The Parkman House, As It Was

The house of Francis Parkman, taken from The Homes of America, by Martha Joanna Lamb.


This is the only picture I know of showing the Parkman house. You can see the location of the house in this 1874 map on the JPHS web site. The memorial erected at the site of the old house sits opposite Jamaica Pond on an isolated patch of ground that is rarely visited. Most commuters who pass by every work day probably have no idea of the man it memorializes, much less that he once lived on the site. A sign on the road around Jamaica Pond with a short discussion about the man and his time in Jamaica Plain would give curious walkers an explanation for the stone monument across the street and maybe an excuse to walk across and take a close look. Are you listening, City of Boston?

Addendum: I just found this photograph of the house, apparently taken from the opposite direction.