A Saturday Skulk Through Southie

From Dave Brigham:

I've covered South Boston quite a bit on this blog (see the bottom of this post for links) yet somehow I found more to check out this past April. The impetus for visiting this Boston neighborhood yet again was a ghost sign that I didn't know about the last time I was there.

I forget where I learned about this old sign for Bay State Brewery located on the side of The Distillery North apartments on East 2nd Street at the intersection with H Street. "The large brick factory building that sits between East 1st and 2nd Street in South Boston was first constructed in the 1860s as the Bay State Brewery and Malt House for the production of beer," according to the Distillery North web site. A man named Henry Souther started the brewing operation, having "purchased the land from the Sound Boston Association, seeing it as well located beside the water for the delivery of barley from Canada. At the time, the harbor came right up to the property edge...."

"It wasn’t long before the Bay State Brewery was sold to a railroad magnate and Congressman from New Hampshire named Frank Jones." I haven't learned when Jones took over the facility, but I'm assuming no later than the 1890s. That means the ghost sign is likely at least 125 years old, which is pretty cool.

Jones, who during his political career also served as mayor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, started his brewing business in that small seacoast city. "The Frank Jones Brewery was one of the largest producers of ale in the United States of America," according to Wikipedia. "In 1896, Jones' Portsmouth brewery produced about 250,000 barrels a year."

Jones died in 1902, and the brewery complex was sold to the Felton family of Newton, Massachusetts, per the Distillery North web site. "The Feltons had arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1640, already with a background in ale brewing. In Boston they took up rum distilling under the names of Crystal Spring Rum and Pilgrim Rum. After purchasing the Bay State Brewery, it took the Feltons a year to reconfigure the facility as a rum distillery, a process that involved the installation of two dozen 10,000-gallon fermenting vats."

The Felton distillery closed in 1982. "In 1984...Frederick Gordon...purchased the property with its skeletons of disused machinery, molasses streaked walls, and malodorous scents," the Distillery North site continues. "The rough neighborhood and the curious layout of the 100,000 square foot factory, with spaces ranging from shoebox to gymnasium-sized, was a curious real estate puzzle. It was artists who naturally gravitated toward the atypical labyrinth, and word got around."

Currently, the development features both work and living spaces for more than 100 artists and creative professionals. The on-site Distillery Gallery "features rotating exhibitions that highlight the diverse talents of both resident and guest artists," per the web site for the community.

Whew! That was a lot of information. I'm always happy when companies that redevelop old buildings provide the history of the site.

Since I've made photos a lot around Southie, I wandered quite a bit to find new subject matter. I ended up on Silver Street, which runs parallel to the main thoroughfare, West Broadway, between Dorchester and D streets. You know I love back alleys and narrow streets where I can see the true backside.

The first thing to catch my eye was the old rear entrance to the Gorin's department store.

When I made this photo, I felt sure I had made a complementary image of the old tile entryway to the store a few years back. But in reviewing my archives, I realized that the entryway was for Pober's, another old department store. Then I thought perhaps Gorin's had been located in the same building, before of after Pober's. But I checked out Google Street View and realized the stores were located in different buildings along West Broadway.

Anyway, Gorin's was a local chain that started in Woburn, Mass., in 1900. Early on, there were stores in Everett, South Boston, Watertown Square, Central Square in Cambridge and Somerville's Union Square, according to this Bouseblog post. By the 1950s, the chain had grown to employ more than 3,000 people in at least 20 stores. Gorin's "purchase of the Almy, Bigelow and Washburn department store chain added locations in Salem, Danvers and Beverly. Later acquisitions and mergers expanded the company to New Bedford, Mass, Manchester, N.H., Waterbury, Conn. and Rochester, N.Y.," per the blog.

"In 1984, the Gorin family sold their company, by this time 32-stores strong and re-branded as 'Almy’s,' to an investment group. The Gorin’s business had been struggling to make a profit since 1978. By 1985, the new owners had sold most of the Almy’s chain to the Stop & Shop Companies," Bouseblog indicates.

Continuing west-northwest on Silver Street, I crossed over E Street and found a little bit of country in the middle of the city.

Located next to a new apartment building and across the street from the rear of the old Bigelow School, this cute little farmhouse-style duplex was built in 1890, per the Boston assessor. I dig the civic pride demonstrated by the SOUTH BOSTON sign.

