No. 5217 Upham’s Store, painting on brick.
Edward A. Huebener, a former Board member of the Dorchester Historical Society, was a collector of materials relating to Dorchester history including a very large collection of graphic materials, including prints and photographs, now owned by the Society. His very own contribution to this group of materials was the idea of taking a brick from a house that had been demolished and asking a local illustrator to paint a picture of the house upon the brick. The painted bricks may be viewed at the Dorchester Historical Society.
The Upham Store was located on the southwest corner of the intersection of Columbia Road and Dudley Street (at that time the intersection of Hancock Street and Stoughton Street — Columbia Road was Hancock Street south of Stoughton and Boston Street north of Stoughton). The building was converted to commercial use in 1802.
No. 22065 Detail from 1874 Hopkins atlas showing the location of the Upham’s Store
Amos Upham, the eighth child of Lieutenant Phineas Upham, was born at Weston, Mass., March 11, 1789, after the death of his father. He resided with his mother until a well-grown lad, when he was apprenticed to learn the baker?s trade. In 1817 he came to Dorchester, purchased a tract of land and established a grocery store at the place now known as Upham?s Corner, which he carried on for the rest of his life. He was a prominent citizen of the town. He was married December 28, 1819, to Miss Abigail Humphreys, daughter of Deacon James Humphreys, of Dorchester. Amos was an active member of the old fire department. He was a Free Mason and a member of the First Church of Dorchester. He died January 25, 1872, and his wife died December 19, 1878.
No. 2549 Upham’s Store
No. 603 Scan of a drawing of the store printed on p. 42 of Dorchester Old and New, 1630-1930.
No. 900 The general store was replaced in 1884 by a one-story brick and granite structure that reputedly had the first electric lights in Dorchester.
No. 332 Later the building acquired three additional stories. In the postcard, the Upham Building is the one at the right. We, as the viewers of this scene, are looking south along Columbia Road. It became known as the Columbia Square Building housing Masonic Hall and the Dorchester Savings Bank.
No. 18561 Upham’s Store, late nineteenth century.
No. 16387 view of store from the corner of the Old Dorchester Burying ground, late nineteenth century.