Dorchester Illustration 2731 16 Harley Street
The top portion of today’s image is a photo postcard from about 1910, showing 16 Harley Street and its carriage house. The buildings are still standing. The bottom portion of today’s image is a painting of 16 Harley Street by Frank Henry Shapleigh from the 1870s.
Douglas Shand-Tucci, in his book, “Ashmont,” calls the house the Reed-Loring House. However, the Reed family never owned the house. George Derby Welles, through his agent, Edward Ingersoll Brown, had the house constructed in the early 1870s before selling lots for further development. In 1875, Welles sold the house at 16 Harley Street to Stephen L. Emery. In 1877, Welles sold Emery another 3,000 square feet of land contiguous to 16 Harley Street, and in 1882, Welles sold Emery another 3,000 square feet of land. In 1892, Emery acquired another 1,500 square feet of land from another owner. Emery then had the carriage house built.
Charles Henry Reed married Ellen Emery, Stephen’s daughter, in 1870. Charles operated a hide and leather business. The Reed family lived in Boston except for the year 1879, when they lived with Ellen’s parents on Harley Street. Charles Henry Reed died in 1882. Stephen Emery died in 1899 and left the property in a trust. By 1900, the grandchildren, Clara Elinor Reed and George S. Reed, came to live at 16 Harley Street. Clara married Royden Loring in 1910. The property remained in a trust until 1952, when it was conveyed by the Trustee to George S. Reed and Clara Elinor Loring.
The house should be called the Emery House.