GreenerPasture.com

Sign In



FREE genealogy since 1999 - History belongs to all of us!

Add YOUR Family To This Page

flag  History of Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Journey back in time to Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

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

Follow us on Instagram     

Are you from Dorchester? Do you have ancestors from there? Tell us YOUR story!


Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Dorchester, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA

On May 20, 1639, the first free American public school, the Mather school, was founded in Dorchester.

Dorchester includes: Calf Pasture, Canterbury, Cedar Grove, Central Avenue, Codman Square, Fields Corner, Glover's Corner, Grove Hall, Harrison Square, Harvard Street Station, Lower Mills, Meeting House Hill, Neponset, Savin Hill, and Uphams Corner.



netronline.com/mass_lookup.htm

There is MUCH more to discover about Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*. Read on!
  • 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


  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    Blake House, 1912

    The James Blake House is the oldest surviving house in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The house was built in 1661. Dorchester Historical Society

    The house was built in a Western English style of post-medieval architecture by James Blake, an immigrant from England. The Blake family owned the house until 1825 when it was acquired by the Williams family. In 1891, the City of Boston acquired the house. wikipedia

    The house's original occupant was James Blake, a... Read MORE...

    Postcard
  • 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 Dorchester MA.
    The Weather Channel

  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    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 John Hannon on the banks of the Neponset River. Irishman John Hannon was penniless but was a skilled chocolatier, a craft which he had learned in England and which was, until now, exclusive to Europe. With the help of Baker, Hannon was able to set up a ... Read MORE...

    Postcard
  • 1839 - Dorchester
    Dorchester, Massachusetts
    Norfolk county. This ancient and respectable town lies on Dorchester bay, in Boston harbor, 5 miles S. from Boston and 7 N.E. from Dedham. Population, 1837, 4,564. It was first settled by a party of Puritans from England. These pilgrims landed from the ship Mary and John, ...Read MORE...


  • 1845 - 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.

    Dorchester originally included what aie now the towns of Milton, Stoughton, Sharon, Foxborough, and Canton.

    The Burial Ground contains some of...Read MORE...


  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    Dorchester High School, 1913

    Dorchester High School was founded in 1852 in what was then the independent town of Dorchester, Massachusetts. In 1870, Dorchester was annexed by the City of Boston and Dorchester High came under the jurisdiction of Boston Public Schools. When a new school building on Peacevale Road opened in 1925, the student body was split. Dorchester High for Boys moved to the new facility, while Dorchester High School for Girls remained in the Codman Square building.[2] In a... Read MORE...

    Postcard
  • 1854 - Dorchester
    Dorchester, a post-village of Norfolk county, Massachusetts, on Dorchester bay, and on the Old Colony railroad, 5 miles S. of Boston. It has considerable shipping, chiefly employed in the whale and other fisheries, and contains several churches and two banks. Dorchester may properly be regarded as a...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 was incorporated as a town September 7, 1630; annexed to Boston June 4,1869.

    A Gazetteer of the State of Massachusetts, with Numerous Illustration...Read MORE...


  • 1870 - January 3 - Dorchester is annexed to Boston

    Massachusetts City and Town Incorporation and Settlement Dates

  • News 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 has served for the whole three, and the question now is, what extended name can be procured to fill out the remaining space on it.
    Harrisburg Telegraph
    Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
    March 1, 1873

  • News 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 sailed by Captain J. M. BURKE, started on a cruise about the bay yesterday afternoon, having on board four men and five children. There was a light breeze ...Read MORE...


  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    Edward Everett Square

    Edward Everett Square, in Dorchester, Boston, is the intersection of Columbia Road, Massachusetts Avenue, East Cottage Street and Boston Street, that was named in 1894 after a former Governor of Massachusetts, Edward Everett, who was born near there. wikipedia
    Postcard
  • 1895 - Dorchester
    Dorchester, a former town of Suffolk co., Mass, situated on Massachusetts Bay, 4 miles S. of Boston, on the Old Colony Railroad and the New York & New England Rail road. It is now the 16th ward of Boston, to which it was annexed in 1869. It is bounded on the S.E. by the Neponset River, has a hilly s...Read MORE...


