From Dave Brigham:
This is another one from the "Gee, I wonder if this place is 'something'" files.
Back in February, I decided to walk around Fenway Park, Kenmore Square and parts of nearby neighborhoods, camera in hand. I got some decent shots of the home of the Red Sox, as well as a random bicycle gang rolling down Beacon Street. As I was heading back to my car, east-northeast on Beacon, I looked to my right down Aberdeen Street, and thought, "Huh, never been down here before."
The street, which dead-ends at the MBTA's Green Line D branch tracks, is short. It is lined with a handful of apartment buildings ranging in height from two to six stories. Some of these contain housing for Boston University students. At the end, on the east side of the street, is the Blauer company, which for 90 years has manufactured public-safety apparel of all types.
Abutting the company's headquarters is a rowhouse that appeared older and more refined than the other apartment buildings. So I made a photo and headed to old friend MACRIS.
Built in 1914, this two-family, English Revival house has ties to a well-known Boston philanthropist who died more than 100 years ago, but whose name is in Boston news in the Now Times due to a clash over a stadium in Franklin Park named for him.
Score one for Backside intuition!
"This charming row of Jacobethan two-family houses was built...as an investment property for Boston philanthropist George Robert White," MACRIS indicates.
I've mentioned White several times here over the years. Born in Lynnfield, Mass., in 1847, he lived most of his life in Boston. "As a boy he began working for the Weeks and Potter Drug Company," according to Wikipedia. "Over time White's responsibilities grew and he eventually became the president and owner of the firm. White changed the name of the corporation to that of the Potter Drug and Chemical Company. The company was best known for its antibacterial soap with the brand name Cuticura. Over the course of his life he amassed a fortune. He was active in a number of charitable organizations."
I first mentioned White in a November 21, 2018, post about Boston's North End (see "A Little Further Into the North End"). That post refers to his bequeathing $5 million to the City of Boston as a permanent charitable fund.
In May 2024, I featured the Menino Arts Center in Boston's Hyde Park neighborhood, which is also home to the George Robert White Trust (see "Seeking Out Hyde Park"). A year later, I posted a photo of the long-defunct health unit of the White Fund, in a post about Boston's Roxbury and South End neighborhoods (see May 24, 2025, "Lower South Roxbury End").
But what makes White's name relevant today is the stadium in Boston's Franklin Park.
Built in 1949, White Stadium (originally known as the George Robert White Schoolboy Stadium) was used for football, track and other sporting events and practices for Boston school athletes, as well as concerts and other events.
In recent years, the open-air arena has fallen into disrepair. When I visited in early 2024, I was expecting a rather drab facility. I was pleasantly surprised, then, by the detail over the entrances to the stadium, which you can see in images I made for a post about it (see May 18, 2024, "Stadium Tour in Franklin Park").
I made that visit because I was aware that big changes were coming to the stadium. As I wrote in 2024, "In the late summer of 2023, the owners of the city's entry in the National Women's Soccer League, the Boston Unity, announced a plan with the City of Boston and Boston Public Schools (BPS) to overhaul the aging facility and take over primary usage of the stadium from March to October each year."
As it stands now, the redevelopment calls for a state-of-the-art, 10,000-seat stadium to serve as the home for Boston Unity. White will also be accessible to schools and students. Needless to say, this is a controversial plan. The stadium is located in a public park -- the most expansive and popular one in Boston -- and is vital to local schools and their athletic programs. There are lawsuits pending, with plaintiffs hoping to stop or alter the scale of the project, especially as costs for the city have continued to rise.
If you want to read more about the stadium and its supporters (foremost of whom is Boston Mayor Michelle Wu) and detractors (led by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy), you can search online.
I was taken aback when I saw images of the stadium -- or what's left of it -- in recent media reports. I was under the impression that more of the bones of the place were going to be saved. At least one entrance seems to have been spared. Check out this report from WBUR to see photos and read a bit more about the plan.
