Restaurants

Doyle’s Cafe Lives…Online Through Image Gallery

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While locals work to establish Doyle's Cafe as a historic landmark, a new online digital gallery debuted displaying the many items that once decorated the walls of the beloved restaurant. The Boston Public Library, Digital Commonwealth, and the Jamaica Plain Historical Society worked together to launch the new online collection. During the November 6th auction of many things, including the memorabilia on the walls, the fixtures, kitchen equipment and more, dozens of Doyle's regulars worked with the BPL to create the online collection. Buyers agreed to loan their items to the BPL, where they were digitized in the library’s on-site digitization lab. “Digitizing the history of Doyle’s was an easy choice for the library,” said Tom Blake, Director of Content Discovery at the Boston Public Library via press release.

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History

The History of 197 Green Street

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At first glance, the house at 197 Green Street is unique for its small size and the colorful graffiti that has covered its exterior since 2016 -- the result of collaboration between the owner and real estate developer City Realty Group and artists. City Realty Group is currently awaiting approval from the city to demolish the now-vacant house and build a four-story, mixed-use development. But if we look behind its 1950’s siding, and comb the historical record, we discover that the house is not, as it might first appear, an outdated structure. Rather, the house represents a significant period of time in the development of Jamaica Plain, and of Green Street in particular. 197 Green Street is likely the last remaining building on the east end of Green Street that was built at the start of the neighborhood’s transition from a rural landscape of farms and country estates to both a suburb for commuters and a home for middle-class residents who also worked locally.

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History

14 Years Later: Plaque Proclaiming JP as ‘Eden of America’ Being Reinstalled at Post Office

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A plaque from 1976 proclaiming Jamaica Plain as the "Eden of America" will be reinstalled Wednesday at the Centre Street post office more than a decade after it was removed due to construction. The plaque will be reinstalled by the Bulfinch Company June 27 during a short ceremony starting at 3:30 p.m. at the Jamaica Plain Post Office (655 Centre St.). The plaque is the third in a series of bicentennial plaques that were reinstalled after being relocated in the last two years, said Gretchen Grozier, president of the Jamaica Plain Historical Society (JPHS). Many similar plaques were installed during the bicentennial in 1776 throughout Boston neighborhoods. The one by the post office was on the Myrtle Street side of the old post office and reads, "Jamaica Plain is the Eden of America."

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History

JP Historical Society Launches Walking Neighborhood Tour Series

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Twenty-three years ago the then president of the Jamaica Plain Historical Society, Rhea Becker, had an idea. Why not conduct a series of walking tours during the summer months as a way to highlight the rich history of JP for people? The JPHS has been conducting historic walking tours of Jamaica Plain tours ever since. From the four tours that debuted on the schedule in 1995, the offerings have now expanded to include seven different tours. Each tour lasts between 60 and 90 minutes.

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Neighborhood Life

You’re Invited: Community Preservation Act Forum in JP on April 3

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Boston has an additional $20 million this year to fund affordable housing, parks, open space and historic preservation thanks to the Community Preservation Act. On April 3rd, the Jamaica Plain community is invited to a public forum to share their ideas on how to spend that money. The Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC) organized and will lead the forum with a host of elected officials sponsoring the event and local organizations as co-sponsors. Boston adopted the Community Preservation Act (CPA) by voting in support of it in November 2016. More than 170 Massachusetts municipalities have adopted the CPA, according to the Community Preservation Coalition.

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Opinion

Rep. Sanchez: I Want to Hear From You at Upcoming Community Meetings

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The Jamaica Plain Historical Society is one of my favorite Facebook pages. They have hundreds of photos posted depicting Jamaica Plain from as early as the 1800s. One of the best shows horse drawn buggies crawling along next to the pond – reminding us that JP was once known as the “Eden of America” for its rolling hills and vast green space. The area has seen a few changes since it was an epicenter for the Jamaica rum trade or a streetcar suburb. It’s changed since the anti-highway movement came together in the 60s to stop an eight-lane roadway from being built where we now see the Orange Line.

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Jamaica Plain People

Historical Society Celebrating 150th Birthday of JP’s Only Nobel Peace Prize Winner

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This Saturday the Jamaica Plain Historical Society is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Emily Greene Balch, JP's only Nobel Peace Prize winner. January 8th will also be designated Emily Greene Balch Day in Jamaica Plain from a declaration and proclamation by City Councilor Matt O'Malley. Emily Greene Balch was born on January 8th, 1867 in Jamaica Plain. Balch's grandparents moved to JP in the 1820's and for more than 100 years and four generations, the Balch family were leading members of the First Church of Jamaica Plain Unitarian Universalist, said Balch biographer, Dr. Kristen Gwinn-Becker. In 1946, Balch became the second American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her visionary work with the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Balch credited the church's Rev. Charles Fletcher Dole as a key inspiration in her work for peace and social justice, said Gwinn-Becker.

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Photo of the Day

When the Perkins School For the Blind Was in JP

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Students in Miss Roeske's music appreciation class at the Perkins Institution for the Blind. Located at the corner of Perkins and Day Streets in Hyde Square, the school was founded in 1887 and served children through age nine. For general instruction, students were segregated by sex. As you can see in the photograph, African-American children were welcomed. The school was an outgrowth of the Perkins Institution for the Blind in South Boston, founded by Samuel Gridley Howe.

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Photo of the Day

Throwback Thursday Photo of the Day: Casey Overpass Construction III

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Construction of Casey overpass in 1952 or 1953. Photograph courtesy of Ed Barrett. This is a view of construction of the Casey Overpass in 1952 or 1953, taken by Ed Barrett. This has been a big week for demolition of the overpass, of course, as sections of the bridge over Washington Street were removed during night work. Here are previous "Throwback Thursday" photos featuring construction of the Casey Overpass:

Throwback Thursday Photo of the Day: Casey Overpass Under Construction
Throwback Thursday Photo of the Day: Casey Overpass Under Construction II
Throwback Thursday Photo of the Day: Casey and the El

Each weekday we post a random image from around the neighborhood.

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