Street Scenes Archives - Page 83 of 96

Beacon Street, Boston

November 25, 2016July 30, 2014 by Derek Strahan

Looking west on Beacon Street in Boston, near the State House, sometime in the 19th century. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

The same scene in 2014:

These views show Beacon Street looking down the hill, just past the Massachusetts State House (the State House would be behind and to the left from this angle). The street to the right in the foreground is Joy Street, and Boston Common is to the left.

Ever since Beacon Hill was developed in the early 1800s, it has been a wealthy neighborhood, and given its location adjacent to the State House, it has been the home of a number of prominent politicians over the years. Aside from wider, paved streets, and automobiles instead of horse-drawn carriages, not much has changed with the appearance of the neighborhood. The streets are still lined with brick townhouses, and many of the ones from the first photo (which I suspect was probably taken around the 1860s-1870s) are still around today, including the one on the far right in the foreground, and the one in approximately the center of the 19th century photo, which is partially obscured by trees in the 2014 photo.

Pell Street, Chinatown, New York City

November 25, 2016July 15, 2014 by Derek Strahan

Looking down Pell Street in Chinatown, around 1900-1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The same scene in 2014:

Taken from the intersection of Doyers Street, this scene on Pell Street in New York’s Chinatown, this scene is taken from almost the same spot as the photos in this post, just turned about 90 degrees to the right. Several of the buildings are the same, including the ones on either side of the photo, and Pell Street remains at the center of Chinatown.

East Longmeadow Rotary (2)

November 25, 2016July 15, 2014 by Derek Strahan

Another view in downtown East Longmeadow, looking up present-day Route 83 from the rotary, around 1900-1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The view in 2014:

This view shows the scene looking north on North Main Street in East Longmeadow, toward Springfield, from the rotary. The house on the far left appears to be the same in both photos, but otherwise everything else has changed, showing the increase in commercial development in the center of East Longmeadow over the past century. Another change seen here is the trolley tracks, which are visible in the lower left of the first photo. As mentioned in this post, streetcars once connected Springfield and its surrounding towns, much in the same way that PVTA buses now do.

East Longmeadow Rotary (1)

November 25, 2016July 15, 2014 by Derek Strahan

The view looking up modern-day Route 83 in East Longmeadow at the rotary, between 1900 and 1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The same scene in 2014:

Reportedly, the rotary in the center of East Longmeadow holds the record for most roads in a single intersection. I don’t know whether this is actually the case, but either way its seven roads make it an unusual and confusing intersection. It contains a rotary-like feature, but unlike conventional rotaries, the traffic in the rotary doesn’t necessarily have the right of way – sometimes rotary traffic does, sometimes incoming traffic has to yield, and sometimes incoming traffic has to stop. One thing it does lack, though, is a traffic light. Although I can only imagine what a traffic light with seven different streets would be like.

A century ago, the intersection still had seven roads, but with far less traffic, and at much lower speeds. However, it did have one thing that modern-day drivers don’t have to contend with – trolleys. Part of one trolley is barely visible on the far left of the first photo. This location on the rotary, directly in front of town hall, was the southern end of one of the many streetcar lines that linked the towns in the Connecticut Valley at the turn of the century.

Sumner Avenue, Springfield Mass

November 12, 2017July 2, 2014 by Derek Strahan

Looking east on Sumner Avenue, Springfield Massachusetts, from near the intersection with present-day Washington Road, around 1900-1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The same view in 2014:

Sumner Avenue is the primary thoroughfare across the southern part of Springfield, passing through the Forest Park neighborhood. At the time that the first photo was taken, this was a prominent, expensive neighborhood with large, ornate houses, similar to the ones seen on Maple Street and other parts of the city. However, like many of these other areas, the neighborhood has declined, with most of the wealthy residents moving to Longmeadow or somewhere else outside the city. Today, most of the houses are still there, though, including the Smith Platt House on the extreme left, and the Lathrop House next to it.

Maple Street Homes, Springfield Mass

November 25, 2016June 4, 2014 by Derek Strahan

Several homes on Maple Street in Springfield, around 1905. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The same view in 2014:

Around the turn of the last century, Maple Street was one of the best places in Springfield to live. This side of the street was particularly desirable, because of the view looking toward downtown Springfield and across the Connecticut River. Today, that isn’t the case. Although the view is still there, it is no longer one of the city’s premier residential areas, and the two mansions in the first photo no longer exist.

Located directly across the street from the former MacDuffie School campus, this area was right in the path of the June 1, 2011 tornado that tore across western Massachusetts. These houses, however, were gone long before then. The one on the right was at the time the home of businessman and city library president Nathan D. Bill, and was built in the 1880s as the Andrew Fennessy House. It was destroyed in a suspicious fire in 1969, after having been vacant for several years. Today, only the concrete driveway is still there, and can be seen better on Google Maps. The house just beyond it was built in 1882 and belonged to Walter H. Wesson, the son of Daniel Wesson, co-founder of Smith & Wesson. In 1982, this historic house was also heavily damaged in a fire, and was subsequently demolished.