From an Interview with Stan Babcock

Excerpted* from a series of interviews by local historian William Marchione with long-term Allston-Brighton residents about the changing face of the community. Stan Babcock spent the first 75 years of his life as a resident of Allston Street near Union Square. In December 1998, he recounted some recollections of the Allston neighborhood in which he grew up, including the following:

"I was born on May 22, 1918 in a house on Ringer Playground... The Ringer Playground of that day was quite different. It had a quarry on its southeast side, and at the foot of the quarry were two homes. One of them was my dad's, and the other belonged to the Ringer family that the park was later named after. One of their sons was killed during World War I leading a charge up Chateau Thierry – Stanley Ringer (the namesake of the park). Incidentally, he was the first Allston volunteer for the armed services in World War I.

The park had a different configuration in my youth. A fence extended from Imrie Road all the way around to Griggs Place, and then came into the park about a hundred yards. There was a lampost light there which would be lit by a lamp lighter each evening. The bad feature, was that when guys played ball there, there wasn't much room to maneuver because of the projecting fence. The park was smaller then."

*To read the rest of the interview, click here. For more information about the Brighton Allston Historical Society, visit their website.

Related Links

Brighton Allston Historical Society
http://www.bahistory.org