USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Boston of to-day; a glance at its history and characteristics: with biographical sketches and portraits of many of its professional and business men, 1892 > Part 9
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The new Hollis-street, now the South Congre- gational Church (Congregational-Unitarian), New- bury and Exeter streets, was completed in the autumn of 1884, the ninth in the Back Bay district. Unlike its predecessors in this quarter it is built mainly of brick, with freestone and terra-cotta trimmings. It is in the Byzantine style of archi- tecture and the form of a square, but somewhat irregular in outline of plan. The peculiar style of the tower, the lower half circular and the upper twelve-sided, and the large gables, with circular turrets on each façade, the stained-glass windows within each gable, terra-cotta tiles above and below, and terra-cotta castings finishing the ridges of the roof, - all combined give to the structure an odd effect. The freestone columns, with carved capitals, on each side of the main entrance door on New- bury street, are handsome ; and the gabled porch, surmounted by an octagonal tower finished with a curved roof, is an effective feature. The interior of the church is amphitheatre in form, the pews radiating from a common centre. The pulpit is set well forward, and just above it is the organ and choir gallery. The prevailing colors of the interior decorations are light. Of the memorial windows, one is to the memory of John Pierpont, and the other of the gifted Starr-King, both famous pastors of the old Hollis-street. The vestry, or lecture- room, with class-rooms adjoining, and the literary and ladies' parlors, with kitchen nearby, are in the basement. The church is the successor of the old meeting house which long stood on Hollis
The Spiritual Temple (completed in 1885), op- posite the new Hollis-street, the main entrance on Exeter street, is still more peculiar in design. The style is the Romanesque. . Of rough granite and free- stone, the front elaborately ornamented and enriched with carvings, it excites the curiosity of the stranger, who finds it difficult to determine the nature of the building until his eye catches the name cut in the stone over the majestic arch at the entrance. Be- neath the inscription and occupying. the spandrels of the arch are two circular panels, carved with symbols of the society established here, and a belt of elaborate carving extends entirely around the building at the top of the chief story. The arrange- ment of the interior is simple and convenient. The well-lighted and brightly decorated audience-room occupies the chief story ; on the floor above it are smaller halls ; and on that below is another lecture- room, library, and a reading-room. The Temple is- the meeting-house of the "Working Union of Progressive Spiritualists," and was built by a wealthy merchant, Marcellus J. Ayer, at a cost of $250,000.
The Mount Vernon (Congregational-Trinitarian), Beacon street and West Chester park, is the newest church in the district. This also is Romanesque in style, of Roxbury stone, with buff Amherst stone trimmings, and carvings about the arched entrances, the finials, and the top of the square side tower, terminating in the steeple. The main front on Beacon street has the triple entrance, with gables and a rich rose-window, the West Chester park side shows a double front, with a triple two-story front and rose-window above, and the river side is two stories with three arched stone dormers. The in- terior is on the cruciform plan. The roof is open- timbered, with ash trusses, and the finish generally is in ash. The vestry and class-rooms are in the north transept on the first floor, and over the vestry is a dining-room with kitchen and pantries adjoin- ing. The minister's room and the ladies' parlor are in the second story, on the West Chester park side. The architects of this church were Walker & Kimball. It succeeds the sombre granite-front church which has so long stood on Ashburton
I See chapter on the Theatres.
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place. Since its organization in 1842 the Mt. a large reception-room, and within easy reach are Vernon Society has had but two pastors, - Edward N. Kirk, whose service extended from 1842 to 1874, closing only with his death, and Samuel E. Herrick, who began first in 1871 as associate pastor.
With the churches should be classed the building of the Young Men's Christian Association, Boylston and Berkeley streets, opposite the Natural History building. It is quiet and tasteful in design and warm in color, through the blending of brick and brown-stone. The style of architecture is defined as Scotch baronial. The feature of the Boylston- street façade is the entrance porch, from a dignified flight of broad stone steps, over which is the motto "Teneo et tencor : " and the corner of the building is relieved by a round-roofed bay-window thrown out at the second story. The vestibule opens into
inviting parlors, the library, reading, and game rooms, a small lecture-hall, and the business offices. On the floor above is the large, well-proportioned pub- lic hall, with anterooms; in the next story various class-rooms and meeting-rooms of the directors and various committees ; and in the basement the gym- nasium, one of the largest and best-appointed in town. The Boston organization (established in December, 1851) is the oldest of the Young Men's Christian Associations in the country, and with the exception of that of Montreal, which was formed but one week earlier, the oldest in North America.
