Years

Great Boston Fire (6)

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Looking up Summer Street toward Washington Street, following the Great Boston Fire of 1872. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

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The location in 2014:

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Taken near the location of the photos in this post, but facing the opposite direction, the 1872 photo shows some of the damage to the present-day Downtown Crossing area, which is actually mild compared to the damage along other sections of Summer Street.  On the right is the Trinity Church, which was probably the oldest building in the first photo, having been built in 1829.  Following the fire, the area was rebuilt, and by the end of the 19th century became a major shopping center.  It is still that way today, with many department stores and other retailers along Summer Street and Washington Street.  The entire area is closed off to most vehicular travel, making the narrow Boston roads more pedestrian-friendly.

Great Boston Fire (5)

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The church after the Great Boston Fire of 1872. Photo Courtesy of Boston Public Library.

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The same location in 2014:

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Boston’s old Trinity Church on Summer Street was built in 1829, and stood until it was gutted in the Great Fire of 1872.  Following the fire, the church members had largely relocated out of the burned area and to new developments in the Back Bay, so the church went with them.  The relatively modest granite church building was replaced by the present-day Trinity Church at Copley Square, perhaps the best-known work of noted American architect Henry Hobson Richardson.  Today, this location is at the heart of the Downtown Crossing shopping district, and as of July 2014 the building to the left was undergoing renovations, hence the fencing in the foreground.

Great Boston Fire (4)

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Looking down Milk Street, with Old South Meeting House on the left, following the Great Boston Fire of 1872. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

The same location in 2014:

The first photo really illustrates just how close the historic Old South Meeting House came to being destroyed in the Great Fire of 1872.  However, firefighters managed to save the building, which survived with minimal damage, including some broken windows as seen in the photo.  This scene shows the upper limit of the fire, which started several blocks south of here on Summer Street and extended all the way up to Milk Street.  A similar view of this scene, taken around 1911, can be seen in this post; the photo was taken a little further down the road, about where the three people are standing on the far right-hand side of the 2014 photo here.

Great Boston Fire (3)

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Looking south on Summer Street with High Street on the left, after the Great Boston Fire of 1872. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

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The scene in 2014:

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Taken facing just to the right of the photos in this post, this angle shows the view looking south on Summer Street.  The first photo shows some of the absolute devastation that Boston suffered in the wake of the 1872 fire, which burned about 65 acres of land and 776 buildings.  By way of comparison, the Great Chicago Fire, which occurred a year earlier, burned over 2,000 acres and destroyed 17,50 buildings.  However, like Chicago, Boston recovered well.  The second photo shows a very different Boston nearly a century and a half later; this area is a major center for  business and transportation, with South Station in the distance, and many banks and other institutions having offices here.

Great Boston Fire (2)

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Facing south at the corner of High Street (to the left) and Summer Street (to the right), following the Great Boston Fire of 1872.  Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

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The scene in 2014:

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The Great Boston Fire of 1872 was one of the most devastating urban fires in American history, and this photo shows the scene near the epicenter on Summer Street.  The fire began just a few blocks behind the photographer, leaving very little standing in the southern part of downtown Boston.  The city recovered, though, and today this location is part of Boston’s financial district.  However, while the buildings were rebuilt, Boston’s convoluted street network remained unchanged.  Unlike many other major cities in America, and unlike even some other sections of Boston, downtown Boston does not have a regular street grid.  The result is small, non-rectangular building lots like this one, a triangle bounded by Summer, High, and Federal Streets.  In the 1970s, however, architects got creative and built the Fiduciary Trust Building, a hexagonally-shaped building that appears to be precariously balanced atop a much smaller base.

Great Boston Fire (1)

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Fire-damaged building on Milk Street, between Batterymarch and Oliver Streets, following the Great Boston Fire of 1872. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.

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The scene in 2014:

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Only a year after the far more well-known fire in Chicago, Boston suffered a similarly disastrous fire of its own.  It devastated much of the southern part of Boston’s downtown, reaching all the way up to Milk Street, where this photo was taken.  The building in the 1872 photo advertises “glue, curled hair, and sandpaper” which seems like an odd combination to today’s readers.  But, “curled hair” in this case referred not to a hairstyle but to some sort of industrial product made with animal hair.  As to its specific use, I am not sure, but today neither the buildings nor the glue, curled hair, and sandpaper industry are still at this location.  Today, the building at the site is identified above the ground floor windows as the Oliver Building, and was built in 1903, suggesting that at least one other building occupied this spot after the 1872 photo was taken.