Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Downtown Boston
    Downtown Boston
    Downtown Boston
    Ebook175 pages32 minutes

    Downtown Boston

    By Anthony Mitchell Sammarco and James Z. Kyprianos

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Settled in 1630 by English Puritans seeking religious freedom, Boston has always been a city prone to significant and monumental change. Even before it was incorporated as Boston, named after the town of Boston in Lincolnshire, England, the town's name was changed from Shawmut. From that time, Boston has evolved from being the original center of town government at the Old State House to becoming the financial center of New England in the twentieth century.

    Downtown Boston captures many of Boston's intriguing changes with photographs of the past and present. Since the advent of photography one hundred and fifty years ago, Boston has seen many topographical changes, such as the infilling that created new land in the Dock Square and Long Wharf areas and the rebuilding of the Financial District with magnificent structures that have become a representation of Boston's banking and investment endeavors. At the height of commercial success, the Great Boston Fire of 1872 brought mass devastation-forty acres of the business area were destroyed and downtown Boston had to be rebuilt. Downtown Boston magnificently portrays Boston's rebuilding and rise as a historically beautiful city.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateNov 1, 2002
    ISBN9781439611746
    Downtown Boston
    Author

    Anthony Mitchell Sammarco

    Anthony Mitchell Sammarco is a noted historian and author of over sixty books on Boston, its neighborhoods and surrounding cities and towns. He lectures widely on the history and development of his native city.

    Read more from Anthony Mitchell Sammarco

    Related to Downtown Boston

    Related ebooks

    Photography For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Born to Build

      May 4, 2021

      Born to Build
      11 min read

    • Article

      A Mile Of Shopping

      Apr 1, 2020

      A Mile Of Shopping
      7 min read

    • Article

      Tracking Omaha’s Past

      Mar 24, 2020

      Tracking Omaha’s Past
      3 min read

    • Article

      Massachusetts

      Aug 29, 2023

      MASSACHUSETTS, ONE OF THE ORIGINAL 13 colonies, has a rich and storied history that has greatly influenced the United States as a whole. An intellectual, cultural and educational hub, the state is home to some of the most prestigious institutions of

      5 min read

    • Article

      Built To Last

      Jul 1, 2022

      These man-made objects have grown into important sources of national pride to Americans. They also are iconic U.S. symbols to international visitors. The futuristic Space Needle was built for the 1962 World’s Fair hosted by Seattle, Washington. That

      4 min read

    • Article

      A Gap-toothed City

      Jan 27, 2022

      A Gap-toothed City
      5 min read

    • Article

      Gone, But Not Forgotten

      Nov 2, 2022

      Gone, But Not Forgotten
      5 min read

    • Article

      7 Things You (probably) Didn’t Know About The White House

      Nov 23, 2023

      Construction on the White House began in 1792 on a site in Washington DC selected by the first US president, George Washington. Over the next eight years, a mix of free African-American and white wage labourers, enslaved workers and skilled craftsmen

      5 min read

    • Article

      A Marvel Revived

      Apr 10, 2024

      A Marvel Revived
      7 min read

    • Article

      From The Ground Up

      Mar 6, 2024

      From The Ground Up
      5 min read

    • Article

      Historic Towns Hastings

      Nov 5, 2021

      Historic Towns Hastings
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Midwest Main Street

      Apr 5, 2022

      The Midwest Main Street
      5 min read

    • Article

      Word On The Street

      Jan 3, 2020

      Word On The Street
      5 min read

    • Article

      Frio Town, Texas

      Sep 24, 2019

      Frio Town, Texas
      3 min read

    • Article

      Steeped In History

      Dec 2, 2021

      Steeped In History
      3 min read

    • Article

      A Cotswold dream

      Sep 22, 2021

      A Cotswold dream
      7 min read

    • Article

      A Capitol With Class

      Jul 1, 2022

      A Capitol With Class
      2 min read

    • Article

      Studio

      Jul 28, 2022

      Studio
      4 min read

    • Article

      Coal Mining and Toll Scrip

      Sep 5, 2023

      Coal Mining and Toll Scrip
      5 min read

    • Article

      Urban Decay

      Jan 22, 2019

      Urban Decay
      2 min read

    • Article

      No Bones About It

      Feb 5, 2020

      No Bones About It
      3 min read

    • Article

      Worth The Climb

      Apr 1, 2020

      Worth The Climb
      3 min read

    • Article

      Old Town Winchester

      Mar 26, 2019

      Old Town Winchester
      3 min read

    • Article

      City of Unrest

      Jul 27, 2021

      City of Unrest
      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Downtown Boston

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Downtown Boston - Anthony Mitchell Sammarco

      House.

