In the 1850s local people of color began living on a dirt path they named Liberty Street. In time the area became one of the “clustered” enclaves of African Americans and people of Nipmuc Indian heritage. Before its demolition in the 1950s the neighborhood was home to several male and female leaders of
Worcester’s Black community. This is a ‘snap shot’ of the area in the late 1880s.
Liberty Street
# 5 Charles E. Scott, laborer, Sarah Dutton, laundress, Josephine McTier, laundress, # 22 Andrew J. Brown, hairdresser; Joseph Carter, moulder; # 25 Amos Webber, messenger; # 27 John
- Stewart, laborer; # 27r Mary Jones, widow, Elizabeth Jones, laundress, Mrs.
- Bowman, laundress, Henry Williams, laborer, Raymond Schuyler, porter, Henry
- Jackson, porter; # 28 Reuben Jackson, laborer; # 31 Isaac Mason, carpet cleaner, Mary A. Johnson, widow, John S. Taylor, upholsterer, Daniel Edwards, painter, Joseph A. Wilson, hairdresser; # 33 Lydia Dyer, canvasser; # 35 Christopher Bryant, woodworker, Mrs. Indiana Mason, laundress
Palmer Street
# 3 George W. Anderson, laborer, Harriet Miller, widow; # 4 William Brown, upholsterer, Charles Brown, upholsterer, George A. Busby, tailor, I.D. Hazard, seamstress; # 5 Charles W. Bullah, paperhanger, Edward B. Gimby, hairdresser, Frederick Gimby, boxmaker, H.E. Gimby; hairdresser; # 10 Charles J. Clark, helper
Glen Street
[#19, Schofield property, Liberty and Glen Streets]
Anna Van Hoesen, widow, James Van Allen, hostler, William Anderson, porter & Laura Allen, widow
Image from Worcester Atlas of 1896
Listings from Worcester House Directory of 1888