Hills of Jamaica Plain - Boston, Mass. | Hills of the Boston Basin

Jamaica Plain was originally part of the town of Roxbury. The community seceded from Roxbury as a part of the new town of West Roxbury in 1851. It became part of Boston when West Roxbury was annexed to Boston in 1874. The most likely origin of the name 'Jamaica' is that it's an Anglicizied version of the Native American name, Kuchamakin.

Hills of Jamaica Plain - Boston, Mass.

Bussey Hill

•	USGS identified - MassMapper MassGIS
•	Google Maps \| Google Earth - Google
•	Plan of the Arnold Arboretum Jamaica Plain, Mass., Harvard University, 1909 - Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library
•	"... Mr. Weld was shrewd and sagacious in investing his money, buying large lots of land in Jamaica Plain, which were then of little value, realizing a handsome profit by sales from time to time, and at the time of his death in December, 1867, owned considerable real estate and other property in the town...". Drake, pg. 439, 1908 - HathiTrust
•	"...Weld's Hill, a very conspicuous eminence on this estate, was selected by Washington as a rallying point for the patriot army to fall back upon in case of disaster...The estate was bought by Benjamin Bussey in 1806, and in 1815 he erected here the fine mansion which he occupied until his death in 1842...". Drake, pg. 440, 1908 - HathiTrust
•	Jamaica Plan, "...General Washington stationed troops on Weld Hill, today's Bussey Hill in the Arnold Arboretum..." - Wikipedia
•	Bussey Hill - USGS Geographic Names Information System

Green Hill

•	USGS identified - MassMapper MassGIS
•	Google Maps \| Google Earth - Google
•	"...Faulkner Hospital is situated on Green Hill, the second tallest hill in Boston...", The Hospital on the Hill: A History of Faulkner Hospital, pg. 11 (PDF) - Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital
•	Old Green Hill, "...[Senator] George Cabot married his cousin Elizabeth Higginson in 1774 and lived with her at "Green Hill", as he named his estate..." - Massachusetts Historical Commission Information System (MACRIS)
•	Dorothy Meyer remembers Arboretum Heights, "...Arboretum Heights, as it was known then, was originally named Green Hill, and was separated from Moss Hill by Louder’s Lane..." - Jamaica Plain Historical Society
•	Green Hill - USGS Geographic Names Information System

Hellenic Hill

•	Google Maps \| Google Earth - Google
•	Weld Family, "...William Gordon Weld, named for his grandfather, kept his hands on the family business and built an estate at the Boston/Brookline border, having married a Goddard. Their son, Charles Goddard Weld, trained as a doctor. His land is now part of Hellenic College...", - Jamaica Plain Historical Society
•	Bacon Family, "...Prospering as a ship owner, Bacon retained John Prince's name for the place, Spring Hill Farm, from an underground feeder of Jamaica Pond on the property. In 1851 his son William took control of the land and soon purchased the rest of the hillside from the Goddard Family of Brookline..." - Jamaica Plain Historical Society
•	Hellenic Hill, "...In a recent history of Hellenic Hill, which overlooks Jamaica Pond, it was noted that the Goddard family had acquired the Hill's crown and down to the Pond's edge by 1807...." - Jamaica Plain Historical Society
•	"...In October 1946 the [Weld] estate was purchased by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese after a long search for an appropriate property to which its seminary could be moved from rural Pomfret, Connecticut....", Student Handbook, 2016, pg. 7 - Hellenic College, Holy Cross School of Theology
•	Hellenic Hill, "...Hellenic Hill is the great, silent guardian of Jamaica Pond...", Boston Urban Wilds Report, pg. 57, Boston Natural Areas Fund, 1990 - Internet Archive

Hemlock Hill

•	Google Maps \| Google Earth - Google
•	Hemlock Hill, "...1907 - The first accession of Chinese hemlock (Tsuga chinensis) is planted and survives until 1921... 1938 – The Great New England Hurricane topples a significant number of eastern hemlocks, leaving a pit and mound topography along its northern slope... 1940 – Approximately 200 additional hemlocks, having been grown in Arboretum nurseries, are planted on Hemlock Hill in the fall..." - The Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University
•	Plan of the Arnold Arboretum Jamaica Plain, Mass., Harvard University, 1909 - Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library

Moss Hill

•	Google Maps \| Google Earth - Google
•	Moss Hill Memoir, "...In the Victorian era Jamaica Plains' 200 acre Moss Hill was also known as Bowditch Hill, named for one branch of the Bowditch family of Salem fame, who lived there...", - Jamaica Plain Historical Society

Nira Rock

•	Google Maps \| Google Earth - Google
•	Nira Rock, "...Formerly part of a quarry, Nira Rock consists of two major sections, an upper section and a lower section. The two sections are about equal in size. The upper section consists of a puddingstone outcropping, about forty-feet high. The east, north, and west sides of the outcrop are bordered by steep, rocky slopes and shrubby woodland...", Boston Urban Wilds - City of Boston
•	Hidden Gem: Jamaica Plain's Nira Rock, "...In 1933, as the country climbed out of The Great Depression, the National Industrial Recovery Act - NIRA - set out to put Americans back to work, and the puddingstone was quarried. It took the name of the legislation that put it back to work...", Chris Helms, 2011 - Jamaica Plain Patch

Sumner Hill

•	Google Maps \| Google Earth - Google
•	Gen. William Hyslop Sumner, "...His name was immortalized when it was applied to the prestigious hill in JP and when it was fittingly placed on the first harbor tunnel..." - Jamaica Plain Historical Society

Jamaica Plain

Bussey Hill

Green Hill

Hellenic Hill

Hemlock Hill

Jamaica Plain Maps

•	Jamaica Plain - Google Maps, Terrain
•	Jamaica Plain - MassMapper MassGIS
•	Jamaica Plain - USGS - The National Map
•	Boston South Quadrangle - 2018 (60 MB PDF) - USGS Topo Download
•	Newton Quadrangle - 2018 (60 MB PDF) - USGS Topo Download
•	USGS Historical Topographic Map Explorer
•	Map of the Town of Roxbury, Massachusetts, John G. Hales, 1832 - Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library
•	City of Roxbury, Massachusetts, Charles Whitney, 1849 - Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library
•	Plan of Town of West Roxbury, Mass., Theodore B. Moses, 1873 - Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library
•	Atlas of Dorchester, West Roxbury, and Brighton, West Roxbury, Plate 17, L.J. Richards, 1899 - State Library of Massachusetts
•	Plan of the Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain, Mass., Harvard University, 1909 - Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library
•	Atlas of Roxbury, Geo. W. & Walter S. Bromley, 1899 - State Library of Massachusetts

Jamaica Plain Sources

•	The History of Roxbury Town, Charles M. Ellis, 1847 - Internet Archive
•	The Town of Roxbury its Memorable Persons and Places, A Volume of Records Relating to the Early History of Boston, Francis S. Drake, Vol. 34, 1908 - HathiTrust
•	The Roxbury Magazine, All Souls Unitarian Church, 1899 - Internet Archive
•	The Memorial History of Boston including Suffolk County, Massachusetts, 1630-1880, Vol. 4 , Justin Winsor, 1881 - Internet Archive
•	Jamaica Plain, Boston 200 Neighborhood History Series, 1976 - Internet Archive
•	Roxbury Historical Society
•	Jamaica Plain Historical Society
•	The Arnold Arboretum - Havard University
•	1990 Boston Urban Wilds Report, Boston Natural Areas Fund, 1990 - Internet Archive