Looking east at Lower Washington St. from Boylston St. From right to left:

• 160 Washington St.: Guild Building. at the corner. This side of the building would soon be removed for the widening of Boylston Street.
• 7 – 11 Boylston St., under construction. The demolition permit for the existing building (9-11 Boylston St.), affected by the incipient widening of Boylston Street, was granted in July, 1912; construction was completed by the end of the year; and an additional address, #7, was added.
• 7 Boylston St. After many years at 157 Washington St., hairdresser Martin Geier is about to move his business here. On January 1, 1913 the Brookline Equal Suffrage Association opened their offices upstairs.
• 5 Boylston St., the fading sign for the grocery store of Francis H. Bacon remains but the business was taken over by Thomas McMahon a number of years ago.
• 166 Washington St., upstairs in the Guild Building. Signs for Forster Bros., Upholsterers and The Brookline Print (Wallace B. Conant and Carl A. Smith), job printers, are visible.
• 157 Washington St., in the distance, the sign for Brookline Provisions is visible.

[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

O. R. S. Isbister, Sign Painting, Glazing, and Window Glass

(ID) 068
(Slide ID) P 6-3
[Source: William Robert Murphy Collection]

From left to right:

• 32 Allerton St., rear, high on the hill (still standing)
• 34 Walnut St., Edward J. Kirker, Real Estate; Brookline Press
• 38 Walnut St.: Mark Bergstein, Tailor
• 40 Walnut St.: Eagle Hand Laundry
• The fire station. Note underground toilets to the left.
• 1 High St.: Michael W. Quinlan, Carriage Mfg.
• 9 High St., brick apartment building, partial view

[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

(ID) 035
(Slide ID) P 23-14
[Source: William Robert Murphy Collection]

Looking at the west side of Washington St. across from Station St. This is most likely a Fourth of July parade. The stores pictured were at this location in 1899 and 1900. From left to right:

• #188, James Terry, Shoe Repair (partial)
• #192, Thomas Mahon and Sons, Plumbers
• #194, Flately and Sweeney, Custom Tailors
• #198, John T. Cahill, Provisions
• #200, James B. Hand, House Painter and Decorator
• #208 Washington St., the Chace building, still standing (partial)

[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

From left to right:

• #21 Boylston St.: John H. Shea, Horse shoer, maintained his business there until 1913. In a 1909 photo there was a large sign hanging out front which is no longer visible.
• #164 (aka 166) Washington St. (corner of the Guild Building), first floor: Thomas H. McMahon, Grocer. In 1898, he took over the existing business in which he had been a clerk and maintained it until 1919 when the building was sold to and replaced by the Brookline Bank.
• #166 Washington St.: The Brookline Print. Visible on the upper left of the building are the names of Wallace B. Conant and Carl A. Smith. Smith joined Conant’s business in 1909 and is no longer listed with the business after 1911.
• #166 Washington St.: Forster Bros., Upholsterers. Visible on the far upper left of the building is the sign for “Upholsterers”. The brothers were there from 1908 - 1917
• 188 Washington St., C. H. Russell Co., Groceries
• 192 Washington St., Thomas Mahon and Sons, Plumbers
• 194 Washington St., Dominick Flatley, Tailor
• 198 Washington St., Newton Farm Provisions
• 200 Washington St., Hand Bros., Painters

(ID) 070
(Slide ID) P 6-2
[Source: William Robert Murphy Collection]

This is one of several photos taken within minutes of each other.

(ID) 069
(Slide ID) P 5-18
[Source: William Robert Murphy Collection]

Boylston St. looking west is on the left, Washington St. is on the right viewed from the Village Square. This is one of several photos taken within minutes of each other. The building at 9-11 Boylston has been removed and the south side of the Guild Building is about to be removed to accommodate the widening of Boylston St.
On Washington St. from left to right:

• The Guild Building
• 180 Washington St., Abraham Aselovitz, Tailor
• 188 Washington St., C. H. Russell Co., Groceries
• 192 Washington St., Thomas Mahon and Sons, Plumbers
• 194 Washington St., Dominick Flatley, Tailor
• 198 Washington St., Newton Farm Provisions
• 200 Washington St., Hand Bros., Painters
• 204 Washington St., E. A. Robart and Sons, Painters. The building still stands.
• 216 Washington St., Kenrick Bros., Plumbers

(ID) 072
(Slide ID) P 2-16
[Source: William Robert Murphy Collection]

Looking west on Boylston St. from the Village Square. This is one of several photos taken within minutes of each other. The building at 9-11 Boylston that adjoined the Guild Building has been removed and the south side of the Guild Building is about to be shaved off to accommodate the widening of Boylston St. On the right side of Boylston St., several apartment buildings are in the process of being moved back and are visibly ajar. Houses approved in May 1912 for relocation were numbers 75, 91, 95, 99, 107, 109 Boylston St.

