Jamaica Plain: Journals

One can only imagine what the Neponset River looked like when the settlers arrived in the early 1600s. Photography wouldn't be invented for another two centuries, and no drawings or detailed descriptions exist.

The river's ancient past may finally be revealed under a plan developed by government agencies and local activists: Officials from the state and the Army Corps of Engineers are considering removing two Neponset River dams, one in Hyde Park and another in Lower Mills on the DorchesterMilton line.

Dismantling the dams, which have existed in one form or another for more than 350 years, would allow the river to return to roughly its natural state. It also is expected to bring back to the river herring and related fish who spend their adult lives at sea but swim upstream to spawn.

"another respondent recounted countless experiences of preju- dice when her family first moved into St. Gregory’s parish in the Lower Mills area of Dorchester."

"Start at the end of Dorchester Avenue in Lower Mills on the west side of Adams Street up to the Neponset River, which divides Boston and Milton, move southwesterly along the riverbank past Mattapan Square to Mattakeeset Street, swing westerly up Mattakeeset to River Street, then up Greenfield Road to where it meets Cummins Highway. Up Cummins a short bit to its meeting with Harvard Street, right on Harvard to Walk Hill Street. Turn left on Walk Hill across American Legion Highway to Canterbury Street, right on Canterbury and back across the American Legion roadway, then up the easterly side of Blue Hill Avenue. Turn right down the westerly side of Blue Hill, then left on Talbot Avenue down the southerly side to New England Avenue. Take a right there and go across Morton Street to the Edson Street/Milton Avenue interchange, down Milton to Gallivan Boulevard, left on Gallivan a short bit, right on Ellison Avenue, then across Morton Street and over the spacious grounds of what was once a nursing home complex to Temple Street, down Temple to River Street, and left on River to the meeting of Adams Street and Dorchester Avenue at Lower Mills."

Hurley, Mary. Boston Globe [Boston, Mass] 26 July 1998: 1.

The smell of chocolate wafted again through the former Baker Chocolate Factory on Adams Street in Dorchester Lower Mills yesterday afternoon.

The Lower Mills park is expected to cover between 2.5 and 3 acres on both sides of the Neponset River in Dorchester and Milton. The state is planning topurchase the old Baker administration building on Adams Street to convert into a visitors center.

"First, the detour: As a former member of Lower Mills Civic Association, [Michael Sand] cared about what went on in his backyard, especially when it turned out to be a proposed office building across the street from his home on the 1100 block of Washington Street. When the developer, Louis Hadaya, alleged Sand and the association president Michael Skillin interfered with his construction plans and caused delays, he sued the two Michaels, who denied the assertions.

While the lawsuit works its way through the court system, Sand has found friends across the water, joining a broader neighborhood association linking residents of Dorchester Lower Mills to those of suburban Milton, just across the Neponset.

"This is not a closed society," said Harry Williams, a Milton realtor who helped found the river coalition. "Everyone knows about Faneuil Hall and Lexington in terms of Boston's history, but there is great history here in Dorchester, Lower Mills and Milton."

Gives historical information about the chocolate industry of Lower Mills. Additionally the renovation of a chocolate factory into housing.

The river's ancient past may finally be revealed under a plan developed by government agencies and local activists. State officials and the Army Corps of Engineers are considering removing two Neponset River dams -- one in Hyde Park and the other in Lower Mills on the Milton-Dorchester line.

"Though the fragrance of chocolate has long since faded and the mill has become residences and stores, many Dorchester residents still recall the presence of the Baker's Chocolate factory in their Lower Mills neighborhood."

Faley, Rich. Boston Globe [Boston, Mass] 27 Jan 2008: 4.

The upland area, just landward of the old Dorchester and Milton Railroad, includes the old Neponset Drive-In site and the uninvitingly-named Hallet Street Dump. The MDC acquired them in 1985 and although the Massachusetts Legislature was swiftly cajoled into naming them the "Pope John Paul II Park," not much else has happened there.