card, and Sturtevant Blower were established, adding to the
diversity of manufacturing concerns in Roxbury. The organ and piano manufacturing industries also
reached Roxbury, spilling out of the cramped South End of Boston. This period was also the peak
period for Roxbury's brewing industry, as 14 large breweries were located in the town (MHC )981 b:9­
12).
The transportation systems of Roxbury were vastly altered during the nineteenth century. At the start of
the century, colonial roads were being improved and new roads laid out off of the turnpikes that
crisscrossed the town. Public transportation from Boston consisted of omnibus service that had only
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Historic Context for Boston
been established in 1826. Transpo11ation was improved in the mid-nineteenth century with the arrival
of the Boston & Providence Railroad in 1835. A branch of the railroad connected to West Roxbury as
the Norfolk County Railroad in 1849. The omnibus service of the previous decades was expanded
during the middle years of the century to reach Jamaica Plain and Brookline, and by 1865, horse-drawn
railroads were in operation on the streets of Roxbury. In the last three decades of the century, electric
trolley cars came to Roxbury. New routes were constructed with streets through the recently filled and
rapidly developing Back Bay. Suburban trolley lines ranged fm1her outside of Boston via Roxbury to
West Roxbury, Roslindale, and Dedham (MHC 1981 b:9-12).
The population of Roxbury grew throughout the nineteenth century in conjunction with the expanding
industrial employment market and transportation infrastructure of the town. From 2,226 persons in
1790, the population grew slowly through 1815, and reached 5,247 persons by 1830. By 1870, the
population had reached 43,439, having grown at a rate of more than 1,100 persons per year after 1840.
This population growth was one of the motivating factors in the incorporation of Roxbury as a city in
1846. Almost all of this mid-century growth occurred in the northem section of the town, in and near
the industrial core. In the agricultural lands of West Roxbury, growth was much slower, with only
4,812 persons living within its 12.6 square miles. The 3.8 square miles of Roxbury, however, held
18,469 persons at the same time. Immigrants began to make up a large p0l1ion of the populous in the
nineteenth century, with more Irish inunigrants than any other group in town, and also a large population
of German inunigrants. During the last three decades of the century, and through the first decade of the
twentieth, the expansion of streetcars and utilities fostered a period of immense population growth in
Roxbury. West Roxbury was the primary growth area, however by 1915, it still accounted for less than
half of the 183,754-person population of Roxbury proper. The Irish population of Roxbury remained
dominant up to the start of the twentieth century, before being displaced by a Jewish population that
was moving out of the cities and into more suburban neighborhoods (MHC 1981 b: 12-16).
To house and serve the growing population of Roxbury throughout the century, a wide variety of building
types were constructed. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Federal and Georgian
style houses dominated in both high-style and modest residences. Institutional and commercial buildings
also were constructed in these styles in the early part of the centmy. The first push of residential
construction in Roxbury came during the mid-nineteenth century. The resultant homes were a mix of
styles in fashion in the period, including both high-style and modest Greek Revival homes in many
forms, and early Italianate and Gothic Revival-style homes. Ecclesiastical buildings of the period were
predominantly Gothic Revival in style, with at least one example of the Romanesque style. Commercial
buildings employed Victorian-inspired styles including the High Victorian Gothic, Second Empire, and
Italianate styles. In the late decades of the century, high-style residential buildings in the affluent
neighborhoods at Jamaica Pond and the Highlands were built in the Victorian Gothic, Stick, Second
Empire, Queen ArnIe, Shingle, and Colonial Revival styles. Three deckers made their appearance
during the late nineteenth century, in both modest and heavily ornamented forms. Well-built tluee
deckers were constructed in the Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles, and a few Panel Brick Style
residential hotels were constructed in the affluent neighborhoods as well. As the population soared in
RoxbUly, modest, multiple-family houses became more common, with the three deckers of modest
neighborhoods similar to those in affluent neighborhoods, but somewhat simplified in form and omament.
PAL Report No. 1396.01
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Chapter Three
Churches constructed during the period took notable advantage of local Roxbury puddingstone for
their construction in the Romanesque and Gothic Revival styles. The Shingle and Craftsman styles
were also used for ecclesiastical structures during the period. Municipal buildings similarly used the
Romanesque and High Victorian Gothic styles, in some cases executed with Roxbury puddingstone.
