Historic leaves, volume 1, April, 1902 - January, 1903

Coming up Medford street on the right, by the Hill house, was a well-remembered cellar door which sloped inward, and in the darkness that prevailed after nightfall, so many people fell there, that a petition was presented to the town authorities for a lamp, and, after some delay and due consideration, it was granted. From there up Medford street all was dark, and lanterns were a necessity. Gentlemen who were detained in Boston evenings left their lanterns at the Milk Row station in the morning, to light them home by night.

To find our new home we were directed to the first street on the left, and after driving some distance, we inquired, and were told that opening that we had taken for a way into a pasture, or cowyard, was the place we wanted. The street, so-called, was partly dug out, the rest a bank, and on that corner Mr. Francis Russell lived, and his house still stands; and above his land was a cottage, now occupied by Mrs. Hatch. There was one pleasant thing about our anticipated premises,—the quantity of flowers around the house, which, we learned, had been the sole care of one of the ladies of the family. But the surroundings were not inviting, and only that we must change our residence reconciled us to settle there for the winter only, as we supposed. Putting in a furnace and building a barn for our horse were the first things attended to, and trying to improve the bog that was dignified by the name of Greenville street was the next thing attempted, and for years was a discouraging matter. Prospect hill was very near us, so near that we could easily converse with people on the summit from our driveway. The owners sold the so-called gravel, otherwise mud, to men who took it away in little carts holding two bushels (or a little more), and this continual teaming, especially in wet weather, made it dirty and dangerous for a light carriage, and all the repairs put on the street did not keep it in good condition, though enough money was expended to make it one of the best in the town.