City and State: Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
Listed: 1987
Type of district: National Register historic district, state historic district, local historic district
Main Intersection: Elm Street and Greenough Avenue
Sumner Hill National Register Historic District Report
Sumner Hill National Register Historic District Map
The Sumner Hill Historic District is a residential neighborhood dating from the second half of the 19th century. It contains just over 60 buildings on 365 acres. Most of the houses date to the late 19th century and are the wood-frame, single-family structures typical of an early residential suburb. The suburb was opened to residential development with the arrival of rail connecting it to Boston in 1834. The district does include a few institutional structures intended for community use, including churches and a school. The mature vegetation and curving street plan lend to the park-like setting of the neighborhood. The houses are designed in a wide variety of popular styles, including Italianate, Second Empire, Gothic and Colonial revival, and Queen Anne.