The City of Boston will officially re-name Dorchester's Wainwright Park (or Cronin Playground) as the Rev. Loesch Family Park on July 7, 2012.
The land that is now the play ground was part of the 17th century "Great Lots", an area that was bounded on the north by Field's Corner, on the east by Adams Street, on the south by Lower Mills and on the west by Washington Street. Early settlers received grants of land from the town of approximately 16 acres each within the area of the Great Lots for their planting fields. This land was almost completely agricultural until after the Revolution. Over the course of the 19th century, the town’s population expanded, and development occurred around commercial nodes like nearby Codman Square.
In the 18th century a mansion was built at the corner of the Upper Road (Washington Street) and what is now Welles Avenue.