  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    Walter Baker & Co.
    Dorchester, Mass.

    The Ladies' Home Journal
    January 1898
    Advertisement
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    Washington Street, Dorchester, Mass.
    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    First Parish Church and Lyceum Hall, Dorchester, Mass.
    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    New W. E. Endicott School, Blue Hill Ave., 1908

    2 McLellan Street, Dorchester
    Built 1906
    James E. McLaughlin, Architect

    William Endicott (1842-1903) served for 40 years in the Boston Schools. He was Master of the Christopher Gibson School. Born in Canton, Mass., he served in the Civil War, then he started teaching in the Christopher Gibson School in Dorchester in 1866.
    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    Municipal Building, 1906
    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    "Meeting House" Hill Unitarian Church, 1906
    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    Codman Square, Washington St. Second Cong. Church

    Baker’s Corner was re-named Codman Square for the Rev. John Codman, the first minister of the Second Church, who presided as minister of the church from 1808 until he died in 1847. Rev. Codman was a well known minister, famous for his “fire and brimstone” preaching. codman.org
    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    Eaton Sq., 1910

    Coppen Square, a small green at the corner of Bowdoin and Quincy Streets, was originally named Eaton Square after Percival Eaton, whose family kept a tavern there from the time of the American Revolution to the Civil War. wikipedia
    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    Grove Hall, 1910

    The first 200 years of settlement (1650-1850) was characterized by farms, summer estates, and orchards, including, in 1832, the estate of horticulturalist Marshall P. Wilder who used the land to experiment with many varieties of fruit trees, plants and flowers. The name “Grove Hall” is derived from the name of another estate and mansion owned by Thomas Kilby Jones, a Boston merchant who developed the property around 1800. That estate dominated the Grove Hall crossroads for a ... Read MORE...

    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    Home of Edward Everett Hale, 1910
    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    St. Margaret's Church
    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    W. E. Russell School, 1911

    In 1903, the William E. Russell School in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, designed by James Mulcahy, was named in his honor. wikipedia
    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    Harris School
    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    Henry L. Pierce School
    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    Parsonage & St. Peter's Church
    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    Dorchester Temple
    Postcard
  • 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 extensive manufactures of various articles and many fine country-seats.
    Lippincotts New Gazetteer: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World, Containing the Most Recent and Authentic Information Respecting the Countries, Cities, Towns, Resorts, Islands, Rivers, Mountains, Seas, Lakes, Etc., in Every Portion of the Globe, Part 1 Angelo Heilprin Louis Heilprin - January 1, 1916 J.B. Lippincott - Publisher

  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    Women's Club
    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    Colonial Club
    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    High School for Girls
    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    Immanuel Church
    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    Boston Public Library, Codman Square Branch
    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    St. Marks Church
    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    St. Hughes Church
    Postcard
  • Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*
    The Carney Hospital

    Carney Hospital was established in 1863 in South Boston by Andrew Carney with a $75,000 donation and with Sister Ann Alexis Shorb, Carney's choice for its first administrator and a member of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. It was located on the former Hall Jackson Howe estate on Old Harbor Street on Telegraph Hill. The hospital was designed by Boston City Architect Charles Bateman. wikipedia
    Postcard


Old Photos, Pictures, Advertisements and Postcards from Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*


Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
Blake House, 1912

The James Blake House is the oldest surviving house in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The house was built in 1661. Dorchester Historical Society

The house was built in a Western English style of post-medieval architecture by James Blake, an immigrant from England. The Blake family owned the house until 1825 when it was acquired by the Williams family. In 1891, the City of Boston acquired the house. wikipedia

The house's original occupant was James Blake, a... Read MORE...

