Today’s “One Postcard Saturdays” is an antique postcard featuring the Elevated Terminal Station that was located on Dudley Street, in what was known as Dudley Square, Boston, Massachusetts. The Dudley Street neighborhood was part of the northern section of the community known as Roxbury.
Many department stores were opened in this Dudley Square, including Ferdinand’s Blue Store, which opened in 1895. This store specialized in furniture and it is pictured in the background of this featured postcard.
The Dudley Street Station, Dudley Square, opened in 1901 for the Boston Elevated Railway Mail Line and was designed by Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow.
On a side genealogy note: This A. W. Longfellow is an indirect paternal relation. A direct Wadsworth relation on Alexander’s maternal side, several generations back, was the brother of Samuel Wadsworth who married Abigail Lindall. This Abigail was the daughter of my direct ancestor, James Lindall, early settler of Marshfield and Salem, Mass. You can learn more about my Salem roots via my blog post: Salem Roots and Halloween Greetings!
The Dudley Street Station was one of the first transit stations in the Boston Metro Area. The Square, located at the junction of Washington and Dudley Streets, served as a transit hub for the elevated train and later, during the early 1900s, it expanded with the addition of ten streetcar lines. This Dudley Square was named after Governor Joseph Dudley. He had served Massachusetts from 1702 to 1715.
By 1952, only one trolley line remained at this station. Boston removed all trolley lines by 1960. In the present day, the Dudley Station appearance is similar to the original Elevated railway station, but now serves as a bus terminal since replacing the former trolley lines.
After 1970, when the Southwest Expressway and the Inner Belt highways were being planned in Boston, it caused much of the Dudley Square area to be cleared.
Many of the retailers, including the Ferdinand’s Blue Store, closed during this time. However, the Ferdinand buildings have been incorporated into a redevelopment plan of this Dudley Square neighborhood and made into a historical district.
Postcard Message side
My featured postcard was postmarked October 30, 1909 from Boston, Mass. It was sent from Leroy James to Julia A. James, in Plainville, Mass. Leroy (1897-1914) was the grandson of “Grandma” Julia Ann (Moore) and Charles Henry James. The parents of Leroy were Martin James and Mary “Mollie” (Pease).
If you would like to read more about Grandma Julia, you may wish to read my previous blog post: Intro to Grandma Julia and the Bitgood’s Pine Knoll Laboratory
The handwritten message on the postcard reads: “With love to all; Dear Grandma, How are you? I am sleeping all alone in my little room and I am waiting for my feather bed. From your grandson, Leroy James”
If you want to learn more about Leroy, please see my previous blog post: A Thanksgiving Greeting from 1908!
The publisher of this postcard was the Metropolitan News and Pub. Co., Boston, Mass. and Germany. It was made in Germany.
Until next time…
Resources:
Boston College, Department of History. Global Boston, Dudley Street. https://globalboston.bc.edu/index.php/home/immigrant-places/roxbury/dudley-street/ Accessed 28 Feb 2026.
Boston Streetcars; Dudley Square; http://www.bostonstreetcars.com/dudley-square.html. Accessed 28 Feb 2026.
Hess, Francesca Maria. “Dudley Street Station .” Clio: Your Guide to History. (November 13, 2018). https://theclio.com/entry/66164. Accessed 28 Feb 2026.
Historic New England. “Elevated Terminal Station, Dudley Street.” https://www.historicnewengland.org/explore/collections-access/gusn/196662; Accessed 28 Feb 2026.
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