At Dudley Street, impressive commercial structures continued to be constructed, some reaching up to
six stories in height. The majority of these were in Renaissance Revival styles, with brick walls and
cast metal (including cast iron) trim and storefronts. In the secondary commercial sectors, smaller
buildings were constructed in the Romanesque and Renaissance Revival styles. The potential profits
of industrialization inspired factory owners to build omately decorated buildings at the end of the
period. Vast brick structures with cast terra cotta elements and panels were constructed, the most
impressive of which were built for breweries along the Stony Brook corridor. The Panel Brick style
was used in the construction of warehouses in the period, where a less risky design referred to the
stability and safety of tile buildings, rather than to the product inside (MHC 1981 b: 12-16).
Through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Roxbury retained its historic civic and economic
centers. Eliot Square, the site of the original settlement and subsequent meetinghouse, remained the
center of the town's govenunent, while the junction of Dudley, Washington, and Warren streets remained
as the commercial center of the town. The original industrial center of Roxbury, at Stony Brook,
remained a pivotal location throughout the nineteenth century. As the industrial growth of Roxbury
exceeded that space, expansion occurred at Gravelley Point (Mill Dam), and, on a smaller scale, at
Roxbury Crossing and near the Back Bay. A warehouse district developed near the Roxbury Canal in
the middle of the century to serve the industrial concems that were located nearby. Residential settlement
was centered at Eliot Square in the early days of the nineteenth century, however, as transportation
improved, the new routes also became the focal points of modest neighborhoods, Roxbury Highlands
and the edge of Jamaica Pond remained as affluent communities of estate houses, while along some of
the suburban trolley lines in the late decades of the century, ambitious houses were developed, mostly
as townhouses. The secondary residential centers that had developed in the eighteenth century at West
Roxbury and Roslindale were joined during the nineteenth century by a center at Jamaica Plain, As the
nineteenth century began, Roxbury was still primarily an agricultural town, however, this changed as
the town developed into an industrial suburb of Boston. The primary agricultural area of Roxbury
remained at Sawmill Brook through the middle of the nineteenth century, until the suburbanization
resulting from increased transportation services allowed for the settlement of the agricultural lands as
residential areas (MHC 1981 b: 12-16).
Roxbury reached its zenith in many areas during the twentieth century, and subsequently began a decline
that has carried it to the present. Between 1930 and 1935, the population of Roxbury rose by 15,000
persons, largely as a result of an influx of African Americans. The 1935 population was Roxbury's
highest ever total, at 225,634 residents. Roxbury's residential development during the twentieth century
continued to be linked to transp0l1ation routes. Streetcars continued to travel between Roxbury and
Boston into the mid~twentieth centmy, with buses providing service later in the centuly. The construction
of the Metropolitan District Commission's parkways system in the early twentieth century provided
more impetus for development, though the focus was split between residential and commercial
development. Much of the residential development along the parkways was constructed as modest,
single-family housing, however, in West Roxbury, the parkways were lined with larger Tudor, Georgian
and Dutch Colonial Revival homes constructed in the 1920s, Construction in other parts of Roxbury
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Historic Context for Boston
resulted in modest two~family and tluee decker houses in the Craftsman and Colonial Revival styles.
Apartment blocks constructed during the early twentieth century took the form of three- or four-story,
masonry blocks with cast concrete ornament. As the number of apartment buildings multiplied, the
affluent neighborhoods at the highlands of Jamaica Plain and Roxbury began to feel the pressure of the
encroaching urban element (MHC 1981 b:16-17).
Public buildings constructed in Roxbury in the first half of the twentieth century varied widely in
purpose and style. Ecclesiastical buildings constructed during the period included several churches in
the Gothic Revival style and several synagogues, including at least one in the Beaux Arts style. A
number ofelementary school buildings were constructed in similar forms. The simply massed, masonry
buildings were often constructed atop a raised foundation to a height of two or two-and-one-halfstories,
and were adorned with Renaissance Revival or Moderne detailing. A Moderne-style stadium was
constructed at Franklin Park, and a district courthouse was built in the Georgian Revival style. Several
hospitals were also constructed in massive buildings with temple-front, neo-classical designs. The
construction of public facilities was perhaps the largest area of development in Roxbury at the time.
