Boston Public Library Maps Tool Provides At Home Fun

By Celina Colby

Social distancing at home doesn’t have to mean giving up hobbies. If you’re a Brookline history buff, the Boston Public Library’s Norman B. Leventhal Map Center has recently debuted a tool that provides endless at-home enjoyment. Atlascope is an online tool that overlays historical maps of Brookline and Greater Boston with contemporary maps to show how areas have or haven’t changed over time.

The tool is accessible anywhere that has an Internet connection, on a computer, phone, or tablet. Users can put in an address, neighborhood, or site and view layers of maps of that spot dating anytime between the Civil War and 1930. The source of these maps come from physical urban atlases that were used by both the real estate industry and the fire insurance industries. The records included who owned buildings, where they were, what they were made of, and occasionally what they were used for. The BPL owns 250 such atlases and has so far uploaded 66 into this tool, covering a large chunk of Brookline and Greater Boston. The project’s current funding supports the addition of a total off 99 atlases.

Over a century after some of these atlases were made, this information has become invaluable in historical research, for academia, and fun. Coolidge Corner’s renowned S.S. Pierce building in its iconic Tudor style opened in 1898 and appeared on maps after that. But by looking at older maps, you can see that David S. Coolidge originally owned land. He was the nineteenth-century businessman for whom Coolidge Corner is named after, and he ran his grocery store there. The 1927 map shows that the Brookline Town Library used to be at 299 Harvard Street, where the Maruichi Japanese grocery store recently opened.

Another fascinating spot to search on Atlascope is 131 Kent Street, the home of Florida Ruffin Ridley and her husband. Ridley is the black woman for whom the Coolidge Corner School was just renamed. She and her husband were one of the first, perhaps the first black homeowners in Brookline. The 1900 map of the address shows Ulysses A. Ridley Jr. (Florida’s husband) as the owner. By flipping through different map layers, you can see that the house is passed down through the Ridley family through at least 1919 before it came under new ownership in 1927.

Though the Leventhal Map Center is currently closed, researchers will be able to request the original atlases for examination when they reopen. In the meantime, history buffs can get started with the Atlascope tool and a little Internet digging. Who used to live in your house at the turn of the century? We can’t wait to find out!

BrooklineHub.com is a 501C3 non-profit dedicated to reporting and commenting on life, culture and community in Brookline. As part of our mission, we advocate for non-profits vital in making this a better place to live, and by sponsoring and supporting events that promote community-building. We hold the belief that as a community, we should foster the well-being of all, remaining mindful of our young people, seniors, and underprivileged.