1860s

Beacon Street looking west from Charles Street, Boston (1)

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The view looking west on Beacon Street from Charles Street, between 1865 and 1870. Image courtesy of the Boston Public Library.

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The same view in 2014:

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The buildings in the distance in the first photo would have been almost brand-new; these are part of the Back Bay neighborhood, and would have been built within about ten years before the photo was taken.  The buildings in the foreground, however, are much older.  The granite rowhouses just past the brick building on the far right of the first photo are still there; they were built in 1828, almost a decade before the Public Garden across the street was even established.  The brick townhouse next to it in the foreground was probably even older, although it was demolished at some point, probably around 1917, when the tall apartment building in the 2014 photo was built.

Old Corner Bookstore, Boston

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The Old Corner Bookstore in Boston, around 1865. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

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The building in 2014:

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Once a meeting place for authors such as Longfellow, Emerson, Dickens, and Hawthorne, the Old Corner Bookstore is now a place to grab a burrito.  Present use aside, the building has remarkably survived over 300 years in downtown Boston.  Built in 1712 as an apothecary shop, it was later used as a bookstore in the 19th century, when the aforementioned authors were known to frequent it.  Today, it is a landmark along Boston’s Freedom Trail, and is one of the oldest buildings in Boston.

View from Bunker Hill Monument, Boston (5)

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The view from the Bunker Hill Monument, sometime between the 1860s and 1880s. Photo courtesy of New York Public Library.

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The view in 2024:

This view is zoomed in on the Boston Navy Yard, and some of the buildings are easily identifiable in both – in fact, all four of the visible shipyard buildings in the 2010 photo are also in the first photo.  Further away, in East Boston, much of the land in the 2024 is new – the harbor was filled in to create Logan International Airport. One of the runways is barely visible in the upper center.

In the navy yard, the ship visible on the far right of the 2010 photo is the World War II-era destroyer USS Cassin Young.  It contrasts sharply to the wooden sailing ship in the first photo, which I believe is the USS Ohio, a ship of the line built in 1820.  By the time this photo was taken, she was being used as a receiving ship.  The Ohio was in Boston from 1850 until 1883, when she was sold and burned for scrap metal.

View from Bunker Hill Monument, Boston (4)

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The view from the Bunker Hill Monument, sometime between the 1860s and 1880s. Photo courtesy of New York Public Library.

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The view in 2024:

The view looking north from the Bunker Hill Monument.  Many of the buildings in Charlestown remain the same as they were in the original photo, although the large building in the lower right has been replaced by an even larger building in the same location.

View from Bunker Hill Monument, Boston (3)

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The view from the Bunker Hill Monument, sometime between the 1860s and 1880s. Photo courtesy of New York Public Library.

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The same view in 2024:

These two photos show three sections of Boston – Charlestown in the foreground, East Boston in the distance, and the North End of Boston barely visible to the right.  Other than the approach ramp to the Tobin Bridge, not much has changed in Charlestown – many of the houses in the foreground can easily be identified in both photos.  On the waterfront, many of the buildings at the former Boston Navy Yard are still there, and have been incorporated into the Boston National Historical Park. ln the distance, East Boston has been substantially expanded for Logan International Airport, which is barely visible on the far side of East Boston.

 

View from Bunker Hill Monument, Boston (2)

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The view from the Bunker Hill Monument, sometime between the 1860s and 1880s. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

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The view in 2010:

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Looking west from the Bunker Hill Monument, the approaches to the Tobin Bridge dominate the landscape in the 2010 photo.  In the foreground, there is a stark contrast between the 19th century buildings to the right and the 1960s era redevelopment to the left.  Many of the buildings are easily recognizable in both photos, especially the ones along the street in the lower center of the 2010 photo.  In the background, beyond the approaches to the bridge. is the site of the former navy yard, which was still in active use in the first photo.