2/11/2023 0 Comments Abandoned asylumEarlier he had volunteered during a cholera epidemic at a hospital located on Deer Island. 2 He was appointed superintendent of the Boston Lunatic Asylum in 1851. Walker, born in Fryeburg, Maine in 1820, he had graduated from Dartmouth in 1842 then received a medical degree from the Harvard Medical School in 1850. Photos: Winthrop Public Library and Museum #6 - “The final picture was taken of the former Crooked Lane, now called Belle Isle Inlet, flanked by Beachmont at the extreme right.” #5 - “Thirty degrees father to the north another picture was taken showing Breed’s Hill and the old barn in Orient Heights.” Magee’s Corner with Shirley Street and Main Street and a score or more houses, with East Boston and part of Orient Heights showing in the distance, was now photographed.” #4 - “The photographer now faced due east. #3 - “Again the camera was swung thirty degrees, this time facing the Cottage park and Court Park section with the ancient Deane Winthrop house in the central foreground. This time most of Point Shirley, the present River Road section of Winthrop, together with what is now the Winthrop golf course was visible.” #2 - “The camera swung again to the west, describing an arc of approximately thirty degrees before it was focused for the second view. Shirley Street was in the right foreground with Taft’s Hotel barely showing in the distance.” Green Hill, and Deer Island Hospital were all in the range of his camera, with the hut of the Massachusetts Humane Society, of which John Flanagan was the keeper, located on the beach. #1 - “.He then swung a little to the eastward to take in the full sweep of the beach. “The photographer set his tripod down and faced his camera lens toward the south.” Snow's description of the photographs are used as captions for the six pictures below: Walker's efforts included hiring a photographer to take pictures from the location. Walker had a hard fight on his hands to win over the Council members so that they would make the journey down to the location.”ĭr. Many on the committee for the new hospital were against locating on what they regarded as the wastelands of Winthrop Highlands, and Dr. Walker, the Superintendent of the Lunatic Asylum in Boston, was eager to establish a new hospital in Winthrop. Snow takes up the story in his 1939 Boston University Master of Art thesis on the history of Winthrop: 1 It wouldn’t be until 1865 that the Board of Directors of Public Institutions was given authority to select a site, purchase land, and hire an architect to draw up plans for a new building. Overcrowding at the asylum in South Boston was noted as a problem as early as 1853 when a committee was formed to explore and encourage the building of a new facility. Some of earliest photographs of Winthrop were taken in 1868 as part of a marketing effort aimed at convincing Boston officials that the Winthrop Highlands would be the best location for a new asylum for the insane.
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