Standing on Beacon St., Carlton St. going north to the right; just offscreen to the right is the house of John Ruggles. This is a school house that was built around the time of the widening of Beacon St. in 1851. There is no evidence that it was ever a public school. There is a record of its use as a private school in 1871 by M. Fannie Welbasky. Welbasky (1841-1922) periodically operated “Miss Welbasky’s Home School for Girls” at various locations in Brookline until 1889. She had an interesting history. Her father was a recent immigrant from Russian and her mother, coincidentally named Susan Ruggles Plympton, was from an established early-European-settler family. Her mother apparently separated from her father shortly after their marriage. Her daughter never married and mother and daughter lived together, mostly in Brookline, until the mother’s death in 1885.

The school building was likely removed for the 1887 widening of Beacon St.

From the 1887 photo series taken just before the widening of Beacon St., most likely by Augustine H. Folsom, a Boston photographer.
[Source: Digital Commonwealth]

Beacon St (l to r) probably just before its widening; Carlton St. looking north in the center. The driveway of John Ruggles is on the right. On the left is a school house that was built around the time of the widening of Beacon St. in 1851. There is no evidence that it was ever a public school. There is a record of its use as a private school in 1871 by Frances M. (“Fannie”) Welbasky. Welbasky (1841-1922) periodically operated “Miss Welbasky’s Home School for Girls” at various locations in Brookline until 1889. She had an interesting history. Her father was a recent immigrant from Russian and her mother, coincidentally named Susan Ruggles Plympton, was from an established early-European-settler family. Her mother apparently separated from her father shortly after their marriage. Her daughter never married and mother and daughter lived together, mostly in Brookline, until the mother’s death in 1885.

The school building was likely removed for the 1887 widening of Beacon St.

Removed with the widening of Beacon. Replaced by the Devotion School.

Formerly the Elizabeth F. Raymond mansion. From a postcard.

REAR: M. Bryant, E. Johnson, F. Small, K. Matsuki. FRONT: C. Rowe, L. Briggs, M. Colby, Mary Sawyer, M. Prentiss

Mary Sawyer, 2nd from right; Alice Howard Spaulding, center.

Mary Sawyer, front row, 2nd from left

REAR: M. Colby, B. Chandler, E. Neal, B. Rosenau, N. Van Ulm; FRONT: L. Hunnewell, Miss Dodge, Mary Sawyer, R. Vachon

From the pamphlet entitled Brookline School Photos, Taken and Finished by the Guidance Department, 1933
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

Looking across Beverly Rd. at the rear of 110 Wallis Rd.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

Posing in front of the Edward Devotion house. School buildings are off-photo to the left and the right. Same view used on cover of "Voices of Brookline" a book by Larry Ruttman.

Seen in front of the Edward Devotion house. School buildings are off-photo to the left and the right.

This is one of two photos taken on the same day, likely in November 1905, related to the town’s bicentennial celebration. The time of day seems similar on both and the students and teachers appear mainly the same in both photos but posed in markedly different positions . The reason is unknown.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

Circa 1920s. On the left is the Devotion School building constructed in 1892, no longer standing. In the middle is the rear of the Devotion house. An ell, previously on the right rear of the house, has been removed.
[Source: Joel Shield]

[Source: Hudson Scanning]

The original Devotion house can be seen where it stands today, in the middle of the buildings of the school. The school building on the right was built in 1892, the one on the left in 1898, and the middle building, which is still in use, in 1913.

A four-room school house that opened in April 1888. Named after J. Eliot Cabot, a Brookline architect and one-time school committee member. When the school on Harvard and Pleasant streets was closed for the 1888 widening of Beacon St., the students moved to the Cabot School. Torn down in 1957 for subsidized housing now on the site.

A four-room school house at 32 Marion St. that opened in April 1888 and is no longer standing. When the school on Harvard and Pleasant streets was closed for the 1888 widening of Beacon St., the students moved to the Cabot School. The house at 44 Marion St. is under construction on the right, still standing.

Page 1, plate 7276. From an album of fifty photographs of Brookline schools, classrooms, and examples of clay modeling, wood-working, and cooking. Produced for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]

A four-room school house at 32 Marion St. that opened in April 1888 and is no longer standing. When the school on Harvard and Pleasant streets was closed for the 1888 widening of Beacon St., the students moved to the Cabot School. For the 1891-1892 school session the principle was Lillian M. Watton and the kindergarten teachers were Annie P. Burgess and Florence Hersey.

Page 2, plate 7277. From an album of fifty photographs of Brookline schools, classrooms, and examples of clay modeling, wood-working, and cooking. Produced for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.
[Source: Brookline Preservation Department]