Roxbury Puddingstone

Forest Hills Cemetery – Stone Bridge // 1891

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Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston was established in 1848 in the rural cemetery tradition, which followed Mount Auburn Cemetery, established in 1831 in nearby Cambridge and Watertown. The site was a municipal cemetery in Roxbury until it was annexed into Boston in 1868, becoming a private, non-denominational burial place for the who’s who of the area. The cemetery was envisioned by Henry A. S. Dearborn, who was the mayor of Roxbury in 1847 and first president of the Massachusetts Horticulture Society, who had also been instrumental in creating Mount Auburn. Since its creation in 1848, Forest Hills has grown from its original 72 acres to a total of approximately 250 acres today and is known for the rich topography and vegetation, dotted by thousands of beautiful monuments to the deceased and some iconic architectural landmarks tucked away in its winding paths. Forest Hills Cemetery was located on this site due to its varied natural features, which included hills, valleys and lakes, which together were preserved to enhance the experience of those visiting nearly 200 years later. The site’s topography consists of a series of geological drumlins of Roxbury puddingstone, an important material that was used in building projects all over the region (and for some of the buildings and monuments in Forest Hills). It is the burial place of a remarkable cross-section of people that reflect almost every aspect of American life — from statesmen to soldiers to industrialists to abolitionists to artists to poets. Forest Hills Cemetery is a somewhat hidden gem and is one of the best places in the area to walk and explore. 

The stone bridge in Forest Hills spans over Greenwood Avenue, linking Consecration Hill to Milton Hill, was designed by William Gibbons Preston and built in 1891-1892. It is 180’ long and 23’ wide and was constructed of random laid Roxbury puddingstone with granite trim and is capped by a stone balustrade inlaid with decorative cast iron. The bridge shows that even a traditionally functional structure in the cemetery was designed with intent and was a vessel to enhance the experience of those visiting. Stay tuned for more sites in this iconic landscape!

Forest Hills Cemetery – Bell Tower // 1876

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Built atop Snowflake Hill just inside the entrance of the Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston, the cemetery’s bell tower stands as an architectural landmark in the iconic historic landscape. Completed in 1876, the octagonal, Victorian Gothic Revival style tower stands 100 feet tall and is built atop an outcropping of Roxbury puddingstone. The structure is also built of local Roxbury puddingstone blocks and trimmed with granite. The roof is clad with granite tiles and topped with an ornate copper weathervane. Originally, a swinging bell was rung in the tower, but it was replaced by an electronic carillon. The architect is not known for the handsome structure, but the contractors were the Concord and Roxbury Granite Railway Company, and the builders were Jacobs & Kelly of Boston.

Former Newton Centre Methodist Episcopal Church // 1899

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This building, the former Newton Centre Methodist Episcopal Church, is Romanesque in style, and is one of the more notable adaptive reuse projects in Newton. The church was designed by the esteemed architectural firm of Andrews, Jacques & Rantoul and completed in 1899 for the local Methodist Episcopal congregation. The edifice is built of locally quarried rubblestone, often called Roxbury Puddingstone, and trimmed with rough cut Milford granite. The granite is used at the windows, forming the arches and heads, and most strikingly in the large arched entrance. The church eventually closed and was renovated with modern windows, additions, and more, and currently houses a restaurant, bank, book store, and professional offices.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Brookline // 1852

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The St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Brookline, Massachusetts is an architecturally and historically significant landmark to the area. The congregation was established in 1849, and within months, in May 1850, the corporation, which was made up of wealthy Boston-area residents, accepted an offer from Augustus Aspinwall of a building lot to erect a church. Esteemed ecclesiastical architect, Richard Upjohn, the architect of Trinity Church in New York, was hired to design the church in Brookline of the same, Gothic style. The wealth of the congregation was evident by the consistent expansions of the complex, to include a chapel, rectory, parish house, and other expansions to those buildings. St. Paul’s Church is the oldest religious structure in Brookline, and almost was lost when the sanctuary was devastated by fire in 1976, leaving only its exterior walls and two stained glass windows. The congregation rebuilt the interiors and the building remains well-preserved at its exterior, built of Roxbury Puddingstone.

Hutchings-Pfaff Gatehouse // c.1884

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Once located at the entrance to the Hutchings-Pfaff Mansion, this small stone gatehouse is all that remains of a great Roxbury estate. Built of locally quarried Roxbury Puddingstone decades after the main house was completed, the Victorian Gothic style cottage surprisingly survived the subdividing of the large property and was sold as a private home in the early 20th century. It is uncommon to see these types of outbuildings survive into the 21st century, so I hope to see this charming cottage survive another 150 years!

Hutchings-Pfaff Mansion // c.1865

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In the mid-19th century, Roxbury was seen as a country retreat for wealthy Bostonians. Many purchased large estates of land and built mansions where they would find peace and solitude from the polluted Downtown areas. As the need increased for more workers, old farms and estates were subdivided, and single family homes, row houses, and multi-family homes sprang up to accommodate the growing population with the advent of trolley service in 1887. This is one of those estates that were demolished. This house was seemingly built for Colonel William Vinson Hutchings after the conclusion of the American Civil War. The stone mansion featured ample porches and a large stone stable amongst winding dirt paths and mature trees. The property was eventually purchased by Henry and Agnes Pfaff, of the Pfaff Brewing Company nearby. The lot was subdivided by 1895 with houselots carved out of the larger estate. By the 1930s, the stone mansion and stable were demolished, leaving just the stone gatehouse (next post) as the last survivor of this once great Roxbury estate.

Abbotsford Mansion // 1872

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The Abbotsford Mansion in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston was designed in the High Victorian Gothic style and was built of Roxbury puddingstone, which was quarried locally. Abbotsford, originally named “Oakbend”, was built in 1872 as the residence of Aaron Davis Williams, Jr., (1821-1899) an industrialist and son of the founder of the Roxbury Institution for Savings. Roxbury-based architect Alden Frink designed the country estate and it is his most notable work. When Davis lost his fortune, James M. Smith, a brewer who had a passion for Sir Walter Scott, acquired the estate and renamed the house Abbotsford after Sir Walter Scott’s ancestral keep of the same name. The house continued to serve as a private residence until 1924, when the City of Boston acquired it for use as an elementary school and a disciplinary school for boys. The parcel was subdivided and the David A. Ellis School was built on the former grounds. After the building slipped into decline in the 1970s, the National Center for Afro-American Artists purchased the property, filling in the windows to create exhibit space. They have maintained the building to this day.

Harriswood Crescent // 1889

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Harriswood Crescent was built in 1889-90 at the height of Roxbury’s development as a streetcar suburb which coincided with the electrification of the streetcar lines in Boston. The area of Roxbury in which the Crescent is located, known at the time as Boston Highlands due to its rocky terrain and steep grades, was an extremely desirable residential location. As land values raised, middle and upper-class families looked for varied housing types that fit their demands. Seen as a great investment of the family estate, the heirs of wealthy businessman Horatio Harris (1821-1876) redeveloped lots on one side of a rocky park for fine townhouses, which were named Harriswood Crescent. The name was probably chosen for its historical associations with Boston’s Tontine Crescent and the great Georgian crescents of London and Bath in England. Architect J. Williams Beal designed the row, which was one of his first commissions upon returning to Boston in 1888 after employment as a draftsman at McKim, Mead & White and a long study in England to view architecture. Built at 15 separate units, the row of Tudor style houses is among the only of such developments in Boston, and New England at large.