Boston Flora

Tag: Jamaica Plain Historical Society

  • Sunday, January 26, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Boston’s Orange Line

    The story of the Orange Line is the story of Boston: always in flux but trailed by its long history. Since 1901, this rail line’s configuration has evolved in response to changes in the city, society, and technology. Hazardous sections have been eliminated, ownership has transitioned from private to public, and the line has been rerouted to serve growing suburbs and to use land cleared for the failed Inner Belt. Both its northern terminus, which shifted from Everett to Malden, and the southern route, realigned from Washington Street to the Southwest Corridor, have seen dramatic transformations that have in turn changed riders’ lives. Today, the line’s 10 miles of track curve through many Greater Boston communities, serving thousands along the way.

    The Jamaica Plain Historical Society will host an authors book talk on Sunday, January 26, from 3 – 5 at Doyle’s, 3484 Washington Street, Jamaica Plain. The authors Jeremy C. Fox and Andrew Elder are JP residents and will have copies of the book for sale. Free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served (but cash bar).

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  • Sunday, December 8, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm – History of the Boston Children’s Museum

    On Sunday, December 8, from 3 – 5, the Jamaica Plain Historical Society and the JP Forum will present a free lecture entitled History of the Boston Children’s Museum at the Loring-Greenough House, 12 South Street. For over 100 years Boston Children’s Museum has been engaging children in joyful discovery experiences that instill an appreciation of our world, develop foundational skills, and spark a lifelong love of learning. In 1913, the Museum opened its doors at Pinebank in Jamaica Plain. Since then, the Museum has grown from a museum rooted in a single neighborhood to an urban museum serving the entire city of Boston and beyond. Come learn about the history of the Museum, what has changed and what has stood the test of time.  The speakers are Leslie Swartz, Senior VP of Research and Development at Boston Children’s Museum and special guest Ted Walsh, a lifelong resident of JP who has collaborated on centennial exhibit materials based on his memories of visits to BCM.  Public is welcome, and although this is a free lecture, a $5 donation will be gratefully accepted.

    http://skyscraperpics.home.comcast.net/~skyscraperpics/pinebank3.jpg

  • Tuesday, November 19, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Jamaica Plain’s Historic Walter Street Burying Ground

    The Jamaica Plain Historical Society will present a talk on the Walter Street Burying Ground on Tuesday, November 19, from 7 – 8 at the Loring-Greenough House, 12 South Street, Jamaica Plain.  The Loring-Greenough House, Jamaica Plain’s 1760 colonial mansion, once had a family graveyard on its grounds. However, it had to be relocated as the area developed. The “residents” were moved to what was orginally the graveyard of the Second Parish Church in Roxbury, the Walter Street Burial Ground. The talk will focus on who is buried at the Walter Street Burial Ground, what graves have survived the test of time and what is still unknown about the site. Chris Child, Genealogist at the New England Historic Genealogical Society will be the speaker.  Free and open to the public.  For more information visit www.jphs.org.

    http://news.harvard.edu/gazette//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/070511_Arboretum_249_500.jpg

  • Wednesday, October 2, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Lost Breweries of Roxbury and Jamaica Plain

    In 1900, Boston had the most breweries per person of any city in the country – and the overwhelming majority of them were in the Stony Brook area of Roxbury and Jamaica Plain.
    During the heyday of Boston breweries, this area was the center of the industry with at least 24 breweries along the banks of the Stony Brook. On Wednesday, October 2, beginning at 7 pm at The Urbano Project, 29 Germania Street (in the Brewery Complex) earn about about the history of brewing in Boston and the people who established the breweries in our city. The speaker is Michael Reiskind, vice-president and historian of the Jamaica Plain Historical Society, who has been researching Boston’s historic breweries for twenty years. The event is free and open to the public. Co-sponsored by Haley House, Discover Roxbury, Roxbury Historical Society and the Jamaica Plain Historical Society.

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  • Saturday, August 10, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm – Walking Tour of Jamaica Pond

    Once a district that only included the houses of Boston’s elite, Jamaica Pond later was put to industrial use as tons of ice were harvested there each winter (see below.) Learn about the movers and shakers such as Francis Parkman and James Michael Curley who made their homes on the Pond’s shores. Discover how the Pond was transformed from private estates and warehouses into the parkland we know today. This August 10 walking tour will begin at 11 am at the Bandstand on Pond Street and Jamaicaway, and is sponsored by the Jamaica Plain Historical Society, www.jphs.org.

    http://www.jphs.org/storage/ice_harvest/harvest1.jpg

  • Sunday, April 21, 2:00 pm – Historic Interiors: Evolution and Preservation

    Historic interiors are an often overlooked element of historic properties which can tell a compelling story of a house’s history and evolution over time. Join Historic New England’s Sally Zimmerman and Jess Phelps as they chart home interiors over time and explore options and tools for protecting these unique components of our collective built heritage, on Sunday, April 21, 2:00 P.M. in Eliot Hall (home of the Footlight Club), 7A Eliot Street in Jamaica Plain.  Co-sponsored by the Jamaica Plain Historical Society and the Footlight Club.

