Lemuel Clapp House & Family Orchards Site

Place: Lemuel Clapp House & Family Orchards Site

Address: 199 Boston Street

Neighborhood: Dorchester

On April 17, 2014, I went to Edward Everett Square, originally known as Five Corners. Near here is the Dorchester Historical Society, as well as the Lemuel Clapp House and William Clapp House. I believe this is also the location of the Clap Family Orchards Site, but no green sign could be found. The Clapp Pear was first grown here in the 1840's.
To visit the Clapp Houses, ride the Red Line to JFK/UMass/Columbia and walk out to Edward Everett Square and up Boston Street. Bus route 17 can also take you directly in front of the houses.

"The gambrel-roofed house was built about 1710 by descendants of Roger Clapp, one of Dorchester's original settlers. The Clapp family settled here on the rich farm lands of Dorchester Neck, a district soon noted for its fine orchards. In 1767, the simple two-room homestead was purchased by a cousin, Lemuel Clapp. Lemuel, who later served in the Revolution, remodeled the house as a country mansion. In 1957, the house was moved 200 yards from its location on nearby Willow Court to its present site and restored to its conjectured original appearance by the Dorchester Historical Society."

 

 "The Clap Orchards ran from Boston Street to the salt marshes of South Bay; the farm was part of the original land grant made to Roger Clap in 1630. Today, many streets in the area are named after varieties of pears grown on the estate, including Mt. Vernon, Dorset and Bellflower. After the Revolution, New England farmers developed new cash crops; in the early 19th century, the Claps experimented with pear hybrids. The most popular was Clap's Favorite, introduced by Lemuel Clap in 1840. Despite residential growth, the orchards remained here into the 20th century."

 

To learn more about the Clapp Houses:
http://www.dorchesteratheneum.org/page.php?id=224
http://www.dorchesteratheneum.org/page.php?id=381
http://www.dorchesteratheneum.org/page.php?id=301
http://www.dorchesterhistoricalsociety.org/2012/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11&Itemid=137
http://www.dorchesterhistoricalsociety.org/2012/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10&Itemid=136
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Lemuel_Clap_House
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Clapp_House