“The Uphams Corner Historic District is a collection of 26 buildings, one site (a burial ground), and two structures associated with the burial ground, located in the heart of the Uphams Corner section of Dorchester, Boston’s largest neighborhood.
Historic District Map (via Epsilon Associates Inc.)
The district is centered at the intersection of Columbia Road, a major north–south corridor with four lanes of traffic and street parking, divided by a concrete median, and Dudley and Stoughton streets, which extend west and east, respectively. The vast majority of resources within the district are located along Columbia Road, south of Annabel Street and north of Bird Street. Others have addresses on Dudley, Hamlet, Hancock, and Stoughton streets. In addition to the resources at the Dorchester North Burying Ground, established in 1634, the district encompasses the historic late-19th and mid-20th century
commercial, civic, ecclesiastical, and mixed-use buildings at the center of Uphams Corner, which retain architectural integrity. Several commercial buildings, generally west along Dudley Street and along Hancock Street at its intersection with Columbia Road, have been excluded from the district due to modifications that have severely impacted architectural integrity despite dating to the period of significance. Pockets of residential neighborhoods surround the district.
(L to R: Dorchester North Burying Ground (1634), Gateway (1912), and Wall (1912/1986), view northeast.; Upham’s Corner Market, 600 Columbia Road (1919), view northwest.; Strand Theatre, 543 Columbia Road (1918), and the Strand Building,545–553 Columbia Road (1918), view northeast.; Dorchester Municipal Building, 510 Columbia Road (1902),view northwest.; View southeast down Columbia Road.)
These include the residential neighborhoods at Jones Hill to the southeast, Bellevue – Glendale Street and Trull Street to the south, Humphreys/East Cottage Street to the north, Virginia Street , and Monadnock Street to the west. These areas are generally characterized by single- and two-family frame dwellings, and triple-deckers. Immediately south of the Uphams Corner Historic District is the Columbia Road – Bellevue Street Historic District, composed of residences constructed between 1840 and 1928, including a stretch of three- and four-story brick or frame apartment buildings on the east side of Columbia Road.
All the resources within the district are contributing; the boundaries have been drawn to exclude adjacent vacant parcels or those with resources that otherwise would be noncontributing. The buildings within the district were constructed between ca. 1870 to 1965, and thus a range of architectural styles is represented including Gothic Revival, Second Empire, Renaissance Revival, Romanesque Revival, Classical Revival, Mission Revival, Colonial Revival, and Art Deco. Most of the buildings have undergone some alterations, largely window and door replacement and modifications to storefronts. Nonetheless, the district as a whole retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.”
More Resources
National Register of Historic Places
The Dorchester Reporter “Uphams Corner boosters are seeking Historic District status”
uphamscorner.org 