1900s Archives - Page 111 of 134

Arlington Street Church, Boston

February 9, 2018August 11, 2014 by Derek Strahan

Arlington Street Church in Boston, around 1862. Photo taken by J.J. Hawes, courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

The church around 1904. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The church in 2014:

For the first two centuries of Boston’s history, this location was right on the waterfront. However, as the city grew in population, they needed more land, so by the 1850s, the city started filling in the Back Bay, adding new real estate along the Charles River from the Public Garden (seen in the lower right of the 1904 photo) to the Kenmore Square area. The Arlington Street Church, completed in 1861, was one of the first buildings to be constructed on the newly-created land. The first photo shows the neighborhood just as it began to be developed; plenty of empty land beyond the church is visible in the space between it and the apartment building to the right. Today, it remains an active church, and aside from no longer having ivy on its walls, it looks very much the same as it did 110 years ago.

Park Street, Boston

November 26, 2016August 11, 2014 by Derek Strahan

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

Park Street in 2014:

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.

Summer Street, Boston

November 26, 2016August 11, 2014 by Derek Strahan

Looking up Summer Street from Lincoln Street, around 1904. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The same view in 2014:

Although this is part of Boston’s Financial District, this part of Summer Street doesn’t look too dramatically different from 110 years ago. Several of the older buildings are still recognizable, with the most noticeable being the one on the far left. Known as the Church Green, it is named after the New South Church that once stood on the site. It was demolished in 1868, and replaced by a bank building. That building burned just a few years later in the 1872 fire, and the present-day building was completed in 1873. In the 1904 photo, it advertised a number of shoe-related services, including shoe polish, womens shoes, and boot and shoe patterns. Today, the first floor has a Dunkin Donuts and a Chipotle.

Park Street Station, Boston

November 26, 2016August 10, 2014 by Derek Strahan

The entrances to the Park Street station, taken from in front of Park Street Church, around 1900. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The scene in 2014:

The entrances to the subway are still there, as is Boston Common, but the background is very different, with the skyline of Boston’s Back Bay rising above the trees on Boston Common. Boston’s two tallest buildings can be seen here: the John Hancock Tower, which is in the center of the photo, and the Prudential Center, barely visible to the right of the John Hancock Tower. The Freedom Trail passes through this intersection, with the brick path echoing the cobblestone rows that once crossed Park Street.

Washington Street, Boston (2)

November 26, 2016August 2, 2014 by Derek Strahan

Another view looking up Washington Street, taken from the corner of Temple Place, around 1906. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The scene in 2014:

This view of Washington Street was taken a couple blocks back from the one in this post, and shows some of the drastic changes in the Downtown Crossing area. In this area, Washington Street is closed to most traffic, allowing pedestrians easy access to the stores on both sides of the street. It’s one of the few cases where the “now” photo actually has less traffic than the “then” photo.

Today, Downtown Crossing is still a major shopping district, but almost all of the buildings in the 2014 photo are new – probably the only easily recognizable building in both photos is Old South Meeting House, which is three long blocks down the road.

Washington Street, Boston (1)

November 26, 2016August 1, 2014 by Derek Strahan

Looking up Washington Street from near Franklin Street, toward Old South Meeting House, around 1906. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

Washington Street in 2014:

These two photos were taken just a block away from the ones in this post. This particular view illustrates some of the changes that Washington Street has seen over the past century. Long before even the first photo was taken, Washington Street was once the only way in or out of Boston by land (hence, “one if by land, two if by sea,” with the land part referring to passing through here). However, subsequent landfill in the 19th century expanded Boston’s land area, and allowed for other routes in and out.

Today, this section of Washington Street is closed to most traffic, and is at the center of the Downtown Crossing shopping district. In that sense, not much has changed – 100 years ago, this area was also a major commercial district, although not many of the buildings survive today. The most prominent is the Old South Meeting House, which has stood at the corner of Washington and Milk Streets since 1729. A few other buildings on the right-hand side, both in front of and behind the church, still exist today, but everything in the foreground has significantly changed.