Washington St. at the junction with Cypress St., School St. to the right. This image shows the third iteration of the once tall steeple.

Known as the “Bethany Building”, the church was constructed in 1844 as the first church in Brookline of the newly-organized Harvard Congregational Society. The building was sold in 1873 as the Society prepared to move to a larger structure at the corner of Harvard St. and Marion St. After a brief stint as a Methodist church followed by several additional changes of ownership, the building was acquired in 1887 by the Bethany Sunday School Association which held it for the next twenty years. The building was torn down in 1928.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

No longer standing. Cypress St. to the right, Washington St., looking south, to the left.

Samuel Croft house on the corner

In front of Samuel Croft house. Fire house two blocks away across from the public library.

(Sitting Left to Right) Ed Witherell, E. Frank Proctor, J.C. Bense, W.H. Fuller, George H. Johnson, B. Frank Bartlett
(Standing Left to Right)Alfred Kenrick Jr., John Witherell, Samuel Richards, A. Eugene Kenrick, James Sinclair, R.L. Proctor, Herbert Mayo, Frank Spinney, Ed. F. Palmer, Charles J. Funk

Built in 1913 by noted engineer and art collector Desmond FitzGerald as a private museum to house his collections of works by Monet, Renoir, Degas, Pissarro, Hassam, Sisley, Homer, McKnight and others. His house is to the left. The museum building still stands.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

Commonly known as the “Charles Wild House”, photo by Augustine Folsom. Dr. Charles Wild, the well-known town physician, owned the house until his death in 1864. It was then briefly owned by William Lincoln before being purchased by Stephen Dexter Bennett circa 1868. It was originally addressed as 446 Washington St. and it is now 26 Weybridge Rd. The house still stands today.

The figures shown in the photograph are consistent with Bennett family members and servants. The little girl in the carriage is probably Helen Maud Bennett, b. Oct 1868, and the young boy is probably Stephen Howe Bennett, b. Sep 1865. The women are unidentified – the 1870 census lists two female domestic servants and Helen Francis (Howe) Bennett, Stephen’s wife.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

Commonly known as the “Charles Wild House”, photo by Augustine Folsom. Dr. Charles Wild, the well-known town physician, owned the house until his death in 1864. It was then briefly owned by William Lincoln before being purchased by Stephen Dexter Bennett circa 1868. It was originally addressed as 446 Washington St. and it is now 26 Weybridge Rd. The house still stands today.

Barely visible sitting under a tree is a young boy who is probably Stephen Howe Bennett, b. Sep 1865.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

Still standing today at 26 Weybridge Road.

Looking north toward Beacon St, passing Park Ave. on the right Right to left: #465 and #471, apartment buildings still stand. Summit Ave. hill visible in the background
[Source: Joel Shield]

Owned by Thomas Baldwin Griggs and located at the southwest corner of his farmland, across from the Gardner Path, still standing. Occupied for many years by the family of George William Pettes, a journalist. He died in 1892.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

On the left is #503, the house of Lyman J. Clark. On the right is #497, the house of Elizabeth Tuttle. Both are still standing.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

The woman in the doorway is most likely Ellen Griggs Saxe, daughter of prominent town citizen Deacon Thomas Griggs. Widowed and living in Troy, NY at the time of his death, in 1886, she moved back to Brookline into this house which she had inherited. The sons inherited the Griggs land, a large part of which comprises today’s Grigg’s Park situated directly behind the house. The house is no longer standing.

In the carriage are her son, James Alfred Saxe, and his wife, Mary Wick. The newly-married couple is about to head off to a year-long European honeymoon. They returned in May, 1893 and moved to a house on Edgehill Rd.
[Source: Saxe Family Collection]

Ellen Griggs (1824-1904) was the daughter of prominent town citizen, Deacon Thomas Griggs, who lived on the Griggs Farm located in the area of today’s Grigg Park. Widowed and living in Troy, NY at the time of her father’s death, in 1886, she moved back to Brookline into the family house at 519 Washington Street.
[Source: Saxe Family Collection]

Ellen Griggs Saxe was the daughter of a prominent town citizen, Deacon Thomas Griggs. Widowed and living in Troy, NY at the time of his death, in 1886, she moved back to Brookline into the family house at 519 Washington Street which she had inherited. Family members assembled here are, from left to right:

• John Walter Saxe (standing), 1863-1929, non-identical twin of James Alfred Saxe. The twins both graduated from Harvard College in 1888 and Harvard Law in 1892, and went into business together in Boston as Saxe and Saxe.
• William Arthur Saxe (seated): 1857-1917. He was struck and killed by an automobile in Baltimore where he was secretary/treasurer of a concrete company.
• Mary Ellen Saxe (standing), 1865-1903. She never married and died of pneumonia at the age of 37.
• Ellen Griggs Saxe (seated), 1824-1904
• James Alfred Saxe, 1863-1948, non-identical twin of John Walter Saxe. The twins both graduated from Harvard College in 1888 and Harvard Law in 1892, and went into business together in Boston as Saxe and Saxe.
• Edward Thomas Saxe, 1860-1924, partially visible. Lived for years on Aspinwall Ave.

[Source: Saxe Family Collection]

Her engagement photo. She married John Walter Saxe in 1899 and the family with three children lived at 424 Walnut St. from circa 1905-1912
[Source: Saxe Family Collection]

From left to right:

• 655/657 Washington St., partial view, house still standing
• Gasometer. This was the last of four gasometers built by The Brookline Gas Co. to store gas to run gas street lamps. This one was built in 1872 and demolished in 1984. By 1917, it had been converted to a succession of purposes. Here it is being used by a service station.
• 637 Washington St., still standing after major renovations.

[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

In the distant rear, on Corey Hill, two houses are viewed. Left to right:

• 1600 Beacon St., Eben Jordan Mansion, later the Choate School, no longer standing
• 57 York Terrace, the house high on the hill with the tall tower, still standing, the tower was removed in 1938

In the middle of the photo are the rear of the buildings on the south side of Beacon St., several are still standing including the tall apartment building at 1569-1571 Beacon St. In the foreground is the last of four gasometers built by The Brookline Gas Co. to store gas to run gas street lamps. This one was built in 1872 and demolished in 1984. By 1917, it had been converted to a succession of other uses. Here it is being used by a service station and garage. On the right is a partial view of 637 Washington St., still standing after major renovations.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

Viewed from Parker Hill.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

From a notebook of property-appraisal photos taken in 1965 and early 1966 for “The Marsh Urban Renewal Project” run by the Brookline Redevelopment Authority. Only a few scattered peripheral structures remain today.