Commercial and industrial development remained fairly stable during the period. As a result, the
number and variety of commercial architecture projects of the period in Roxbury was limited. One­
story, brick and/or concrete buildings were built as neighborhood corner stores, and as infill in previously
existing commercial districts. The construction of movie theaters also took advantage of concrete as a
primary material, with at least two built during the period. Concrete was also heavily used in industrial
buildings, as a material for exterior walls, interior columns, and floors in warehouses and some factories
(MHC 1981b:15-18).
In the latter half of the twentieth century, Roxbury was shaped by social issues. The largely African
American population ofthe community that fled north from the southeastem United States in the 1940s
and 1950s found itselfin a town whose industrial base was slowly diminishing. In 1990, the population
of the Roxbury area was 59,000 persons, with 76 percent of that number made up of people ofAfrican,
Haitian, Caribbean, or Cape Verdean descent. The Urban Renewal movement demolished a number of
nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century industrial buildings that had been previously left. vacant, however,
in many cases, planned new construction either did not materialize or was not sympathetic to the
surrounding historic buildings. A number of buildings have been destroyed by fire or neglect and have
not been replaced,leaving gaps in the historic streetscapes of the area. Recognition of these problems
and a strong development economy in the 1990s contributed to a renewed interest in developing some
parcels, galvanizing community members to work toward the revitalization of their neighborhood (MHC
1981 b: 18-19; Roxbury Crossing Historical Trust 2002).
PAL Reporl No. 1396.01
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CHAPTER FOUR
HISTORIC CONTEXT FOR BROOKLINE
This chapter provides a historic context for Brookline and originally appeared in Architectural
Reconnaissance Survey Circumferential Transportation Improvements Urban Ring Corridor: Phase 2,
Volumes I, 2, and 3 (Mail' et al. 2004).
Introduction
The town of Brookline is located in the northern portion of Norfolk County. Massachusetts. It
encompasses an area of approximately 6.2 square miles in the Charles River Watershed. The town is
bounded by Boston on the north, east, and south, and by Newton on the west and north. Brookline was
originally bounded by the towns of Roxbury (now in Boston) and Cambridge (now Newton). Much of
the southern part of the town, which is primarily a plateau, drains into the upper Charles River via Saw
Mill Brook. The nOl1hern areas are dominated by a row of prominent drumlins: Corey, Aspinwall,
Fisher, and Single Tree hills, running from north to south. The Muddy River is Brookline's principle
stream, and fonus part of the town's eastern boundary with the neighborhood of Roxbury. It is fed by
both the Village and Tannery brooks. The Brookline Reservoir, the town's largest body of water, was
built by the city of Boston in the 1840s.
Historic Context
The original community at present-day Brookline was known as Muddy River, for its dominant
watercourse. It was an agrarian settlement, established as a place for grazing swine and cattle during
the time of year that com was being grown in Boston. In 1705, Brookline was established as an
independent town along the primary western axis of Boston. At the time of its establishment, Brookline
consisted of the lands of the Muddy River settlement, and had the Charles River as its northern border
with Cambridge. These borders would change throughout the nineteenth century to create the town as
it is today bounded. Brookline retained an agricultural economy during the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, with limited commercial and industrial activity, Toward the end of the period, wealthy
merchants began to build summer homes there, giving Brookline its suburban character and a new
economic base. During the nineteenth century, the town's population grew because of the growth of
neighboring Boston and new transpol1ation routes. Its character was developed by farms and the
continuing addition of year-round homes of wealthy citizens. With the arrival of the electric streetcar
during the late 1880s, Brookline took on the streetcar suburb character that it has retained to the present
day (MHC 1980g: I; Whitman & Lommen 1999:2, 10).
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First Settlement Period (1620-1675)
Prior to the arrival of European settlers, Native American settlement was concentrated in the area
adjacent to the Charles River estuary, and as a result probably had a seasonally variable population
(MHC 1980g:2). The native trails of the Contact Period are thought to have included the ford over the
Muddy River at the present intersection of Washington and Boylston (Route 9) streets, cOimecting the
area of Muddy River to Roxbury via the present-day Huntington Avenue (Zimmerman and Benka
1985:7, I).
