West Roxbury is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts bordered by Roslindale to the northeast, the Towns of Dedham and Needham to the west and south, the Town of Brookline to the north, and the City of Newton to the west. West Roxbury is often mistakenly confused with Roxbury, but the two are not connected. West Roxbury is separated from Roxbury by Jamaica Plain and Roslindale.
Founded in 1630 (contemporaneously with Boston), West Roxbury was originally part of the town of Roxbury and was mainly used as farmland. West Roxbury seceded from Roxbury in 1851, and was annexed by Boston in 1874. The town included the neighborhoods of Jamaica Plain and Roslindale.
West Roxbury's main commercial thoroughfare is Centre Street. The neighborhood has tree-lined streets and mostly single family homes; many of Boston's civil servants live there. There are many people of Irish descent and a smaller number of Irish immigrants.
West Roxbury is home to District E-5 of the Boston Police Department, Boston Emergency Medical Services Ambulance 5 who posts at the intersection of West Roxbury Parkway at Centre St and Paramedic 5 who's stationed along with Ambulance 5 at the Faulkner Hospital emergency room, and two Boston fire stations, Ladder 25 & Engine 30 on Centre Street and Engine 55 on Washington Street. The Needham Branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail network has three stations in West Roxbury (Bellevue, Highland and West Roxbury). Several MBTA bus lines run through and/or terminate in West Roxbury. A large Veterans Affairs hospital is located opposite the Charles River on the VFW Parkway near the Dedham line. West Roxbury is home to several places of worship, including three Catholic parishes, churches of various Protestant denominations, and a Jewish synagogue.
The neighborhood was home to an experimental transcendentalist Utopian community called Brook Farm, which attracted notable figures including Margaret Fuller and Nathaniel Hawthorne, whose 1852 novel The Blithedale Romance, is based on his stay there.
Like its neighboring communities, West Roxbury's residential development grew with the construction of the West Roxbury branch of the Boston and Providence Rail Road; the area grew further with the development of electric streetcars.
Demographics
Until the 2000 census West Roxbury's population had been recorded as declining slightly, but it increased at the 2010 census. This could be due to more rigorous counting procedures instituted by the city of Boston and Massachusetts in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid losing the state's tenth congressional seat.
Theodore Parker Church
At Centre and Corey Streets, the Theodore Parker Church features seven stained glass windows made by the Tiffany Studios between 1894 and 1927. The original church, designed in 1890 by Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow, Jr., is now a parish hall. Henry Seaver designed the current church in 1900. Theodore Parker (1810-1860), an advocate of progressive religious ideas, abolitionism and women's suffrage, was minister of this Unitarian congregation from 1837 to 1846.
Westerly Burying Ground conflict and secession
Westerly Burying Ground, also known as Westerly Burial Ground, (currently at Centre and Lagrange Streets) was established in 1683 to permit local burial of residents of Jamaica Plain and the western end of Roxbury. When West Roxbury was still part of Roxbury, the town's first burial place was what is today Eliot Burying Ground, near Dudley Square. This was a long distance to travel for the inhabitants of West Roxbury, and in 1683 the town selectmen voted to establish a local burying place, now known as Westerly Burying Ground. A conflict between the rural and more urbanised parts of the town led to the split of West Roxbury from Roxbury proper in 1851. West Roxbury became part of the City of Boston on 5 January 1874. Westerly Burying Ground served as this community's burial place well into the 19th century. The oldest graves contain many of the town's earliest and most prominent families. Eight veterans of the American Revolution and fifteen veterans of the American Civil War are also buried here. War veterans interred are detailed in the article "Westerly" and the Civil War. The site has a large collection of three centuries of funerary art. One-third of its extant gravestones date from the 18th century; almost half date from the 19th century, and about twenty from the 20th-century. Westerly Burying Ground has many individual mound tombs; mound tombs at other burying grounds are typically larger, built to contain a number of bodies. The oldest gravestone, from 1691, commemorates James and Merriam Draper, members of a prominent West Roxbury family. Headstones, skilfully carved locally, provide an historic record of three centuries of West Roxbury residents.
