Brookline Historical Society
Recent Additions

House and Farm of Joshua Griggs, Later David Coolidge
At about today's 446 Harvard St. between Thorndike and Coolidge Sts.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
Charles H. Stearns House, 265 Harvard St.
Viewed from Longwood Ave. The driveway entrance is located to the left rear at the apex of Harvard St. and Longwood Ave. No longer standing.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]
Samuel Philbrick House, 182 Walnut St.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
9 Toxteth St.
This house, which is still standing, was built as part of the 1843-1844 development of the Linden St. area and was a stop on the Underground Railroad. It was the “cottage” of William Ingersoll and Sarah Bowditch until 1867 when they moved to a larger house at 225 Tappan St.

In June, 1849, the Bowditches held a picnic for a group of black children, most of them associated with the Abiel Smith School on Beacon Hill (the building is in use today as Boston's Museum of African American History). The children were carried to Brookline and then back to Boston on the recently completed Brookline Village line of the railroad. The picnic, as described in the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, was "an occasion of unalloyed satisfaction… The merry group employed their time to the best advantage, in swinging, dancing, nimbly pursuing each other, singing the songs of freedom, gathering flowers, and especially in disposing of the refreshments which were so bountifully provided for them." Henry "Box" Brown, who had escaped from slavery a few months earlier by having himself mailed in a box, was there and spoke to the children. Other attendees included anti-slavery activists from Brookline and Boston, as well as the ministers of the local Unitarian and Baptist churches.

From the report of the Massachusetts Historical Commission:
“Before the Civil War, he was a firm believer in abolition, becoming active in both Brookline and Boston efforts. He belonged to the Boston Vigilance Committee. Bowditch, along with Edward Atkinson and Edward Philbrick, participated actively in the fight against slavery. Besides trying to sway public opinion through meetings and lectures, Bowditch used his house for sheltering fugitive slaves. In 1849-1850, a South Carolina couple arrived in Boston on their way to freedom. They spoke at the Brookline Town Hall and stayed at #9 Toxteth. From there they went to other residences in town. At another time, Bowditch drove a slave from the brig Cameo from Boston to Concord and returned home in time for breakfast. Perhaps the most illustrious guest during this period was John Brown's son. The young man was hidden here after his father's execution for his involvement in the Harper's Ferry raid.“
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]
347 Harvard St., Devotion House, 1914
Construction materials can be seen by the car in front of the newly-built third building of the Devotion School which is still standing.
[Source: Historic New England]
Home of Amos Lawrence, Prescott St.
Looking northwest at the rear of the Prescott St. house of Amos Lawrence viewed from the location of present-day Carlton St. The house was later turned ninety degrees counter clockwise and moved a small distance to its present location at 135 Ivy St., now the home of the president of Boston University.
[Source: Historic New England]
Relocation of Former Amos Lawrence House From Prescott St. to Ivy St., Summer 1899
The house was built in 1851 on Prescott St. by Amos Lawrence. After his death in 1886, ownership of the house was assumed by his daughter, Hettie Cunningham. By 1899, Euston St. had been opened as a public way along with an extension of Carlton St. northward from Ivy St. to Mountfort St. This created a new block suitable for development and the Cunninghams divided the block into a 2 x 3 matrix of individual lots. The house is being is being turned ninety degrees counter clockwise and moved a small distance from the center of the block to the pair of lots at the corner of Carlton and Ivy where the house is at its present location of 135 Ivy St., now the home of the president of Boston University.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
Original Home of Amos Lawrence, Prescott St.
Looking southeast at the original location of the house on Prescott St. Ivy St. is to the right and a faint image of the tower of the Episcopal Church of Our Saviour on the corner of Carlton and Monmouth can be glimpsed in the distance on the right. The house was built in 1851 by Amos Lawrence and, in the summer of 1899, turned ninety degrees counter clockwise and moved a small distance to its present location at 135 Ivy St. where it is now the home of the president of Boston University.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
347 Harvard St., Devotion House
On the left is a small outbuilding, not seen in older photos or viewed on atlases of the time, whose purpose and origin have not yet determined. Directly behind it, the rear corner of the newly-built Combination Engine fire house on Devotion St. can be glimpsed. To the right of the fire house is the carriage barn of 60 Babcock St. and the long fence going behind the properties on Babcock St. On the far right is the 1892 Devotion School building.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
347 Harvard St., Devotion House, circa 1898
The barn of the Edward Devotion house has been demolished in preparation for the construction of the new wing of the Devotion School. On the extreme left, the corner of 20 Stedman St., constructed in 1898, is barely visible next to the tree. There is a small outbuilding just to the left of the Devotion house, not seen in older photos or viewed on atlases of the time. Its purpose and origin have not yet determined. The rear of the newly-built Combination Engine fire house on Devotion St. can be seen along with a small section of its tower. To the right is the carriage barn of 60 Babcock St. and the long fence going behind the properties on Babcock St.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
130 Warren St.
Built in 1840, still standing.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
Beacon St. at Tappan St., 1887
Standing on the White property looking south at Tappan 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]
49 Francis St., The Riverdale Casino
Looking northwest, the playground is behind the house. The so-called casino was actually a recreational clubhouse for men built to look like a house in order to blend in with the neighborhood. It is no longer standing and its land has been taken over by the playground.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
49 Francis St., The Riverdale Casino
Looking northwest, the playground is behind the house. The so-called casino was actually a recreational clubhouse for men built to look like a house in order to blend in with the neighborhood. It is no longer standing and its land has been taken over by the playground. To the left is 53 Francis St., no longer standing and also part of the playground today.
Note the feeder station hydrant used by the dirt-street-watering carts.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
House of Sherman Whipple, 447 Warren St.
No longer standing.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
William Bowditch House, Warren St.
Located just south of Boylston St., no longer standing.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
Charles Eliot House, Warren St.
The best guess is that this was previously the house of A. C. Wheelwright located near today’s Hillside Rd. off Warren St. Charles Eliot was a rising star and partner in the landscape architecture firm of Frederick Law Olmsted, then known as Olmsted, Olmsted and Eliot. He died at the age of 37.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
215 Warren St.
Looking from Cottage St., still standing
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
Druce-Craft House, on the Denny Farm, Newton St.
This house stood roughly where today’s 648 Newton St. is located, a little east of LaGrange St. An approximate timeline is:
  • House built in the late 1600s by Vincent Druce, later assumed by his son. Then passed to the family of Ebenezer Craft and known as “Craft’s place”
  • 1859: Francis Parkman Denny, Sr. moves into the house
  • 1860: Denny marries Emily Parker Groom
  • 1871: Denny moves into a new house up the hill. Charles R. Dow, Denny’s farmer, takes over the Newton St. house
  • 1872: Denny dies. Wife and family remain in the house on the hill
  • Circa 1890: Charles R. Dow changes primary house to Newton St. at Grove St.
  • Circa 1898: the land owned by Denny is purchased by investors and changed to a subdivision of house lots. Wolcott Rd. created and farm house torn down

[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
Cameron St., 1917
Looking north on Cameron St. On the far right the corner of 15 Cameron St. is visible, still standing. In the distance across the railroad tracks the rear of 5 Elm St. is visible, still standing.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]
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