European settlement of Brookline was begun during the 1630s by citizens of Boston who sought out
more land. The varied telTain provided for a wide range of food and other resources, through seasonal
fish runs in the Charles and Muddy rivers, and good agricultural lands. The popularity of the area led
to an order issued in 1634 by Boston to construct a cart bridge over the Muddy River at the present
intersection of Washington and Boylston streets. By 1635, grants in Muddy River had been made to
several of Boston's prosperous and respected citizens. By 1650, 25 families had located near the cart
bridge. As more families settled in Muddy River, houses were built along the principle routes: Sherburne
Road, now Walnut Street; the road to Cambridge, now Harvard Street; and the road to Watel10wn, now
Washington Street. Homes constructed during this period were primarily simple, timber-framed, center
chimney farmhouses.
Colonial Period (1675-1775)
In 1705, Muddy River became the independent town of Brookline. Agriculture continued to dominate
the town's economy, and growth was slow until the end of the century. As a result, few areas were
opened up to settlement, and houses continued to be built along Sherburne Road, the road to Cambridge,
and Goddard Avenue. In 1740 there were 61 dwellings in the town and by 1765 the population totaled
388. During this time, the same principle routes were used, several new roads were built, and some
private lanes becanle public roads. Commercial activity centered on the north side of the Sherbourne
Road near the cart bridge (Zimmerman and Benka 1985:7, 4). The Punch Bowl Tavem, a social and
political center, was established in this area and was accompanied by other small-scale conIDlercial
interests. Civic architecture was limited to one school located near present-day Brookline Village. A
sawmill on Newton Street and a gristmill on the Muddy River represented the industrial activities of the
town.
Federal Period (1775-1830)
Brookline's development began to accelerate during the Federal Period because of Boston's growing
population and economy. While the population had only grown to 484 between 1700 and 1790, by
1805 it was 605 and by 1820 it had grown to 900 (Zinunennan and Benka 1985:7, 6). The establislunent
of tmmeries on nearby brooks, on Newton Street, and near Washington Square marked a change in
Brookline's economy. During this time many wealthy Bostonians began to make their summer homes
here, especially in the area of Heath, Warren, and Cottage streets.
The early part of the Federal Period saw the development of three imp0l1ant transp0l1ation routes: the
Worcester Turnpike (now route 9) in 1806, the Back Bay Mill Dam Road and its extension to Brookline
PALRepoI'INo./396.0/
55
Chapter Four
Village (now BrooklineAvenue) in 1821, and Brighton or WestemAvenue (now ConunonwealthAvenue)
also in 1821. Three direct links were made between Boston and Brookline, with the construction of
these roads (Zinunerman and Benka 1985:7,2).
Though conunercial and industrial concerns had begun to be established in Brookline during the Federal
Period, much of its character was still defined by its concentration as a residential conul1unity. Residences
constructed during the period were primarily in the Georgian and Federal styles, with vemacular fOl'ms
also present. A peculiar development in the construction of some Brookline residences was the use of
the "West Indies" or "Plantation" style, which was influenced by connections with West Indian trade
(Zimmerman and Benka 1985:7).
Early Industrial Period (1830-1870)
The development of suburban activity from Boston prompted the relocation in 1845 of the civic center
of Brookline to Brookline Village (Washington and Cypress streets). Secondary centers emerged along
Beacon Street and at the intersection of Harvard and Washington streets. This shift coincided with the
opening of the passenger railroad to Boston.
Brookline began to acquire its affluent suburban character during the Early Industrial Period. Cottage
Farm and Longwood, two of the earliest planned residential subdivisions in the Boston area, developed
high-style, architect-designed villas in the Gothic, Dutch, and Italianate styles. The population began to
rise steadily at about 250-280 per year, and by 1870, it had reached 6,650, double the 1850 population
(MHC 1980g:5). Many Brookline residents were foreign bom, and of these a large percentage were
Irish.
Conunercial and industrial activity continued to be centered in Brookline Village during the Early
Industrial Period. The an-ivai of the Brookline branch of the Boston and Worcester railroad in 1848
assured the Village's emergence as the new civic and commercial area of the town, a trend that had
started with the construction of the Boston and Worcester Turnpike.
