Research Guides: Dorchester, Boston: Lower Mills

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Photo credits

Books

Print Materials

The second settlement 1875-1925 : a study in the development of Victorian Dorchester by Douglass Shand Tucci
Call Number: F74.D5 T8 1974
New Uses for Obsolete Buildings by Urban Land Institute Staff; Jo A. Gause; Bruce M. Hoch; John D. Macomber; Jonathan F. Rose
Call Number: NA2793 .G38 1996

BAC Thesis

The adaptive reuse of the Walter Baker Chocolate Factory, Pierce Square : an urban village revitalisation, Dorchester-Milton Lower Mills Village, Mass. by Gary Tondorf-Dick
Call Number: BAC THESIS 224
Lower Mills industrial district : update by Jeanine Delongchamp and Richard Schreiber by Jeanine Delongchamp.
Call Number: BAC THESIS 187

Data and Documents

National Register of Historical Places Inventory Nomination Form
1980 nomination forms to designate Dorchester-Milton Lower Mills Industrial District as a Historic Place.
Areas of significance include: Architecture; Commerce; Exploration/Settlement; Industry. Architectural classifications include: Second Empire; Romanesque Revival; Georgian Revival; Queen Anne; Neo-Classical; Art Deco; Shingle Style. The National Historic Places Register Reference Number is 80000675.
2001 Amendment and Boundary Extension Form
Proposal to increase the boundaries of the Lower Mills Historic District. The National Historic Places Register Reference Number is 01000304.
Application for designation of the lower mills card
A report from the City of Boston to declare Lower Mills as a Commercial Area Revitalization District.
Commercial design guidelines for lower mills
Dorchester bay study
Contains the History of Lower Mills on the Neponset River.
Dorchester lower mills: an urban village in the 1980's: a revitalization strategy
Dorchester lower mills: neighborhood housing in a Boston landmark
Final report : architectural and historic surveys of Park Square, Jamaica Plain, Forest Hills Cemetery, Olmsted Park System and Pierce Square, Dorchester, Lower Mills
Lower mills: a heritage state park

Articles

After 56 years, the Walter Baker Chocolate Factory sign in Dorchester will glimmer with new light
Yan, Matt. Boston Globe, 2022 June 08.
After the Exodus: The New Catholics in Boston's Old Ethnic Neighborhoods
Jackson, Regine O. Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation, 2007 Jul. 17(2), 191-212.
Chocolate Preservative
Miller, Margo. Boston Globe, 1986 May 16, p. 29.
"THIS IS ONE IN A SERIES OF ARTICLES ON BUILDINGS IN AND AROUND BOSTON THAT HAVE BEEN RENOVATED OR REHABILITATED FOR RESIDENTIAL USE."
The Coming of the Jews
Russell, Francis. The Antioch Review, 1955 Apr 01. 15(1), 19-38.
A hidden jewel of Boston has become a tarnished gem: Neponset River is marred by pollution, but Superfund tag could change everything
Abel, David. Boston Globe, 2021 Sept 26.
The Lower Neponset River is a Superfund site now. What does that mean?: Lower Neponset queries, answers
Noor, Dharna. Boston Globe, 2022 March 19.

Online Resources

Websites

Neponset River Watershed Association - Historic Resources: Dams

Videos

In 2006, the University of Massachusetts recorded interviews with old time residents of Lower Mills. These videos give insight to the history of Lower Mills. Access them here.

Historical Images

Boston Public Library Flickr Account - Lower Mills
Digitized photographs and ephemera of Lower Mills from the Boston Public Library's collections.
City of Boston Archive Flickr Account - Mattapan
Digitized photographs of Lower Mills from the City of Boston Archives.