Uphams Corner
Upham's Corner, or Uphams Corner (without the apostrophe), is a commercial center in Dorchester, the largest and most historic neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts The intersection of Dudley Street/Stoughton Street and Columbia Road is the heart of Upham's Corner, and one of Dorchester's main business districts.
It is served by the MBTA Commuter Rail's Fairmount Line (at the Upham's Corner stop,[1] as well as several MBTA bus lines.
The district has several historical sites, including the Strand Theatre, the Columbia Square Masonic Hall Building (1895), and Dorchester North Burying Ground (1634), one of the nation’s oldest and one of seven seventeenth-century burying grounds in Boston.
The Upham's Corner business district is surrounded by other residential neighborhoods that are home to a diverse mix of people, including Caucasians of European descent, Cape Verdeans, Hispanics, African Americans and West Indians. Recently, there has been a major influx of young professionals, gays, and working artists to the neighborhood, adding to its diversity. Dining options in the area include southern soul food cuisine as well as several ethnic restaurants including Cape Verdean, Caribbean, Chinese, Greek, and Italian.
History
Upham's Corner is named for Amos Upham (1788-1879), who opened a dry goods store in 1804 on the site of the present Columbia Square building. This store was run by three generations of the Upham family, into the mid 1890s.[2]
Education
The Edward Everett Elementary School, Boston Collegiate Charter Middle and High Schools, the William E. Russell Elementary School, the Roger Clap Innovation School, the John W. McCormack School, and the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot School are located near Upham's Corner.
Creative economic development
In 2015, Artmorpheus, a Boston-based nonprofit, launched the Fairmount Innovation Lab, a partnership initiative with the Fairmount Cultural Corridor. The Lab is an interdisciplinary space designed to support innovative, local entrepreneurs and artists launching enterprises. Created as a hub and launchpad for accelerating creative and social enterprise in the Fairmount Indigo corridor, the Lab encourages collaboration across disciplines and sectors.
The Fairmount Innovation Lab runs a startup accelerator, a selective four-month program that offers creative and social entrepreneurs with co-working space lean business model training, expert mentors, shared resources and community with an evolving roster of thinkers and doers.
Public art
In 2014, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced a major municipal investment in the Upham’s Corner Main Street area's infrastructure. The $3.1 million investment was put in place to help finance a number of neighborhood initiatives, including revamping local storefronts, adding street and sidewalk lights and improving the Strand Theatre. The monetary move also had positive implications in the realm of public art. Walsh's transition focused on fostering public art and injecting culture into each of Boston's various neighborhoods, along with bringing Boston to the forefront of global innovation and technology. As per Walsh's announcement, new arts and culture programs through the Upham’s Corner ArtPlace initiative will help to boost the commercial district's aesthetics, including a $500,000 public art commission from the Boston Foundation and Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative.
The DSNI has since commissioned Cedric Douglas to head the project, which was put on permanent display in the neighborhood. It uses the UP Truck, a food truck-like vehicle that travels around Boston promoting urban art. Using the UP Truck, Douglas traverses the area to get the best possible idea of what residents want to see displayed as a work of art that embodies the neighborhood's core values. [3]
Strand Theatre
In 2005, the city of Boston made a $6 million, four-year capital investment to rejuvenate the historic Strand Theatre in Upham's Corner. On January 9, 2007, Mayor Thomas Menino gave his State of the City Address from the stage of the Strand Theatre to help bring attention to restoration efforts and help revive the venue's historic prominence in the city of Boston. Advertised as Dorchester's New Million Dollar Photoplay Palace, the Strand Theatre originally opened in 1918 as one of the first theaters designed specifically for motion pictures.[4]
Popular culture
Some of the exteriors and interiors in the film Gone Baby Gone, directed by Ben Affleck, were shot in Upham's Corner.[5]
References
- ^ MBTA Commuter Rail > Fairmount Line Schedules and Maps
- ^ Dorchester Atheneum: Landmarks Description Upham's Corner
- ^ http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2014/04/30/boston-mayor-marty-walsh-invests-in-uphams-corner-artplace-initiative-2/
- ^ http://www.dorchesteratheneum.org/page.php?id=81
- ^ Redemption Hunting - New York Times
