The Society
Historical Information
Photo & Map Collections
Exploring Brookline
Links
Program Archives
|
Recent Additions
 |
The Wightman Family, 43 Hawes St.
The family is seated on the steps of the mansion which was completed in late 1902 for George Henry Wightman, a wealthy steel magnate who worked with Andrew Carnegie. His son was an attorney who was married to Hazel Hotchkiss, a tennis champion. His daughter, Elizabeth Pope, lived across the street at 16 Monmouth and her family took over the mansion after the death of her mother in 1939. The building is used today by Boston University.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]
|
 |
Town Hall (3rd)
On the left are houses on Prospect St. which were removed by late 1898 for the new police station / court building that opened in the fall of 1900. On the right is the corner of the building housing the Robart brothers’ furniture business at 317 Washington St., still standing.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]
|
 |
Memorial Day Ceremony
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]
|
 |
64 Alton Place
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]
|
 |
14 Walter Ave.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]
|
 |
Osborne Rd.
Looking east from Naples Rd.
[Source: Joel Shield]
|
 |
Cameron St., 1917
Looking east from the rear of 17 Cameron St. with the rear of houses on Winthrop Place on the right.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
|
 |
Cameron St., 1917
Cameron St. circumscribed three sides of a square with the fourth side being Boylston St. This view is on the north segment looking north over the railroad tracks at the rear of 114 Davis Ave.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
|
 |
Boylston St. Near Dunster, 1900
Looking east, Dunster enters on the right.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
|
 |
300 Dudley St.
This house was originally built by John E. Thayer and was accessed from Warren St., both Lee St. and the extension of Dudley St. did not yet exist. A slightly confusing jumble of names resulted after his death. His widow married Robert C. Winthrop, her new husband moved into the house, and, for reasons unknown, that is how the house is now referenced. The Thayer’s daughter, Adele Granger Thayer, retained her name and later inherited the house. In 1900, it was acquired by Moses Williams in 1900. The 1900 footprint of the house is noticeably changed in the atlases as of 1907 but there is currently no record of any alterations. Two more owners ensued until the house was torn down after a massive fire in 1950.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
|
 |
300 Dudley St.
This house was originally built by John E. Thayer and was accessed from Warren St., both Lee St. and the extension of Dudley St. did not yet exist. A slightly confusing jumble of names resulted after his death. His widow married Robert C. Winthrop, her new husband moved into the house, and, for reasons unknown, that is how the house is now referenced. The Thayer’s daughter, Adele Granger Thayer, retained her name and later inherited the house. In 1900, it was acquired by Moses Williams in 1900. The 1900 footprint of the house is noticeably changed in the atlases as of 1907 but there is currently no record of any alterations. Two more owners ensued until the house was torn down after a massive fire in 1950.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
|
 |
View From the Chapel at School St. and Washington St., 1919
- On the left are houses on the north side of School St. including #87 in the middle which is still standing.
- Pierce Grammar School, south side of School St.
- Library, foreground right.
- Pierce Primary School, center.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
|
 |
Horse Races, circa 1930
The women, especially Mrs. Cabot, appear to be wearing riding outfits with matching bowler hats. The event is unidentified but is probably at The Country Club. From left to right:
- Olivia Ames Cabot (1893-1978). In 1927, she married Henry Bromfield Cabot Jr. who grew up on Heath St.
- Abigail Adams Homans (1879-1974), the seated woman in the multi-colored coat. She was the great-great-granddaughter of President John Adams and named after his wife. In 1907, she married Robert Homans, a lawyer, and they lived in Boston.
- Constance Wharton Smith (1894-1965), standing woman on the right. She was to married Henry St. John Smith and lived in Portland, Maine. By 1930 she was divorced and living in Boston with her two children.
|
 |
Lower Washington St., 1956
From left to right:
- 137 Washington St., Davis Restaurant
- 131 Washington St., Sagamore Liquors
- 127 Washington St., Hughes Pharmacy
- 123/123 Washington St.
- 115/117 Washington St.
- 105-113 Washington St. block including Brookline Village Shoe Store at #109, Mutual Auto School at #107, and the now-closed movie theater
- 103 Washington St., partial view of the White Tower restaurant
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
|
 |
Village Square
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
|
 |
Sales Brochure, Hotel Beaconsfield, 1731 Beacon St.
The Hotel Beaconsfield was built in 1905 as a luxury hotel serving both short-term and long-term stays. After a fire of suspicious origin in 1966 it was torn down leaving a trash-strewn site for a number of years until today’s Regency Park apartment complex was opened in 1980.
|
 |
Union Building, Walnut and High Streets
The Union Building, a massive stone structure located at the corner of High and Walnut streets, was erected by the Brookline Friendly Union, a group formed to improve the lives of the poor of Brookline. The building was to be the center for all the charitable activities in Brookline. There were rooms for club work, a hall for dramatic and musical entertainment, a coffee room, a gymnasium, a billiard room, a bowling alley, and a "conversation room in the basement for working men to congregate to discuss the affairs of the nation."
The building was razed in 1961 to make way for public housing as part of the Brookline Redevelopment Authority’s urban renewal project in the area known as The Farm.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]
|
 |
Union Building, Walnut and High Streets
The Union Building, a massive stone structure located at the corner of High and Walnut streets, was erected by the Brookline Friendly Union, a group formed to improve the lives of the poor of Brookline. The building was to be the center for all the charitable activities in Brookline. There were rooms for club work, a hall for dramatic and musical entertainment, a coffee room, a gymnasium, a billiard room, a bowling alley, and a "conversation room in the basement for working men to congregate to discuss the affairs of the nation."
The building was razed in 1961 to make way for public housing as part of the Brookline Redevelopment Authority’s urban renewal project in the area known as The Farm.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]
|
 |
Lincoln School Garden Project, September 1903
This is one of three experimental school garden projects initiated by the Brookline Education Society. Annie Crocker made the land adjacent to her house available to the Lincoln School. In May 1903, students aged 12 – 15 from the seventh and eighth grade were each given a 7 ft. by 9 ft. plot for growing vegetables. Several of the photos from this series appeared in the newspapers of the time.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]
|
 |
Lincoln School Garden Project, September 1903
Looking east. Apartment buildings on the north side of Boylston St. are visible on the left, 316 Boylston St. is on the right.
This is one of three experimental school garden projects initiated by the Brookline Education Society. Annie Crocker made the land adjacent to her house available to the Lincoln School. In May 1903, students aged 12 – 15 from the seventh and eighth grade were each given a 7 ft. by 9 ft. plot for growing vegetables. Several of the photos from this series appeared in the newspapers of the time.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]
|
|