Ranger leads a walking tour to the Kennedy’s Abbottsford Road house
GENERAL INFORMATION
For those interested in seeing the Brookline neighborhood where President John F. Kennedy grew up, the National Park Service has developed a 1.6-mile route that passes by the Kennedy Family’s second home on Abbottsford Road, the church they attended, one of John’s elementary schools, and the area where the family did its shopping. Information about each stop, plus a map of the route, can be found on the John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site brochure that is available inside the Beals Street house in the basement Visitor Center (the entrance is located at the back of the house). The self-guided tour takes 45 minutes to an hour. The terrain is flat and easy to walk.
Because none of the buildings on the route are open to the public, the tour would seem to appeal only to die-hard Kennedy fans. However, I enjoyed looking at the beautiful homes along the route much more than seeing the Kennedy-related sites. Thus, if the Kennedys or looking at nice homes is your cup of tea, I highly recommend the walking tour. Besides, everyone can use a little exercise.
A 2:15 PM each day that the National Historic Site is open, a park Ranger leads a 45-minute tour from the Beals Street house to the house on Abbottsford Road, which is just a quarter mile away. As with the Beals Street House Tour, the focus is the Kennedy family, not specifically John (and even then it is John’s childhood that is discussed). There is no fee and no limit on participants, but you do need to sign up in the Visitor Center. If you also get a ticket for the 3 PM Beals Street House Tour, the Ranger will get you back in time, and if you are a few minutes late, the tour will wait. Also keep in mind that the Ranger tour does not proceed to the other destinations, so if you want to do the entire Neighborhood Walking Tour, you must do it on your own.
NEIGHBORHOOD TOUR STOPS
51 ABBOTTSFORD ROAD
The Kennedys moved to a new house (for them) on Abbottsford Road in 1920 (the house itself was built in the 1890s). At the time, they had four children and were living in the 2,000-square-foot house on Beals Street, so they needed more room. The house on Abbottsford Road was approximately 5,000 square feet. It was in this house that three more children were born—Eunice, Patricia, and Robert. The Kennedys lived in the house until 1927, at which time they moved to New York. Joseph Kennedy Sr. was by then a stock broker, plus he claimed there was too much prejudice against Catholics in Boston. Today the house on Abbottsford Road is a private residence, so you can only view it from the outside.
Kennedy’s Abbottsford Road house
SAINT AIDAN’S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
Saint Aidan’s church was built in 1911, and it is here that John Kennedy was baptized and served as an altar boy. The church was closed in 1999 and converted into condominiums. The exterior, however, remains intact.
Saint Aidan’s Roman Catholic Church
COOLIDGE CORNER
The corner of Beacon and Harvard streets is known as Coolidge Corner, and like it was when the Kennedys lived in Brookline, it is a busy shopping district.
Retail district at Coolidge Corner
EDWARD DEVOTION SCHOOL
John Kennedy attended the Edward Devotion School from first through part of the third grades. Due to his discipline problems, his family pulled him from this public school and enrolled him in the Nobles and Greenough Lower School, a private school on Freeman Street. The Edward Devotion School still operates today (grades K-8).
Edward Devotion School
SITE OF THE DEXTER SCHOOL
John transferred to the Nobles and Greenough Lower School during third grade (1924) after his parents felt that the public Edward Devotion School wasn’t strict enough for him. The school closed in 1926 and immediately reopened as the Dexter School. John attended school here until the family moved to New York in 1927. Today the site is home to an apartment complex.
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Last updated on June 5, 2020
