Fort Hill History

Received this wonderful not from Mary Jo and thought I would share…

“Hi, I was thrilled to find your site. We lived in the Hotel Eliot from about 1950-1953, it was the happiest place I ever lived! I remember some of the other family names, a wonderful variety of nationalities. We had the Norfolk house next door with a playground. The inside of the hotel had a grand staircase with marble. There was a hidden staircase inside the regular staircase, I think it was supposed to be for the staff. A courtyard in the back allowed safe off street play, while mothers could keep an eye on the children with just a glance out the window. I didn’t know until many, many years later, it was the 1950’s version of affordable housing! But, we loved it.”

First post in a long while, but I couldn’t miss this.

The Boston Globe has a nice write-up of the Boston Public Library’s “We are One” exhibition that features 4 watercolors painted by Lt. Richard Williams of the British Army during the Siege of Boston. One of the paintings shows Fort Hill, including the meeting house (First Church in Eliot Square) and “Rebel Lines.”

The website has a zoomable version of the painting, but you should really go down to the BPL to check it out for yourself if you can. 

Here’s the full info, cribbed from the BPL site:

 We Are One: Mapping America’s Road from Revolution to Independence

Central Library in Copley Square (McKim Exhibition Hall)

May 2 to November 29, 2015
Monday–Thursday: 10 a.m.–7 p.m., Friday–Saturday:10 a.m.–5 p.m.,
Sunday: 1–5 p.m.

Featuring 60 maps and 40 prints, paintings and objects, this major gallery exhibition traces the American story from the French and Indian War to the creation of a new national government and the founding of Washington, D.C. as its home.

Organized by the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, We Are One features treasures from the Boston Public Library, the British Library, Library of Congress, and others. Highlights include rare and historically significant items that have not been previously exhibited. Visit the exhibition web pageto view an online exhibition, browse Revolutionary War era maps, and explore related resources.

Exhibition Tours: Thursdays and Saturdays at 2 p.m. Free tours of the We Are One exhibition are offered twice weekly by volunteer tour guides (through October 15th). No reservation required for parties smaller than 8 people. A smart phone tour of the exhibition is available at www.bpl.org/mobiletours.

Historic Boston and the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry invite you to spend an afternoon at the First Church of Roxbury in Eliot Square. Here’s the post from the Inside Historic Boston blog in full:

Explore the Rich History of First Church Roxbury on November 16th

Clear your calendar and join the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry for a special afternoon at the historic First Church of Roxbury in John Eliot Square (10 Putnam Street). The program presents planning underway for an extensive rehabilitation to preserve the 1804 structure, Boston’s oldest frame church and transform it into an active center of civic and cultural life in Roxbury.

Special guest speaker is Rev. F. Washington Jarvis, Roxbury Latin School Headmaster Emeritus, who will speak on the rich history of the congregation that first gathered there in 1632, helped establish Harvard College in 1636, and founded Roxbury Latin School in 1645.

Preservation expert and former HBI board member Andrea Gilmore of Building Conservation Associates, will discuss the larger historical context and the social and cultural importance of Meetinghouse structures in New England town life. 

Architect Don Mills of Mills Whitaker Architects, will discuss some of the results of his recent assessment of the building and the preservation opportunities presented by this elegant and well-preserved structure.
A festive reception will follow in Putnam Chapel, immediately adjacent to the Meetinghouse. Everyone is welcome. For more information about the event, please contact Annie Stubbs at astubbs@uuum.org or 617.318.6010 x205, or visit www.uuum.org.

Universal Hub and the Boston Archives occasionally team up to do a history quiz with an old photo. Yesterday’s quiz was a tough one! It shows a horse drawn wagon with a very high cargo area “Storrowed” under an elevated railway. 

Plenty of people guessed that it was a location in Roxbury because of the puddingstone wall and the elevated rail tracks under construction. But what made this one particularly tough was that the building in back hasn’t been there since the 1930s, when it was demolished to make room for the “new” Bartlett Yard bus garages.  Judging by the unfinished elevated railway platform, this photo dates from about 1908.

That building in back - the old Bartlett Carhouse - can be better seen in this photo from about the same era. It was located right on the corner of Guild Street and Washington. In the lower photo, there is a clearly visible spur of the elevated railroad running behind the carhouse. That spur led to the repair facility which ran along Guild Street. That’s why there is a huge puddingstone wall in Bartlett Yard - it had to support the weight of several elevated trains.  

Today all that’s left is the jungle behind the chain link fence on Guild. In the not-too-distant future, there will be houses on both sides of Guild as that site is developed.

Sponsored by Roxbury Historical Society & Haley House Bakery Cafe

Wednesday, October 22, 2014 - 7:00pm

Location:
Haley House Bakery Cafe 
12 Dade St, Dudley Square 
Roxbury, MA 2119 
United States

Join the Roxbury Historical Society to learn about the archaeology of Roxbury’s Southwest Corridor! Archaeologists Beth Bower and Miles Shugar will present their work on these fascinating archaeological sites that were excavated in the 1970s before the construction of the Orange Line subway. 

Beth’s work uncovered a variety of interesting sites, including breweries, factories, foundries, and housing from the 18th-19th centuries. Miles will then discuss one of these sites, the Metropolitan Railroad Company Site, in more detail. Horse-cars and an electric street railway hub operated from 1850 to 1920 at the present-day Roxbury Crossing MBTA station. 

The archaeology of horse-car street railways and technological change will be illustrated through artifacts, documents, and photographs of Boston’s early mass transit systems.

Roxbury’s long-gone orchards are well known in local history circles. The Roxbury Russet apple and Bartlett Pear both hail from our long-ago days as an agricultural community, and it’s not uncommon to see a few Russets planted at historical sites. But until recently, people who aren’t history buffs wouldn’t have heard of these fruits or known that Roxbury was once known far and wide for its orchards.

That seems to be changing. Across the country, grocery stores and restaurants now feature all sorts of artisanal and heirloom foods that would have been completely foreign to most eaters 20 years ago. So it’s no surprise that the Roxbury Russet, in particular, is making something of a comeback.

Fans of apple lore and Roxbury history will be pleased to see that this attention has put the apple in the news, propelled by the release of a new book titled “Apples of Uncommon Character.” The book, which has led to stories in the Boston Globe and on WBUR, is getting positive reviews so far. I’m sure it will be a worthy addition to any local historian’s bookshelf. 

With apple picking season upon us, now’s a great time to go out pick a few Roxbury Russets of your own. There are a handful of trees around Roxbury, but most are privately owned or otherwise not suitable for public consumption. The nearest commercial orchard I could find that advertises the apple is Clarkdale Farm in Deerfield.  The UMass Amherst Cold Spring Orchard also sells the Russet, which is available in the first half of October. 

Of course, most apple buffs also know that apples were prized less for their fruit than for their use to make hard cider. West County Cider in Colerain, MA, has been making some excellent single-apple varietals in recent years. Luckily for us, one of those is the Roxbury Russet. The cider can sometimes be found at Blanchard’s in JP. If it’s not their, they may be able to special order it for you. West County doesn’t have much of a website, but they did make a pretty good YouTube video a couple of years ago that gives a good overview of cider production.

If you’ve got a plot of land with some sun and you’re hoping to grow apples, you’re also in luck. A number of vendors sell Roxbury Russets, including Fedco, Stark Bros., Trees of Antiquity, Maple Valley, and Century Farm.

Whether you prefer to read about apples, eat them raw, turn them into pies, or drink a glass of cider, it’s great to see the Roxbury’s history as an apple producing town getting some press. Happy fall!