Codman Square
No. 1047 Postcard. Caption on front: Washington Street, Codman Square, Dorchester, Mass. 105378. Postally unused. On verso: C. T. American Art.
In 1654 the government of Massachusetts Bay Colony built a road to connect the Roxbury Meeting House with the Braintree Meeting House along the hills of central Dorchester. Called the Upper Road, this route later became Dorchester’s Washington Street. The point where the Upper Road intersected an ancient Indian trail, now Norfolk Street, became a commercial district where farmers could sell their produce and buy supplies. By 1803 this intersection became known as Baker’s Corner, taking its name from Dr. James Baker’s store. The construction of the Second Church soon followed to serve a population grown too large for the First Church on Meeting House Hill. Town Hall was built in 1816 in the Square because of its central location, and Baker’s Corner became known also as Dorchester Center. In 1848 the intersection was officially renamed Codman Square in honor of the Reverend John Codman who had died the year before, after ministering to the members of the Second Church for 39 years.