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Eliot_Hall_Jamaica_Plain_Boston_MA_02.jpg/640px-Eliot_Hall_Jamaica_Plain_Boston_MA_02.jpg

  • Sunday, February 3, 3:00 pm – Howard Johnson’s 28 Flavors

    For most of the twentieth century the orange roof of Howard Johnson’s was a familiar sight along the great American roadside. When a motorist spotted a Howard Johnson’s, they knew exactly what to expect – with standardized menus and building designs, a Howard Johnson’s miles away felt as familiar and comforting as the one back home. Howard Johnson restaurants, in attractive Colonial Revival buildings sporting orange roofs and sea blue shutters opened throughout the New England area. By the late 1930’s, with the popularity of the automobile, these restaurants were opened on major roads and interstate highways where the traveling public could be assured of consistently high quality foods that were the same served locally whether in Maine or Florida. Anthony M. Sammarco has lectured frequently on local Boston history and is the author of more than fifty books on the history of Boston and surrounding cities and towns. His efforts to make history more accessible to the general public have led to many awards and honors. He teaches history at the Urban College of Boston. Anthony will speak on Sunday, February 3, 2013 at the St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Church, 24 Orchard Hill Road in Jamaica Plain. This event is sponsored by the Jamaica Plain Historical Society and is free and open to the public.  For details, contact jphs@jphs.org.

  • Monday, November 19, 6:00 pm – Conservation of Matter: The Fall and Rise of Boston’s Elevated Subway

    On November 19 at 6:00 p.m. the Jamaica Plain Historical Society will show the movie, “Conservation of Matter: The Fall and Rise of Boston’s Elevated Subway“, at the Connolly Branch Library in Jamaica Plain. This is a repeat showing of the film which was shown at the Loring-Greenough House previously. This documentary follows the journey of 100,000 tons of steel from the Boston Elevated Subway, which was erected in 1898, demolished in 1987, and then shipped eight thousand miles away to Japan to be melted and made into steel beams. These beams then cross the ocean again, where they are fabricated into a remarkable new structure in a surprising location. For complete information visit www.jphs.org.

  • Sunday, September 30, 3:00 pm – Big Top in the Bay State

    Peter Drummey of the Massachusetts Historical Society will speak on the history of circuses in our state. Learn about the advent and impact of circus trains, the use of multiple rings, and how this early history shaped the circus that we know and love today. Sponsored by JP Reads and the Jamaica Plain Historical Society. Sunday, September 30 at 3:00 p.m. at the Urbano Project in the Brewery Complex, 284 Amory Street, Jamaica Plain.

  • Saturdays, July 7 – September 29, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm – Historic Walking Tours of Jamaica Plain

    The Jamaica Plain Historical Society conducts tours of historic areas of Jamaica Plain each Saturday in July, beginning at 11:00 am, and lasting between 60 and 90 minutes.  The tours are free, open to the public, and are canceled in case of heavy rain.  No reservations are required – just meet the guide at the location listed below.

    July 7 (also repeated August 25) – Sumner Hill. View a sumptuous sampling of 19th-century Victorian houses — one of the finest collections of “painted ladies” outside of San Francisco. The tour includes the ancestral home of the founder of the Dole Pineapple Company, as well as the homes of several early feminists and an anti-racism activist. Sumner Hill was designated a National Historic District in 1987.  Leaves from Loring-Greenough House, 12 South St.

    July 14 (also repeated September 1) – Stony Brook. Explore a fascinating industrial area at the geographic heart of Boston that includes 19th-century tannery and brewery buildings, the homes of early German settlers, and today’s Samuel Adams beer company. In the 1970s, a coalition of community groups joined together to block construction of the Southwest Expressway through Jamaica Plain and other Boston neighborhoods. Today, the Southwest Corridor Park that runs through the Stony Brook neighborhood stands as a testament to the power of community activism.  Leaves from Stony Brook Orange Line T station.

    July 21 (also repeated September 8) – Hyde Square. Learn about 1840s Hyde Square when German and Irish immigrants transformed the neighborhood with their businesses, schools, and institutions. See how in the early 1960s, Hyde Square changed again when Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Dominican immigrants transformed it into Boston’s first predominantly Hispanic neighborhood. This tour also takes us to the home of Maud Cuney Hare, a prominent music historian and one of only two black women students at the New England Conservatory of Music in 1890. You will also learn about the property currently housing the MSPCA’s Angell Memorial animal hospital which was once the site of the Perkins School for the Blind. The tour will also walk through the Sunnyside neighborhood, the site of homes built by philanthropist Robert Treat Paine from 1889 to 1899 as a “worker’s utopia” for working families.  Assemble in front of Sorella’s, 388 Centre St.

    July 28 (also repeated September 15) – Green Street. Laid out in 1836, the street played a key role in Jamaica Plain’s development, functioning as a residential, commercial, and transportation conduit in the lives of the district’s residents. Although Green Street was subdivided as early as 1851 for stores, factories and houses, it was not extensively developed until the late 1870s with construction continuing until the early 1900s. The Bowditch School was completed in 1892, and early in the 20th century the United States Post Office moved from its location on Call Street at Woolsey Square to its new location at the corner of Green and Cheshire Streets. Leaves from Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center, 640 Centre St.

    August 4 (also repeated September 22) – Woodbourne. This neighborhood developed from 19th-century summer estates into a model suburban enclave. It contains examples representative of New England architecture with designs by local architects and builders. It also contains an unusual garden city model housing development by the Boston Dwelling House Company celebrating the centennial of its founding in 2012. Leaves from Bethel AME church steps, corner of Walk Hill and Wachusett Sts.

    August 11 (also repeated September 29) – Jamaica Pond. Once a gathering point for Boston’s elite, the Pond had previously been put to industrial use as tons of ice were harvested there each winter. Learn about the movers and shakers such as Francis Parkman who made their homes on the Pond’s shores. Discover how the Pond was transformed from private estates and warehouses into the parkland we know today. Leaves from the Bandstand, Pond St. and Jamaicaway.

    For more information, visit www.jphs.org.