Early History

“Following Colonial settlement in the 17th century as a rural village in the southern part of the Town of Roxbury, Jamaica Plain remained an agricultural community into the mid-1800s, supplying Boston markets with farm products, water and ice. Transportation routes connecting Boston to its southern and western neighbors became important corridors of development in Jamaica Plain, including the Dedham Road, built in 1663 (now Centre Street) which connected Boston to Providence, and the Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike (now Washington Street), built in 1803, which connected Boston to Pawtucket, RI. Both routes extended north-south through Jamaica Plain. 

Jamaica Plain’s wooded hills and 120-acre pond made the area attractive to wealthy Bostonians for their country estates. Along with farming and limited residential development, small-scale industry developed along the Stony Brook, which then flowed north-south above ground, including across what would become Green Street. The Stony Brook was exploited as a source of power, attracting a modest amount of industrial development. The arrival of the Boston & Providence Railroad in 1834 just west of the Stony Brook encouraged this development further.  By the mid-19th century, the Stony Brook Valley was dotted with textile mills, printing shops, foundries, lumber and stone yards, and breweries. As a result, this section of Jamaica Plain, including along Green Street, had a development pattern that included buildings of different scales and uses. In 1851, Jamaica Plain seceded from Roxbury and joined the town of West Roxbury to escape Boston’s continued expansion, but in 1873 West Roxbury was itself annexed to Boston.

Green Street was one of the first east-west corridors in Jamaica Plain linking the Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike (Washington Street) to the east and the Boston & Providence Railroad and Centre Street beyond to the west. Green Street was laid out as a private road in 1836 at a time when Jamaica Plain was still dominated by farms and large estates. It was laid out by Samuel Goodrich, whose 38-acre estate comprised much of the western end of the Green Street lands. Facing financial difficulties, he decided to subdivide his estate into 32 lots, necessitating a new road, which he also laid out across his neighbors Betsy and Abel Green’s land to the east. First named Willow Street on Goodrich’s subdivision plan (willow trees were often referenced in deeds at that time), it was renamed Green Street when officially accepted by the city as a public road in 1837.”

Source: Eric Dray, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, Green Street (East) Historic District, October 2025