I looped around some more side streets until I found myself in front of Boris Pest Control, at the corner of West Seventh and E streets (not where these guys got their name).

I love that whoever created the company's sign paid homage to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish mascot by using a mouse with boxing gloves. Of course, Southie was once a MAJOR Irish-American stronghold. Boris Pest Control has been in business since 1967.

As I stood in front of the pest-fighting mouse, I looked diagonally across West Seventh and saw a subtly unusual home.

This Odd House, as I dubbed it, has just under 660 square feet of living area, with one bedroom and one bathroom. Built in 1900 (perhaps; you know I'm always dubious of that date), it has seemingly been altered a bit over the last 125+ years. Maybe it was once two stories?

I made my way to D Street, then headed south-southwest into a more industrial/commercial section of the neighborhood. Then I turned south on Dorchester Ave. (aka Dot Ave. I'd walked this area outside Andrew Square a few times over the years, so once again, I sought out the nooks I had passed over previously.

On Alger Street, I found my quarry.

The ghost sign at the top says INDUSTRIAL and perhaps CO. I haven't found out what business was/is here. I just love the combination of the weathered bricks with fading paint, the heavy (leaded?) glass windows, the vent, the two doors - so many squares and rectangles.

In a large empty lot across Alger Street, running along Dorchester Ave., stands (or perhaps by this point, stood) a decomissioned Red Line subway car.

Car No. 1643 will be used by the developers of the On the Dot mixed-use project to "enhance the activity space," according to something I read somewhere online. The car was previously located in a parking lot abutting Cannonball Cafe, just up the street.

The Red Line runs underneath this area of the city, with a stop at nearby Andrew Square. The 1600 series Red Line cars came into MBTA service in the late '60s and early '70s.

Some buildings for the On the Dot project are already completed, while others in the planned 21-acre development of life-science, retail, and residential buildings will rise in the future.

To the south of the old subway car/soon-to-be social hangout stands a bit of old-school Boston: Andrew Square Liquors.

The Internet says this business opened in the late '90s. I'm guessing it took the place of a similar operation. I have a thing for packies, as they often have old signs that make for decent photos. Google Street View shows me that Andrew Square Liquors up until four years ago had a cooler sign than the current Budweiser one hanging over the awning.

I doubled back along Dorchester Avenue, cut down Damrell Street, went north-northwest on Old Colony Avenue and then headed onto E Street. After winding my way around, I ended up in front of some stunningly beautiful row houses on F Street.

These gorgeous homes date to the late 19th century.

I trekked up to Dorchester Street (not Ave.) and walked around the lovely and historic St. Augustine's Chapel grounds.

Founded in 1818, the chapel is the Boston Archdiocese's oldest Catholic church. It is open to the public only on holy days. The cemetery is the oldest Catholic burial ground in New England. There is a nice shrine that backs up to Tudor Street; it's obviously also used as a shed. Poor Mary!

I headed northeast along Dorchester Street, popping down West Fourth Street to check out a former fire house.

Completed in 1869, the station housed Ladder 5 until 1917, when the company moved next door to the much larger Engine 1 headquarters, which also served as a municipal district court. The building was converted to condos in recent years.

I headed next to East Broadway, about ready to finish my trip. At the intersection with Emerson Street, I was quite taken by the building housing M&T Oil Company / Metro Energy, which has been in business since 1929.

Upon getting back to my car, I remembered one more spot I wanted to document.

The Galley Diner is located on P Street, just off of East 1st Street. Established in 1995, the diner serves up breakfast seven days a week, and lunch Monday through Friday. Notice the sign also mentions Rumpy's, which is evidently is a brand of roast beef served at the diner.

For more on South Boston, check out the links below:

October 5, 2024, "Goin' ta Southie, Kehd"

August 27, 2020, "Circling Andrew Square"

January 25, 2020, "The Walk of Fame"

June 25, 2019, "Wool-d You Like to Join Me For a Walk?"

January 12, 2019, "Power Move in South Boston"

November 17, 2018, "Southie to Lose An Institution"

April 22, 2018, "Fort Point Channel - It's Electric!"

