First Settlers
The Gardner family came to Brighton from Brookline in the mid-1700s. In 1747, they owned 110 acres of land in Allston, running along both sides of Harvard Avenue (the Roxbury Highway). Gardner Street, which dates from 1841, was laid out across a portion of this extensive property.
The most famous member of this family was Colonel Thomas Gardner, an important political figure in Revolutionary Massachusetts who died leading his regiment in the Battle of Bunker Hill. His circa 1750 residence, the Gardner homestead, located originally at the northwest corner of Brighton and Harvard Avenues, was in the 1850s moved to Higgins Street near Union Square, where it still stands, the oldest surviving building in Allston.
Griggs Street and Griggs Place in Allston were named for the Griggs family, which likewise came to Brighton from Brookline in the mid-1700s. The Griggses built two residences on Harvard Avenue near the present Commonwealth Avenue intersection.
Holton Street in North Allston was named for James Holton, who was born in 1800 in the family homestead on Faneuil Street on the site of the present Faneuil Project. Holton accumulated a substantial fortune in the mercantile trade. When he died in 1863, he left large sums of money to several Brighton institutions. Among the bequests was $3,000 to help finance the establishment of a public library. This library was at first housed in the Town Hall. When it acquired its own building in 1874, the structure assumed the name the Holton Library. North Allston’s Holton Street was put through in the 1880s.
Everett Street in North Allston was put through in 1846 following the sale and subdivision of the Joseph Everett Estate. The Everett Mansion stood on Western Avenue (River Street) midway between the Everett and Franklin Street intersection.
Pratt Street in Allston was named for Isaac Pratt, a wealthy Boston banker, iron dealer, and landowner, who lived in an imposing mansion at the northeast corner of Brighton and Harvard Avenues. Pratt Street was laid out across his land in 1875.
Farrington Avenue in Allston was named for the Farrington family. In 1815, Isaac Farrington of Brookline purchased a portion of the old Gardner Estate. Farrington Avenue was laid out across this land in 1879. William H. Farrington, who engaged in the real estate and insurance business in Allston, served on the Boston City Council from 1894 to 1897.
Gordon Street was named for the Gordon family of Allston, major local landowners. The more northerly section of Gordon Street (between Cambridge and North Beacon Streets) was laid out across their farm in 1876. The portion lying south of Cambridge Street (originally called Allston Heights), dates from 1868.
Hollis Place, a short dead end street which runs off of Allston Street near Union Square, was named for John Warren Hollis, a wealthy sheep dealer who owned substantial real estate in South Allston. Hollis was a native of Braintree and so named a street he laid out across a portion of this property after his native town. Hollis Place dates from 1856.
Source: What's In A Name? by
Allston-Brighton historian Dr. William P. Marchione