OWNERSHIP
CONDITIONS AND HISTORY
DESIGN ISSUES

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OWNERSHIP:
City of Boston

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CONDITIONS and HISTORY:
Eliot Street, which connects Jamaica Pond to the Soldiers' Monument and the historic Loring-Greenough House, is one of Jamaica Plain's two oldest, most historically significant areas (the other being Sumner Hill). The street is lined with several important buildings. The first is First Church of Jamaica Plain (literally the first church established in the area). The church was built in 1853 -- although the parish community is much older -- and the building is adjacent to an historic cemetery.

Two other historical institutions are still in operation on Eliot Street: a school and a theater. The Eliot School was the first school in Jamaica Plain. Established in 1676 by Reverend John Eliot, in 2002 the school runs as the Eliot School of Fine and Applied Arts. The school provides art education to nearly 1,000 students each year in woodworking, upholstery, stained glass, life drawing, and glass blowing. The Footlight Club is located at Elliot Hall on Eliot Street. Established in 1877, this is the oldest community theater in the nation and its dedicated company produces a series of plays every season.

In addition to the historically significant places on Eliot Street outlined above, celebrated women such as Ellen Swallow Richards (1842-1911) lived on Eliot Street. Richards was the founder of the home economics movement for increased sanitation and safety in the home. She was the first female student at M.I.T, where she was a chemist and the first professor of sanitary engineering in the nation.

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DESIGN ISSUES: 
-- Some residents of Jamaica Plain are sensitive to even minor developments and changes wrought on the public environment on Eliot Street because of its historic significance. Even additions such as murals, if produced without public involvement, have evoked concern and resistance among residents. 

-- Eliot Street is a particularly beautiful route to the pond that connects to several important civic spaces, such as the Sedgwick Branch of the Boston Public Library, Curtis Hall, First Church of Jamaica Plain, and the Loring-Greenough House. As such, it is an important pedestrian route for visitors that will perhaps even increase in significance when the Arborway Green Line once again makes the area accessible by trolley.

Pedestrian safety between Eliot Street and Jamaica Pond is a significant issue to many local residents.
The Arborway Traffic Calming Study prepared by Bruce Campbell & Associates in March 2000 endorsed the installation of a new pedestrian cross-walk and traffic signal at Eliot Street and the Jamaicaway intersection. The Arborway Coalition, a community group concerned with public safety along the Arborway and the Jamaicaway, also supports this endorsement.

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