Looking east on Beacon St. to the left, Washington St. is on the right. From left to right:

• The remains of the tannery. It is probable that it was being dismantled in preparation for the widening of Beacon St.
• The gasometer storage tank of the Boston Gas. Co.
• The man standing against the fence may be the photographer’s assistant.
• A house owned by Eben Jordan.

From the 1887 photo series taken just before the widening of Beacon St., most likely by Augustine H. Folsom, a Boston photographer. This photo contains the mystery man, here standing against the fence, who was posed in a number of the 1887 photos.

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