On Thursday, a well-known thoroughfare in Lansdale Borough and Hatfield Township was renamed in honor of the man who pioneered healthcare in the county.
North Broad Street from Main Street in Lansdale to Route 309 in Colmar was renamed Dr. Frank Erdman Boston Memorial Highway and received new signage during a dedication ceremony attended by the likes of state Rep. Steven Malagari, state Sen. Bob Mensch, state Sen. Maria Collett, state Rep. Todd Stephens, and the Boston Legacy Foundation.
“We are very appreciative, and I know the people that are here today representing all of Lansdale are very appreciative of the fact we are now naming that street the Dr. Boston Highway,” Mensch said. “His selflessness, respect for life, dedication to his neighbors, and unwavering commitment to do good serve as an inspiration for all and are the reasons we should be celebrating his legacy for generations to come.”
The new sign can be seen at the intersection of Main and Dr. Frank Erdman Boston Memorial Highway by Koehler’s Jewelers. The renaming of North Broad Street — aka State Route 2004 — was signed into law in June 2022 as House Bill 1560.
Boston, an African American World War I medical officer with the Army’s 317th Engineering Regiment, was a surgeon and physician who is instrumental in founding Elm Terrace Hospital — now Elm Terrace Gardens — in 1934. It would be renamed North Penn Hospital 20 years later.
He also founded Volunteer Medical Service Corps of Lansdale, formerly the First Aid Emergency Squad.
A memorial and high relief sculpture of Boston exists across from Elm Terrace Gardens at the corner of the 7th and Dr. Frank Erdman Boston Memorial Highway in front of First Baptist Church of Lansdale.
Boston was born on March 10, 1890, in Philadelphia and attended Lincoln University. He went on to Medico Chirurgical College, graduating in 1915. A year later, he was certified in surgery and started as an intern at Roosevelt Hospital. Later, Boston took a position as a surgeon at Mercy Hospital, while simultaneously running a private practice in Philadelphia and later Lansdale.
Medico Chirurgical College was located on Cherry Street between 17th and 18th streets in Philadelphia. It was absorbed into University of Pennsylvania and its physical buildings were demolished in 1918 for the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Boston served in France during World War I as a captain and later attained the rank of major before his discharge in 1919. He was close friends with author W.E.B. Du Bois during and after the war.
Boston — a bachelor his whole life — died Feb. 8, 1960. at age 69, and is buried at Whitemarsh Memorial Park in Horsham Township.
His passion for pre-hospital care and transportation in Montgomery County was visionary; it would be nearly 40 years until major emergency medical services become established across the U.S.
“It’s really great to see that my efforts,” said Malagari, during the dedication ceremony, “along with the efforts of Senator Mensch and the Boston Legacy Foundation have paid off, and that our local hero will be remembered for years to come.”
“Having the stretch of road,” Malagari continued, “which runs in front of the two institutions that Dr. Boston founded, bear his name is an exceptionally fitting way to memorialize him.”
Malagari said the North Penn area owes a lot to Boston because his creations still exist today and still serve the community.
“Remembering him and memorializing this stretch of highway in his name are but small gestures that allow us to keep the legacy of his work, his tenacity, and his dedication, alive,” Malagari said.
Stephens said we all owe so much to Boston, whose legacy lives on through Jefferson Lansdale Hospital and VMSC.
“The road renaming ensures that future generations understand his long-lasting impact on our community and country,” Stephens said.
See also:
Dr. Boston, Lansdale Medical Pioneer, Subject of Black History Forum
Mayoral Musings: The Lost History of Dr. Frank Boston
Editorial: Dr. Frank Boston A Key Figure in Local Black History
North Penn School District To Host Black History Oratorical Competition
