tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26857326558174948582011-10-05T12:14:49.941-04:00Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.comBlogger271100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-52933714760565350392008-04-21T20:46:00.004-04:002009-06-18T21:54:22.411-04:00

There's a new Stony Brook Reservation Resource Management Plan available online here. It's not particularly relevant to the historical Stony brook, but it can't hurt to link to it here. There are maps in pdf format on the right side of the page that can be downloaded and viewed.

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-76350216085588608462008-04-02T15:52:00.001-04:002008-04-02T15:56:14.544-04:00

Since this site is in typical blog form, the entries run from bottom to top. For some entries, like the old newspaper articles, it doesn't matter which you read first. For others, however, there is a sequence to be followed. If you read an entry, and it refers to something you don't understand, it's probably found in an earlier post. In any case, feel free to poke around at your convenience. If

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-15075027874953848152008-04-02T14:18:00.001-04:002008-04-02T14:20:17.419-04:00

Here's an interesting nugget from 1876: there was consideration given to diverting some of the water from Stony Brook to the Neponset River. Presumably, they would have cut from the east end of today's Stony Brook Reservation over to Mother Brook at River Street in Readville. The two aren't much more than a stone's throw from each other, so it would have been an easy task. There are no

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-59292303361199220622008-04-02T14:13:00.000-04:002008-04-02T14:17:31.609-04:00

Meehan street, between Williams street and Rossmore road 2007.Amory street, 2007Since I've figured out how to link to off-site pictures, I decided to add more pics. I was running out of space, so I was limiting my photos for a while. The top picture shows Meehan Street, which runs diagonally between Williams Street and Rossmore Road. Along the road on the left you see a patch of grass and then

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-43939749134861489142008-04-02T13:13:00.000-04:002008-04-02T14:36:01.289-04:00

Stony Brook Reservation, outflow pipes from Washington street 2007.Outflow conduit from under Harvard streetBridge at old Mattapan Hospital site.Bridge, facing east.Orange gunk - your guess is as good as mine. Today I finished my search for the headwaters of the great river Stony. In an earlier entry, I showed that the origin of Bussey Brook at the West Roxbury Parkway is two stormwater

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-34393814516070906962008-04-02T13:08:00.000-04:002008-04-02T13:12:28.895-04:00

Turtle pond, 2007.I'm adding a picture of Turtle Pond today. There's no vantage point to take in the whole pond, so I went with a sectional shot. There's actually a wall of rock that rises behind the north side of the pond, but trees block what would be a very nice view. It's really a shame that Stony Brook Reservation gets so little use. There is a parking lot directly opposite the pond on

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-17473511493898227332008-04-02T13:00:00.000-04:002008-04-02T13:04:55.228-04:00

View Larger MapView Larger MapIn a previous entry, I posted about the Canterbury brook, and discussed searching out the above-ground section of the stream. Since a picture really is worth a thousand words, I figured I should post a nice satellite map to show what I found - and more. **Note: the satellite pictures are cropped a little on this page. To see the full image as I describe it,

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-26111973479776023712008-04-02T12:57:00.000-04:002008-04-02T12:59:38.742-04:00

For such an insignificant stream, Stony Brook has attracted its share of tragedy. Apparently, when there is no Golden Gate Bridge, people in extremis will settle for less. Bless their souls. Boston Globe August 28, 1893 Found Body Under Bridge Unknown Man Drowned in Stony Brook, Back Bay Fens The body of a man was found under Stony brook bridge, Back Bay fens, yesterday by Sergt

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-14311267133159963742008-04-02T12:54:00.001-04:002011-02-26T17:50:59.003-05:00

Some nice background from one hundred years ago on the trouble Stony brook caused Roxbury and Boston before it was put permanently underground. Boston Daily Globe July 12, 1908 Boston's Costly Little Stream City Has Expended Nearly $3,500,000, Paying Damages, and Trying to Hold in Check the Wilful Waters of Stony Brook - It Has Baffled the Ingenuity of More Than One Civil Engineer -

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-48738269688365814012008-04-02T12:49:00.000-04:002008-04-02T12:52:26.509-04:00

