Sunday, October 22nd, 2 pm., The Dorchester Historical Society will present a program at All Saints Church.
Hidden Treasures of Dorchester
A rich trove of architectural and artistic work has survived Dorchester’s nearly four hundred years. From Puritan homesteads, like the Blake and Pierce House, to museums like the John F. Kennedy Library and Edward Kennedy Institute, Dorchester is filled with the hallmarks of American history.
Mr. Saxe has expanded on his popular lectures on Dorchester houses to include other significant structures in town, includes its historically and architecturally significant churches and what they say about changing religions and society in the United States. Mr. Saxe explores inside the churches to view some of the amazing art crafted by some of America’s best artisans. All Saints Church in Ashmont is significant not only for the history of Dorchester but also for the development of Gothic Revival style in the United States and the Arts & Crafts movement. St. Peter’s on Meeting House Hill is one of the finest examples of the work of the prolific Irish Catholic architect, Patrick Keely. On Jones Hill, St. Mary’s Episcopal contains one of the most intricate ceilings of famed English architect, Henry Vaughan, while Edward Clark Cabot produced his homage to the traditional New England meeting house in the rebuilt First Parish from 1896.
Architecturally significant houses, including selected interior photos, will also be featured as milestones in Dorchester’s development. Mr. Saxe will also discuss the Baker Chocolate Factory as a superb example of the re-purposing of historic structures for modern needs.
Those who have already attended Mr. Saxe’s very popular lectures on Dorchester’s historic houses will see the results of expanded and deepened research and view the best samples of his growing archive of now 15,000 photographs.
This is not a lecture on “lost Dorchester” but an exuberant display of the houses and buildings in Dorchester which still exist and can be visited today, having survived the town’s colorful and often turbulent 400 years.