USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of Boston, the metropolis of Massachusetts, from its origin to the present period; with some account of the environs > Part 34
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The main Dam is composed of solid materials, water-tight : its surface is three or four feet above high-water mark : it is fifty feet in width in the narrowest part, and 100 in the widest, and one mile and a half in length. The rates of toll are the same as at West-Boston bridge.
* Persons named in act incorporating the Canal Bridge, Feb. 27, 1807. John C. Jones, Loammi Baldwin, Aaron Dexter, Benjamin Wild, Jos. Coolidge jun. Benja. Joy, Gorham Parsons, Jona. Ingersoll, John Beach, Abijah Cheever, Win. B. Ilutchins, Stephen Howard and Andrew Craigie.
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HISTORY OF BOSTON.
CHAPTER LVI.
" Then Commerce brought into the publick walk The busy merchant ; the big warehouse built ; Then, too, the pillar'd dome, magnifick, heav'd Its ample roof."
IN noticing the changes which took place in various parts of the town, after the peace, prior to the establishment of the city government, we have occasion first to mention an exten- sive fire, which occurred on Friday, April 20, 1787. It com- menced about sunset, in a malt-house belonging to William Patten, in Beach-street. The wind at N. E. blowing hard carried the flakes to a great distance, so that many houses were on fire at the same moment. In less than fifteen minutes the spire of the Hollis-street meeting-house, nearly 50 rods from where the fire began, was seen to catch, and the whole edifice was in a short time burnt to the ground. The build- ings consumed were about 100, of which 60 were dwelling- houses, some elegant and costly. Both sides of the main street were laid waste : the east from Mr. Knapp's to Mr. Bradford's, and from Mrs. Inches' to Mr. Osborne's on the west : that is, from Elliot to Nassau-street on the west side of the main street, and on the east side from Beach-street to the corner opposite Nassau-street. The buildings which were erected on the ruins were mostly of wood, three stories high, some of them neat and very elegant.
The first block of brick buildings was the range called the Tontine, in Franklin-street. Until the year 1792, that street had lain in an unimproved state. There was a slough or quagmire at the lower part of it, and the project to build in its neighbourhood was deemed almost quixotick. A plan was brought forward for erecting a block there, on the principles of the tontine, as practised in other parts of the world .* Sub- scribers were to furnish stipulated sums towards the accom- plishment of the object, to be invested in a capital stock, which was to be improved to the best advantage, and at the expiration of a term of years to be divided among the surviv- ing subscribers. The Legislature discouraged this plan by
* The slough was first drained by Jos. Barrell, esq. who connected it with his land in Summer-street, and laid it out as a garden : he afterwards sunk a large fish-pond on the same spot, and stored it with gold and silver fish, and ornamented it with a band- some fountain.
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HISTORY OF BOSTON.
refusing an act of incorporation : but the work proceeded un- der a different arrangement, and the foundation of the build- ings on the south side was laid August 8, 1793. These form- ed a Crescent of sixteen dwelling-houses, extending 480 feet in length, three stories high, finished in the modern style. The general appearance is simple and uniform. The outline is varied by a large arch, having publick rooms over it, with an attick in the centre, and two houses at each end, which pro- ject in advance and are decorated with pilasters and a balus- trade. The open space in front of these buildings is 100 feet wide in the centre and 50 ft. at the ends. A grass plat 300 ft. long occupies the middle of that space : it is inclosed, and con- tains a monumental urn, in memory of Dr. Franklin. The opposite side, which is built on a straight line, in a varied style of architecture, consists of eight houses, in four blocks, which constitute what is called Franklin-place. Messrs. William Scollay, Charles Bulfinch, and Charles Vaughan, were the principal agents in this great improvement.
A very distressing fire occurred on the morning of July 30, 1794, which laid waste the extensive square between Pearl- street, Milk, Atkinson, and Purchase streets, to the sea. It commenced about 4 A. M. in the rope-walk of Mr. Edward Howe, and communicated to six other walks adjacent, of which one was two stories high, and all 600 feet in length, well stored with hemp and other materials adapted to the trade. The wind holding N.N.E. till near the close of the fire, prevented the devastation from extending so far, as almost any other wind would inevitably have carried it. Ninety-six buildings, of which 43 were dwelling-houses, were consumed. The amount of losses, rendered to a committee of the town, was $209,861 50, exclusive of several large sums not ex- hibited.