As I've searched out the path of Stony Brook, I've come across more than one "Brook"-named street, so I thought I'd catalog them. This is one time I don't need the Intergoogle. I have my late father's Boston Police handbook. The title page informs me that the Commisioner in 1955 was Thomas F. Sullivan, and the Superintendent of Police was Edward W. Fallon. Along with entries like "Breaking

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-33879072455338851492008-04-02T12:44:00.000-04:002008-04-02T12:48:34.250-04:00

Here's an interesting feature article - they just don't write like this any more. Please note the literary references. Taken at his word, the author banters with the sewer superintendent with quotes from Tennyson. At the least, the reader is assumed to get the references. The equivelent today? Maybe Jay Leno making the night's required Britney Spears and Paris Hilton jokes for week after

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-48551296958257066972008-04-01T21:52:00.000-04:002008-04-01T21:58:38.425-04:00

Here are two articles from 1902. Both concern the intersection of Green st and Brookside ave, so they go together nicely. Boston Globe March 2, 1902 Stony Brook Maintains Its Reputation Its Overflow of Yesterday Morning Will Cost the City a Considerable Sum for Damages - Buildings Undermined. Yesterday morning's rampage makes more firm the title of Stony brook as Boston's most

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-59452963539387620622008-04-01T21:29:00.000-04:002008-04-01T21:50:26.515-04:00

Hyde Park avenue - showing Brookway TerraceThe mysterious tunnel.Sanford Fire Insurance Map (courtesy of the Jamaica Plain Historical Society).I've been traipsing through the Forest Hills area recently, trying to find traces of our subterranean waterway. Mostly, I can only guess the exact location of the culvert, based on Sanford fire maps. The problem is that there are so many manhole covers

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-651828151989741252008-04-01T21:01:00.000-04:002008-04-01T21:02:08.739-04:00

I just found a very cool online study of the gradual evolution of the Back Bay Fens from a marshland to its current filled-in cityscape and urban water project. The link to the site is below - look for Evolutionary Infrastructure. It's a little dense in places, as professional literature often is, but it's filled with information and contains a great gallery of historical pictures. I enjoyed

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-25749897114819911772008-04-01T20:57:00.000-04:002008-04-01T21:00:32.644-04:00

I found two "human interest" stories from the early 20th century that featured Stony Brook - one sad, and one happy. I had no idea that there were cows munching grass along Hyde Park Ave. as late as 1909. Boston Globe July 28, 1909 Mary Ann Is Dead Found Standing in Brook Off Hyde Park Av. Only a Cow, but Children Cried Over the Loss of Their Pet. Mary Ann is dead.Her death was

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-26253925283798602692008-04-01T19:40:00.001-04:002008-04-01T19:49:25.449-04:00

Sidney and Smith, 1852Bromley and Bromley, 1895When they built the Boston And Providence Railroad line south from Boston, they crossed Stony Brook where it leaves the edge of Roxbury Highlands and flowed into the Charles River basin. I thought I had worked out the path the culvert took from the tracks to the outlet in the Fens, but I recently found out that the original culvert had been

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-49724361245146828812008-04-01T19:21:00.000-04:002008-04-01T19:25:46.069-04:00

In Jamaica Plain, the train tracks followed the path of Stony Brook for much of its path. The railroad engineers looked for the straightest, most gradual upward slope to the south possible, and found Stony Brook valley. Thus, the brook and the tracks have been associated since the rail line was built in the 1830s.I've been doing some reading of old Boston Globe articles, and I found this one last

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-67400650648090599332008-04-01T18:53:00.000-04:002008-04-01T18:58:36.539-04:00

Sidney and Smith, 1852 (copyright © 2000 by Cartography Associates)Here's a map from 1852 that gives a good picture of the lower portion of the Stony as it winds its way out to its mouth. The map shows the Boston Providence Rail line and Tremont, Dudley, Centre and Washington Streets. Unlabeled, Ruggles Street cuts across Tremont and the train tracks just north of where the Stony turns left

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-80538948090081822642008-04-01T16:46:00.000-04:002008-04-01T18:56:54.687-04:00

