The Brookline Riding Academy, also known as the Brookline Riding School, opened November 1, 1895 right in the Village Square. It took over the large quarters of the car house and horse stables of the West End Railway Co. which had recently switched to electrified cars. The group is shown in the small lot outside the school. Alice Sargent and Dorothy Forbes, identified here, were wealthy equestrians who helped organize, from at least 1914-1917, an annual charity event hosted at the school with contests, prizes and trophies. A trophy is noted on the seat of Sargent’s carriage and the rear of the large billboard that faced the Village Square is observed.

Sargent, never married, lived her entire life in a 40-room mansion that was part of the Sargent family compound known as “Holm Lea” in the Warren St. area of Brookline.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

The side of the house is viewed looking west toward Warren St. It was built by Ignatius Sargent after he acquired the land in 1845 and would later be incorporated into an elaborately-landscaped group of houses of extended family members that became known as “Holm Lea”. It still stands.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

The house is viewed looking north from today’s Sargent Rd., Warren St. is to the left. It was built by Ignatius Sargent after he acquired the land in 1845 and would later be incorporated into an elaborately-landscaped group of houses of extended family members that became known as “Holm Lea”. It still stands.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

The estate is viewed looking northeast over Sargent Pond from Cottage St. It was acquired in 1871 by Charles Sprague Sargent who had grown up in the nearby house of his father, Ignatius Sargent. It was incorporated into an elaborately-landscaped group of houses of extended family members that became known as “Holm Lea”. At Sargent’s death in 1927, his daughter, Alice Sargent, assumed ownership of the now 40-room mansion. She was born in the house, never married, and would live her entire life there spending her later years living with ten staff and their family members. She died in 1946 and the house was purchased by architect George Brewster who had it demolished and replaced with the structure that stands at the same address today.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

The fire department had recently purchased a new auto-pumping combination wagon and fire station G, today’s Station 7, needed to upgrade the station to make the transition from horse-drawn equipment. The department was fortuitously offered the temporary use of the large garage of Mrs. Alice B Watson located on Salisbury Rd. behind her townhouse at 1710 Beacon St. Both are still standing.

The Boston Globe, September 23, 1915, Page 2

This is the original house of the family of James M. Codman and Henrietta Sargent Codman, it is no longer standing. The Codmans married in 1858 and built this house on the sprawling estate of Ignatius Sargent, Henrietta’s father. It had a confusing sequence of addresses. It was for many years addressed as 362 Walnut St. and accessed from a long dirt path that later became Codman Rd. An access path from Warren St. was added circa 1894 which coincided with two sons reaching adulthood and being listed in the town directory. Their address for what is believed to be the same house was 164 Warren St. and both parties were listed separately in the town directory for a number of years.

The final living occupant of the house was the Codman’s son, James M. Codman Jr., a lawyer who never married and lived alone in the house. When he died in 1925, his sister, Cora Codman Ely who was living right next door at 130 Warren St., inherited the house. She had it torn down and a new one constructed in 1928 which was subsequently readdressed as 235 Sargent Rd. and still stands.

From Random Recollections, Volume One by Cora Codman Wolcott

This house, which still stands, was built in the early 1840s by Stephen Higginson Perkins, one of several Perkins family members who had had houses in the area of Warren St. Charles Head purchased the house in 1846 and added the large tower to the structure purportedly to be able to view the annual July 4th fireworks display on the Boston Common. He lived there until his death in 1889 and his widow remained until her death in 1901. Cora Codman Ely purchased the house and moved in in 1925. It was located right next door to the long-time home of her parents and siblings at 164 Warren St. She remarried in 1929 and she and her husband continued to live in the house.

From Random Recollections, Volume One by Cora Codman Wolcott

This house, which still stands, was built in the early 1840s by Stephen Higginson Perkins, one of several Perkins family members who had had houses in the area of Warren St. Charles Head purchased the house in 1846 and added the large tower to the structure purportedly to be able to view the annual July 4th fireworks display on the Boston Common. He lived there until his death in 1889 and his widow remained until her death in 1901. Cora Codman Ely purchased the house and moved in in 1925. It was located right next door to the long-time home of her parents and siblings at 164 Warren St. She remarried in 1929 and she and her husband continued to live in the house.

