Frederick Douglas square (proposed) historic district: precis

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FREDERICK DOUGLASS SQUARE HISTORIC DISTRICT

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^'■'^^ Precis

'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

J. . .

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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Report Binder

Stock NoVColor

80571
80572
80573
80578
80579

Block
Lt.. Blue
Dk. Blue
Rust
Exec, Red

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