TalUleries still flourished in Brookline, but toward the end of this period, building construction and
related industries provided the economic base for the town. Several civic structures were erected
during this time: a municipal water supply system was completed by 1876, a sewage system by 1879,
and the town's gas company was converted to electricity during the period. Public buildings from this
period include the first town hall, a fire station, and one school building. The Boston water supply was
augmented with the construction of the CochituateAqueduct between 1846 and 1848. A small, granite
tenninal station of the aqueduct was constructed in the Greek Revival style along Reservoir Avenue.
Late Industrial Period (1870-1915)
[n the late nineteenth century, Brookline Village continued its expansion as the primary commercial
and civic center with the construction of multi storied business blocks on Washington and Harvard
streets. Suburban development also continued with the opening of the trolley lines on Beacon Street,
Commonwealth Avenue, and Boylston Street.
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Historic Context for Brookline
Most of n0l1hern Brookline was rapidly built up with a wide variety of house types and styles, while
much of tile southern half of town remained open with limited development consisting mainly of very
large country estates. A few pockets of Queen Anne and Colonial Revival style three-deckers developed
along Heath, Hammond, Boylston, and Cypress streets. A variety ofsingle-famHy houses in the Second
Empire, Shingle, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles were constructed in North Brookline.
The town's population continued its growth; by the end of the period reaching five times its 1870
population. The dramatic rise in the population can be attributed to electric streetcars and new utilities.
The growing population was served by an expanding park system and recreational facilities, a new
library, several additional fire stations and schools, and various religious structures. The foreign-born
population remained the same, but there was a decline in the Irish component. Ease of transportation
and improved sanitation and health drew both immigrants and wealthy citizens to Brookline. The
railroads continued as primary links to Boston, and streetcar routes and trolley lines were extended into
Brookline and beyond.
The town's chief industry remained in the area of construction and the industries associated with it.
Brookline completed its own water-supply system in 1876 with covered reservoirs on Fisher Hill; and
a sewerage system was completed in 1879. In 1887, the Brookline Gas Light Company was authorized
to supply customers with electricity, and by 1902, a feud between the gas companies led to the formation
of the Boston Consolidated Gas Company (MHC 1980g:8).
Modern Period (1915-Present)
Brookline's population continued its growth through the Modern Period. Suburban development
continued near major transit routes. Apartment districts were constructed in parts of the Coolidge
Corner area, Corey Hill, and Aspinwall Hill. Single and multi-family houses developed in the northeast
section of the town and in Brookline Village. The affluent neighborhoods of Fisher Hill and Chestnut
Hill continued to expand, and the less intensely developed areas in South Brookline around Walnut
Hill, Hammond Pond Parkway, and Roxbury Parkway began to be built up. During this period, several
large estates underwent changes in use, from single-family residences to institutional use, while others
were subdivided to make parcels for increased residential housing.
Brookline's few manufacturing industries all but ended during this period, as the town looked on itself
as the most prosperous residential suburb in the country (MHC 1980g:9). Like other towns in the area,
Brookline developed affection for the motorcar. By 1912, car showrooms and garages began to appear
on Commonwealth Avenue. Streetcar routes remained in operation t1U'ough the mid-twentieth century.
The Beacon Street line was an Olmstead designed boulevard, including passenger shelters at Coolidge
Corner. In 1932, the State Highway Department improved Boylston Street and designated it as Route
9. The Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) opened auto parkways through South Brookline during
the 1930s, including the VFW, West Roxbury, and Hanunond Pond parkways.
In the Modern Period, the southern sections of Brookline were built up, while the older neighborhoods
to the northeast were filled in or rebuilt in Tudor, Mission, and Georgian Revival-style, single-family
houses. Many of these houses were constructed along the MDC parkways and Walnut Hill to the south.
To the north, Single Tree and Brookline Hills were developed with high-style Georgian, and Colonial
PAL Report No. /396.0/
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Chapter Four
and Tudor Revival-style, brick houses with ornate detailing, More modest, single-family housing was
built on Corey Hill, and the neighborhoods around Coolidge Corner were rebuilt with four- and five­
story apartment blocks. Georgian and Tudor Revival fire stations and schools were built in the new
neighborhoods ofthe 1920s and 1930s. Several synagogues, private hospitals, and religious complexes
were also built in the area of South Brookline. During this period, Beacon Street's commercial
development was completed with many one- and two-story, brick and concrete storefronts in Mission,
Colonial, and Tudor Revival-style designs.
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PAL Report No. 1396.01