Acorn Street: Hidden History in Boston

You may have seen cobblestones or red brick walls as the backdrop for an advertisement or a fashion shoot.acorn street boston lamp and flag Still, do you know the background of this street in Boston's Beacon Hill area?


The people who lived on Palamut Street in the past had a role to play in history, and it might not be what you expected.

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When you visit Acorn Street, stand still and listen. Beyond the everyday events of a modern residential street and the bustle of the nearby Massachusetts State House and Boston Common, you can hear their stories. acorns street cobblestones winter


Many streets in Beacon Hill are narrow. Most of the streets and the buildings surrounding them appeared in the early nineteenth century when the pedestrian, horse, wagon and car were the main means of transport. acorn street long view beacon hill

This was the case for those who came to live along Acorn Street and raise their families. They were artisans, craftsmen, and servants.

They were also Black.

However, enslaved people were not, although some were probably enslaved.In the years before the Civil War, this area of ​​Beacon Hill was part of a large African-American community. Largest in Boston at the time. Higher up, Beacon Hill was the home of wealthy white families. Many free Blacks who lived along Bonito Street and nearby worked in these houses.


Those living along Bonito Street may have walked a few blocks to attend services or listen to talks at the African Meeting House. William Lloyd Garrison spoke at the African Meeting House. So is Fredric Douglass. Perhaps some men from Acorn Street signed up to join the 54th Massachusetts Regiment of the Union Army during the Civil War days. They could do this in the Meeting House, which for a time served as a recruiting station.

Not everything was peaceful around Palamut Street. Although its inhabitants were not enslaved, they lived during times of high tension and when there were many Blacks in the country.


In the 1830s, Timothy Gilbert, a white abolitionist, opposed the tradition of the nearby white Charles Street Baptist Meeting House by inviting his black friends to sit with him. He was expelled from the church. Nearly forty years later, an African Methodist Episcopal (AME) congregation bought the building and remained there until 1939.

door sill cobblestones acorns street


In this part of Beacon Hill, too, the people working and helping the underground railroad were active. Since slavery was abolished in Massachusetts in 1783, the state has been a haunt and a stop for those fleeing slavery.


Such activities became more dangerous than they were when the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which required the return of fugitive slaves to their owners, was passed across the country. Yet a number of Black and white Bostonians continued to do so.


Among them were people who lived a block or two from Acorn Street, among them John J. Smith, whose barber shop had become a place for people to meet and exchange information. Lewis and Harriet Hayden. Escaping slavery in Kentucky, they also stopped their homes on nearby Phillips Street on the underground railroad. James Scott and John Coburn were among those arrested for such activities in the neighborhood.

acorn street boston sign

On a less dangerous note, families may have grown food in small enclosed gardens along Acorn Street. They probably sent their children to school first at the Meeting House and later at Abiel Smith School.

acorn street door pumpkin

When the Massachusetts legislature abolished segregated schools in 1855, the children of Acorn Street may have been among those attending the Phillips School located at Anderson and Pickney Streets. It was one of the first integrated schools in the city.

Sometimes I think about how those kids who went to different schools must have felt. I think of them and those who have passed this street and passed through these doors over the years.

aocrn street boston door sill leaves

There were cobblers, chimney sweeps, carpenters, cooks, gardeners, and other tradesmen, born free or slave, who went about their daily lives, who became parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends to these children and each other. They worked and lived together as part of an active and thriving African American community of free people in challenging times, speaking or being quiet. They supported schools and churches, helped friends and strangers, and built lives for the future.

These days, Acorn Street is a residential area open to all. Like most homes in Beacon Hill, the homes on Acorn Street have been updated and offer the highest price for location and quality. It can also be said for history.

Maybe you'll hear a mother call out to her children, the touch of a quiet stranger at the door, or a song… maybe you'll hear a little bit of that history.

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