Sign in the front says Newton St. and lists mileages to various locations

“The almshouse was constructed in 1883 on Newton Street, near the Putterham School. The almshouse provided Brookline poor with shelter, food, and work, and produced and sold items such as wood, potatoes, and hay. The almshouse was converted to an infirmary in 1931. On the site of the almshouse, the Town built various hospitals including the first hospital in 1894, later named the Contagious Disease Hospital. In 1901, a complex of six buildings were constructed to house patients with diptheria and scarlet fever. In 1916, a new tuberculosis hospital was opened. All of the hospitals and the old almshouse were demolished in 1954.” [source: brooklinema.gov]

Brookline Water Works High Pumping Station visible behind the school.

[Source: Joel Shield]

Designed in 1884, the building is no longer standing but the property is still in use by the water department. The left side of the building was the dwelling house for the engineer.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

Designed in 1884, the building is no longer standing but the property is still in use by the water department. The left side of the building was the dwelling house for the engineer. The telephone pole indicates that this photo is more recent than other versions.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

Designed in 1884, the building is no longer standing but the property is still in use by the water department. The left side of the building was the dwelling house for the engineer.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

A bronze tablet, still in place today, was affixed to the building above the front two windows and unveiled at this afternoon ceremony. On the right the tablet is covered with a cloth and there are poles leading up to it, presumably in preparation for the unveiling. A presentation was given by Rebecca (Hyde) Silsby, perhaps the standing woman facing the group in the photo, who taught at the school from 1871-1877 and whose sister, Mary Elizabeth Hyde, taught there from 1887-1902.

The official name for the school, “Newton Street School”, was retired with the unveiling and changed back to its historical version, “The Putterham School”.

Photo by Harris W. Reynolds

Grove & Newton Sts.,

Looking northwest at the rear of 274 Dean Rd. on the left and, left to right: #275 and #271.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

Looking northwest at the rear of houses on Dean Rd. From left to right: #274, #266, #260.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

Looking southeast (from left to right): at 12/16 Ackers Ave., 22 Ackers Ave. and 10 Loveland Rd.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

275 Cypress St., building still standing.

Page 7, plate 7282. From an album of fifty photographs of Brookline schools, classrooms, and examples of clay modeling, wood-working, and cooking. Produced for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

275 Cypress St., building still standing. For the 1891-1892 school session Harriet E. Hart was listed as the principal; Mary A. O'Hearn, Annie M. Utley, Dora T. Maine were listed as teachers.

There are seven student names listed on the blackboard, five girls and two boys. They are all children who lived within a few blocks of the school in the neighborhood known as "The Point", all from families of fairly-recent immigrants (4-5 from Ireland, 2 from England). Remarkably, all five of the girls appear to have remained living with family members throughout their lives, never marrying. The children named are:

• Mary T. Mahoney. The family lived at 18 Roberts St. and her father was a laborer who emigrated from Ireland. A dressmaker, she never married and lived her entire life with family members within a few blocks of that address.
• Willie Herbert may be Wilwyn Bret Herbert whose father emigrated from England in 1880 and later lived elsewhere in Brookline but there is no other supporting evidence for his identity.
• Gertrude F. Burns lived until the age of about 29 with her family at 55 Franklin St. She later worked as a domestic nurse but there is no more information about her after 1915.
• John Lally lived at 23 Roberts St. His father emigrated from Galway, Ireland in 1872 and worked for years as a coachman for the Henry Poor estate on Walnut St., a few blocks away.
• Sarah May McAdams lived at 5 Roberts St. Her father’s father emigrated from Ireland, her father worked as a carpenter. One of ten children, she later worked in a factory as an armature winder, lived with her parents until their deaths, and never marrying.
• Nellie Beverley is most likely Frederica Beverley who lived on Chestnut St., directly across the street from the Charles Sargent estate where her father worked as the butler. Her eight-year-old sister, Lena, would have been too old for this class but cannot be ruled out as the match. Frederica remained unmarried, living with family members in Brookline for the remainder of her life.
• Mary Ellen Nora McMahan lived on Cypress Court. Her father had emigrated from Dublin and was a herdsman at the time after having been a coachman for several years. She lived with family members for years and remained unmarried.

Page 8, plate 7283. From an album of fifty photographs of Brookline schools, classrooms, and examples of clay modeling, wood-working, and cooking. Produced for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

275 Cypress St., building still standing. For the 1891-1892 school session Harriet E. Hart was listed as the principal; Mary A. O'Hearn, Annie M. Utley, Dora T. Maine were listed as teachers.

Page 9, plate 7283-2. From an album of fifty photographs of Brookline schools, classrooms, and examples of clay modeling, wood-working, and cooking. Produced for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

275 Cypress St., still standing.

Looking south from Franklin St. From left to right, all still standing:

• 17 Henry St., at the very back
• Possibly 16 Henry St.
• The pair of houses at 160 and 156 Chestnut St.
• the rear corner of 106 Franklin St., in the foreground

In 1903, there was an initiative in town to broaden educational efforts by engaging school students in maintaining gardens. For the Sewall School, a Mr. Kelly, a local landowner, allowed the use of several of his empty housing lots that were directly across Franklin St. from the school. Each student in grades one through four was given a small plot to manage.
[ref. The Brookline Chronicle, November 7, 1903]
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]