Place:Jamaica Plain, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Jamaica Plain, commonly known as "JP," is a historic neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. It was originally part of Roxbury, Massachusetts, and then part of the town of West Roxbury, Massachusetts when that was established in 1848. West Roxbury (including Jamaica Plain) was annexed to Boston in 1874. According to an official city estimate, it had a population of 38,196 in October 2003.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Name

There are a number of theories regarding the origin of the name Jamaica Plain. A well-known theory traces the origin to "Jamaica rum," a reference to Jamaica cane sugar's role in the Triangle Trade of sugar, rum, and slaves. However, a more likely explanation is that "Jamaica" is an Anglicization of the name Kuchamakin, regent to Wampatuck, the underage sachem (chief) of the Massachusett tribe.

Founding

Jamaica Plain was settled by the Curtis family, circa 1640. A number of the still-extant streets date to this era, including Centre Street, Day Street, and Perkins Street.

Shortly thereafter, Capt. Joseph Weld (ancestor of William Weld) was awarded 278 acres (including present-day Forest Hills and a portion of what is now Arnold Arboretum) for this role in the Pequot War and subsequent negotiations. The Weld Family was closely tied to JP until modern times.

Revolution

The Loring-Greenough House (c. 1760) was a country estate and farmstead of Commodore Joshua Loring of the British Army. After Loring fled to England in 1774, the Loring house served as a commissary, hospital and headquarters for Colonial troops during the American Revolution. After the Revolution, the house was the family home for four generations of the David Stoddard Greenough family from 1780 until its conversion by the Jamaica Plain Tuesday Club to a historic house museum in 1926. This house is the only 18th century building still standing in Jamaica Plain.

Other JP residents who fought in the revolution were Eleazer Weld and Benjamin Bussey.

Streetcar suburb

Streetcars played a significant role in the neighborhood's growth by providing access to downtown along Centre Street and Columbus Avenue (then Pynchon Street) via Roxbury Crossing. Development of the neighborhood followed the streetcar tracks.

By the 1850s Jamaica Plain included massive summer "cottages" on the banks of Jamaica Pond belonging to Boston's oldest families.

In the 1880s, philanthropist and social reformer Robert Treat Paine (1810-1905) experimented with innovations in housing for "substantial workingmen." The Workingmen's Building Association built a 114-house development between Round Hill and Sunnyside streets and the Workingmen's Loan Association offered amortizing mortgages to buyers.

JP is also home to The Footlight Club, which is the United States oldest, continuously running community theatre since 1877. The Footlight Club resides in Eliot Hall, on Eliot Street, just off of Centre Street.

Industry

JP was the home of almost a dozen breweries which relied on the relatively pure water of Stony Brook. By 1896, the Thomas G. Plant Shoe Factory at Centre Street and Bickford Street proclaimed itself to be the largest women's shoe factory in the world.

Annexation

By the end of the 19th century, the annexation by Boston had provided municipal services to the neighborhood, and it began to experience a rapid growth in population. This was fostered by the creation of the above-mentioned Emerald Necklace and Forest Hills Cemetery.

Immigration

During the 20th century Jamaica Plain transformed from a streetcar suburb to a more urban neighborhood, with a large influx of German, Irish, Italian, Polish and French-Canadian Americans. Prohibition brought an end to the breweries and launched a significant public housing development effort on Heath Street and later at Bromley Park, eventually creating over 1,000 government-subsidized housing units.

Urban Renewal

In the 1950s, sections of Jamaica Plain along the Boston & Providence Railroad and the Stony Brook valley were deemed blighted by the city's urban planners. Significant portions of the neighborhood adjacent to the railroad were demolished in the 1960s, in preparation for bringing I-95 through the city. Many working class families were displaced. Eventually public opposition shut the project down, and, after remaining desolate,crime ridden and abandoned for 20 years, the areas demolished for the interstate right-of-way were rebuilt as the Southwest Corridor linear park.^[1] The MBTA Orange Line reopened through this corridor in 1987, replacing an elevated train along Washington Street.

In the 1970s JP was better known for its arson and petty crime than for its parks. A dramatic fire in 1976 destroyed the Plant Shoe Factory and its adjacent park, creating a crater of rubble that remained for nearly two decades.

In the 1980s low rents brought many students to the area, especially those who attended the Museum School, Mass Art, and Northeastern University, who often lived in collective households. In addition, the neighborhood also developed a lesbian and gay community. The presence of artists in the neighborhood led to the opening or revitalization of local galleries and bookstores, and arts centers like the converted Firehouse. Many first-time homebuyers were able to afford the house and condominium prices in JP during this time.

The 1990s brought significant revitalization to JP. Nonprofit housing groups bought up rundown houses and vacant lots to create low-income rental units. Unfortunately, dangerous public schools and the opportunity to cash in on rising property values has led many families with children to relocate to the suburbs.

In the 1990s, the Plant Shoe Factory site was redeveloped as JP Plaza, a strip mall, and later a supermarket and a new facility for the Martha Eliot Health Center completed the site's redevelopment. Boston Main Streets districts sprouted in three corners of the neighborhood (Hyde/Jackson Square, Egleston Square, and Centre/South), bringing city funds and tools of neighborhood revitalization to local business owners.

Present day

By the turn of the century, the neighborhood had attracted a large community of college educated, professional singles or young couples, political activists and artists. JP has long been diverse: a melting pot of races, ethnicities, and family types.

Hyde, Jackson, and Egleston Squares have significant Spanish-speaking populations from Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

JP is a popular area among Boston intellectuals and has liberal social attitudes which have led to a unique blend of cultures that is reflected in local businesses, such as the many often eclectic business establishments which line Centre Street.

TheGreen Line "E" Branch at Heath Street, the Orange Line, and the #39 bus provide access to Back Bay, the South End, and Downtown; as well as Amtrak trains and most southbound commuter rail lines. A funky, populist feel have helped popularize the area with college students, artists, and young professionals. The crime rate continues, however, to be high due primarily to the high number of urban poor and due to the presence of poorly planned public housing projects and the corresponding crime problems that often arise in such developments.

A hot real estate market has driven conversion of older buildings into condominiums, particularly in historic areas such as Hyde Square, Pondside and Sumner Hill. A large number of formerly vacant sites are now being converted to residential use, among them the ABC Brewery, the Gormley Funeral Home, the Eblana Brewery, the Oliver Ditson Company, 319 Centre Street, Jackson Square, JP Cohousing, Blessed Sacrament, Our Lady of the Way, and 80 Bickford Street.

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