Mott's Medicated Baths
After about 1800, the Cambridge Street neighborhood became increasingly dense and commercial as the population of Boston continued to increase. Large residential parcels on Cambridge Street that were originally inhabited by one family were divided into smaller lots and attached and semi-detached dwellings were built. The Otis House was altered to become a two-family house in the 1820s. In the 1830s the larger portion of the Otis House was rented by Dr. and Mrs. Mott. For the Motts the Otis House was not only their home, but also their place of business. From here they ran their business, “Motts’ Patented Medicated Champoo Baths,” a medical clinic. The Motts offered free medical advice, sold over the counter remedies, such as “Josephine’s dentifrice for whitening teeth,” and treated patients with their patented steam bath cure. While popular with female patients, the Motts were not considered qualified doctors by the mainstream medical profession, which was taking hold in the neighborhood at the time. As urban neighborhoods can change dramatically, this neighborhood, the West End, was gradually changing from a residential neighborhood to a more professional locale with the founding of Massachusetts General Hospital in the early nineteenth century.
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