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 “plantation” 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.

He emigrated from Cork, Ireland to the United States circa 1885 and is first listed in Brookline in 1900. He initially worked as a deliveryman for the Chase Express Co. in Brookline Village and was then a chauffeur for over fifty years working into his late seventies. He lived for a number of years at 44 Brook St. side by side with his daughter’s family at number 46. After the death of his wife in 1955, he moved in with his daughter’s family at their new house at nearby 72 Toxteth St.

Morgan Bros., with nine stores in various sections of Boston, opened their first store in Brookline in Coolidge Corner in October, 1915. Two more Brookline locations were added in short order. In 1949, when the original store at 1349 Beacon St. closed, there remained five other Brookline locations for the creamery.

The new Station D at 827 Boylston St. opened December 8th, 1930. It was built to address the issue of inadequate coverage of the rapidly-growing area west and south of Chestnut Hill Ave. and replaced the old Station D. across the street at 796 Boylston St. The new station was equipped with three pieces of equipment: a new 85-foot aerial ladder truck, a new hose tender, and a rebuilt Engine #4 that had been housed in the old station across the street.

On the left is Engine #4 which was crewed by Thomas J. Burke, captain; Thomas J. Grennan, lieutenant; Alexander G. DeLorie, George H. Dunn, John J. Costello, James L. Love, Thomas J. Mahon, Robert J. O’Connor, William H. O’Connor, Michael F. Tonra, hose men.

On the right is Ladder #3 which was crewed by Patrick H. Kirrane, Richard E. O’Day, lieutenants; John L. Fay, John H. Hinchley Jr., Frank X Love, John M Mealey, John H. Mitchell, John E. Patterson, James Priestly, Michael A. Rourke, ladder men; Thomas Curry, Daniel F. Donovan, Joseph P. Harrington, Patrick J. Hogan, Francis H. Norton, hose men

Looking from Beacon St. toward Brookline. The house and barn of Michael McGrady on Reservoir Lane are visible on the left.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

Looking northeast on Brookline Ave. from Pearl St. Just visible through the fence on the left is the building on the corner with Aspinwall Ave. Photo by Henry A. Varney, Brookline town engineer.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

Looking at the rear of 209 Newton St. and its outbuildings center photo in the distance. House on the hill roughly near today’s Dexter School is viewed in the distance on the right.
[Source: Historic New England]

Looking southeast from the railroad tracks in the vicinity of the Metropolitan Waterworks Museum. From left to right at the base of the hill in the distance is Eliot St.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]