The present Market Street was laid out in the 1650s between the estates of Richard Dana and Nathaniel Sparhawk.  It linked the Pines, a high and dry point on the otherwise marshy banks of the Charles River, with the Watertown Highway.  The first name of record for the road was Meetinghouse Lane, acquired in 1744 when the first church in Brighton was constructed at the northeast corner of Market and Washington Streets, where the Rourke’s or Washington Building now stands.  It became Market Street in the 1840s, a reference to the weekly cattle market held on the grounds of the Cattle Fair Hotel at the northwest corner of  Market and Washington Streets.  After the Construction of the Boston & Worcester Railroad, cattle was regularly herded up Market Street from the depot to the stockyards behind this hotel

Market St map 1925 at the intersection of Market and Washington St

The Imperial Hotel built in 1907 adjacent to the Washington building on the corner of Market and Washington St (see map above).  “The Imperial” was probably a residential hotel. In 1907, people were still using horse drawn conveyances and McKenney’s Stable across Market Street was probably where they boarded their horses and stored their carriages. Of course, being on Washington Street, residents also had ready access to trolley service to the downtown.



The Imperial Tavern c1950 on the ground floor of the Imperial Hotel building




Market St at Brighton Center c1950.  Notice the O'Connell building to the the right of center described below, Woolworth's on the left, and the Shawmut Bank in the center.  The Imperial Tavern on the right is named after the Imperial Hotel which occupied the floors above it in the early 1900s

More recent photo of Woolworth's (courtesy of Peter Kingman)



The Brighton Theatre (c1930), also known as “The Barn”, was built c1915 for silent movies at 400 Market St and was Brighton Center's first motion picture theater. It was located on the site of the present municipal parking lot behind the Washington Building in Brighton Center.  <click here> for more photos and information




O'Connell building, a three story tenement building, c1895, with ground level storefronts at 399 Market St at the corner of Surrey St and opposite Henshaw St (see map above).  The O'Connell building was built on land that formed part of the eleven acre grounds (see the barn to the left)  of the Brighton Stockyards that stretched behind Brighton's largest hotel, the famous Cattle Fair.  399 Market St was built by James O'Connell, who established a plumbing business in one of its storefronts.  The other commercial tenant was James L Muldoon, an undertaker.  The house to the left of the barn behind the O'Connell building appears to on the corner of Parsons and Bennett streets.  The building was taken down c1960.



Closeup of the photo above





Market St Burial Ground 2012



Market St Burial Ground Learned Headstone from 1783

Originally, no burial grounds existed in Little Cambridge (Brighton) and all interments took place at the original church in Harvard Square. In 1764, early settler Nathaniel Sparhawk gave a small portion of his land on Market St to serve as a burial site. The Market Street Burying Ground was used by the Third Church of Cambridge until 1807 when Brighton became a separate town. It was the town's primary burying ground until the 1850s when the Evergreen Cemetery was established on Commonwealth Ave. Burials ceased at Market Street in 1872. The Market St cattle trail was widened in 1871 forcing the removal of over 140 bodies to the Evergreen Cemetery.  This site contains the graves of many of the original settlers of Little Cambridge including the Winships, Sparhawks, Learneds, etc. 



Market St opposite the Cemetery c1950.  The building in the center which dates back to the early 1800s was once owned by the Sparhawk family, but has been "modernized"



St Columbkille c1905 [courtesy of John Goode]  <click here> for more photos



St Columbkille Cadets 1931 in the Church Parking Lot (Left half of image) [courtesy of Stephen Ashcroft]



St Columbkille Cadets 1931 in the Church Parking Lot (Right half of image)



1875 Map showing the property of George Sparhawk on the east side of Market St before housing was built



Captain Jonathan Winship House, built in 1837, stood at 237-241 Market Street, at the corner of Faneuil Street, on the grounds of Winship's Gardens. Captain Winship was the pioneer horticulturalist in Brighton and a founder of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

There were thee avenues through the Winship gardens from North Beacon Street to the depot - one directly behind the old residence shaded by trees, the second along Market St between borders of plants, and the third by a field of rose bushes.  The latter led to a bridge over the railroad which with another at the westerly part of the nursery connected to the grounds.  The bridges have since been removed.

On the grounds were several arbors where visitors and passengers by the railroad could rest.  One of them was an expensive affair.  It was called the moss house and adorned with many articles from China including birds, animals and reptiles.  It was burned by sparks from an engine.  Between Market Street and the first bridge alluded to, the grounds were terraced and very carefully adorned with flowering plants and shrubs.  The depot was opposite on the north side of the tracks.

Motorcade with President John F Kennedy c1962 (courtesy of Keith McDonald).  Note the A&P store at 207 Market St, (now a CVS)



Dunkin Donuts at Market and North Beacon St with one of the last of the original DD Signs [courtesy Patti Esposito]




Market St at North Beacon with a Rayco Automotive store opposite Dunkin Donuts c1964 (courtesy MIT)



1865 Plan for the sale of the Winship Nursery for real estate development.  The nursery covered an area from Market St to Faneuil St to just past the Pike.  You can see the areas where there were plants and shrubs.  Lyman and Winship Ave became Wicklow and Wexford St on the 1890 map.  Since these are Irish counties, it shows the influence of the Irish at this time.  Lyman Ave is now Vineland St.  Wexford St still partially exists as the road/entrance behind the Days Inn and MacDonalds off Leo Birmingham Parkway but most of it was lost in the construction of the Pike and the Parkway.  Note the old bridge over the tracks to the left of center and the original Brighton Depot station at the top right before it moved to the other side of Market St.



Information on the above 1865 Winship Nursery sale



Home of Jonathan and Francis Winship built in 1823 at the northwest corner of Market and North Beacon Streets.  The house was known as "St Julien."  To the right is a greenhouse which was probably part of the Winship Nursery.




1885 Market St Map with the Charles River to the Right



Market National Bank on Market St near the Stockyards. This is the pink building marked "bank" near the center under the title "City of Boston" on the 1885 map above.



View from Market St near Lincoln St.  The large building to the left on Lincoln Street served as a car repair shop for the Boston & Albany Railroad. It was demolished for the Mass Turnpike Extension.  The building at the center was part of the  Stockyards




The Market Street Bridge.  On the right are the backs of houses along the southern side of Lincoln Street that were demolished for the Mass Turnpike Extension




The B&A tracks looking east from the Market Street Bridge where the stockyards were previously located on the right.  Guest St would also be to the right.   Lincoln Street is on the left



c1930 view of the wooden commercial/ apartment building structure built c1890 that stood adjacent and just north of the Market Street Bridge, known as the Denvir Block.  Lincoln St is to the right in the foreground.  These buildings were built by local real estate developer, Thomas Roddy, who also built the Roddy Hall building, dating from the 1890s, which is visible at the end of the row and still stands today.



Market St Bridge left of center in 1914.  The houses on the right would have been on Lincoln St



Honeywell Bull factory in 1998 at the corner of Market and Guest St where CRTs and minicomputers were produced



Honeywell Sign from Market St (courtesy MIT)



Market St 1960s with the Leo Birmingham Parkway exit on the right before the Market St Bridge (center)



1875 Map showing the "Charles River Hotel" at the corner of Market St and Western Ave (grey box).  Since it was adjacent to the Abattoir, it must have provided lodging to its customers and to the other near by businesses