Month: September 2014

Great Boston Fire (1)

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Fire-damaged building on Milk Street, between Batterymarch and Oliver Streets, following the Great Boston Fire of 1872. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

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The scene in 2014:

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Only a year after the far more well-known fire in Chicago, Boston suffered a similarly disastrous fire of its own.  It devastated much of the southern part of Boston’s downtown, reaching all the way up to Milk Street, where this photo was taken.  The building in the 1872 photo advertises “glue, curled hair, and sandpaper” which seems like an odd combination to today’s readers.  But, “curled hair” in this case referred not to a hairstyle but to some sort of industrial product made with animal hair.  As to its specific use, I am not sure, but today neither the buildings nor the glue, curled hair, and sandpaper industry are still at this location.  Today, the building at the site is identified above the ground floor windows as the Oliver Building, and was built in 1903, suggesting that at least one other building occupied this spot after the 1872 photo was taken.

Tremont Street, Boston (2)

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Tremont Street in Boston, looking north toward Eliot Street (present-day Stuart Street) and Boston Common in the distance, in 1869. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

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The scene in 2014:

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The first photo was taken from nearly the same location as the one in this post, just facing the opposite direction. All of the buildings in the first photo are gone, and most of them were probably demolished very soon after the first photo was taken, when Tremont Street was widened. Today, the narrow, cobblestone street is a distant memory, and Tremont Street is a major road that, in the 2014 photo, passes through Boston’s Theater District.

Tremont Street, Boston (1)

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Tremont Street, facing south from between modern-day Stuart and Oak Streets, around 1869. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

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Tremont Street in 2014:

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Today, Tremont Street is a major road in Boston, three lanes wide along with room for parking and sidewalks on both sides. It’s very different from how it appeared in the 1860s, before the road was widened and the buildings on the right were demolished. The narrow streets of the old photo were typical of pre-automobile Boston, and many similar streets survive to this day, helping to contribute to Boston’s reputation as a terrible place to drive.

Tremont Street from Eliot Street, Boston

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The view looking up Tremont Street from Eliot Street (modern-day Stuart Street) in 1869. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

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The scene in 2014:

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The first photo was taken before Tremont Street was widened in 1869. All of the buildings on the left-hand side were (presumably) demolished, except for the Hotel Pelham, which was moved 14 feet to the left and survived until 1916. Although the buildings on the right were unaffected by the widening, none of them appear to have survived to the present day. Today, the location is in the middle of the Theater District, with several of the theaters visible on either side of Tremont Street in the 2014 photo.

Hotel Boylston, Boston

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The Hotel Boylston, at the southeast corner of Tremont and Boylston Streets in Boston, sometime in the 1870s.  Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

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The scene today:

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Like the Hotel Pelham right across Tremont Street, the Hotel Boylston was built as a residential building, with the term “hotel” at the time referring to what we would today call an apartment building.  It was at a prominent location, at the corner of Boylston and Tremont Streets, at the southeast corner of Boston Common.  However, it was demolished in the 1890s and replaced with the Hotel Touraine building, which still stands today.

Hotel Pelham, Boston

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Facing the southwest corner of Boylston and Tremont in Boston around 1859, toward the newly-constructed Hotel Pelham.  Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

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The same scene 2014:

Constructed in 1857, the Hotel Pelham was possibly the first apartment building of its type in the United States.  Although named a hotel, the term in the mid 19th century was commonly used to refer to what today we would call an apartment building – they catered more toward long-term residents than temporary visitors.

The date on the first photo is probably 1859, but some sources date it to 1869.  In either case, 1869 is the latest possible date for the photo, because in that year Tremont Street (the street that the photos are facing down) was widened.  Rather than demolishing and rebuilding, the owners moved the 5,000 ton building 14 feet to the west (right), a move that took three months to complete.  Following the move, the hotel remained in business for nearly 50 more years, before being demolished in 1916 and replaced with the present-day office building.