Jamaica Plain is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. It was originally part of Roxbury, Massachusetts, and then part of the town of West Roxbury, Massachusetts when that was established in 1848. West Roxbury (including Jamaica Plain) was annexed to Boston in 1874. According to an official city estimate, it had a population of 38,196 in October, 2003. Nickname: Beantown, The Hub, Athens of America Location in the state of Massachusetts Founded September 17, 1630 County Suffolk County Mayor Thomas Menino (Dem) Area  - Total  - Water 232. ... For the place in Connecticut, USA called Roxbury, see Roxbury, Connecticut. ... Originally part of the town of Roxbury, West Roxbury formed its own government in 1851 and was annexed by Boston in 1874. ... 1848 is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1874 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

One of the original streetcar suburbs, by the 1850s Jamaica Plain included massive summer "cottages" near Jamaica Pond belonging to Boston's oldest families, middle-class single-family homes, and immigrant worker housing. It was the home of almost a dozen breweries which relied on the relatively pure water of Stony Brook. Events and Trends Technology Production of steel revolutionised by invention of the Bessemer process Benjamin Silliman fractionates petroleum by distillation for the first time First transatlantic telegraph cable laid First safety elevator installed by Elisha Otis Science Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species, putting forward the theory of evolution... The middle class (or middle classes) comprises a social group once defined by exception as an intermediate social class between the nobility and the peasantry. ... A brewery is a facility that produces beer. ...

A Victorian-era house in Jamaica Plan

By the end of the 19th century, the annexation by Boston had provided municipal services to the neighborhood, and it began to experience a rapid growth in population. This was fostered by the creation of Forest Hills Cemetery, Arnold Arboretum, and the Emerald Necklace -- a series of parks and parkways designed by Frederick Law Olmsted on the western and southern sides of Jamaica Plain. photo of Victorian-era house, Jamaica Plain, Mass. ... photo of Victorian-era house, Jamaica Plain, Mass. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Forest Hills Cemetery (1848) in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts (formerly in the city of Roxbury, now in the city of Boston) is an early suburban garden cemetery inspired by the Mount Auburn Cemetery. ... The Arnold Arboretum is one of the worlds finest research arboretums. ... The Emerald Necklace is a long string of parks in Boston, Massachusetts designed by Frederick Law Olmstead. ... An Australian park A park is any of a number of geographic features. ... For other uses, see Parkway (disambiguation). ... Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822–August 28, 1903) was a United States landscape architect, famous for designing many well known urban parks, including Central Park in New York, New York, the countrys oldest coordinated system of public parks and parkways in Buffalo, New York, the countrys oldest...

During the 20th century Jamaica Plain transformed from a streetcar suburb to a more urban neighborhood, with a heavily Irish-American population. And by the 1970s it was better known for its petty crime than for its parks, but had become a more diverse and aging community. By the turn of the century, it was experiencing rapid gentrification, and had a growing lesbian and gay population, as well as a large community of political activists, artists, and young families -- while also experiencing a loss in low- to moderate-income housing. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ... This once impoverished part of Jersey Citys historic downtown is quickly becoming gentrified. ... A lesbian (lowercase L) is a homosexual woman. ... Gay originally meant in English happy. ...

Jamaica Plain was the setting of the film Mystic River; in the movie it is referred to by the fictitious name "Buckingham Flats." There are at least two rivers in New England called the Mystic River; this article is about them. ...

Notable Natives

• Emily Greene Balch, co-winner of the 1946 Nobel Peace Prize (130 Prince Street)
• James Michael Curley, four-term mayor of Boston, later governor of Massachusetts (350 Jamaicaway)
• James Dole, founder of Hawaiian Pineapple Company which became Dole Food Company (14 Roanoke Avenue)
• Sylvia Plath, poet (birthplace at 24 Prince Street)
• Ellen Swallow Richards, first woman admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (32 Eliot Street)

Emily Greene Balch (January 8, 1867-January 9, 1961) was an American academic, writer, and pacifist who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946 (the prize that year was shared with John Mott), notably for her work with the Womens International League for Peace and Freedom. ... Nobel Peace Prize (where Nobel is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable) is one of five Nobel Prizes requested by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel. ... James Michael Curley (November 20, 1874-November 12, 1958) was an American political figure who served in the United States House of Representatives, as the mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, and as governor of Massachusetts. ... James Dole, formally James Drummond Dole and nicknamed the Pineapple King (September 27, 1877-May 1958), was a United States industrialist who developed the pineapple industry in Hawaii and established the Hawaiian Pineapple Company. ... Dole Food Company, Inc. ... A self-portrait circa 1951. ... Ellen Swallow Richards (December 3, 1842 — March 30, 1911) was an industrial and environmental chemist and home economist. ... The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, is a research institution and university located in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts directly across the Charles River from Bostons Back Bay district. ...

External link

• Jamaica Plain Historical Society (http://www.jphs.org) -- Jamaica Plain Historical Society
• JamaicaPlain.com (http://www.jamaicaplain.com) -- neighborhood information and links
• Sumner Hill (http://www.jphs.org/locales/2005/4/14/sumner-hill-historic-district.html) Historic District