Buildings

Tremont House, Boston

by

The Tremont House on Tremont Street in Boston, sometime in the 1890s. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

1890s

The scene in 2014:

321_2014

The Tremont House in the first photo was built in 1829, and it holds a significant place in American history – it was the first hotel with running water and indoor plumbing. It opened to much fanfare, with mayor Josiah Quincy (of Quincy Market fame) presiding over the event. The guest list included a number of distinguished Bostonians, including Congressmen Daniel Webster and Edward Everett. Webster would go on to become one of the most influential men in 19th century America, and Everett also went on to bigger and better things, serving as governor, ambassador, senator, and Secretary of State. He gave a speech at the ceremony, and some 34 years later he would be the keynote speaker at another event – the dedication of the national cemetery at Gettysburg, although his two hour speech was overshadowed by President Lincoln’s two minute remarks.

The building stood at the corner of Tremont and Beacon Streets until 1895, and during its existence it had a number of notable guests, including Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Alexis de Tocqueville, and President Andrew Jackson. It was also where, in 1848, Abraham Lincoln, at the time a virtually unknown Illinois Congressman, stayed during a visit to Boston. Coincidentally, years later John Wilkes Booth would also stay at the hotel, not long before he assassinated Lincoln.

Faneuil Hall and Dock Square, Boston (2)

by

Faneuil Hall, taken from Dock Square in Boston in 1930. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.

318_1930-2Bbpl

The scene in 2014:

318_2014

Similar to the scene in the photos in this post, this view shows Faneuil Hall as the one constant in an otherwise very different scene.  It was probably the oldest building in the 1930 photo by at least 100 years, but 84 years later it has outlasted all of the other buildings, many of which were taken down during various urban renewal projects in the 1950s and 1960s, including the construction of the Central Artery.

Faneuil Hall and Dock Square, Boston (1)

by

Faneuil Hall, taken from Dock Square in Boston in 1930. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.

317_1930-2Bbpl

The scene in 2014:

317_2014

Faneuil Hall and the Custom House Tower are still there, but otherwise this scene has changed dramatically.  Taken from in front of modern-day City Hall, the scene in the first photo shows the Faneuil Hall area when it was still a major commercial center in the city, as opposed to a destination primarily for tourists and city workers on their lunch break.  Today, Congress Street cuts through the area where Dock Square once was, and behind the photos, City Hall towers over the area.

Dock Square toward Union Street, Boston

by

Dock Square looking toward Union Street in Boston, in 1865. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

316_1865-2Bbpl

The scene in 2014:

316_2014

These photos were taken from almost the same spot as the ones in this photo, just slight ahead and to the right.  The first one shows the variety of businesses that were located in Civil War-era downtown Boston, ranging from feathers and furniture to hardware and whips.  The tracks in the foreground are for a horse-drawn trolley line; this was an early version of Boston’s present-day subway network, before the trolleys were electrified and put underground.

Washington Street and Dock Square, Boston

by

The corner of Washington Street and Dock Square in Boston, on June 17, 1875. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

315_1875-06-17-2Bbpl

The scene in 2014:

315_2014

Taken on the same day as the photo in this post, the first photo is taken from a different angle, but shows the Dock Square area as it once looked, long before the urban renewal projects of the 1960s During this time, the neighborhood was replaced with Boston City Hall, which can be seen on the left-hand side of the 2014 photo.

Dock Square, Boston

by

Dock Square in Boston, taken on June 17, 1875. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

314_1875-06-17-2Bbpl

The same location in 2014:

314_2014

The first photo was taken when Dock Square was adorned for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill.  Probably none of the buildings in the photo existed 100 years earlier, and 100 years later they would be all gone, replaced by the bunker-like City Hall that was built on the firmer site of Scollay, Adams, and Dock Squares.