Boston United Hand in Hand Cemetery
Boston United Hand in Hand Cemetery is located on Centre Street straddling the Dedham line. Dating back to 1875, the original plot was full by 1896 but subsequently expanded multiple times. There are graves as recent as 1980 in the West Roxbury portion; the Dedham portion is still active. Chestnut Hill's Congregation Mishka Tefila currently owns the cemetery.
Government and infrastructure
The United States Postal Service operates the West Roxbury Post Office in West Roxbury. West Roxbury is represented by a city councilor.
Education
Primary and secondary schools
Boston Public Schools operates public schools. Ludwig van Beethoven Elementary School, William Ohrenberger School, Joyce Kilmer K-8 School, and Patrick Lyndon K-8 School are in West Roxbury. Three schools in the West Roxbury Education Complex, Media Communications Technology High School, Parkway Academy of Technology and Health, and the Urban Science Academy are located in West Roxbury.
The Roxbury Latin School, a private school for boys, is located in West Roxbury. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston operates the Holy Name Parish School as well as the St. Theresa of Avila School in West Roxbury.
Catholic Memorial School, which is an all boys middle and high school, is located on Baker Street.
Public libraries
Boston Public Library operates the West Roxbury Branch Library. In 1876 the city library took over the West Roxbury Free Library, establishing a delivery station in West Roxbury. The West Roxbury facility was upgraded to a library branch in 1896. In the years of 1921 and 1922 a library building was constructed on the West Roxbury Branch Library current site. In 1973, a fire destroyed the adjacent West Roxbury Congregational Church. The land formerly occupied by the church was donated to the trustees of the library system so an addition could be built. The addition opened to the public on 24 September 1989.
Events
The Corrib Classic 5K Road Race is held annually at Billings Field, LaGrange Street, the first Sunday in June. Since starting in 1994 with 250 runners the event has grown into the largest community event, attracting about 2000 runners, plus event volunteers, families and friends. Centre and Lagrange Streets are briefly closed during the race. It is a benefit event hosted by the Bligh family of the adjacent Corrib Pub and Restaurant that has raised over half a million dollars over the years for a variety of local causes. The Parkway Little League Parade, is a small event to start little league baseball for the areas of West Roxbury and Roslindale. Young baseball players dress up in their team uniforms and march from Fallon field in Roslindale to the Guy Cammarata Complex in West Roxbury.
Notable natives
- Edward Downes
- Anthony Michael Hall
- Patrick DeCoste
- Robert Gould Shaw
- Francis A. Sullivan
- Willis Lent
- Chris Nilan, former NHL player and coach.
- Richard Olney, former United States Attorney General and Secretary of State.
- Dan Kiley, modernist landscape architect
- Ellery Clark, US olympic champion, Athens 1896.
- Taylor Schilling, Actress
- Thomas G. Kelley, Medal of Honor Recipient (Vietnam War)
- William Martin (novelist)
- Rich Cronin, singer, songwriter, lead singer for LFO
- Sears Gallagher, noted American artist
- Kevin Hagan White, 20 year Mayor of the City of Boston */
Walter McDonough, Future of Music Coalition; Ron Perry, Holy Cross Basketball; Chuck Bruen, Mayor of West Roxbury; Archibold Cox, Chief Watergate Prosecutor; James Wood, Actor; Mike Bruen; Paul McLaughlin, Prosecutor.
Sites of interest
- The Roxbury Latin School
/* Stoney Brook Reservation Water Tower Bellevue Hill*/
- Holy Name Parish School
- Saint Teresa of Ávila Church (Roman Catholic)
- Westerly Burial Ground
- Catholic Memorial School
- Theodore Parker Church
- Holy Name Church (Roman Catholic)
- Boston Public Library West Roxbury Branch
- Millennium Park
- Brook Farm--1840s utopian experiment in communal living
- City of Boston Archives
- Billings Field
- Veterans Administration Hospital
- Annunciation Melkite Catholic Cathedral Located on the VFW Parkway
- Guy Cammarata Little League Complex
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