Forest Hills, Boston
Forest Hills is a part of the
Forest Hills is primarily residential, although a number of small
History
The first
His descendant
In 1845, the Welds sold a large piece of land that would later become the Woodbourne area to William Minot, a fellow
The
In the early 20th century, the arrival of public transportation brought increasing numbers of working-class people and rich Yankee families abandoned Forest Hills. Some returned to ancestral haunts on
or even left the state entirely.Geographic locale
Borders
Forest Hills is not an officially designated area of the city nor have its borders been defined. Generally, "Forest Hills" refers to the area immediately surrounding the train station, plus the residential areas on the East side of Hyde Park Avenue extending perhaps as far as Cummins Highway or perhaps only as far as Walk Hill Street.[2]
More often, Forest Hills refers to a roughly triangular area lying between Hyde Park Avenue, American Legion Highway and Morton Street, except for those areas separated from the rest by the cemeteries.
This triangle is bisected by Walk Hill Street. The blocks south of Walk Hill Street were once regarded as the White City area of Jamaica Plain. Now they are regarded as the Woodbourne area.
Subsections
White City
In 1914, four apartment buildings covered with light stucco were erected on Hyde Park Ave far South of the train station. The complex was called "White City" in emulation of the World's Columbian Exposition a decade earlier.[1] The name was later borrowed by the White City Food Store and the White City Cleansers (sic) on the corner of Hyde Park Ave and Eldridge Road, thus putting the "White City" name on two large signs visible even to those whizzing by on Hyde Park Ave.[3] White City came to be regarded as a section of Forest Hills, but not a separate section of Jamaica Plain. Its borders were seen as Walk Hill Street, Hyde Park Ave and St. Michael's Cemetery. The area now thought of as "Woodbourne" was contained within.
White City was not an all-White area of Jamaica Plain. Jamaica Plain was always a diverse section of the City of Boston, as was made obvious by the diversity of Jamaica Plain High School, the most integrated school in the City of Boston in the late 1950s. White City Cleansers was renamed around 2003; its sign was the last prominent reminder of the name that was once given to this section of Jamaica Plain. Racists had tried to link the name, White City, associated with the white stucco apartment buildings, with race. However, white was simply the color of the stucco applied to two buildings on Hyde Park Ave.
Woodbourne
Woodbourne Historic District | |
Location | Roughly bounded by Walk Hill, Goodway, and Wachusett Sts., Boston, Massachusetts |
---|---|
Coordinates | 42°17′30″N 71°6′58″W / 42.29167°N 71.11611°W |
Built | 1911 |
Architect | multiple |
Architectural style | Queen Anne, Shingle Style, et al. |
NRHP reference No. | 99000593[4] |
Added to NRHP | June 04, 1999 |
The Woodbourne Historic District is a historic residential subdivision in Forest Hills. It consists of a 30-acre (12 ha) parcel of land southwest of Forest Hills Cemetery, roughly bounded by Walk Hill Street, Goodway Road, and Wachusett Street. This area was developed into house lots between 1890 and 1933 by financier Robert Winsor in an effort to create a sort of utopian community for middle-class families. Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. was responsible for some of its layout.[5]
The "bourne" element in streets such as Southbourne and Bournedale is taken from Bourne Street, a road established around 1820. Bourne Street begins at Walk Hill Street across from Forest Hills Cemetery, meanders through a scenic residential area and St. Michael's cemetery, then comes to an end at Canterbury Street and Mt. Hope Cemetery. The most distinctive homes in this section are designed to resemble gabled English cottages and are situated around a common courtyard. While the means to flatten out this terrain was readily available, developers chose to retain the uneven character of the landscape to preserve a country-like estate feel.[5]
Since Woodbourne was designated as a historic district in 1999, homeowners and realtors have begun advertising homes there as belonging to the "Woodbourne area" rather than saying that they are in "Forest Hills". Nevertheless, Woodbourne was designed and advertised with the proximity of the train station in mind, was an integral part of the
Parks, cemeteries, and green space
Forest Hills is surrounded by the three final "links" of the Emerald Necklace park system designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the 19th century: Arnold Arboretum, Arborway and Franklin Park. While teaching on "Schoolmaster's Hill" in Franklin Park, Ralph Waldo Emerson boarded on Morton Street near present-day Forest Hills Station in the same house used by feminist Margaret Fuller.[6]
There is a baseball field at the top of Wachusett Street which is bordered by trees and adjacent to the well-maintained Parkman Playground. There are also small, nameless patches of woodland, such as the one between Patten Street and Eldridge Road.
