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When Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel came to town

Construction site in old Boston





Some people have already said Ashmont circa 1926 - 1927.

That is correct.

Whomever took this pic took it from the upper floor or the roof of a house that used to be at the corner of Beale and Dot Ave. That house got later taken down for a gas station which was converted in 1980 or so for the Dunkin Donuts which is now there.

Ashmont's configuration was changed in 1978 when that ramp under construction in the middle right of the photo was removed and all buses were put through the part of the station which remained (and was rebuilt stupidly - the old layout could have been upgraded instead) in 2007-2008.

Voting closed 22

This is clearly Peabody Square.

Your time frame is probably right.

Voting closed 8

It's the old Ashmont Station.

Most of those houses are still on Beale Street in the background. It is one of the few places in Dorchester with mostly mansard roofs on the houses. It was an 1875 TOD development by a "greedy" developer.

Voting closed 9

If you grew up 1,050 feet from where the photograph was taken, you should have gotten my reference.

Not that I don't think you grew up there, judging from your posts over the years, but that you don't know where Peabody Square is is a sad indictment of the loss of local history knowledge.

Voting closed 8

This is Ashmont Station, which is next to Peabody Square.

Why is it called Peabody Square? Well, George Peabody and family, who were Episcopalians lived in Milton. They got caught in a snowstorm and instead of going to Trinity went to services in a small church in Lower Mills.

They loved the people so much that they donated most of the money to design (Ralph Adams Cram) and build All Saints.

George Peabody was the Peabody in Kidder Peabody, a well know until the 80's money firm.

He also donated the horse trough in 1899 that is still in the square.

The funny thing is that All Saints was restored a few years ago and reportedly the money came from another Milton family, this one anonymous, with lots and lots of money from the management of money.

The railroad prior to the T was built by Nathan Carruth. He developed the lots around his house, which he called Beaumont and named the prettiest street in Dot (North of Minot) after himself.

The other side of the tracks was owned by the Welles Family. They took advantage of the railroad coming in and laid out their land which is now Ashmont Hill. The Welles' had a daughter who married a Hunnewell from West Needham. West Needham broke away from Needham and the town needed a name. Hunnewell, whose family later became really rich from Gillette, and the exteriors of Knives Out was filmed at one of their houses, said he would donate a town hall if they let him pick the name. The town hall is still used in Wellesley.

Voting closed 8

FYI - Is based on West Newbury.

Riverdale in the Archie Comics is Haverhill and reportedly Lil' Abner is based on Seabrook. If you have seen the "Brookers" in action from time to time, it makes sense.

Voting closed 11

Steam shovels -- and steamrollers -- are called that because in the pre-combustion era they both were actually steam powered!

Voting closed 4

Ashmont Station is correct! This photo was taken on November 30, 1927, and shows construction on the station. It was taken from Ashmont St. You can see a high res version of the photo here: https://cityofboston.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_0d064634-30f...

Voting closed 7