This photo may show the beginning of work for the widening of Beacon St. The group of men in the background are felling a tree; the piles of dirt might surround a tree stump; the fence along Beacon is being dismantled.

From the 1887 photo series taken just before the widening of Beacon St., most likely by Augustine H. Folsom, a Boston photographer.
incl. Streets

[Courtesy of the Digital Commonwealth (CC BY-NC-ND). From the Brookline Photograph Collection published by the Public Library of Brookline]