Looking east on Beacon St., 1521 Beacon is on the right and a corner of the Stoneholm building can be glimpsed on the left. Photo labeled "35839".
[Source: Joel Shield]

Home of Caleb Chase
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

North side of Beacon St. just west of Mason Terrace. The house on the left was built in 1892 and purchased by King Gillette, inventor of the safety razor, in 1907. It was torn down in 1944. The house on the right was designed by well-known architect Arthur VInal and built in 1889. It was acquired circa 1900 by Fred McQuestern who also owned land situated behind the house that fronted on Mason Terrace. In 1903, he moved the house up the hill to its present location at 41 Mason Terrace and constructed an even larger house at 1560 Beacon St. That was torn down in 1967 and replaced with a large apartment building.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

The house originally on this site was acquired circa 1900 by Fred McQuestern who also owned land situated behind the house that fronted on Mason Terrace. In 1903, he moved that house up the hill to its present location at 41 Mason Terrace and constructed this house designed by well-known architect Arthur Vinal. It was torn down in 1967 and replaced with a large apartment building.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

Built in 1892 for Benjamin Lombard Jr., a banker and real estate executive. The Lombards moved to 349 Coomonwealth Ave. circa 1905 and King Gilette, the inventor of the modern razor blade, bought the house circa 1907 and lived there until 1913. The house was torn down in 1944.

Looking east. From left to right: The huge mansion at 1566; 1560; 1546; the entrance to Mason Terrace; 1530; vacant lots; the apartment building at 1470. Only 1470 Beacon St. is still standing.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

Viewed from Beacon St., From left to right:

• 1600 Beacon St., Eben Jordan Mansion (built 1890)
• 72 York Terrace, white house at the top of the hill, (still standing)
• 2 Mason Terrace, black house coming forward, (still standing)
• 57 York Terrace, house with the huge tower, (still standing, tower removed in 1938)
• Summit Path
• 5 Mason Terrace, rear view with a gazebo on the left, (still standing)
• 12 Mason Terrace, up the hill from #5 (still standing)
• 50 York Terrace, rear, blurry white house, (still standing)
• 22 Mason Terrace, coming forward (still standing)
• 44 York Terrace, arched roof line, (still standing)
• 43 Lancaster Terrace
• 1566 Beacon St., partial view of the corner of the house

[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

[Source: Olmsted]

1592 Beacon St. is in the background. The entrance to Summit Path is visible just behind the wagon.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

Several blocks west of Washington Sq., looking east. 1714 and 1712 Beacon St., still standing, are on the far left. This is a fairly unique photo showing the simultaneous use of automobiles and horse-drawn carriages. Note that the eastbound vehicles are using the north side of the road while the carriage is on the adjacent bridle path. Brookline passed an ordinance in 1924 dictating unidirectional traffic flow, restricting the eastbound traffic to the south side of the road (obscured on the right side of the photo).

Built in 1903 by Henry Whitney. Initially a luxurious 200-room apartment hotel, it apparently fell on hard times by the 1950s and was demolished after a fire in 1966.
[Source: Joel Shield]

Built in 1903 by Henry Whitney. Initially a luxurious 200-room apartment hotel, it apparently fell on hard times by the 1950s and was demolished after a fire in 1966.

Virginia Elsie Aiken is pictured in front of the Hotel Beaconsfield, 1731 Beacon St., (destroyed by fire in 1966) driving one of the demonstration cars for Babcock Electric, a firm that first employed her as a teenager. Born in 1895, she moved from Chicago to Brookline, around the age of 16, and attended the Runkle School.

She lived with her father's sister Viola and Viola's husband, Day Baker, first at 145 Winthrop Road then at 33 Dwight St. Her uncle was the New England representative for the General Vehicle Co. (Buffalo, NY) and head of the Electric Vehicle Club of Boston. Remarkably, while still at the Runkle School, Virginia assumed the position of New England representative of the Buffalo-based Babcock Electric Carriage Company, responsible for sales throughout the six-state region. Aiken operated out of the Brandon Garage at 643 Washington Street, where she maintained an office, employed a stenographer and a bookkeeper, and kept several models of Babcock Electrics to demonstrate to prospective buyers.

Extensive details are avalable at Muddy River Musings.

The Hotel Beaconsfield was built in 1905 as a luxury hotel serving both short-term and long-term stays. After a fire of suspicious origin in 1966 it was torn down leaving a trash-strewn site for a number of years until today’s Regency Park apartment complex was opened in 1980.

[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

Washington St. looking south, Beacon St. looking west to the right. Beaconsfield Pharmacy is on the left. The storefronts on the west side of Washington St. were built circa 1908 with a few more added on the south end in 1912. The identified businesses from left to right:

• L. C. Stevens & Co. Awnings, Upholsterers, 692-694 Washington St.
• Edward Sawyer, Hardware, 704 Washington St.
• Restaurant, 712 Washington St.
• Felix Thomas, Fish, Oysters, 712 Washington St.
• Irving R. Howatt, Druggist, 718 Washington St.
• Edward Sharp & Son, Real Estate, 720 Washington St.
• Theophiles Bros., Variety Store, 1623 Beacon St.
• Hennessey Bros., Florists, 1625 Beacon St.
• Brookline Notion Shop run by Mrs. E. W. Jewell, 1627 Beacon St.
• A. Frank Bonney, Plumber, 1629 Beacon St.

[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

Station G at 665 Washington St. was opened in late 1899 and is still active today as Fire Station No. 7. It housed three companies: Hook and Ladder #1, Combination Company #4, and Steam Engine #2. It is probable that the station here has recently opened as there are no inscriptions yet on the entrances.

This station at 665 Washington St. is still active today as Fire Station No. 7. Shown is their Engine #2 steamer. When the station was opened in late 1899 the engine was relocated from the Devotion Engine House.