Great interest was at this time excited in favour of remov- ing the ropewalks from the heart of the town. Lechmere's point was proposed by some as a suitable location for them, but the town . in a moment of sympathy and feeling for the sufferings of particular individuals,' voluntarily gave them the right of using the land at the bottom of the Common .* By this disposition a very fine square was left open, capable of making many valuable building lots ; it is now covered by some of the most eligible houses in the city.
* Six ropewalks were erected at the bottom of the Common : they were all destroyed by fire, Feb. 18, 1806 : five being rebuilt, four of them were again burnt in the fall of 1819, and in the course of the year 1824, the city purchased the rights of the; ropewalk owners, by which the property has reverted to the inhabitants, and the walks are removed to the neck and mill-dam.
P. 323
A. Bowen Sr.
J. Kidder del.
ISNOH ILVIS MIN
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HISTORY OF BOSTON.
In the month of May, 1795, the town purchased of Gov. Hancock's heirs the spot of land on which the State-house stands, and transferred it to the Commonwealth. On the 4th of July the corner-stone of this edifice, which makes so strik- ing a figure in every view of Boston, was laid with great cer- emony. The stone was drawn to the spot by 15 white horses, (then the number of States in the Union,) and laid by the Governour, assisted by the Grand Masters of masonick lod- ges. A silver plate, bearing the name of the depositors, and many pieces of current money, were placed beneath the stone .*
This building is of an oblong form, '173 ft. front and 61 decp. It consists externally of a basement story, twenty fect high, and a principal story thirty feet. This, in the centre of the front, is covered with an attic sixty feet wide, twenty feet high, which is covered with a pediment. Immediately above this rises a dome, fifty feet diameter, and thirty high ; the whole terminates with an elegant circular lantern support- ing an elegant pine cone. The basement story is finished plain on the wings with square windows. The centre is 94 feet in length, and formed of arches which project 14 feet ; they form a covered walk below ; and support a colonnade of Corinthian columns of the same extent above. The outside walls are of large patent bricks, with white marble fascias, imposts, and keystones.' The body of the building is paint- ed of a Portland-stone colour ; the dome of a bronze.
The foundation of this edifice is about 100 feet above the level of the harbour, and its elevation and size make it a very conspicuous object. Two flights of stairs lead to the top of the outer dome, 170 steps from the foundation. The view from this dome affords one of the most interesting and beautiful spectacles. The eye embraces at once every avenue and every publick building in the city, and overlooks the towns adjacent ' all speckled with white houses and country seats amidst groves and luxuriant fields.' At our feet, on the right, we see the mansion house of Hancock, (a venerable stone building of eighty years standing) and in front is spread the common, like a splendid carpet of green, bounded on all sides by the malls closely shaded by trees of various growth, over which the great elm in the middle of the common, (near to an old redoubt and beside a small artificial pond,) seems to com-
* The inscription was as follows : This Corner Stone of a building intended for the use of the Legislative und Executive branches of Government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, was laid by His Excellency Samuel Adams Esq. Governour of said Commonwealth, assisted by the most Worshipful Paul Revere, Grand Master and the Right Worshipful William Sed- ley, Deputy Grand Master, the Grand Wurdens and brethren of the Grand Lodge of Massa- chusetts on the fourth day of July An. Dom. 1795. A. L. 5795 being the XXth anniversary of American Independence.