The clubs established on the Back Bay, with the exception of the St. Botolph, possess houses es- specially designed and built for their use." The
! See chapter on Clubs.
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Art Club-house, the oldest of the number (completed in the spring of 1882), on the corner of Dartmouth and Newbury streets, modestly finishes the line of striking architectural work on Dartmouth street, be- ginning with the brown-stone Pierce building and the new Public Library on Copley square. Built of dark brick, with brown-stone trimmings and terra- cotta decorations, in the familiar Romanesque style, its hexagonal tower on the principal corner, with the stone balcony projecting from it on the Newbury- street side, is the most notable feature. The mem- bers' entrance is from the stone porch on the New- bury-street front; and through the arch of terra- cotta work on the Dartmouth-street side is the pub- lic entrance leading to the art gallery of the club. An effective piece of work is the semicircular stained-glass window over the club entrance porch. The interior of the house is admirably arranged and extensively decorated. The art gallery, broad and ample and well lighted by a large skylight, is tinted in Pompeian red ; and the three large parlors in the club proper are with different decorations, the colors so arranged as to blend and form a gradual change from dark to light shades. Other pleasant apart- ments are the library, the lecture, lounging, billiard, and supper rooms. The valuation of the Art Club's real estate was in 1891 $123,000.
The Algonquin Club-house, on the north side of Commonwealth avenue, midway between Exeter and Fairfield streets, is the most sumptuous in town. The front of brick, with light-colored limestone trimmings, is highly ornamented and tasteful in de- tail. The style is based on that prevalent in the seventeenth century in France in the reign of Louis XIII., " a brick and stone architecture, " the archi- tects say in their description, " thoroughly modern in character." In its design their aim was to give it " the expression appropriate to a club-house, that is to say, neither palatial nor domestic, though par- taking of both." The elaborately finished central entrance gives dignity to the building. Within, the house is commodious and elegantly appointed. From the great hall on the ground floor to the kitchens and apartments on the upper floors, every- thing is on a generous scale. The reading-room on the first floor above the entrance, the assembly-room and library on the next floor, and the general din- ing and breakfast and supper rooms on the third, extend across the entire front, and are furnished with an eye to every comfort. There are an abundance of private dining and supper rooms for lage of small parties ; billiard and card rooms : and a ladies' café, dining and reception rooms, similar to those in the Somerset Club. Upon the walls of the Lager
rooms, notably in the library and assembly rooms are a number of paintings, some of them good ex- amples of the work of leading modern artists. The assessors' valuation of the Algonquin's real estate in 1891 was $232,000.
The Athletic Club-house, on Exeter street, built of brick with stone trimmings, shows a plain exterior, the greatest attention in the architect's plans having been given to the interior arrangement. It is one of the largest and best-equipped club-houses of its kind in the country. Its ample gymnasium is pro- vided with the best apparatus attainable, and it has tennis, racquet, and hand-ball courts, fencing and boxing rooms, bowling alleys and billiard-rooms, Turkish bath and swimming-tank, together with the regular features of the modern club, including a large restaurant. It is the only athletic club in the country having, with the gymnasium and other feat- ures, tennis and racquet courts under the same roof. The building was completed in December, 1888, and the plans of the late John Sturgis were closely followed by his successors, Sturgis & Cabot.
