Had to pick up my car at my favorite auto body shop the other day (Peter’s on Hyde Park Ave. just down from Forest Hills Station).
So I set out on the Blackwell Footpath, a newish stretch of walking path that starts on South St. in Rozzie and ends up on Washington St. in JP.
Hanging a right onto HP Ave., I started to walk by a tiny graveyard I’ve passed many times before and this time I decided to go in. 
As a real estate aficionado, I’ve always been fascinated with people’s final resting places — you should see the spot I have waiting for me!
Walking through, I noticed some of the still-legible dates. Many were from the 1860’s!
So I called the human search engine, Michael Reiskind of the Jamaica Plain Historical Society and he confirmed that yes indeed, the Tollgate Cemetery was dedicated to the Irish-American veterans of the Civil War and their families.
He also informed me that the area now referred to as “Forest Hills” used to be called “Tollgate” because of the toll one had to pay to proceed down Hyde Park Ave!
With the coming of spring and the price of gas, I plan to discover many more such forgotten corners of JP, Roslindale and West Roxbury. I’m happy to say that my call to Michael reminded him to contact the City to organize a clean-up and fix-up of this sacred and forgotten place. I’ll keep you posted on that!