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HISTORY OF BOSTON.
mand the whole, with the majestick waving of his huge branch- es, the growth of a century .* East, lies in full view, the sight unobstructed in its farthest reach, the ocean and the harbour, bespangled with islands, almost as numerous and said to be equally as charming as those which beautify the bay of Na- ples : all together combining to make this view one of the most delightful panoramas that the world affords.t
'The New Alms-house, so called,# (which stood till May, 1825, in Leverett-Street) was built in the year 1800: the Overseers of the poor held their first meeting in it, Dec. 3d. It was an oblong building, pleasantly situated on the bank of Charles river, measuring 270 feet front, and 56 deep. It consisted of a basement story, divided into three large kitch- ens, and a number of commodious rooms, which were im- proved for work-shops and other purposes. Above were three upright stories, which gave forty-eight rooms, 24 by 22 feet ; four staircases, 10 feet in width, leading through the several stories. In the centre was a hall 40 by 50, and a chapel above of the same dimensions ; each of them being about 15 feet in height. The large arched windows were finished with fluted pilasters of the Ionic order. The outside walls were of large bricks, with white marble fascias, imposts and key- stones, and the roof covered with slate. Four brick parti- tions ran through the building, in which stood the chimnies, containing a funnel for every room. The whole building was enclosed with brick walls and handsome gates. The front and rear yards were 80 by 280 feet.'
West Row, the next oldest range of brick buildings, on the west side of Court street, between Hanover street and Bow-
* The height of the Great Tree on the Common is 65 feet ; the girth, at 30 inches from the ground, is 21 ft. 8 inches. The extent of the branches is 86 feet.
t The new State house was first occupied by the Legislature on the 11th of January, 1798. The several branches of the Gen. Court marched in procession from the old state house, aml the new building was solemnly dedicated 'to- the honour of God and the people's good.' Rev. Dr. Thacher offered the dedicatory prayer.
{ The old Alms house, Work house and Bridewell, together with the Granary were situa- ted on Park Street. The Granary was a long wooden building at the corner of Common st. capable of containing 12000 bushels of grain, which it was customary for a committee, annually appointed by the town, to have stored in it 'for the accommodation of the poor and others who wished to purchase in small quantities, at an advance on the wholesale price not exceeding ten per cent. The Alms house was a two story brick building, in the form of an L, with a gable roof, appropriated to the aged and infirm poor. The Work house was a large brick building, 120 feet long, two stories high with a gable roof for the reception of vagrant, idle and dissolute persons. Bridewell was contiguous to the workhouse, and was a sort of prison for the disorderly : a part of the house was assigned to the insane.
The first proposal for an Alms house on the Town records occurs in Nov. 1660. In Feb. 1665, a person is admitted into the Alms house. Dec.18, 1682, the Alms house being burnt a new one is proposed : it was building June 2, 1686. The Work-house was built in 1738.
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HISTORY OF BOSTON.
doin square, was erected in 1800. South Row, a handsome block of stores belonging to the Old South church, and situate on the land adjoining it, was completed about the same time.
On the 16th of December, 1801, a destructive fire happened in Fish and Ann streets. It commenced in a large wooden building in the rear of [now] No. 95, Ann st. and immediately communicated to the houses in front. Thence it extended north on the east side of Fish street to Swett's wharf, consum- ing every house. On the west side of Ann street no house was burnt, although the street was then ten feet narrower than it is at present ; but every building from Cross street to the one opposite Swett's wharf was burnt, or pulled down to arrest the progress of the flames. The next year, 1802, sev- eral brick buildings were erected on the ruins, and the block on the west side of Fish street received the name of North Row.
The law to prevent the erection of wooden buildings more than ten feet high was passed Feb. 9, 1803. It was an act in addition to an act to secure the town of Boston from damage by fire, and its provisions were so faithfully executed that none other than brick or stone buildings were raised from that time, until the recent modification of the law.
The town land, on which the old Alms house &c. stood, had been sold to individuals some time before the removal of the inmates took place, and very shortly after that, the block of four buildings on Park Street, adjoining the meeting house was put up. So far as we can ascertain this was the first of the improvements near the State house and common. By the fall of 1804,the houses on Beacon street at the corner of Park street were erected. Hamilton place was finished in 1806, and Bumstead place not long after. Pinckney street, Myrtle street, Hancock street and the whole extent of Mount Ver- non, which in 1799 presented a dreary waste on which only three decent houses were to be seen, began to present the ap- pearance of improvement, and in a very little time were cover- ed with extensive ranges of some of the best houses in the town. By the year 1806, they became the resort of wealth and fashion, and subsequent improvements have made that neighbourhood the most eligible of any part of the city.
