Dorchester Illustration no. 2443 Ashmont Station
In 1872, the Old Colony & Newport Railway Corporation built the Shawmut Branch Railroad as a connection between the Dorchester and Milton Branch and the main line to Boston. The new Shawmut Branch led off from the Old Colony at Harrison Square to Fields Corner, Shawmut Station and Ashmont, and the rails continued on to meet the Dorchester and Milton Branch Railroad after running through Cedar Grove Cemetery. Ashmont became a railroad suburb before Dorchester was a streetcar suburb. Construction of substantial houses both east and west of Peabody Square soon followed.
Until 1895 the station house for Ashmont was located at the north side of Peabody Square. This elaborate towered building is shown in an image from an 1895 calendar issued by the Dorchester Mutual Fire Insurance Company. A new station was built in 1895 at the south side of the intersection between the tracks and Dorchester Avenue. The second image among the four is a real-photo postcard that shows this station, and the third image is a plan showing its layout. The fourth image is another real-photo postcard with a photo of the brick station house built in the 1920s, when the line became electrified.