I spent the day at a workshop in the hall of the First Church (center). A local writer gave an interesting free workshop for the community.
This little area around Centre Street and Eliot Street is the center of the original village which became Jamaica Plain. It is hard to believe that in the 17th and 18th century there were little farms here, exactly five miles from the center of Boston (measured from the Old State House--there is still an 18th century stone road marker opposite the church). Wealthy people had summer houses in the area, including at the Pond, long before it became a public park.
On the left, right next to the church, is the Eliot School, which was established in 1676 (the fourth oldest school in the country, according to the JP Historical Society) and was a grammar school for about two centuries. The present building dates from 1832. Later in the 19th century, during the era of the Arts and Crafts movement, the school separated from the Boston Public Schools and became a crafts school, teaching woodworking and sewing and other manual arts to children and adults. Now the curriculum has been expanded to include a whole array of art courses as well.
On the right, across from the church, is the Footlight Club, considered to be "America's oldest community theater." It was founded in 1877 by a group of wealthy socialites and has had continuous performances in this building ever since. It's very charming inside.