In the domestic architecture of the city remark- able progress has been made during the last few years. There was some chance for improvement in taste from the time of the early modern movement 'which dictated the destruction of the old Hancock mansion on Beacon hill, and substituted the French mansard roofed houses, that were the vogue for a quarter of a century or more. Many of the archi- tects had studied in Paris, and much of their work recalled the atelier problems. The better examples of the period are the residences on Arlington street, notably those of Montgomery Sears, and in the block in which Mr. Henry W. Williams lives. The great fire of 1872 filled the offices of the architects with problems of business buildings, and withdrew them for the time from the study of the dwelling-house. Then, through the Philadelphia Exhibition, a strong impetus to interior decoration was given by the many exhibits of textile fabrics, both of Europe and the East, of William Morris' work in carpets and wall papers, as well as tiles, furniture, and other results of the English movement. The influence, however, of foreign elements of study in England, France, and Germany, both by the travelled student and those who had settled here, tended towards rather an eclectic bloom, and a struggle for the novel in design, which resulted in something of eccentricity rather than beauty. Exteriors were marred by lines of black brick and surfaces patched in many-colored stones. Subsequently some of the artists had become interested in the doing of inte- riors, and the restraint and refinement of color and
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detail within became reflected without. Then the commended. The trouble was less with the stone lite H. H. Richardson's work, with its round arched Gothic, left its strong impress on the work of others. From his hand came Bishop Phillips Brooks' house on Clarendon street, and Henry L. Higginson's house on Commonwealth. avenue. In somewhat similar style were the houses of Charles Whittier, and many more on Beacon street and Commonwealth avenue, with a pleasing tendency to French work, as seen in the two houses designed together for Drs. Wesselhoeft and Bell on Common- wealth avenue. The latest movement has been in a return to the classic in motive, and much dignity has resulted, as in the examples owned by Mrs. Francis Skinner, Charles Head, and others, on Beacon street. While in similar lines, but with much more feeling for the stately houses which were built for the merchants of the early part of the century, here as well as in Salem and Portsmouth, may be named the houses of Arthur Beebe, John Forrester Andrew, on Commonwealth avenue, and several others not yet quite completed. Within doors the same taste which has shown itself in the exterior designs is repeated in almost all the houses which have been mentioned. Frederick L. Ames bought, added to, and altered a house which was of the earlier type, and the interior is one noted for its beauty and splendor. It was one of- first sight of a new and strange land. The figure is the last works of the architect John H. Sturgis. There is very little in planning which differs from that of dwellings in other American cities, except an absence of picture-galleries. The Bostonian scatters his possessions of art throughout the house, regard- less of danger from fire ; and even the almost price- less collection of Millet's work is in a country honse which might be swept away in a couple of hours.
But four statues have thus far been placed in the Back Bay quarter outside the Public Garden : the portrait statues of Alexander Hamilton, Gen. John . Glover, and William Lloyd Garrison, and the ideal "Leif, the Norseman,"-the first three in the Com- monwealth-avenue parkway, and the fourth at the beginning of the extension of the avenue west of West Chester park. The Hamilton, which was the first erected (in 1865), the work of Dr. William Rimmer, was received by the local critics with a chorus of disapproval. It was the first statue in the country cut from granite, and it was a popular opinion that this stone was too harsh for such use. But Dr. Rimmer had done fine work in the same material, notably a colossal head of St. Stephen, which had won hearty praise from seasoned critics ; and the head of the Hamilton also was generally
used than with the moulding and draping, or swathing rather, of the figure. The Glover, in bronze, done by Martin Milmore, which was set up ten years after the Hamilton, is much more pictur- esque in detail, and less stiff in pose. The heavy military cloak falls in graceful folds over the Con- tinental uniform, and the hardy figure of the old Marblehead soldier, with sword in hand and one foot resting on a cannon, is drawn in broad and vigorous lines. The Garrison, also in bronze, and of heroic size, is the strongest figure of the three. The head erect and turned slightly towards the right, the high forehead and the strong features of the uncompromising agitator, are admirably por- trayed ; and the attitude of the figure, sitting in a large arm-chair, the long frock-coat open and the folds falling on either side, the left leg advanced and the right bent at a sharp angle, is easy and natural. The right hand holds a manuscript, and under the chair lies a volume of the " Liberator." The Garrison is the work of Olin L. Warner, of New York, and was placed in 1886. The bronze Leif, by Miss Anne Whitney, is the most interesting of all our out-door sculpture. The youth of sturdy, supple frame stands in an eager attitude at the prow of his vessel, his gaze fixed as if to discern the clad in a shirt of mail with bossed breastplates and a studded belt from which a knife hangs in orna- mental sheath, close-fitting breeches and sandals. From beneath the casque covering the head the long, wavy hair of the Saxon type flows over the shoulders. The eyes are shaded with the uplifted left hand, the right grasping at the hip a speaking- horn, itself a beautiful bit of work, ornamented in relief. The weight of the body is thrown upon the left foot, and the head is turned slightly to the left.
VII.
THE SOUTH END.
ITS DEVELOPMENT FROM THE NARROW NECK - IN- TERESTING INSTITUTIONS AND CHURCHES - THE GREAT CATHEDRAL.