February 1, 2017, "Bon Voyage, Lady"

November 17, 2014, "Whitey Wuz Here"

I See Dead People's Graves

From Dave Brigham:

I made a plan on a lovely Saturday last fall to return to Evergreen Cemetery in Boston's Brighton neighborhood, but a crappy football team got in my way. I'd made a few photos there many years ago while taking my son to watch trolleys come and go along the adjacent Green line (see July 18, 2013, "Cool Stones," from the blog's minimalist era).

I wanted to look for more cool gravestones and check out the quaint chapel at the entrance to the cemetery. But about halfway through the relatively short drive from my house, I realized there was a Boston College (2025 record: 2-10) football game slated for that afternoon less than a quarter-mile from my destination, and that parking would be difficult near the graveyard.

So I pivoted, and ended up at Mount Auburn Cemetery.

I've walked through the cemetery many times over the years, and featured it in a post about Watertown (see October 9, 2021, "It's Hip to Be Coolidge Square"). The world-famous boneyard spans Watertown and Cambridge, with the majority of it located in the former.

"Mount Auburn Cemetery was established in 1831 with a most ambitious vision. Within a forested landscape nestled between Cambridge and Watertown, our founders created an extraordinary place, one where the living mourner would come to find solace and the public would come to find inspiration," per the cemetery's web site.

"The founders envisioned the Cemetery as the place where the great and the good of Boston — without restrictions on religion or race — would be remembered and celebrated for all of time in a setting of exceptional beauty. Nearly 190 years [they need to update this part- DB] and more than 100,000 burials later, we continue to honor that founding vision, offering burial space and end-of-life services to families in their time of need and preserving this landscape of memory for 200,000 annual visitors."

This place really is spectacular, a true Greater Boston gem. The trees, the crypts, the paths, the gravestones, the tower - it's like walking through a dreamscape.

I entered off of Grove Street in Watertown, parked and went for a stroll.

In many cemeteries, a tomb like this would be the pinnacle of burial chic. In Mount Auburn, this one elicits reactions such as, "Oh, look, another one with an angel inscribing something on a tablet." Still, amazing.

I was pleasantly surprised to see more modern grave-top adornments.

I wonder if this Samuel Osgood is related to the fourth postmaster of the United States and former member of the Massachusetts and New York legislatures, Samuel Osgood.

I love the signs and the names of the various paths located throughout the cemetery.

A barberry (berberis vulgaris) "is a shrub in the genus Berberis native to the Old World," per Wikipedia. "It produces edible but sharply acidic berries, which people in many countries eat as a tart and refreshing fruit."

I wish I'd made note of the family interred in the massive and stunning crypt in the background.

I wonder if the Legg family buried beneath the cross shown below had anything to do with L'eggs pantyhose.

I've seen graves with coins and stones on them, but this is the first time I've spotted gourds.

There are tableaux like the two shown below everywhere you turn at Mount Auburn.

The most impressive mausoleum I saw -- the cemetery is huge, so there may be others that are more magnificent -- belongs to Ralph Huntington White and his family.

Ralph H. White founded a business in 1853 that grew to include a department store in downtown Boston by the early 1860s, per Wikipedia. R.H. White was acquired by the Filene's department store chain in 1928. Sixteen years later, City Stores, Inc., acquired R.H. White, Wikipedia indicates.

"Both these companies continued the independent existence of the R. H. White brand and store. In 1953 the store celebrated its centennial with a makeover and refurbishment of the flagship store, and various events," Wikipedia continues. "But urban decay had crept up to the lower edge of the downtown shopping area where R. H. White was located (the so-called Combat Zone would soon spring up a few blocks away). By 1956 sales were down and the store was no longer profitable; City Stores closed the flagship downtown store in 1957."

R.H. White soldiered on with branch stores in suburban malls, until City Stores closed the outfit in 1980.

As for White's mausoleum, it was designed by architect Willard Sears, who was known for his work on numerous residences in Boston's Back Bay, as well as other Hub buildings including what is now known as the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

White's final resting place "looks for all the world like the town hall of a thriving metropolis. The massive cupola, that looks like a bell tower without the bell, is supported by 12 Ionic columns. Circling the top of the dome is a ring of garlands," according to a write-up at Mausoleums.com by Douglas Keister.

The most majestic grave marker I saw was for Charles (1823-1887) and Sarah (1827-1888) Whitney.