Hopkins, G.M. 1874 (copyright © 2000 by Cartography Associates)David Rumsey CollectionThe following story comes from the Boston Globe, February 14, 1886. Work They had already done work to channel and culvert Stony Brook - note Culvert Street. Apparently, like the New Orleans levees in our time, the Stony Brook culvert that sent water under the train tracks near Tremont Street was not large

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-43512917634212749992008-04-01T15:37:00.000-04:002008-04-01T15:55:26.375-04:00

Returning to the Sampson Murdock map, we see the two sources of the Goldsmith Brook marked "F" and "G". One comes down from Lowder's Lane, the other from Pond Street. If you enlarge the full map, the two sources are shown coming together near Custer and Ballard Street - a short block from today's Goldsmith Street. The name Goldsmith shows up on the 1874 Sanborn Fire Map. The heirs of

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-88199634188347333352008-04-01T14:40:00.000-04:002008-04-01T15:53:47.784-04:00

"The beginning" of Sawmill brook - VFW parkway and West Roxbury parkway (2007) The blue sign tells you the outflow pipe numbers.Arnold Arboretum - Hemlock Hill at South street (2007)I've covered three tributaries of Stony Brook: the main source in Hyde Park, the east branch draining the Canterbury cemetery area, and the buried Roslindale south branch. Next is the Bussey Brook - formerly the

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-83710109420310468942008-04-01T14:35:00.000-04:002008-04-01T14:40:03.492-04:00

Sampson and Murdock, 1888Referring to the Sampson and Murdock map posted above, I've discussed the headwater of Stony Brook in the Stony Brook Reservation in Hyde Park, and Canterbury Brook on the edge of Mattapan. Going clockwise, the next tributary is - or was - the brook that starts near the present day Belgrade Ave/West Roxbury Pky. intersection. Neither street appears on the map, but South

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-63715712888764128482008-04-01T13:39:00.000-04:002008-04-01T13:48:14.178-04:00

Boston Nature Center - American Legion Highway (2007)St Michael's Cemetery - Walk Hill street and American Legion Highway (2007)If you didn't know where to look, you wouldn't know that Canterbury Brook existed. I've been driving through the area for over 30 years, and I didn't know it was there. The brook once flowed from east of Forest Hills Cemetery, south and through the Neponset St./

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-82927349298031175942008-04-01T12:57:00.000-04:002008-04-01T13:50:15.831-04:00

Geological Survey, 1890 (copyright © 2000 by Cartography Associates)David Rumsey CollectionSampson Murdock, 1888 (copyright © 2000 by Cartography Associates)David Rumsey Collection.I've put up both segments of historical maps and links to the originals. The Sampson Murdock map from 1888 and the Geologic Survey map from 1890 show the extent of Stony Brook. To the east, the brook wraps around

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-72480148790985942042008-04-01T12:51:00.000-04:002008-04-01T13:51:06.680-04:00

When I first read about Stony Brook in Jamaica Plain, I understood it to be a stream running between today's Washington Street and the Amtrak train line, from Forest Hills to somewhere in what is now Roxbury. Three tributaries are commonly listed - The Bussey Brook, (formerly the Sawmill) that starts in today's Allendale Woods and flows in front of Hemlock Hill in the Arnold Arboretum, the

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-80690102272384101442008-04-01T12:41:00.001-04:002008-04-01T13:49:08.712-04:00

This picture shows the end of the line for today's Stony Brook. Two stone building house the valves the control the flow of the underground channels into the Back Bay Fens. The buildings can be seen opposite the Forsyth Dental building, near the back of the Museum of Fine Arts. No signs mark the site, and many like myself have driven past the site hundreds of times without realizing what was

Mark B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03524735496130204611noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685732655817494858.post-40674997741076919972008-04-01T12:20:00.000-04:002008-04-01T12:23:48.488-04:00

I'm migrating this site from my ISP page to Google for technical reasons. It's a pain, but it needs to be done. I'll just transfer everything as I originally presented it. I grew up in Jamaica Plain in the '50s and 60s, and I had no idea that a real Stony Brook ran through the community. At some point I heard the name, but in the absense of any sign of water, it just wasn't worth thinking about

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