Outcroppings of Roxbury puddingstone dot the landscape, both within the green areas and in unexpected locations, such as the immense lump of puddingstone on Wachusett Street across from the Parkman School.
A large portion of Forest Hills is occupied by
Education
Parkman School
In 1896, the City of Boston acquired an acre of land from
Francis Parkman School has housed two city educational programs: the Barton Assessment Center and The Young Achievers School, a city-wide pilot school dedicated to science and mathematics. The later program also occupies space in the Upham Church and school officials are considering expansion into one or more of the properties that comprise St. Andrew's.[9] In September 2009 the Young Achievers School moved out of the building to a new home in Mattapan[10] and the new Boston Teachers Union (BTU) Pilot school moved into the building.[11]
Seaver School
On the late 1920s, the City of Boston acquired land for a school to be built between Eldridge Road and Northbourne. The city leveled the parcel and built a huge concrete retaining wall in the rear. The red brick building was designed with a Georgian Revival style by John F. Cullen and completed in 1930. Side wings were added the following year.
The school was eventually named after Edwin P. Seaver, Superintendent of Schools in Boston from 1880 to 1904. For much of the 20th century, this school provided education for grades K-8. Many local children attended kindergarten here, even those who would later attend St. Andrew's School from 1st grade and beyond.
The Edwin P. Seaver building was sold by the city and turned into condominiums in 1983 by the Finch/Abbey Group and is now one of the largest residential buildings in Forest Hills. The former schoolyards serve as parking for residents.
Churches
Former St. Andrew's Parish (now Bethel AME Church)
St. Andrew the Apostle Church was built by the
In 1942, St. Andrew the Apostle School was opened adjacent to the church. A
The 1970s
A thriving parish for much of the 20th century, St. Andrew's suffered a change at the end of the century. The surrounding area became increasingly
St. Andrew's Church closed in 2000, although
In 2008, St. Andrews church, school, rectory, and convent were purchased by the Bethel African Methodist Church, a 20-year-old church and longtime owner and occupant of the Parkside Christian School building on nearby Forest Hills Street.[16] In August 2008, Bethel African Methodist Church leased the St. Andrews school building to the MATCH Charter School[17] to launch its new grade 6-8 middle school, and the kindergarten building to the Young Achievers Pilot School[18] to be used as an arts space.
Upham Church
Upham Memorial Church, a small Methodist church at the corner of Wachusett and Patten Streets, was completed in 1901. Previously, Forest Hills Methodist Society had been holding services in a rented hall in the Forest Hills area. Designed by James G. Hutchinson in a Tudor Revival style, this wooden church was built with a corner tower and half-timbering. A later addition was added in 1925.
As this area became increasingly Catholic after World War II, attendance dropped sharply. The church closed in 1969 and remained boarded up and unused until acquired by the Knights of Columbus in 1977. The K's of C added aluminum siding shortly thereafter, obscuring much of the architectural details of the original structure.
This building, along with the Parkman School, used to house The Young Achievers School, a city-wide pilot school. The building was converted to condos after The Young Achievers School relocated to Mattapan.
Transport
Forest Hills Station
Forest Hills is served by the
This station created the impetus for development of the local area since the
The original Forest Hills Station was a large
The Monsignor William J. Casey Overpass (a.k.a. Morton Street overpass) stood just north of the station, was built in the 1950s to bypass Forest Hills and connect the Arborway to Morton Street. and was demolished in 2015.
Toll Gate Bridge
Before the trains were built in the 1830s, the area that is now Forest Hills Station was known as (the) Toll Gate. The
At the facility that stood at what is now the MBTA station, carts and wagons from Roxbury and environs were weighed and charged a toll before being allowed onto the privately owned turnpike. The turnpike became unprofitable and changed into a public road in 1857. In 1874, it was renamed Washington Street and it remains one of the longest streets in the Commonwealth.[20] Long after the train station had acquired the name "Forest Hills", its older identity was preserved in the name of the Toll Gate Bridge, a metal footbridge that crossed the railroad tracks to Washington Street at the point where Walk Hill Street meets Hyde Park Avenue.
In a state of disrepair, the stairs on both sides were removed during the 1990s after Ukraine Way (nearer the station) provided a crossing point for both pedestrians and traffic. The remaining bridge span was torn down in 2012. Adjacent to the footbridge entrance, the small, neglected Tollgate Catholic graveyard containing 19th and early 20th century headstones sits along Hyde Park Avenue. A monument to
Notes and references
Notes
- ^ a b "Jamaica Plain Historical Society - '20th Century' Editor - - Woodbourne and the Boston 1915 Movement". jphs.org. Archived from the original on June 3, 2012. Retrieved December 8, 2006.
