The car has been tentatively identified as a Locomobile. Early town directories from 1904 – 1911 listed all automobile owners. Augustus Barring Henley, president of the Henley-Kimball Co., automobile distributors, was one and lived in this building. In the December 18, 1912 issue of the Boston Evening Transcript Henley placed ad for his personal 1912 Locomobile. It was listed as “seven-passenger” so it was probably not the automobile shown in the photo but it establishes him as the likely owner of this car. Its listed cost of $4800 was a substantial amount of money at the time.

A horse and carriage can be viewed in the driveway.

Beacon St. and St. Paul
[Source: Joel Shield]

Looking north from Beacon St.
[Source: Olmsted]

Looking north from Beacon St. The house at 36 Browne St. is visible on the left, no longer standing.

This is one of two unusual early photos taken in this area.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

Beacon St. looking west is on the far right. In the middle are the house and outbuildings of Charles Stearns. In the far-left corner of the photo, the steeple of the Harvard Congregational Church on Harvard St. can be glimpsed. The house blocking the view of the church is that of J. G. Stearns at 61 Sewall Ave. The fencing behind it is probably tracing Sewall Ave.

This is one of two unusual early photos taken in this area.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

Looking north from Beacon St.
[Source: Olmsted]

Looking north from Beacon St.
[Source: Olmsted]

Looking east on Beacon St. toward St. Paul St. Car is turning from Charles St. on the right.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

South side of Beacon St. viewed from left to right:

• #1223, Hampton Court (partial)
• St. Paul St.
• #1243, house no longer standing
• #1247-1249
• #1253 (partial)

On the north side of Beacon, the Coolidge & Brother store is barely visible in the center, behind trees.
Next is the James Whitney house on the corner of Pleasant Street, then the John G. Stearns house at 24 Pleasant Street, and finally the complex of the James Stearns house at 31 Pleasant Street, seen from the rear with conservatory and carriage house (left to right, respectively).
Left, on the south side of Beacon Street, you may see a horse & carriage approaching the C. H. Stearns house.

From the 1887 photo series taken just before the widening of Beacon St., most likely by Augustine H. Folsom, a Boston photographer.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

The building of carpenter Josiah N. Christie, with a sign hanging in front, is in the distance along the edge of Beacon. On the right is the house of Marshall Stearns and at the center is the house of Edward Serrano Dane.

From the 1887 photo series taken just before the widening of Beacon St., most likely by Augustine H. Folsom, a Boston photographer.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

[Source: Brookline Public Library]

Sears family home, looking north. Left, rear: Buildings on Pleasant St. on property owned by James Stearns.
[Source: Smithsonian]

Sears family home. Beacon St. to the left. Only structure in photo that is still standing.
[Source: Smithsonian]

Looking east on Beacon toward St. Paul St. Corner of building from the Stearns property visible on the right

Pleasant St. coming in at the left. On the right are the Thomas Sears house at 2 Charles St. (still standing) and 1265 Beacon St. is partially visible behind it. At the bottom of the first decline St. Paul St. is visible.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

From left to right:

• 2 Charles St., still standing
• 3 Charles St., rear, no longer standing
• Second Unitarian Society Parish House, 11 Charles St., rear. Built 1916, still standing and currently home to Temple Sinai
• Rear, 50 Sewall Ave., behind the Parish House. The brick building there today has a similar footprint but any connection is unknown.

[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

This photo was taken shortly before the widening of Beacon St. The house of Charles H. Stearns is on the left. Its apparent standing as a typical house on Beacon St. is misleading and requires explanation:

• The house was built in 1767 before Beacon St. existed (1851). It fronted on Pleasant St. and was positioned at a right angle to the street. It is seen at an angle here because Pleasant St. ran diagonally across Beacon St. approximately where the carriage is seen.
• The driveway (viewed in the Pleasant St. photos) is on the left side of the house in this photo, as is the front of the house.
• Charles Stearns would soon be compelled to move his house 400 feet to the southwest to Harvard St. to accommodate the 1888 widening of Beacon St., a requirement he actively opposed.

With the death of Charles H. Stearns in October 1935, the house, the last holdout in a prime commercial location, was demolished. This photo also has an excellent view of how the planks were slightly raised on the wooden sidewalks

From the 1887 photo series taken just before the widening of Beacon St., most likely by Augustine H. Folsom, a Boston photographer.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

Looking northeast from Beacon, just south of Coolidge Corner

Viewed from Beacon St.

From the 1887 photo series taken just before the widening of Beacon St., most likely by Augustine H. Folsom, a Boston photographer.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]