Harrison Square Historic District

Harrison Square, also called Clam Point, is a residential neighborhood in east central Dorchester, Boston, bounded by the railroad embankment, Morrissey Boulevard and several local streets. Development began in earnest after the Old Colony Railroad opened a depot there in the 1840s, drawing commuting businessmen, abolitionists, physicians and artists to large houses on spacious lots. Architect Luther Briggs, Jr. designed a dozen or more of these homes between 1840 and 1870, drawing on the ideas of Andrew Jackson Downing and Alexander Jackson Davis. Greek Revival and Italianate villas, some with mansard roofs, dominate the older streets. Around 1880, architect John A. Fox added Stick Style houses, and four later enclaves of modest Queen Anne homes were built for middle-income families. Granite gateposts, hedges and tree-shaded lawns survive, and window sash and building forms remain largely intact despite changes in siding. The district contains 141 contributing resources and documents a suburban community shaped by rail travel.