      INTRODUCTION

      No man who consents to the destruction of an ancient building has any right to pretend that he cares about art. or has any excuse to plead in defence of his crime against civilization and progress save sheer brutal ignorance.

      —William Morris

      Boston was settled in 1630 by a group of Puritans from England who were seeking religious freedom, as well as liberty, from the oppressive policies of Charles I. They created in the New World a city upon a hill. Initially called Shawmut, the Massachusetts Indian name that is supposed to have meant a spring of water, the town was also referred to as Trimount, an acknowledgment of the three hills later to become known as Mount Vernon, Beacon, and Pemberton Hills. Trimount was later corrupted as Tremont by both spelling and pronunciation, and a street perpetuates it toda. In September1630, the Puritans officially called their settlement Boston, after Boston in Lincolnshire, England. When settled, the town was an 800-acre land mass that was connected to the mainland at Roxbury by a narrow strip of land that became known as the Neck. This area, which was to be infilled and developed in the 19th century as the present South End of Boston, is the current area of Washington Street.

      In the first two centuries (1630–1830) after the peninsula was settled by the Puritans, Boston saw the laying out of streets, the building of houses, and the erection of places of worship. It also observed the development of the waterfront with wharves that projected into Boston Harbor, a move that increased Boston’s mercantile econom. Beginning with the turn of the 19th century, the town was to see tremendous topographical changes over the next five decades, especially the leveling of the three hills and the infilling of such areas as the Dock Square and Long Wharf. These areas became the site of Quincy Market and the Boston Custom House, each of which signified the development of the city’s commercial aspects.

      Boston was incorporated as a city by its citizens on March 4, 1822, after which it saw tremendous growth under the first three mayors: John Phillips (1822), Josiah Quincy (1823–1828), and Harrison Gray Otis (1829–1831). These three men would see to it that Boston was perceived as not just the Athens of America, but as Oliver Wendell Holmes called it, the Hub of the Universe. Though much of the old South End, the area of present-day Downtown Boston, was one of the most architecturally elegant sections of any city on the eastern seaboard, it was rapidly changing. By the time of the Civil War, the formerly residential streets, such as Summer, High, Pearl, and Franklin Streets had given way to commerce and were being rebuilt with four- and five-story commercial blocks that changed the character of the cit. However, all of this rapid development came to an abrupt halt due to the mass devastation wrought by the Great Boston Fire of November 9–10, 1872. The fire destroyed 40 acres of the downtown business area and wreaked economic devastation on the econom. In 1873, the city appointed George A. Clough as the first city architect of Boston. Clough oversaw the rebuilding of the burnt district, with high-rise office buildings and commercial blocks. By the turn of the 20th century, Downtown Boston had become an important banking and financial center in the United States, and the often elaborate and architecturally impressive buildings reflected that importance.

      As the great John Ruskin once said, True taste is forever growing, learning, reading, worshipping, laying its hand upon its mouth because it is astonished, lamenting over itself, and testing itself by the way it fits things. Maybe the readers of this book will grow in their appreciation of the history of Downtown Boston, learn of its changes since the advent of photography that recorded its evolution, and lay their hands over their mouths in astonishment at what has changed in the city, but realize, equally astonished, how much has really remained the same.

      In the early 20th century, the Massachusetts State House had an impressive addition built to the rear of the original Bulfinch building of 1795, which was also on the site of the original Beacon Hill. Designed by noted architects Charles E. Brigham and John C. Spofford of Brigham & Spofford, it was completed in 1893 and greatly expanded the office space by sixfold. The extension was built of glazed yellow brick and limestone to match the original building, which was then painted yellow. The space constraints at the state house had been addressed in 1853, with an addition designed by Gridley J. Fox Bryant, and in 1867, when William Washburn made interior changes, but not until Brigham & Spofford’s extension was built did the overcrowded conditions become alleviated. In the foreground is a sweeping drive that was obliterated when the white marble wings were added in 1917, designed by Chapman, Sturgis, and Andrews. To the left is an equestrian statue of Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, the famous Civil War hero.

      Chapter 1

      THE OLD SOUTH END: DOWNTOWN CROSSING

      Summer Street, laid out in 1683 and originally known as Mylne Street, was a fashionable residential neighborhood in the decades following the American Revolution. Known as the South End until the 1830s, when the present neighborhood of that name was being developed on filled land, it had impressive brick mansions with lavishly planted and well-tended gardens.

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1