16 Oct 2025 The Places That Shape Us: Tony Lopes connection to Shirley Eustis Place
Here, HBI’s Director of Real Estate Tony Lopes, shares his personal connection to the historic Shirley Eustis House in Roxbury. A part of the City’s vibrant Cape Verdean community, Tony grew up in Roxbury and through his work at Historic Boston he catalyzes the neighborhood’s revitalization through historic preservation. In 2023, Tony was at the forefront of a successful effort to help the Shirley Eustis House Association acquire the neighboring 42-44 Shirley St., a site connected to the history of slavery at Shirley Eustis Place.
So much has changed in the small neighborhood in Roxbury where I grew up in the 1980s and 90s.
A steel warehouse now stands on the dirt alley between George and Cedric Street where I used to drift my Batman big wheel. The empty lots I crossed on my way to St Patrick’s church on Sundays, are now filled with low-rise condominiums. A field at the end of Langdon Street that once offered ideal hiding locations for hide-and-go seek, today features a new community garden.
And yet, so much has stayed the same.
The same houses line Clarence Street where an old tire and a fire hydrant transformed the city block into an urban water park. Davey’s Supermarket, on Dudley Street, is still open for business with the same counter where I would hand Jorge a pocketful of pennies for a fistful of gum. A mural painted on the outside wall still honors his legacy. Up the road you will still find Ideal Sub Shop where Gino served what I knew for a fact to be the best ham and cheese sub on the planet – though I hadn’t yet traveled beyond Dorchester. Tucked away in a parking lot on Magazine Street, I can still see an old trailer used at the Mother’s Day parade. It was a tradition that brought the tight knit Cape Verdean community together every year to celebrate, catch up with family, and check-in on old friends.
Recently, I had the privilege of touring the Shirley-Eustis House. As a child, I knew it only as “Shirley Mansion.” My godfather lived on the ground floor, serving as caretaker, and I would visit him there on occasion. From the cupola, looking out to the east, I could trace the line of the old brick factory where my mother worked for over a decade since she first arrived in the country as an immigrant. To the west, the weathered, patina-green conical peaks of the Romanesque revival apartment buildings along Woodward Ave; across the street from the house where Mrs. Centeio sold ice-e treats out of her basement. A handwritten sign decorated her door, 25 cents for grape, 50 cents for coconut. To the north, I could almost hear the jingle of the ice-cream truck parked outside my grandfather’s triple-decker on George Street, where a line stretched down the sidewalk for soft serve vanilla cones with jimmies; the first bite melting away every care in the world, if only for a moment.
Many of my friends, family, and neighbors have long since moved away, and the ice-e lady is only a memory now. Yet if you listen closely, the buildings that remain still seem to whisper our stories.
As Director of Real Estate Development at Historic Boston Inc., I am reminded every day why this work matters. Preservation is about more than saving buildings, it’s about honoring legacy, culture, and identity. We shape these places and in turn, these places shape us; and serve as anchors, connecting past to present. They remind us that neighborhoods like Roxbury are not just points on a map, but vibrant communities whose stories must be retold, celebrated, and passed on to inspire future generations to gather, to build, and to thrive.