Fort Hill

Emmanuel College eyes Roxbury convent for use as a retreat

adamg — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:47:35 +0000

Both Ends of Dudley reports the college is thinking about making a bid for St. Margaret's Convent, which is looking to decamp to Duxbury.

Police: Cape man goes on two-hour terror spree across Fort Hill

adamg — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 19:33:45 +0000

3/24/12 - 12:31 pm

A Centerville man who tried pulling one woman into his Jeep, then broke into another woman's apartment, led police on a short chase that ended with him hitting a cruiser then trying to run away and finally struggling with officers as he refused to let go of a knife, police say.

Christopher Baker, 43, was charged with attempted kidnapping, home invasion, armed breaking and entering of a dwelling house, assault by means of a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a police officer, operating after license revocation and failing to stop for police officers following a two-hour hunt across Roxbury's Fort Hill neighborhood.

There's a reason they call it Fort Hill

adamg — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 21:17:02 +0000

Fort Hill History recounts Roxbury's role in helping to force the British out of Boston on Evacuation Day, way back when.

Fort Hill history

adamg — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 11:47:33 +0000

Rodney Singleton has started a blog about the history of the Roxbury hill.

Citizen complaint of the day: All God's creatures, alive and dead

adamg — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 13:09:22 +0000

A citizen looks up and reports a raccoon on a light pole on I Street in South Boston.

Another citizen looks down and reports a really dead opossum in the street on Highland Avenue in Roxbury, adds a note of urgency:

Cars a-swerving, babes a-crying.

New charter school to open in Jamaica Plain rather than in old Fort Hill convent

adamg — Sun, 08 May 2011 02:34:40 +0000

The sisters of St. Margaret Convent have sent a letter to neighbors that plans by the Bridge Boston Charter School to buy the convent have fallen through:

The process worked as it was intended with Bridge Boston doing their due diligence and determining that they could not make the site work for the special transportation needs of a school. They will be renting space in Jamaica Plain instead.

The letter does not say where in JP. The sisters want to sell off the convent because it is too large for them now and they could use the money to help support their work in Haiti.

Take that, Redcoats!

adamg — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 03:10:26 +0000

Oh, yeah, today's also Evacuation Day, to commemorate the withdrawal of British troops from Boston. Spearmintkitten took in the Evacuation Day commemorations on Fort Hill in Roxbury.

Copyright Spearmintkitten. Tagged as universalhub on Flickr.

Some neighbors of Roxbury convent say turning it into school would bring too much noise, traffic, danger

adamg — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 15:58:55 +0000

Rodney Singleton posts some "guiding principles" from neighbors of St. Margarget's Convent, which the Sisters of St. Margaret are planning to sell to the Bridge Boston Charter School, which will ultimately serve up to 335 students.

The neighbors say they are worried about all the buses for what will be a citywide school in a neighborhood already full of schools and buses and even the safety of having a school on a rocky outcropping. They say they'd rather see a museum, a library or even condos on the land.

Saving feral cats in Roxbury

adamg — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 11:50:39 +0000

Jonas Prang reports on his efforts to get care for some feral cats on Fort Hill:

[U]sing tuna fish, we successfully enticed three kittens into the house and closed the door behind them. Then using the kittens themselves as bait, augmented by more tuna, we were able to lure the Mother Cat into the house and close the door.

We had never really experienced the expression Climbing the walls until we saw Mother Cat levitate from floor to ceiling, seemingly counter to the laws of physics, in a wild attempt to escape. The raw animal power was humbling to witness.

Charles River Alley Cats, which tries to help feral cats, then provided some vital advice on how to handle the cats, he reports.

The shame of Alvah Kittredge Square

adamg — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:25:11 +0000

Jonas Prang agrees the Roxbury square is looking much better these days - except, he writes, for Alvah Kittredge's house:

... This poor derelict presides over the square from its address of 10 Linwood Street. It is a wreck and it continues to slide toward destruction right before our eyes. ... The Roxbury Action Program (RAP) - whose name adorns the front of the building - owned this house in the '70s, '80s, and '90s. Preoccupied elsewhere in the neighborhood, RAP sat on the house and allowed it to deteriorate like any feckless, absentee landlord. Since that time RAP has pulled up stakes from 10 Linwood Street and has conveyed the property (probably in 1999) to Alexander Leroy who is trustee of something called the Linwood St Realty Trust. ...

Dog Park Follow Up- Vindication!!

stephaniemar — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:11:18 +0000

So I took Ramona on her usual dog walk tonight with much trepidation. Last night's altercation has been weighing on me all day. I certainly did not want another incident like last night and at the same time I do not want to be intimidated away from the park which I only use 10 mins in the morning and the evening everyday. As I was making my rounds I ran into the other dogwalker who witnessed the whole argument. I was ready to pounce on him for slinking away BUT he apologized profusely for the other person's behavior and how disgusted he was at what happened. He went on to say that I was completely in the right and that dog has been aggressive to other dogs in the park. Both the guys who walk Jazzy do absolutely nothing about her and he is going to have a talk with the guy who I argued with last night. It was completely uncalled for. I cannot tell you how vindicated I felt. Since Jazzy's owner is friendly with many other dog owners in the park I was worried about my relationship with the other walkers. I feel so much better knowing that there are people who get it.

Dog park etiquette

stephaniemar — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:37:34 +0000

I have been meaning to write this post for a while. Tonight pushed me over the edge.

I have a 13+ year old dog who is literally on her last legs. Luckily I live across from Highland Park in the Fort Hill neighborhood of Roxbury. Since I moved in over 2 years ago I have been walking Ramona at Fort Hill everyday. There is a small dog community who let their dogs off leash up there. A majority of them are very nice. I keep Ramona on a leash most of the time because she cannot really run anymore, but in her prime I used to run her at dog parks all over the city: Franklin Park, Peter's Hill, Fresh Pond, S. End etc.

New neighborhood naming war: Fort Hill or Highland Park?

adamg — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:10:33 +0000

Iseut reports that a battle has broken out on a neighborhood mailing list over what to call the hill:

... I kinda like Boston Highlands for this section of Roxbury. But I agree, too, with the neighbor who fairly growled on the listserv, call this nook what you like but its name is Roxbury.

Proposed Fort Hill restaurant and bar really dead

adamg — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:06:56 +0000

Jonas Prang breaks the news that Darryl Settles has finally decided not to go forward with his development plans for what is now a derelict building at 85 Centre St.

Inauguration of jonasprang.blogspot.com

Jonas Prang — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:22:34 +0000

I've started a blog on Fort Hill and Roxbury neighborhood issues: jonasprang.blogspot.com. The germ of the blog is the Settles Kerfuffle at 85 Centre Street, but I may branch out once that issue gets thrashed out.

Like many infant blogs, it's a little messy and not very attractive. Even so, I think I'll concentrate on the prose before tarting it up with pretty pictures.