A circa 1920 map shows the Dorchester/Hyde Park line following present day Greenfield Road to Oakland Street, which is now Cummings Highway.
Among Boston neighborhoods, Dorchester has a singularly strong identity that stretches back to its founding as a Puritan settlement in 1630, a hotbed of patriot activity during the Revolutionary War, and a farming and industrial community during the 1800s. The 1870 annexation by Boston did little to dilute the neighborhood’s identity, but it did blur the lines between Dorchester and its neighbors to the north, south, and west.
Take the intersection of Blue Hill Avenue and Washington Street, which over the decades has generated more geographical confusion than perhaps any other point in Boston. While some area residents refer to Grove Hall as Roxbury, others point to the 02121 zip code as evidence that the commercial district is in Dorchester…