Mount Pleasant Historic District (Boston, Massachusetts) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Mount Pleasant Historic District
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Mount Pleasant Avenue
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 Location in Massachusetts
Location in the United States
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| Location | Boston, Massachusetts |
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| Area | 170 acres (69 ha) |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival, Italianate, Romanesque |
| NRHP reference No. | 89000004 |
| Added to NRHP | February 9, 1989 |
The Mount Pleasant Historic District is a special area in Roxbury, a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. It's like a time capsule, showing off many old homes built in the 1800s. This district includes buildings on Forest Street and Mount Pleasant Avenue. It was one of the first neighborhoods in Roxbury planned for homes.
The buildings here show off different styles from the past. You can see Greek Revival, Italianate, and Romanesque designs. Because it's so important, this district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
Exploring the Mount Pleasant Historic District
The Mount Pleasant Historic District covers about 170 acres in central Roxbury. This area is mostly filled with homes. You can find many different kinds of houses here. Some buildings have one, two, or three homes inside. There are also bigger apartment buildings and rowhouses.
The only non-home building is the Mount Carmel Convent, which is also a place where people live. Most of the smaller buildings are made of wood. The larger buildings are usually made of brick. The oldest homes show the Greek Revival style. Newer homes show other popular styles from the late 1800s.
How the District Grew Over Time
Roxbury started as its own town way back in 1630. It later became part of Boston in 1868. For a long time, Roxbury was mostly farmland. But things began to change in the 1800s.
In 1833, a person named Caleb Parker, Jr. bought a large farm. He then planned out the streets for this new neighborhood. When he sold the land, he made sure that only homes could be built there. This helped keep the area residential.
Transportation and Building Styles
At first, people traveled to Boston from Roxbury using horse-drawn buses. But in 1835, a train line was built through Roxbury. This made it much faster to get to Boston.
Before the American Civil War, most of the homes built in the district were made of wood. More and more homes were built, making the area denser. After the war, new buildings were mostly made of brick. They were also built even closer together. Around the early 1900s, a few "triple deckers" were also built. These are large, three-story apartment buildings.
