History of Jamaica Plain (Part III)

Posted by: Robert Holley
Posted on: Thursday, July 5, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Categories: Lifestyle, History Of..., Neighborhood News, Jamaica Plain

The Pond side section of Jamaica Plain became a popular home for Boston politicians.  In 1915 when politician James Michael Curley’s house on 350 Jamaica Way was designed with shamrocks carved into the shutters, it was clear that the elite of Jamaica Plain and james_michael_curley.jpgBoston politics would need to make room for the Irish.  In the 1950s and 60s, politicians such as John Collins lived in Jamaica Plain, as well as myriad police and city employees. Jamaica Plain was considered the most stable of all of Boston’s neighborhoods. While other neighborhoods rapidly lost their populations between 1950 and 1965, the population of Jamaica Plain was steady at 42,400.

The deterioration of part of Jamaica Plain was driven by the history of the Southwest Corridor, which was slated to become Interstate 95.  By the late 1960s, a final design for the highway was well underway.  The State had acquired the strip of land — dubbed the southwest corridor — and begun to demolish homes and business to clear the way for the interstate.  Between 1960 and 1968, 20% of the housing that remained had moved from sound to the deteriorating or dilapidated categories.  In 1968, due in large part to neighborhood resistance, the governor canceled the plans to run I-95 through Jamaica Plain, Roxbury and Roslindale and the cleared land was left alone.  The cleared and vacant land along the Southwest Corridor simply languished unused.  Sam Bass Warner called the corridor “a wide, unattended scab” through the neighborhoods

During this same period, many of the industries along the Washington Street corridor closed, including the Haffenreffer Brewery in 1965.  By 1965, approximately 24% of the 12,600 housing units in Jamaica Plain were unsound.  By the 1970s, arson had become a major threat in the neighborhood and the population of Jamaica Plain was declining.  Between 1970 and 1980 the total population of the neighborhood declined by 17.7%.  It became difficult to sell real estate.  A real estate broker with a Jamaica Plain realty firm described the period in this way: “The time from 1973 to ‘77 was a black hole — a void.  On some streets you couldn’t give houses away.”

The demand for housing in Jamaica Plain, particularly for affordable housing units, is high.  The supply of new housing each year is small in comparison, in part because land for new housing development and new parking is extremely limited.  In many cases, residents value small pockets of open space in their community and resist the potential for more congestion and traffic on their streets that they fear new housing development would bring.  In other cases, remaining developable land may be located on steep slopes, in awkwardly-sized lots, or near undesirable land uses.

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3 Responses to “History of Jamaica Plain (Part III)”

  1. Tim on July 5th, 2007 2:25 pm

    Please, Robert, keep the historical content flowing. I want to know MORE, MORE, MORE!!!!!

  2. maureen rossi on July 6th, 2007 1:40 pm

    Hi Robert,
    Thanks for reminding me of my past. Gov. Sargeant stopped the road and my cousins were affected by the strip that runs along Rowe St. (parallel with Hyde Park Ave.)in Rosllndale. Over the years a victory garden was planted at the intersection of Cummins Hgwy.

  3. MarkB on October 28th, 2007 12:34 pm

    Nice work!

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