- realtor. For example
The Canterbury urban wild area southeast of the Forest Hills Cemetery between Canterbury Street and American Legion Highway has an ambiguous identity. Under various definitions, the Canterbury parcel is a part of Roslindale, Jamaica Plain, and Mattapan.
("Neighborhood boundaries", Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston) - ^ "Cleansers", pronounced "Cleaners", is still seen on signs in the Boston-area.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ a b "Jamaica Plain Historical Society - 'Locales' Editor - - Woodbourne: Summer House to Philanthropic Housing". jphs.org. January 2004.
- ^ "Jamaica Plain Historical Society - 'Resources' Editor - - A Guide to Jamaica Plain". jphs.org. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved December 8, 2006.
- ^ Rappaport Institute Archived September 7, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- Jamaica Plain.
- ^ Jamaica Plain Gazette Archived October 28, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [1] Archived June 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Boston Teachers Union School | Boston Public Schools". Archived from the original on June 12, 2010. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
- prep schools.
- ^ "Boston Globe / Spotlight / Abuse in the Catholic Church / The Geoghan case". boston.com.
- ^ Nelson, Jennifer (April 3, 2006). "Elizabeth Principe, 54, Jamaica Plain teacher". Boston.com.
- ^ Paulson, Michael (June 7, 2005). "Catholic school set for closing". Boston.com.
- ^ [2] Bethel African Methodist Church
- ^ [3] MATCH Charter School
- ^ "Young Achievers Science And Math Pilot School". youngachieversschool.org.
- ^ Dedham Historical Society Archived December 10, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Jamaica Plain Historical Society - 'Locales' Editor - - Woodbourne Historic District". jphs.org. January 2004.
References
- Boston Area Homes Archived 2006-11-14 at the Wayback Machine
- Boston Globe, "Catholic school set for closing"
- Boston Globe, "Church allowed abuse by priest"
- Dedham Historical Society, "A capsule history of Dedham"
- Harvard Magazine, "The Welds of Harvard Yard"
- Jamaica Plain Gazette, October 20, 2006 Archived October 28, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- Jamaica Plain Historical Society, Boston Daily Globe article from July 5, 1908
- Jamaica Plain Historical Society, "Guide to Jamaica Plain"
- Jamaica Plain Historical Society, "Weld Family"
- Jamaica Plain Historical Society, "Woodbourne and the Boston 1915 Movement"
- Jamaica Plain Historical Society, "Woodbourne Historic District"
- Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, "Forest Hills MBTA Station"
- Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, "Forest Hills Street"
Bibliography
- Bergeron, Ralph. Housing the Middle Class Man, Technical World 14, no. 2, April 1913
- Boston Dwelling House Company. Woodbourne: A Real Estate Development of the Boston Dwelling House Company. Boston: Walton Advertising and Printing Co..
- Boston American. "Scientific Model House Community", December 19, 1911
- Boston Herald. Articles (April 24, 1899; May 8, 1904; April 18, 1913; July 3, 6, 1913)
- Candee, Richard and Greer Hardwicke. Early Twentieth Century Reform Housing by Kilham & Hopkins Architects of Boston, Winterthur Portfolio, Spring 1987, no. 1, vol. 22.
- Channing, K.M. Minot Family Letters, 1773 -1871. Sherborn, Mass., 1957.
- City of Boston. Inspectional Services Department. Building permits.
- Croly, Herbert. "The Work of Kilham & Hopkins, Architects of Boston, Mass." Architectural Record 31, no. 2 (Feb. 1912).
- Drake, Francis S. The Town of Roxbury. Boston: Alfred Mudge and Son, 1878.
- Eggat, Gerald. Richard Olney, Evolution of a Statesman. 1847.
- A Genealogical Record of the Minot Family in America and New England. Boston, 1897.
- Heath, Richard. Summer House to Garden Suburb: A History of Woodbourne in the Forest Hills Section of Jamaica Plain, Boston, 1997.
- O'Connor, Thomas H. Bibles, Brahmins, and Bosses: A Short History of Boston.Trustees of the Public Library of the City of Boston, 1984.
- O'Connor, Thomas H. Boston Catholics: A History of the Church and Its People. Northeastern University Press, 2000.