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FREDERICK DOUGLASS SQUARE HISTORIC DISTRICT

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'rederick Douglass Square Historic District in lower Roxbury is bounded by Tremonc, Cabot, Warwick, Windsor, Westminster and Hammond Streets,

Located at the junction of Tremont, Hammond and Cabot Streets, FREDERICK DOUGLASS SQUARE was dedicated on February 14, 191/, in honor of the centenary of the famous black abolitionist's birth. Here Douglass is said to have spoken - as he so often did - to open- air meetings about the plight of slaves in America. The use of what abolitionists came to call "The Square" as a forum for political rallies, protest meetings and public celebrations is a tradition which continues to this day. those who have spoken or appeared in the square include William Munroe Trotter - publisher of 3cstcn's first black newspaper once located at 977 Tremont btreet opposite the square - ^!aycr James Curley, Senator Edward Brooke, :ienaror Edward Kennedy, Coretta King, Duke Ellington, Dinah Washington, and Tiny Brads haw.

The oldest building in the- district (ca. 1860) today houses - as it has for forty years - the Douglass Square Pharmacy; it was originally a grocery store owned by the Thomas Fay familv, a use which concealed its activities as a station on the underground rail- road. Slave tunnels are believed still to exist in the area around the square.

The streets to the southeast of the square are occupied by the remnants of the residential community of brick row houses and apart- ments developed on a large tract of low- lying marshy land be? inning in 1871 by the Tremont Improvement Company; the improvement com.nanv's lands were bounded by Ruggles, Shawmut, Kendell and Cabot Streets. Madison Park was its most prestigious address and the houses fronting on it - subject to the restriction imposed by the develooment ccmcanv ■ featured mansard roofs, stone facades, bow fronts and high stoccs . The former famdly hotel located at 64 HammiOnd Street still suggests the elegance of the houses which once faced the park. The brics: mansar: ro'.v on Windsor Street ( 71-73-75) reflects the m.ore m.odest houses built on streets without a park address. This entire area of lower Roxbury once represented the coda - stylistically, chrcnolcgicallv and geographically - to the building history of Boston's South End.

The historic district lies at the northern edge of the development area and v.-as the last to be completely built up. Although Robert Treat Paine first acquired property here in 1874 and had constructed the rcw at 90-96 Hammond Street - noteworthy for its faceted ccvs ?.nd the elongated proportions of its door and windows- his consrrucricn c: philanthropic workers' housing here did not occur until the late 1880's and early 90' s, by which time the developrnent company's restric- tions were no longer effectively enforced.

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One historian's description of Paine 's housing as "cramped" and "mean" seems most aoplicable to the Sussex Street rows, a scale determined to some degree by their location within a block. Althousl. diminutive if compared to the South End norm, Paine 's other rows on Warwick., Greenwich, Greenwich Court and Ham.mond are somewhat more generously scaled; monotony is avoided by variations in ornaraentatio- and exterior detailing. Greenwich Street, particularly, 03/ virtue of its ample width dispels the sense of "cramped and mean" and suggests that Paine did in fact achieve "ideal" workers' housing within an urban context as well as in the more highly praised "subur ■ ban" setting on Roundhill and Sunnyside Streets in Jamaica Plain.

The demolition of virtually all of lower Roxbury, a black comaT.unii:'. since the late 19th century, in the name of slum clearance and to accomodate 1-^5, endows this small section which remains with except:.; historical importance.

FREDERICK DOUGLASS SQUARE .HISTORIC DISTRICT

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Boston Heraid Amencan — Thursday, September 7, 1978

Afreeexchangeofideasontlieissuesofthedm

Roxbiiry is its pride an

By WILUAM J. LEWIS X

Senior Editor »

)iir^ a little bit of heaven fell

I out the sky one day, and nes-

in Roxbury on a spot so far

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lis of course is a brazen pla- iin of that favorite Irish air, ittie Bit of Heaven." but it ap- 0 aptly to an enclave in Lower ur>', there was no resisting the tation to borrow the tune, anvicjc, Sussex, Greenwich and nond Sts. are off the beaten hidden from the more familiar uehfares — Shawmut and ont. It if you'll take the time to

in Lower Roxbury, this com- ty of meticulously r.ehabili-

rowhouses wilFboth surprise elight you.

iston taxpayers should be par- riy pleased because many of

residences, once considered ct and headed for destruction, ,ck on the city's tax roils. They nee again revenue-producing Fties of which their occupant- 's justifiably are proud.

superior is the quality of the ditioning, these homes now ire favorably with their posh ouse counterparts on Beacon nd" in Back Bay and Bay Vil-

complished mostly with their avings or borrowed funds,, the )wners have performed the with painstaking care and

dedication. Even the most casual passerby must recognize the trans- formation from slum dwelling to residence of distinction.

The exterior brickwork is blasted clean and neatly repointed.

Ornamental ironwork is lavishly restored — in some cases added — to lend character to the facade or stone stainvay.

Freshly painted and gaily plant- ed windowboxes exude their color and charm for ail the neighborhood to enjoy.