Read more about James BLAKE

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
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 John Hannon on the banks of the Neponset River. Irishman John Hannon was penniless but was a skilled chocolatier, a craft which he had learned in England and which was, until now, exclusive to Europe. With the help of Baker, Hannon was able to set up a ... Read MORE...

Read more about James BAKER photo of ancestor

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
Dorchester High School, 1913

Dorchester High School was founded in 1852 in what was then the independent town of Dorchester, Massachusetts. In 1870, Dorchester was annexed by the City of Boston and Dorchester High came under the jurisdiction of Boston Public Schools. When a new school building on Peacevale Road opened in 1925, the student body was split. Dorchester High for Boys moved to the new facility, while Dorchester High School for Girls remained in the Codman Square building.[2] In a... Read MORE...

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
Edward Everett Square

Edward Everett Square, in Dorchester, Boston, is the intersection of Columbia Road, Massachusetts Avenue, East Cottage Street and Boston Street, that was named in 1894 after a former Governor of Massachusetts, Edward Everett, who was born near there. wikipedia
Read more about Edward Hill EVERETT photo of ancestor

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Advertisement
Pinterest
Walter Baker & Co.
Dorchester, Mass.

The Ladies' Home Journal
January 1898
Read more about Walter BAKER photo of ancestor

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
Washington Street, Dorchester, Mass.

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
First Parish Church and Lyceum Hall, Dorchester, Mass.

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
New W. E. Endicott School, Blue Hill Ave., 1908

2 McLellan Street, Dorchester
Built 1906
James E. McLaughlin, Architect

William Endicott (1842-1903) served for 40 years in the Boston Schools. He was Master of the Christopher Gibson School. Born in Canton, Mass., he served in the Civil War, then he started teaching in the Christopher Gibson School in Dorchester in 1866.
Read more about William Ellis ENDICOTT

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
Municipal Building, 1906

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
"Meeting House" Hill Unitarian Church, 1906

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
Codman Square, Washington St. Second Cong. Church

Baker’s Corner was re-named Codman Square for the Rev. John Codman, the first minister of the Second Church, who presided as minister of the church from 1808 until he died in 1847. Rev. Codman was a well known minister, famous for his “fire and brimstone” preaching. codman.org
Read more about John CODMAN photo of ancestor

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
Eaton Sq., 1910

Coppen Square, a small green at the corner of Bowdoin and Quincy Streets, was originally named Eaton Square after Percival Eaton, whose family kept a tavern there from the time of the American Revolution to the Civil War. wikipedia

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
Grove Hall, 1910

The first 200 years of settlement (1650-1850) was characterized by farms, summer estates, and orchards, including, in 1832, the estate of horticulturalist Marshall P. Wilder who used the land to experiment with many varieties of fruit trees, plants and flowers. The name “Grove Hall” is derived from the name of another estate and mansion owned by Thomas Kilby Jones, a Boston merchant who developed the property around 1800. That estate dominated the Grove Hall crossroads for a ... Read MORE...

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
Home of Edward Everett Hale, 1910
Read more about Edward Everett HALE photo of ancestor

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
St. Margaret's Church

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
W. E. Russell School, 1911

In 1903, the William E. Russell School in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, designed by James Mulcahy, was named in his honor. wikipedia
Read more about William Eustis RUSSELL photo of ancestor

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
Harris School

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
Henry L. Pierce School

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
Parsonage & St. Peter's Church

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
Dorchester Temple

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
Women's Club

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
Colonial Club

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
High School for Girls

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
Immanuel Church

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
Boston Public Library, Codman Square Branch

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
St. Marks Church

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
St. Hughes Church

Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Postcard
Pinterest
The Carney Hospital

