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What is the history of Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA?

People, Pictures, Old Postcards and Stories From the Past

Explore Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA. Discover its history. Learn about the people who lived there through stories, old newspaper articles, pictures and genealogy.

• 1630 - In September 1630, Governor John Winthrop and the Massachusetts Bay Colony settlers traveled to the peninsula, known as Shawmut by the Algonquins, and founded Dorchester, the first part of the city of Boston.
  
  www.e-referencedesk.com/ resources/ state-history-timeline/ massachusetts.html
  
  
• 1639 - May 20 - The first free American public school, the Mather school, was founded in Dorchester, a neighborhood of Boston
  
  
  
• 1717 - March 7 - The Great Snow, a composite of four winter storms to hit the eastern U.S. in nine days, finally came to an end.
  Snow depths averaged 60 inches following the storm. Up to four feet of snow fell around Boston MA, and snow drifts 25 feet high were reported around D...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Walter Baker Chocolate Mills (Webb Mill, and Baker Mill), Dorchester, Mass.
  
  "The Baker Chocolate Company is the oldest producer of chocolate in the United States. The company was initially established when a physician named Dr. James Baker met... Read MORE...
  
  
• 2. DORCHESTER. [Pop. 4,875. Inc. 1630.]
  NORFOLK COUNTY
  
  Dorchester was named after Dorchester in England, from which some of the first settlers came. The Indian name was Matapan.
  
  ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1869 - Dorchester Annexed to Boston
  Dorchester the Indian name of which was Mattapan, was named in honor of the Rev. John White, of Dorchester, the capital of Dorset County, England. It ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1873 - For the Love of "Rob"
  A widow in Dorchester, Mass., has been three times married. Her first husband was Robb, the second Robbins and the third Robinson. The same door plate...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1891 - SIX LIVES LOST. A PLEASURE PARTY THROWN INTO THE WATER BY THE VESSEL OVERTURNING.
  Boston, Aug. 10. - A sad accident occurred on Dorchester Bay yesterday afternoon by which six persons lost their lives. The yacht Nay, owned and saile...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Walter Baker & Co.
  Dorchester, Mass.
  
  The Ladies' Home Journal
  January 1898
  
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  Washington Street, Dorchester, Mass.
  
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  Edward Everett Square
  
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  First Parish Church and Lyceum Hall, Dorchester, Mass.
  
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  Municipal Building, 1906
  
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  "Meeting House" Hill Unitarian Church, 1906
  
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  New W. E. Endicott School, Blue Hill Ave., 1908
  
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  Codman Square, Washington St. Second Cong. Church
  
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  Eaton Sq., 1910
  
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  Grove Hall, 1910
  
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  Home of Edward Everett Hale, 1910
  
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  St. Margaret's Church
  
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  W. C. Russell School, 1911
  
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  Blake House, 1912
  
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  Dorchester High School, 1913
  
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  Harris School
  
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  Henry L. Pierce School
  
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  Parsonage & St. Peter's Church
  
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  Dorchester Temple
  
• 1916
  Dorchester, a former town of Suffolk co., Mass., situated on Massachusetts Bay, 4 miles S. of Boston, to which it was annexed in 1869. It has extensiv...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Women's Club
  
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  Colonial Club
  
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  High School for Girls
  
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  Immanuel Church
  
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  Boston Public Library, Codman Square Branch
  
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  St. Marks Church
  
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  St. Hughes Church
  
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  The Carney Hospital