From Random Recollections, Volume One by Cora Codman Wolcott

This is the original house of the family of James M. Codman and Henrietta Sargent Codman, it is no longer standing. The Codmans married in 1858 and built this house on the sprawling estate of Ignatius Sargent, Henrietta’s father. It had a confusing sequence of addresses. It was for many years addressed as 362 Walnut St. and accessed from a long dirt path that later became Codman Rd. An access path from Warren St. was added circa 1894 which coincided with two sons reaching adulthood and being listed in the town directory. Their address for what is believed to be the same house was 164 Warren St. and both parties were listed separately in the town directory for a number of years.

The final living occupant of the house was the Codman’s son, James M. Codman Jr., a lawyer who never married and lived alone in the house. When he died in 1925, his sister, Cora Codman Ely who was living right next door at 130 Warren St., inherited the house. She had it torn down and a new one constructed in 1928 which was subsequently readdressed as 235 Sargent Rd. and still stands.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

Thomas Perkins built this house, which is no longer standing, circa 1806. There are contradictory attributions for the house number on Warren St. with the best fit appearing to be number 514. His brother, Samuel Gardner Perkins, built a house nearby on the corner of Cottage St. and Warren St., both built in the “planation” style adopted by several other houses in the area. Perkins and his two brothers ran a shipping business that had some engagement with the slave trade.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

Looking north toward Beacon St.

Boston Globe, July 29, 1925, page 9
[Source: Boston Globe]

Robert A. Smiley was a longtime fixture in town who held several functions over the years including Deputy Sealer of Weights & Measures and census taker. He emigrated from Ireland in 1872 and soon began working as a sign painter for B. F. Baker where he remained for over three decades continuing with a later owner, Daniel Hunt.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

These two conjoined houses were located near the northwest corner of Brookline Ave. and Lower Washington St. The house of Dr. George Griggs, on the right at 57 Washington St., was built in the early 1700s. Dr. Eliphalet Downer later added the house on the left side at 61 Washington St.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

Looking at the rear of 241, 247, and 251 Winchester St. The car was parked on the street, lost its braking, and rolled down the driveway.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

The entrance to Pearl St. is steps to the left. Visible above the door is the new street number reflecting the 1894 update of Washington St. addresses. Extending up Pearl St. behind this visible building are additional attached structures.

Standing in the doorway is Benjamin Franklin Baker (1820-1898). He began work at the paint shop of Silas Snow in 1841 and, circa 1856, became the owner of the property and the business. After Baker’s death, a former employee, Daniel Hunt, took over the business.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

From an album of photographs commemorating the construction of the house for Elbert Alphaeus Harvey (1877-1962), Lucille Stimson Harvey (1882-1972), and their three children. Mrs. Harvey was a dietician who worked at the Brookline Food Center and, in 1919, was appointed Brookline’s town dietician, the first such position in the country.

The photographer was Dorothy Jarvis whose studio was on Cypress St. at the corner of Washington St.

Built in 1895

On the left is the well-known “Devotion House” with parts dating to 1680 which still stands today as the headquarters of the Brookline Historical Society. On the right is the 1892 Devotion School building. The 1913 school building has not yet been built.

This is the second house of Edward Devotion located on the north side of Lower Washington St. just east of Pearl St. He originally lived in today’s Coolidge Corner in the well-known “Devotion House” which still stands today as the headquarters of the Brookline Historical Society. It is not known when he moved from the first house but it should be noted that he both married and sold the original house in 1740.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

Jonathan Lambert Dexter worked for many years as a partner at Sands, Furber & Co., a large wholesale fruit and produce dealer in Faneuil Hall Market, Boston. His wife, Mary L. Seaverns, was the sister of Henry Seaverns of H. G. Seaverns & Co., also a wholesale fruit dealer in Faneuil Hall Market. They married in 1875 and moved in with her widowed stepmother, Lucy S. Seaverns, whose house was on Harvard St. just north of the Coolidge & Brother store. Lucy Seaverns died at the end of 1885 and the Dexters moved into their new house at 390 Harvard St., two blocks away between Williams St. and Fuller St. Mary Dexter died in 1901 and Jonathan Dexter remained in the house until his death in 1926.

Shown in the photo are Lucy Amelia Dexter (1876-1940), who married and lived for years on nearby Stetson St., and Frank Seaverns Dexter (1891-1959), who remained in the house along with his sister, Mary, until his death in 1959, both were unmarried. The house was then torn down and the property acquired by Congregation Kehillath Israel which was next door at 380 Harvard St.