Course Catalog > Lectures & Walking Tours

Brookline's Historic Beacon Street Walk

Go back in time to the 1850s when Brookline's Beacon Street was still a narrow country road. By 1890, Frederick Law Olmsted had transformed it into a wide boulevard lined by apartment blocks and stores and included the nation's second electric trolley line. Join us for a stroll from Cleveland Circle to Audubon Circle as we talk about the development of Beacon Street over the years, including important historical moments as well as more contemporary changes and its reconstruction. You'll learn about the Beaconsfield Terraces, hidden paths, Stoneholm, Brandon Hall, "Taxpayer Buildings," and Coolidge-Bros. Market, S.S. Pierce, tiled MBTA Spanish-style shelters, Richmond Court, Amory Park, Longwood Mall, Cottage Farm, St. Mary's, and Audubon Circle. We'll discuss the zoning, layout, and architecture of the street, and how politics and the values of the day shaped changes. We'll cover about two miles and end at Audubon Circle. Meet at the CVS parking lot in Cleveland Circle.

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