A LTHOUGH shorn of its glory by the lavish development of the Back Bay territory, and no longer the fashionable quarter of the town, the South End is yet an attractive section, with its broad and pleasant streets, inviting small parks, important
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public buildings, institutions, and churches, and the Church of the Immaculate Conception, the many substantial dwellings of sober exterior with an air of roominess within. Here are seen more fre- quently than in the newer parts examples of the once popular " old Boston " style of domestic archi- tecture, - the round, swell front of generous width.
Tremont Methodist, the Shawmut Congregational, the First Presbyterian, the Peoples', the Columbus- avenue Universalist, the Union (Columbus avenue), the Church of the Disciples (founded by James Freeman Clarke), the Warren-avenue Baptist, the But the peculiarity of this quarter, and that which ' Berkeley Temple, the Church of the Unity (where so sharply marks the difference between it and the . newer fashionable quarter, is the uniform style of the blocks of houses lining street after street ; uni- formity was the prevailing note in the old, variety is that in the new.
The making of new land and the building of the modern South End was begun in a small way many years ago. Originally the narrow "Neck," from Dover street to the Roxbury line, the earliest move- ment towards improvement here was made in 1801, when the selectmen reported to the March town- meeting a plan for " laying out the Neck lands," in which lots were marked off and streets were drawn regularly and at right angles. " To introduce variety a large circular space " was also marked, to be orna- mented with trees and called "Columbia square." " In reality," says Shurtleff, " it was an oval grass- plot, bounded by four streets, with Washington street running through its centre; indeed, the identical territory now included in Blackstone and Franklin squares." But the improvement moved" slowly, and it was not until fifty years later, long after Boston had become a city, that it was systemati- cally advanced. This was in 1849-50-51, during the administration of Mayor Bigelow, when a high grade for the lands was adopted, and in accordance with plans drawn by E. S. Chesbrough and William P. Parrott, experienced engineers, new streets and squares were laid out. Among the latter were Chester square and East Chester and West Chester parks (established in 1850), and Union park (in 1851). And at the beginning of this movement, in February, 1849, the old Columbia square was divided and transformed into the present Franklin and Blackstone squares. Two years before, the filling of the marsh lands on the east side of the Neck, known as South Bay, was begun, and subsequently that terri- tory was graded and laid out in streets and lots.
While within this quarter there is nothing ap- proaching the architectural display of the New West End, there are not a few noteworthy structures which arrest the eye. Here are the buiklings of the City Hospital, of the Massachusetts Heartopathic Hos- pital, and of Boston College: the great Latin and English High Schools, and near by the Latin School for Girls, and the Girl' High School. And of churches here are the Cathedral of the Holy Cross,
the Rev. M. J. Savage preaches), the New South (Unitarian), the Clarendon-street, the Shawmut- avenue Universalist, the Ohabei Sholom (Hebrew, formerly the old South Congregational Church, Dr. Edward E. Hale's1), and the Reformed Episco- pal. Of hotels here are the Grand on Columbus avenue, and the marble front Langham (formerly the Commonwealth) on Washington street ; of memorial buildings with public halls, the Parker (in honor of Theodore Parker, transferred to the Benevolent Fraternity of Churches in 1891), on Berkeley street, and the Paine (in commemoration of Thomas Paine), on Appleton street; and of theatres, the Grand Opera House. The headquar- ters of the Odd Fellows are also here, in their own building, at the junction of Berkeley and Tremont streets ; the New England Conservatory of Music, pleasantly facing Franklin square; and a large number of modern apartment-houses.
One of the most interesting groups is that of the City Hospital, the Church of the Immaculate Concep- tion, and the Boston College, on Harrison avenue, between East Springfield and Concord streets, the former occupying the east side of the avenue, and the latter the west side .. The hospital, consisting of nine pavilions connected with the central structure, known as the Administration building, and numerous other buildings, including a home for the training- school nurses, is designed in accordance with the most approved models. The buildings are sub- stantial, dignified, and sober in style, the only at- tempt at architectural effect being made in the cen- tral structure, in the design of its façade, and the dome which crowns it. With their well-kept grounds they cover a square containing nearly seven acres.2 The Church of the Immaculate Conception and the Boston College were both built under the auspices of the Jesuit Fathers, and completed in 1860-61. The church was one of the first stone church buildings in the city. It is a solid granite structure, without tower or spire, and the peculiar- ity of its design at once attracts attention. The
1 See chapter on New West End ; paragraph on New Hollis street Church.
? The Home for Convalescents, in connection with the hospital, is pleasantly situated on Dorchester avenue, Dorchester district. The estate consists of fifteen acres of land, partly under cultivation and partly woodland. The City Hospital was first established in 1904.