Carney Hospital was established in 1863 in South Boston by Andrew Carney with a $75,000 donation and with Sister Ann Alexis Shorb, Carney's choice for its first administrator and a member of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. It was located on the former Hall Jackson Howe estate on Old Harbor Street on Telegraph Hill. The hospital was designed by Boston City Architect Charles Bateman. wikipedia
Read more about Andrew CARNEY photo of ancestor

History, News and Stories of Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

Add informationAdd History/News/Story
  • 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

    Read more about John WINTHROP photo of ancestor
  • 1639 - May 20 - The first free American public school, the Mather school, was founded in Dorchester, a neighborhood of Boston

  • The Boston History Project: Upham's Corner in Dorchester
  • 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 Dorchester MA.
    The Weather Channel
  • 1839 - Dorchester
    Dorchester, Massachusetts
    Norfolk county. This ancient and respectable town lies on Dorchester bay, in Boston harbor, 5 miles S. from Boston and 7 N.E. from Dedham. Population, 1837, 4,564. It was first settled by a party of Puritans from England. These pilgrims landed from the ship Mary and John, ... Read MORE...

  • 1845 - 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.

    Dorchester originally included what aie now the towns of Milton, Stoughton, Sharon, Foxborough, and Canton.

    The Burial Ground contains some... Read MORE...

  • 1854 - Dorchester
    Dorchester, a post-village of Norfolk county, Massachusetts, on Dorchester bay, and on the Old Colony railroad, 5 miles S. of Boston. It has considerable shipping, chiefly employed in the whale and other fisheries, and contains several churches and two banks. Dorchester may properly be regarded as... 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 was incorporated as a town September 7, 1630; annexed to Boston June 4,1869.

    A Gazetteer of the State of Massachusetts, with Numerous... Read MORE...

  • 1870 - January 3 - Dorchester is annexed to Boston

    Massachusetts City and Town Incorporation and Settlement Dates
  • News  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 has served for the whole three, and the question now is, what extended name can be procured to fill out the remaining space on it.
    Harrisburg Telegraph
    Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
    March 1, 1873
  • News  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 sailed by Captain J. M. BURKE, started on a cruise about the bay yesterday afternoon, having on board four men and five children. There was a light breeze ... Read MORE...

  • 1895 - Dorchester
    Dorchester, a former town of Suffolk co., Mass, situated on Massachusetts Bay, 4 miles S. of Boston, on the Old Colony Railroad and the New York & New England Rail road. It is now the 16th ward of Boston, to which it was annexed in 1869. It is bounded on the S.E. by the Neponset River, has a hilly... Read MORE...

  • 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 extensive manufactures of various articles and many fine country-seats.
    Lippincotts New Gazetteer: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World, Containing the Most Recent and Authentic Information Respecting the Countries, Cities, Towns, Resorts, Islands, Rivers, Mountains, Seas, Lakes, Etc., in Every Portion of the Globe, Part 1 Angelo Heilprin Louis Heilprin - January 1, 1916 J.B. Lippincott - Publisher


Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA* Genealogy

Ancestors Who Were Born or Died in Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

We currently have information about ancestors who were born or died in Dorchester.

View Them Now (sorted by year of birth)


Ancestors Who Were Married in Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA*

We currently have information about ancestors who were married in Dorchester.

View Them Now

Not the place you are looking for? Try again!

Search for Your Family by Place

To search for a place, specify place name below. Choose name from the list. Then SEARCH.
*Place Name:

Who Are You Searching For?

Search for Your Family by Name

NOTE: If you don't know your ancestor's whole name or are unsure of the spelling, specify part of the name.

First Name:
*Last Name:
Gender:
Born (+/- 2 years):
Died (+/- 2 years):
Match all terms exactly:

Updated: 1/5/2023 7:31:15 PM

Are you from Dorchester? Do you have ancestors from there? Tell us YOUR story!

If you'd like to be contacted by others who have ancestors from Dorchester, leave a message here!
The comments you read here belong only to the person who posted them. We reserve the right to remove off-topic and inappropriate comments.