From the Mount Auburn Cemetery Instagram: "Charles Whitney...worked with his father and brother in one of the largest lumber enterprises in the United States and gave generously to charitable causes for the poor. For his family lot at Mount Auburn, he commissioned the Italian artist Nicola Cantalamessa-Papotti to carve a large, marble memorial (1883). The sculptor carved the Whitney memorial in Italy. The operatic ensemble, which depicts an angel with outstretched wings surmounting a large sarcophagus, rises majestically on the sloping hill of Oriole Path. A plump putto, a winged figure of a child sits at the base of the sarcophagus holding two floral wreaths."

I encourage you to visit the cemetery at your earliest convenience.

The Backside is Coming! The Backside is Coming - to Revere! (Part VI)

From Dave Brigham:

Around the Backside office, the piece of prose you're currenty reading is known as the "outliers post." Whereas the previous installments in my series of shorts about Revere, Mass., were held together by geography, this one features destinations flung around the city. For links to the previous posts, see the bottom of this one.

Located just east of Route 1A on Butler Street, the Rumney Marsh Burying Ground is one of the oldest cemeteries in the country.

"The first known burial traces back to 1693 when the wife of Captain John Smith (a different Smith, not of Pocahontas fame) was buried in a plot at the cemetery," according to this blog post. "The Captain joined his wife there some years later. While burials continued at the site from that time forward, it was not until 1748 that the land was officially willed to the town for use as a cemetery by Joshua Cheever, son of the town’s first known teacher."

The cemetery is so called because the area now known as Revere was known to early European settlers as Rumney Marsh. While the burial ground is relatively small, it contains the remains of many well-known early residents of this area. Among those buried here are Deane Winthrop, son of the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; Thomas Pratt, for whom the current day Prattville neighborhood in Chelsea is named; Revolutionary War hero Samuel Sprague; and Lewis Bullard, an Army veteran whose 1929 burial represents the last interment of the cemetery. This site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in February 2004.

Less than a mile away, along Route 16 hard by Mill Creek, is an old spice mill that's in pretty good shape.

The Slade Spice Mill buildings date to 1823, although, due to multiple fires, this place has been rebuilt (using some of the original timbers) a handful of times. The first structure erected on this site, in 1734, was a grist mill, according to MACRIS. "The 1734 mill was destroyed in 1795 and rebuilt c. 1823," MACRIS continues. "It was burned in 1895, 1901 and 1902, and each time was rebuilt on the same spot." It was a tide mill, which means the tide provided its power.

The mill was used over the centuries to grind corn, snuff, cinnamon and other spices. "By an ancient provision in the original charger (sic), it must at all times hold itself ready to grind corn for any citizen of Chelsea, provided the corn is Chelsea raised!" according to this blog post from the Tide Mill Institute.

The mill was in operation until 1976. In the early years of this century, a group undertook renovations. I'm not sure what's located here now.

Standing in front of the old mill and looking east over the Chelsea River and the railroad tracks, you can almost see my next destination on Railroad Street, a newer mill building.

Located in an industrial wedge of land between the railroad tracks, Winthrop Avenue, Route 1A and Chelsea Creek, this old factory building seems to be mostly vacant.

"The Mill Store Building, a large multi-story factory building, is the marquee feature of the Railroad District," according to Next Stop Revere, a draft master plan for the City of Revere by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. "While Air Freight Specialties is currently located in the building, it is unclear if all the building floors are in use and what condition they are in. Anecdotal reports indicate that the cell towers on the building's roof are its most valuable asset."

According to that 2020 report, this area has been designated by the City for marijuana cultivation and distribution. I've been unable to find out the industrial history of this place. At some point, there was a mill store located within.

A few miles away, at the northeast tip of Revere in the Point of Pines neighborhood, I sought out a place the likes of which I've never featured on the blog.

While I have featured boats, marinas and boat clubs, I have never showcased a boat yard on the Backside.

"The structure housing Fred A. Kittredge Boat Builders, 7 Thayer Avenue...is a steel-frame building with a brick exterior," according to MACRIS. "There are oversized steel, multi-light windows and tall wooden doors on the gable end."

I assume boats were stored and repaired here, and perhaps even built. There doesn't seem to be much marine-related activity here nowadays.

Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for the final piece on Revere, which is about the world-famous beach. Below are links to the previous posts.

