Jamaica Plain, Boston


  • Type: Neighborhood

Jamaica Plain has played an important role in the history of the Commonwealth dating back to pre-revolutionary days. Originally known as "Jamaica Plain in Roxbury," the area was settled early on, initially as a small farming community within the larger Roxbury district. - NRHP, 4 May 1989, Leslie Larson and Kimberly Shilland


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PLACES

Name of Notable Genus AsNotedIn Address Proximity
Name Genus AsNotedIn Address Proximity
Arnold Arboretum
  • Sight
  • NRHP
  • US NHL
22 Divinity Ave
Adams-Nervine Asylum
  • Sight
  • NRHP
990 - 1020 Centre St
District 13 Police Station
  • Sight
  • NRHP
28 Seaverns Ave
Haffenreffer Brewery
  • Sight
  • NRHP
30 Germania St Bismark St
Loring-Greenough House
  • Sight
  • NRHP
12 South St
Jamaica Plain Neighborhood House
  • Sight
  • PRHP
276 Amory St
First Church of Jamaica Plain
  • Sight
  • NRHP
6 Eliot St
Sumner Hill Historic District
  • Sight
  • NRHP
Roughly bounded by Seaverns Ave, Everett St, Carolina Ave, and Newbern St
House at 17 Cranston Street
  • Sight
  • NRHP
17 Cranston St
Eliot Hall
  • Sight
  • NRHP
7A Eliot St
Bowditch School
  • Sight
  • NRHP
80 - 82 Greene St Cheshire St
Pondside Historic District
  • Sight
  • NRHP
Roughly bounded by Jamaicaway, Pond, Centre and Eliot Sts
Ellen H Swallow Richards House
  • Sight
  • NRHP
  • US NHL
32 Eliot St
Woodbourne Historic District
  • Sight
  • NRHP
Roughly bounded by Walk Hill, Goodway, and Wachusett Sts
Forest Hills Cemetery
  • Sight
  • NRHP
95 Forest Hills Ave
Home for Aged Couples
  • Sight
  • NRHP
409 419 Walnut Ave and 2055 Columbus Ave
St John's Episcopal Church, Jamaica Plain
  • Sight
1 Roanoke Ave Revere St
Revere Chapin House, Jamaica Plain
  • Sight
7 Louders Ln Revere St
Old St John's Rectory, Jamaica Plain
  • Sight
24 Alveston St S of Roanoke Ave
James Michael Curley House
  • Sight
350 Jamaicaway Moraine St

Timeline

Y/M/D Person Association Description Composition Food Event
Y/M/D Person Association Description Composition Food Event
1846/01/01 Mary Goodrich Lowell Born Mary Boott Goodrich, wife of Samuel Griswold Goodrich, gives birth to a daughter, Mary Wolcott Lowell, in Jamaica Plain, Boston, Massachusetts.

Data »

Particulars for Jamaica Plain, Boston:
Locale Type Neighborhood



History »

Roxbury, with Jamaica Plain as a smaller community within its boundaries, was a hotbed of Revolutionary activity. Joshua Loring, for example, a prominent citizen and Loyalist, was forced to flee the country, leaving behind all possessions and the grand Loring-Greenough House when he would not renounce his allegiance to the Crown. Nearby at John Eliot Square, the grounds of the First Church in Roxbury were the scene of repeated cannon fire during the siege of Boston, and it was from the Church green that William Dawes began the second leg of his famous Midnight Ride of 1775.

Jamaica Plain developed a character of its own within the larger area of West Roxbury, which severed its ties with Roxbury proper in 1851. Sam Bass Warner, whose book Streetcar Suburbs is helpful in understanding the growth and development of Boston's suburbs, states: "During the 1820s a charming rural village grew up near Jamaica Pond and along the main street, Centre Street, which was formerly the highway to Dedham." This area, which came to be known as Jamaica Plain, was the political and social center of West Roxbury. Jamaica Plain was sparsely populated until the second half of the 18th Century, when the area became a popular location for the summer estates of such notables as Governor Francis Bernard and John Hancock. A series of improvements in roads and turnpikes, ca. 1795-1830s, and the laying of the Boston and Providence Railroad, opened the doors for industrial growth. By the mid-19th century, tanneries and breweries, such as the Haffenreffer Brewery, were familiar sights. In 1873, the citizens of West Roxbury voted to annex the town to the City of Boston.

The most striking physical change for Jamaica Plain occurred in the 1870s when streetcar lines were extended from Roxbury into West Roxbury along Washington and Centre Streets, making the area available to larger numbers of commuters. The streetcar lines dramatically changed the rare by brining real estate speculation, which resulted in increased residential, industrial and municipal growth, thus making possible to many the "ideal" housing opportunities we now associate with suburban life. Warner notes that the suburbanization of Roxbury, West Roxbury and Dorchester occurred in two waves, first from 1865-73 and then during the 1880s-90s. Wit this second wave of development in housing, came dozens of schools, libraries and public buildings, of which the Bowditch School is a prime example. Franklin Park and the Arnold Arboretum were also being planned at this time, again providing evidence of tremendous civic commitment. - 4 May 1989, Leslie Larson and Kimberly Shilland.


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