Brookline, Allston-Brighton and the Renewal of Boston Quotes

“When the road was first built, a store and school were put up where Beacon Street crossed Harvard Street, the road to Allston and Roxbury. The store (later the site of the S.S. Pierce store) was owned by a man named Coolidge, and the intersection became known as “Coolidge’s Corner.” It had the town pump and hay scales out front. It would become one of the most-traveled parts of Brookline.”
― Ted Clarke, Brookline, Allston-Brighton and the Renewal of Boston

“Once known as “Muddy River” when it was a small hamlet on the outskirts of Boston, Brookline was eventually named for the brooks that formed the lines of its northern and southern borders. Hence, “Brookline” was incorporated in 1705.”
― Ted Clarke, Brookline, Allston-Brighton and the Renewal of Boston

“The first thing that had to be done after the fire was to dispose of the rubble left behind. That was no problem in Boston, which, it seemed, was always looking for material to fill in water or wetlands and make more dry land. In this case, the rubble from the ruined buildings was dumped into Boston Harbor close to shore to fill in what is now Atlantic Avenue.”
― Ted Clarke, Brookline, Allston-Brighton and the Renewal of Boston

“Damrell, the chief, received plenty of criticism for the fire, but the facts are in his favor. His modern methods of firefighting later bore out his methods. In fact, Damrell’s Fire, a PBS one-hour documentary on the Great Boston Fire, makes him its hero. In later years, he was recognized by firefighters nationally as a man ahead of his time.”
― Ted Clarke, Brookline, Allston-Brighton and the Renewal of Boston

“What became known as the Great Boston Fire took about twelve hours to contain. By that time it had destroyed about sixty-five acres in the business section of the city in an area between Summer, Washington and Milk Streets and the ocean. That included 776 buildings at a cost of nearly $75 million and thirteen deaths.”
― Ted Clarke, Brookline, Allston-Brighton and the Renewal of Boston

“The fire was stopped at State Street by a brigade of firefighters with pumps, saving the Old State House for posterity. Also saved by extraordinary effort was the Old South Meetinghouse at Milk and Washington. Credit is given to a crew from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, who arrived by train with their steam engine, Kearsage No. 3, that had been loaded on a flatbed railroad car and hauled by train to Boston.”
― Ted Clarke, Brookline, Allston-Brighton and the Renewal of Boston