August 10, 2024, "The Backside is Coming! The Backside is Coming - to Revere (Part V)"

August 7, 2024, "The Backside is Coming! The Backside is Coming - to Revere (Part IV)"

August 3, 2024, "The Backside is Coming! The Backside is Coming - to Revere (Part III)"

July 31, 2024, "The Backside is Coming! The Backside is Coming - to Revere (Part II)"

July 27, 2024, "The Backside is Coming! The Backside is Coming - to Revere (Part I)"

Winding My Way Through the Baker Street Jewish Cemeteries

From Dave Brigham:

While researching online for places to explore along Boston's Blue Hill Avenue, which runs through the Mattapan, Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods, I stumbled across mention of the Baker Street Jewish Cemeteries in the city's West Roxbury neighborhood. I'd driven past the cemeteries numerous times over the past two decades, but had no idea of their history, architecture and layout.

Established in the 1920s on land that was once part of Brook Farm, a 19th century utopian communal living site whose founders included author Nathaniel Hawthorne, the cemeteries were necessary for the burgeoning Jewish population along Blue Hill Avenue, according to this 2014 Times of Israel article.

"Situated along a three-mile stretch of Blue Hill Avenue, the Jews of Roxbury and Dorchester had migrated from Boston’s cramped, central quarters – the so-called 'Ends' – to try their hands in a suburb," according to the Times article. "Jewish housing – mostly wooden triple-deckers and aging Victorians – was clustered around Franklin Park, where thousands of Jews spent Shabbat in the rose garden. The neighborhood’s turn-of-the-century boom paralleled increased immigration of Jews from the Pale of Settlement in Russia and Poland, as well as expanded electric street car service. Here, between Dorchester Bay and Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace park system, an ephemeral Jewish community helped popularize both Conservative Judaism and Zionism, even as it broke with religious tradition."

I haven't gotten to Blue Hill Avenue yet, but I was so intrigued by the idea of poking around a complex that "includes 42 separate burial grounds for various synagogues, labor groups and other affiliations," that I headed to Baker Street the next opportunity I had.

The Baker Street burial grounds are operated by the Jewish Cemetery Association of Massachusetts (JCAM). From MACRIS: "Between 1928 and 1958, chapels were built for 22 congregations or cemetery associations. Although primarily from Boston, namely Dorchester and Roxbury, one association was from Quincy and anther from Chelsea. The chapels are all one story, brick with hipped or gabled roofs....Contrasting bricks are also used to create Star of David motifs in side walls. Some chapels retain stained glass windows. Chapels generally were designed by Boston architectural firms, some executing plans for more than one congregation. The following firms designed at least two chapels each: Samuel S. Eisenberg and/or his partner Herman I. Feer (1929, 1941, 1944); Manning Waters (1930s); Saul E. Moffie (late 1930s); Meyer Louis (1937); Winebaum and Wexler (1940s); Arthur Resenstein (1940s and 1950s)."

I hiked in the back way through the Brook Farm walking trail, and felt like an interloper most of the time I was exploring there. I'm not Jewish, and didn't want any of the people I passed on foot and in cars to think I was disrespecting the site by taking photos and reading plaques and gravestones. I'm used to exploring old Colonial graveyards in New England, where nobody has been buried in decades, and few people are walking around. Nobody seemed bothered by the fact that I was there, thankfully.

The Times of Israel article dates to 2014, and features photos of the inside of some of the abandoned chapels once used regularly by the various groups that operated burial grounds. If I'd come across one that seemed easy to access, I'm not sure I would've ventured inside. Seeing them from the outside, some more obviously well taken care of than others, and still in use, was good enough for me.

I started at the Sons of Abraham chapel, which is one of the more pristine buildings on the grounds.

I'm not at all spiritual, and my knowledge of the history of any religion is quite weak, so I have to rely on Wikipedia, which informs me that Abraham was quite a complicated and seemingly omnipresent person in the ancient times. "Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jews and God; in Christianity, he is the spiritual progenitor of all believers, whether Jewish or non-Jewish; and in Islam, he is a link in the chain of Islamic prophets that begins with Adam and culminates in Muhammad."

I was quite taken by the various entry gates in the cemetery, starting with the one for the American Friendship Cemetery Association.

The association is based in Quincy, Mass., and is a mutual/membership benefit organization. While the JCAM maintains most, if not all, of the small burial grounds at Baker Street, at least some of the founding organizations still exist in some form, from what I've been able to determine.