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LANGHAM HOTEL.
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statues of the Virgin and of the Saviour, with out- stretched arms, the former placed above the entrance and the latter above all, are the striking features of the façade, marking the character of the edifice and the great church organization to which it belongs. In the interior, however, the most elaborate work is seen. Two rows of Ionic columns, with richly orna- mented capitals, mark the line of the side aisles. On the keystone of the chancel arch is a bust rep- resenting Christ ; on the opposite arch, over the choir-gallery, one representing the Virgin; on the capitals of the columns, busts of the saints of the Society of Jesus; and over each column a figure representing an angel supporting the entablature. The altar is of marble and richly ornamented. On the panels an abridgment of the life of the Virgin is sculptured, and on either side of the structure are three Corinthian columns, with appropriate entabla- tures and broken arches surmounted by statues of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, the whole terminated by a silver cross with an adoring angel on each side. On the right of the broken arch is a figure of St. Ignatius, and on the opposite side that of St. Francis Xavier. The elliptic dome over the chancel, lighted by colored glass, and with a dove with outspread wings in the middle, is effective. The chapels within the chancel rails are dedicated, that on the Gospel side to St. Joseph, and that on the Epistle side to St. Aloysius. The painting of the Crucifixion, behind the high altar, is by Gari- baldi, of Rome. The Boston College buildings are of brick, with little attempt at architectural display. The cost of the church and the college was $350- 000. The architect of the church was P. C. Keely, of Brooklyn, N.Y., the interior designed by the late Arthur Gilman. The architect of the original City Hospital buildings was .G. J. F. Bryant.
In the immediate neighborhood of these build- ings is that of the New England Conservatory of Music, the old St. James Hotel (built in 1867-68 by Maturin M. Ballou), remodelled and enlarged for the purposes of the college. It is attractive in de- sign, of fine proportions, consisting of seven stories and a dome : and it is admirably arranged for its present use. The Conservatory embraces fifteen separate departments, and in the College of Music proper, for advanced musical students, in connec- tion with the Boston University,1 degrees in music are conferred. The students come from all parts of the country, numbering several thousand each year. The institution was the enterprise of the late Eben Tomigéc, and was established in 1867 in rooms in the Music Hall building. When the present I See chapter on Some Noteworthy Buildings.
building was secured for its accommodation, in 1882, its plan and scope were considerably enlarged. Within the building is now a large concert-hall, reci- tation and practice rooms, library, reading-room, parlors, and museum ; adjoining it is Sleeper Hall, added in 1885.
The Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Washington street, but a short distance below the Conservatory, built .of Roxbury stone with granite trimmings, is the largest and in some respects the finest Catholic church in New England. Its outward appearance is at present disappointing, largely because of the abrupt ending of the towers on the principal façade ; but when these and the turrets, all of unequal height, are surmounted by the spires called for in the origi- nal design, it will be more dignified and imposing. The great tower on the south-west corner, with its spire, will be 300 feet high, and the smaller one on the other corner, 200 feet high. The style of the church is the early English Gothic, cruciform, with nave, transept, aisle, and clere-story, the latter sup- ported by two rows of clustered metal pillars. Its total length is 364 feet, the width at the transept 170 feet, the width of nave and aisles 90 feet, the height of the nave 120 feet ; and the entire building covers more than an acre of ground. The arch separating "the front vestibule from the church is of bricks taken from the ruins of the Ursuline Convent on Mount Benedict in Somerville, which was burned by a mob on the night of August 11, 1834.1 The interior or- namentation and decoration of the church are rich and lavish. The chancel is unusually deep, and the altar within it, of variegated marble, is elaborate and costly. On the Gospel side stands the Episcopal throne, the cathedra of the archbishop. On the ceiling of the chancel are painted angels typifying Faith, Hope, and Charity, on a background of gold. The frescoing on the walls is handsome. The im- mense windows are nearly all filled with stained glass, both foreign and American, representing va- rious scenes and characters in Christian history. The designs on the transept windows represent the
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