(ID) 074
(Slide ID) P 5-15
[Source: William Robert Murphy Collection]

[Source: Leo Sullivan]

The Church was built in the early 1850s between Andem Place and Station Street to serve the growing Catholic, mostly Irish, population of Brookline. The first service was held on Christmas day, 1853. The current church on Linden Place was opened in 1886 and this building was later incorporated into the Holtzer Cabot factory on Station St.

The photo is one of a series of stereoviews taken circa 1873-1876 by Richard Hills and son. There is a bit of an optical illusion in the left foreground. Shown is the wooden fence from the property on the other side of Andem Place.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

Looking south on Washington St. The third Colonnade building is seen on the left it its original position, lower than the second Colonnade building. It can be seen today higher than the second building having been raised to accommodate the widening of the bridge in 1886. In the center rear of the photo, the individual signs for the stores in the Guild Block can be seen. Prominently displayed on the end of the building is the oval sign for F. Sullivan, Plumber. To the right of that is the house known as the “old Webber house” which had two stories or more of basement below the level of the bridge where it abutted the railroad tracks.
[Source: Brookline Public Library]

Washington St. looking south toward the fire station, in the distance, on lower Washington St.; Station St. is to the left; Guild Block building is visible in the rear center.

Looking north on Washington St.; brick building in foreground exists today. The building was raised significantly to match the height of the bridge before Station St. was added.

Looking north from Lower Washington St. Construction on the Hearthstone Plaza is in progress, the first stage of the leveling and reconstruction of the area then known as “The Marsh” by the Brookline Redevelopment Authority. Groundbreaking took place in February 1969 so the photo is late 1969/early 1970. Pearl St. is in the middle. Some buildings have already been razed for the large parking lot and the rest will be razed in the next few years. In the upper right is the large smoke stack of Brannen’s Laundry was there for 75 years and even considered to be an historic landmark of sorts when it had to be torn down in 1980.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

At Station St., looking west under the Washington St. bridge. Only entrance to White Place.

Tom Condon, Sr. Civil Engineer for Brookline writes:
It would be interesting to note that the roadway passing under the bridge to the right of the railroad was the only access to White Place at the time since it was a dead end street. When the bridge was later widened, it was also shortened so as to only cross the railroad tracks. The end of White Place was filled in to meet the grade of the new bridge. That is the reason for the retaining wall between White Place and the "D" line which is located about where the center support of the bridge is.

Looking east at the Washington St. bridge, then single-sided, prior to the elevation of White Place to meet it. The work to raise the grade and the adjoining houses was completed in late 1885, the first step in the 1886 expansion of the bridge to encompass both sides of Washington St. Earlier in 1885 there were contentious town meetings on how best to integrate White Place, then a private roadway which ran underneath the bridge, into the town’s planned widening of the bridge. It was decided to first elevate White Place to meet the existing bridge and then proceed with the expansion of the bridge and Washington St.

To the right is the building known as the “Old Webber House”. Across the bridge is the brick building at 163/167 Washington St. that was eventually razed in the late 1960s to make way for the Hearthstone building. The wood building to the left of it was replaced with 171 Washington St. when the other side of Washington St. was raised. On the far right of the photo is the corner of the porch of #10 White Place, the house of Adam Halfenstein (he changed his name to Halfenstine when he emigrated). In the front of that is his tailor shop at #2 White Place.

This photo of White Place was taken by well-known photographer James Wallace Black before the late-1885 elevation of the road to meet the Washington Street bridge. 1885 saw contentious town meetings on how best to integrate White Place, then a private roadway which ran underneath the bridge, into the town’s planned widening of the bridge. It was decided to first elevate White Place to meet the existing bridge and the proceed with the expansion of the bridge and Washington St. Several of the homes viewed here were raised and remain standing today much as they appear in this photograph. From left to right:

• “Halfenstine Tailor”. Adam Halfenstein emigrated from Prussia in 1847 and changed the family name to Halfenstine. It is not known if the current structure located at #2 White Place was constructed from the tailor’s store.
• #10 White Place, the Halfenstine house.
• #13/15 White Place
• #11 White Place
• #9 White Place
• #190 Washington St., rear. The building had several folds to conform to the slant of the road.

[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

This house, still standing, was built circa 1857 and is known as the Jonathan D. Long house. Long later moved to 358 Washington St. circa 1868 where he also ran his carpentry business.
[Source: Fleming Collection]