The entry for the Ostro Hebrew Marshoe Cemetery Association is similar to the AFCA's.

The Ostro Hebrew Marshoe Society merged with JCAM in 1984.

The Kaminker Cemetery Corp.'s chapel was built in 1938. I wish the original doors were still in place.

The Lord Rothschild Cemetery Association was named, I presume, for Nathan Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild, of the well-known banking family. "In 1885, Rothschild became a member of the House of Lords when he was created Baron Rothschild, of Tring in the County of Hertford, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom," according to Wikipedia. "He was also a hereditary Freiherr (baron) of the Austrian Empire, a noble title that he had inherited via his father. In 1838, Queen Victoria had authorized the use of this Austrian title in the United Kingdom. When he was raised to the peerage by [William Ewart] Gladstone, Rothschild was the first Jewish member of the House of Lords not to have previously converted to Christianity."

The gate and fence were presented by the Lord Rothschild Ladies Auxiliary, per the plaque shown below.

The Pultusker Cemetery Association, which built its chapel in 1943, is now known as the Greater Boston Benevolent Cemetery Association.

The Atereth Israel Cemetery Association built its chapel in 1949.

Based in Newton, Congregation Beth El-Atereth Israel is still active as it "represents a continuation of two congregations founded in the 1800’s in the Dorchester area of Boston," per the linked web site. I wrote about the congregation as part of my series about the villages of Newton (see March 27, 2021, "I Seek Newton, Part X: Newton Centre (Section 1)".

The Atereth cemetery was formerly known as the Moreland Street Cemetery. The Moreland Street Historic District "is...roughly bounded by Kearsarge, Blue Hill Avenues, and Warren, Waverly, and Winthrop Streets in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston...." per Wikipedia. "It encompasses 63 acres of predominantly residential urban streetscape, which was developed between about 1840 and 1920."

The Zviller Cemetery features yet another beautiful entryway.

At the back of this cemetery, as you may be able to see in the photo above, I spied a small brick building that I needed to check out.

"Pretty small for a chapel," I thought to myself. I had no idea what this little structure's purpose might be, until I posted some photos from Baker Street on Instagram. One of my IG followers teased me with, "If you think the small empty chapels are fascinating, do you know about genizahs?"

Again, from Wikipedia: "A genizah...is a storage area in a Jewish synagogue or cemetery designated for the temporary storage of worn-out Hebrew-language books and papers on religious topics prior to proper cemetery burial."

Fascinating. I'm not sure whether other religious denominations make use of these types of buildings. I've certainly not seen any in Catholic cemeteries I've visited.

While I was quite taken with all of the chapels and genizahs (I found one other, which is featured at the bottom of this post) and entryways, I was most enamored of the David Vicur Choulim Cemetery's features.

I wasn't able to find out much about this organization, other than that it appears to have been formed in 1869 in Boston.

The Ahavis Achim Anshi Koretz Cemetery Corporation chapel, built in 1935, is in good condition. The organization still exists in Newton, listed on Buzzfile as operating in "the Cemetery Subdividers and Developers business / industry within the Real Estate sector" since 2011.

The Quincy Hebrew Cemetery Society opened its chapel in 1939. The organization restored its cemetery in 2008 after years of neglect, according to this article from that year in The Patriot Ledger.

The Staro-Konstantinov Progressive Cemetery Association's gate looks new and made to last.

I'm not sure whether the association was founded in 1937, or if that's when the cemetery was started. The group is named for a city currently in Ukraine that was once part of Poland and then the Soviet Union, according to this Jewish Virtual Library article. If you want to know more, read that article, as things get pretty convoluted.

The ivy clinging to the Anshei Sfard chapel adds a touch of mystery, but the Star of David, the name of the organization and the built date still shine through.

I believe that this chapel was owned (and may still be) by Congregation Agudas Achim Anshei Sfard, which is located in the Nonantum neighborhood of Newton, aka the Adams Street Shul. "The Adams Street Shul was founded by Jews who came to Newton primarily from Ukraine at the turn of the 20th century," according to the congregation's web site. "By 1901, at least half of the Jewish families arriving in Newton had settled in the Nonantum section of the city. After many years of davening in people's homes and in other larger and rented spaces, it became clear that the community required a formal synagogue. On October 6, 1911, Congregation Agudas Achim Anshei Sfard was granted an official charter by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. On December 15, 1912, three days after the end of Chanukah, the building itself was officially opened on Adams Street and formally dedicated with great fanfare and celebration."