Bay windows, precisely restored, project an air of gentle living that per.'ades this community.

But the residents here in Lower Roxbury are neither Brahmins nor affluent businessmen. They are simple working people whose pride and persistence has led them to cre- ate an urban oasis within an area brought to its knees by the twin scourges of poverty and vandalism.

As a consequence of the initia- tive and determination demon- strated within this enclave, the total neighborhood is slowly beginning to restore reclaimable housing stock wherever possible and construct new residences as well.

The community effort having been recognized as senous and re- solved, the municipal administra- tion is working hand in hand with neighborhood groups as well as indi- viduals to restore this blighted area.

In fact, it is the city's Real Proo- erty Department under Commis- sioner Joanne A. Prevost that is in large measure responsible for :he revival being experienced in this tiny urban village comprised of War.vick, Sussex, Greenwich and Hammond Sts.

The. agency's policy of clearing its rolls of tax-foreclosed prope.ties as e.xpeditiousiy as possible is pay- ing dividends not only in Lower Roxbury but across the face of the city.

Where in prior years the pre- scribed cure-all for distressed prop- ertv taken in tax title by the citv was "demolition," today's approach is "rehabilitation."

In many instances, of course, a building is too far gone for rehabili- tation and its razing is inescapable. However, if a property is struc- turally sound, in most cases it can be restored to embark on a second useful life.

.A.lthough the Lower Roxburv "rehab" development obviously brings her singular satisfaction, .Ms. Prevost points with undisguised pride to other such projects in Rox- bury, Dorchester, South Boston, East Boston, Charlestown and Ja- maica Plain.

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There is the three-story brick )ariment on Roxbur}' St. which id but a sineie tenant when its ie drew .■516,500 for the municipal easury at public auction. Today e thoroughly-renovated building home to a dozen families living in commodations of high standard.

Across the city in East Boston, I of the 12 housing units that sold

auction in the past year or so ive been well rehabilitated and re- rned to market where demand for .'ing accommodations far out- eighs supply.

A partially burned-out 19th cen- ry residence at Walnut Ave. and onroe St. in Ro.xbury is still anoth- • e.xample of creative restoration, oday this stately structure, a rought iron fence enclosing an jundant garden, is home for three imilies.

Pleasant and Savin Sts. in Dor- lester are sites of still more "re- ib" projects that produced highly- jsirable homes in a district once- reiy depressed and now climbing ick.

But while homes have top prior- y in the city's plans, the re-crea- on of business enterprises is not ;ing disregarded.

Well aware that businesses pro- de jobs and services for inher-city .vellers, Ms. Prevost noted her de- irtment encourages the reclama-

tion of commercial buildings taken by the city for non-payment of

ttXX6S.

.At 814 Shawmut Ave. a busy auto shop is observed. Hardly more than a year ago this flourishing es- tablishment was an abandoned hulk of concrete and cinderblock on its way to deteriorating into a pile of rubble.

Instead of sitting idly by and watching vandals take their- toll, said Tom Gateiy, administrative as- sistant to the commissioner, "We put the building up for auction and as a result put a man in business."

Further out in Roxbury on the crest of Mission Hill stand two more testimonials to the argument for re- habilitation. One is an immacu- lately-restored professional build- ing. The other is a. spotlessly- remodeled commercial-residential structure with bustling retail shops on the street level and two stories of apartments above.

While there is much personal satisfaction as well as monetary gain to be realized from rehabilita- tion of these distressed properties, a resolute dedication is required to achieve one's goal

Scavengers, some professional thieves and other youthful vandals, all too often discourage those who strive to reclaim real esate in many neighborhoods- Some projects are abandoned when renovators discov- er that overnight they are victim- ized, by thieves or vandals.

But despite the setbacks, prog- ress stubbornly persists. .Almost every week Ms. Prevost and her

staff auction a number of parcels — some buildings, some vacant land.

In order to prevent slumlords from avoiding their ta.x obligations by resorting to the device of having their straws purchase properties taken by the city, Ms. Prevost re- quires buyers to sign a statement under the" penalties of perjury they are making the acquisition in their behalf only.

She further requires that within a "reasonable" period of time, the purchaser will proceed with rehabil- itation ofthe property.

These provisos, the commission- er insists upon, appear not only to be restoring foreclosed properties to the tax rolls but are responsible" for an evident reversal of a pattern of declining value of housing stock in many sections of Boston. ■'"'

Of the 347 buildings of various tvpes sold at public auction by the Real Property Department in the years 1975-19'77, statistics compiled bv Deputy Commissioner Tom De- Rosa demonstrate that 40 percent of these properties e.xhibit e.xteriof improvements. -•

Since most rehabilitation work begins with interior improvements, it is safe to say that a far heavier percentage of these structures ace in one stage or another of reclama- tion.

.Ms. Prevost, who was named: to her post by Mayor White in 1975; expressed confidence that the rehar bilitation process will pick up even more steam when evidences of neighborhood stabilization and im- provement become incontestable.

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^j/^acwclLSLJnJ^oweL^ox buQ^a p example of rehabilitation of some of oldest houses.

Universal

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