Government Buildings

Massachusetts State House, Boston

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The Massachusetts State House, with a Beacon Street house being demolished in the foreground.  Photo taken January 27, 1917 by Lewis Wickes Hine of the National Child Labor Committee, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

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The scene in 2014:

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The Massachusetts State House was built in 1798, but has been expanded several times over the years.  An 1895 expansion was built behind the original building, and in 1917 the east and west wings were added (east wings visible on the right-hand side of both photos).  The west wing, however, required the demolition of a number of houses on Beacon Street, Joy Place, and Mount Vernon Place, and the elimination of Hancock Avenue altogether.

One of the demolished buildings can be seen here in the first photo.  In this particular scene, Lewis Wickes Hine captures workers, including young children, bringing wood home, presumably to use for firewood on what was probably a chilly late January day.

Old Suffolk County Courthouse, Boston

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The old Suffolk County Courthouse at Court Square, Boston, between 1904 and 1912. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

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The scene today:

The Boston Public Library Flickr page for the first photo estimates that it was taken around 1890, but it’s way off.  The signs on either side of the steps read “East Boston Tunnel,” which wasn’t opened until 1904.  The building itself, which was built in 1836, was demolished in 1912 to make way for the present-day building, so the first photo was evidently taken sometime in between.

The original building was the old Suffolk County Courthouse; Suffolk County at the time included a number of municipalities surrounding Boston, but by the time the second photo was taken, most of those had been annexed by Boston.  The courthouse, though, was conveniently located right behind the old Boston City Hall, which still survives today, although the city government has since moved a few blocks away.  The building can be seen in both photos, in the distance on the left-hand side.  The courthouse itself is long gone, but the building that replaced it retains the same footprint, and similar architectural features, although it is significantly taller.

Park Street, Boston

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Looking up Park Street from Tremont Street, around 1906. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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Park Street in 2014:

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Not much has changed on Park Street in the past century. Boston Common is still there, fence and all. The Massachusetts State House still dominates the top of Beacon Hill, and to the right Park Street Church still looks almost the same. Even the storm drain and manholes are still there.

Custom House, Boston

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Boston’s Custom House, around 1900-1906. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The building in 2014:

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Although no longer used as a US Customs office, the Custom House still looks much the same as it did when it was completed in 1849, aside from the addition of a 32-story skyscraper on top of it.  When it was built, it was on the waterfront, roughly level with Quincy Market, which was also located along the water.  It was a convenient location, as it facilitated the inspection of ship cargoes.  Today it is several blocks away from Long Wharf, but it continued to be used by Customs for many years.

By the time the first photo was taken, the increase in shipping to Boston necessitated expanding the Custom House, which led to the construction of the Custom House Tower in 1915. At the time, Boston  restricted the height of buildings to 125 feet, but as a federal building it was exempt from these restrictions.  As a result, it was the tallest building in Boston until the completion of the Prudential Tower in 1964.  US Customs left the building in 1986, and it is now a Mariott hotel.

Dickinson Memorial Library, Northfield Mass

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Northfield’s Dickinson Memorial Library, around 1900-1906.  Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The library in 2014:

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Northfield’s public library is the Dickinson Memorial Library, named after 19th century shoe manufacturer Elijah Dickinson, who had donated $20,000 to construct the granite building.  It was dedicated in 1898, with noted evangelist and Northfield resident D.L. Moody among the speakers at the event.  Today, the building looks much the same as it did in the first picture, which was taken only a few years after its dedication.

Hampshire County Courthouse, Northampton Mass (2)

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Hampshire County Courthouse in Northampton, around 1904. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The building in 2014:

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Taken around the same time as this photo of the building, this view shows the courthouse from a different angle, looking at it from the southwest corner of Main and Pleasant Streets (today Routes 9 and 5/10). Incidentally, it is entirely possible that the small tree barely visible behind the men standing along the fence in the 1904 photo is the same one that is now partially obscuring the view of the building in the 2014 photo.