Looking northwest on Washington St. Cypress Ave. enters on the left. On the left is the corner of a building with the letters “ORY” visible, it is not identified.

Across the street is the house known as the “Samuel Croft house” where Samuel Croft, his namesake son, and multiple generations of the Croft family lived. It is reported that the house was later moved to Thayer Place but this has not been verified. It is also where Susanna Backus, a black woman who was a well-known figure in Brookline, worked as a servant for many years. Her enslaved father, who worked as a blacksmith in Dorchester, had gained his freedom and married an indigenous woman, Molly Hill, who lived in Brookline.
incl. Streets

Lantern Slide Collection #43