I included the shul, which still has an active congregation, in one of the segments of my project to document all of the villages of Newton (see November 15, 2020, "I Seek Newton, Part IX: Nonantum (Section 3)".

The Immigrants Mutual Aid Society doesn't have a fancy entryway, but I like it nonetheless.

As with many of the other cemeteries, this one was founded during the Holocaust, in this case, 1938. I couldn't help but think of that horrible chapter of world history as I strolled through the Baker Street cemeteries. As for the Immigrants Mutual Aid Society, it "was founded in 1938 by a group of Central European refugees, to ease immigrants' adjustment to the economic, spiritual, cultural, and social life of the American community and to provide mutual assistance to its members and aid to other immigrants," according to The Wyner Fanily Jewish Heritage Center, which is part of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. "IMAS's original purpose was to assist refugees from Nazi persecution. In early years, IMAS was primarily concerned with securing affidavits for émigrés, and providing them with English lessons, as well as assisting them in finding jobs and homes."

I'm guessing that many, if not most, of the organizations that once owned these cemeteries acted in similar ways for Jewish immigrants.

The gate post opposite the one for the Immigrants Mutual Aid Society was erected by the Roxbury Lodge Cemetery Association in 1939.

I've been unable to find out anything about the Roxbury organization.

The Or Emet Cemetery and Temple Emeth Memorial Park is more modern than the others, but quite lovely.

The park was established in 1958 by Temple Emeth, which was founded in 1939 in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Brookline, according to the congregation's web site. The cemetery was dedicated in 2012.

Established on land donated by Joseph and Dora Richards in 1929, the Hebrew Ladies Home for the Aged Cemetery is now known as the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center Cemetery.

Founded in 1903 as the Hebrew Moshav Zekainim Association, the Hebrew Ladies' Home for the Aged Association operated a facility on Queen Street in Dorchester. In 1963, the group moved to a new facility in Boston's Roslindale neighborhood and changed its name to Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aged. The organization is now known as Hebrew Senior Life.

The Mohliver Cemetery Association chapel is somewhat more imposing than the others, and is a bit funky architecturally, but still I like it.

I've been unable to find out anything about this association, which may be named for Samuel Mohilever, "a rabbi, pioneer of Religious Zionism and one of the founders of the Hovevei Zion movement," according to Wikipedia.

I was quite surprised in the middle of so many Jewish cemeteries, to see a sign for a historic Christian site.

Pulpit Rock is where Rev. John Eliot allegedly preached to Native Americans in the 1640s as part of his three-decade effort to convert them to Christianity. Eliot "also established 14 Christian Indian communities in Massachusetts," according to this B.U. Bridge article. "Although his sermons at these settlements are well documented, there is no written record of Eliot's preaching to Indians in West Roxbury. Nonetheless, the 'Pulpit Rock' story became legendary when it was told in Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel The Blithedale Romance, which was based on the author's experience at a utopian farming community there."

The last part of that quote references Brook Farm, which is also cited on the sign. I could see the rock through the trees, but chose not to explore further. In late 2021, I wrote about a memorial to Eliot located in Newton Corner (see December 18, 2021, "I Seek Newton, Part XI: Newton Corner (Section 2)."

The final stop on my tour was the Agudath Israel Cemetery Association burial ground.

Agudath Israel was "founded in 1922 to serve as Orthodox Jewry’s umbrella organization," per the group's web site, and "is the arm and voice of American Orthodox Jewry. With national and DC offices, and regional branches serving the entire country, Agudath Israel...advocates for its constituents at federal, state, and local levels. The Agudah and its many divisions provide social, educational, and youth services to its constituents, continuing a century-long tradition of championing the evolving needs of Orthodox Jewish life in America."

I really like the colored glass in the chapel's windows, which were installed in memory of certain parishioners.

On my way back to the Brook Farm trail, I spied another genizah.

I'm glad I finally ventured into the cemeteries to learn about some history of Boston's Jewish population and some of the groups that once operated burial grounds here. Prior to my visit to Baker Street, my favorite local cemetery was Holyhood in Brookline (see July 30, 2022, "Finding Color Amid the Gray at Holyhood Cemetery").

Here's your headline explainer: