Jamaica Plain is a neighborhood of in Boston, Massachusetts. Settled by Puritans seeking farmland to the south, it was originally part of Roxbury, Massachusetts. The community seceded from Roxbury during the formation of West Roxbury in 1851 and became part of Boston when West Roxbury was annexed in 1874. In the 19th century, Jamaica Plain became one of the first streetcar suburbs in America and home to a significant portion of Boston's Emerald Necklace of parks, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.
In 2020, Jamaica Plain had a population of 41,012 according to the United States Census.
History
Colonial era
Shortly after the founding of Boston and Roxbury in 1630, William Heath's family and three others settled on land just south of Parker Hill in what is now Jamaica Plain. In the next few years, William Curtis, John May and others set up farms nearby along Stony Brook, which flowed from south to north from Turtle Pond (in Hyde Park) to an outlet in the Charles River marshes in the current filled-in Fens area of Boston. John Polley followed with a farm which he purchased from Lt. Joshua Hewe in 1659 at the site of the present-day Soldier's Monument at the intersection of South and Centre streets, closer to the "Great Pond", later known as Jamaica Pond. Later, for services rendered during the Pequot War, Joseph Weld received a grant of of land between South Street and Centre Street. His son John built a home along South Street in the area which is now the Arnold Arboretum. The Weld family continued to live in the area for many generations.
In the late 1650s, the name "Jamaica" first appears on maps for the area of Roxbury between Stony Brook and the Great Pond. There are a number of theories regarding the origin of the name "Jamaica Plain". A well-known theory traces the origin to "Jamaica rum", a reference to Jamaican cane sugar's role in the Triangle Trade of sugar, rum, and slaves. There were taverns on the Road to Dedham in the vicinity of Jamaica Plain. Another explanation is that "Jamaica", though a different letter "A" pronunciation, is an Anglicization of the name of Kuchamakin, brother of Chickatawbut, the deceased sachem (chief) of the Massachusett tribe, who ruled the tribe as regent to Chickataubut's minor son, Josias Wampatuck. In 1655, the English navy took the island of Jamaica from the Spanish, so it is also possible the area was named to honor this recent British victory.
On some maps, until the mid–19th century, the area was marked as "Jamaica Plains".
John Ruggles and Hugh Thomas donated land in 1676 for the building of the community's first school. A gift of of land south of the "Great Pond" by John Eliot provided financial support for the school, which was named the Eliot School (which still exists) in his honor.
During the 18th century, the farms of the Jamaica section of Roxbury transitioned from subsistence to market orientation, serving the growing Boston population. At the same time, wealthy men bought land and built estates in the bucolic countryside. In 1740, Benjamin Faneuil, nephew of Boston merchant Peter Faneuil, bought land between Centre Street and Stony Brook. In 1752, Commodore Joshua Loring bought the old Polley farm and built a home to which he retired. At Jamaica Pond, the provincial governor, Francis Bernard, built a summer home on .
In 1769, the community's first church was built paid for by Susannah and Benjamin Pemberton before permission was granted from the two existing parishes of Roxbury. After many appeals and bargains, the families along South Street and to the west were released by the Second Parish in 1772 and the Third Parish of Roxbury was incorporated, and on May 26, 1773, the colonial legislature granted an act "setting off the nine families and their lands from the First Precinct (or parish) of the Town of Roxbury and annexing to the Third Precinct in the said town." During the occupation of Boston, the colonial assembly met in this building. The church was the only church in Jamaica Plain for seventy years and during that time became one of the original Unitarian churches and continues on the same site now known as the First Church in Jamaica Plain. The original white clapboard building was replaced by the stone Romanesque Revival building in 1854 designed by the architect Nathaniel Bradlee. (Pictured above.)