Beacon hill and the eminences west of it were levelled, and their materials served to fill up the millpond, which the mill proprietors (the successors of Henry Simons, &c. see p. 124) obtained the consent of the town to do, May 14, 1804. The proprietors had been incorporated, by the name of the Boston Mill Corporation, March, 9, 1804 ; and on March 11th, 1806, certain associates were incorporated under the name of the Pond Street Corporation 'for the purpose of making a street from the Boston side of Charles River Bridge, across the Mill
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HISTORY OF BOSTON.
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Pond, in the most convenient route to connect with Middle street,' to be laid out by the Selectmen as a publick street and to be at least 60 ft. wide. That street, which by admeasure- ment is 1980 ft. in length was commenced without delay. The proprietors having made arrangements for the accommoda- tion of the Baptist churches abutting on the pond, they came to a definite agreement with the town July 24, 1807, that the town, ' waive and release the conditions and obligations annex- ed to the said original grant, for a just and valuable consid- eration, and that the premises should be filled up and made fit for building by excluding the water; and the said Propri- etors are content in exchange for such release to fill up and convert the premises into solid land, and to grant and confirm to the town of Boston forever an estate in fee simple, in and to one eighth lot so filled up, of every tract or portion of the prem- ises, which shall, within twenty years from this date, be filled up and converted into solid land, within and without the pres- ent existing causeway, and one undivided moiety of every lot or portion of the premises, which at the expiration of said term shall not be filled up and converted into solid land, or boxed out in a manner equivalent to filling up.' The princi- pal part of the pond is already filled up, and the whole super- ficies is laid out into squares and streets of convenient breadth. Several brick buildings were early erected on the made land, at the bottom of Friend street and of Cross street. The New street (as Mill-pond-street, G. d. 35, is yet familiarly called) considerably shortens the distance between Charlestown and the centre of Boston .* A canal passing through the mill- creek unites the river with the harbour, and receives the boats from Middlesex canal with their cargoes of wood, stone and produce. When the pond is wholly filled up, the area of the peninsula will have been increased about 43 acres.
It was about this time that Copps' hill began to be dug away, and a few brick buildings were erected in Lynn-street, in 1806, about Hon. Wm.Gray's whf. and on the opposite side of the street. These were the principal improvements at the north part of the town. A fire which happened, Aug. 18th destroyed six houses, between Ann (then Fish) st. and the North square. It commenced at nine o'clock in the evening, in the third house from Mountfort's corner. Very great ex- ertions were necessary to prevent its extending across the street and communicating to many of the neighbouring houses, which at that time were all of wood and very near each oth- er. A few brick buildings have risen slowly on this spot, and
* Another street (Charlestown st. G. d. 34,) is now almost completed, by wirich that dis. tance will be yet more diminished.
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HISTORY OF BOSTON.
the width of the street has been greatly improved. But the the prospect of gain from exertions in other parts of the town has hitherto been so much brighter, that very little improve- ment has yet been made north of the creek. Here and there an individual has erected a substantial house, and not a few have done their part towards rendering the general appear- ance of buildings in that quarter more agreeable, so far as that could be effected by a coat of paint.
'Sundry persons, proprietors of the ship yard, and of certain wharves and flats, lying on the harbour of Boston, between Battery March street and State st. associated for the purpose of improving said land and laying out a spacious street near the harbour through their estates,' and were incorporated for that purpose, Feb. 11, 1805, by the name of the Broad Street Association. While the plans of this Association were pro- gressing, another company was carrying forward India Wharf, which was finished before Broad Street was complet- ed. India Street extending from India Wharf to the head of Long Wharf was the next improvement, and the stores and houses on them all were ready to be occupied in the course of 1807, '08, and '09. The range of four-story brick stores and dwelling-houses, in Broad-street, measures on the west side, from State-street to Purchase-street, 1373 feet, in a line somewhat circular. Broad-street is 70 ft. in width. Custom- House street, in which the Custom-House stands, measures 194 ft. from Broad to India street, and this last measures 989 feet from Long-wharf to India-whf. These admeasure- ments give an idea of the extent of space rescued from the water, and converted into commodious stores and dwellings.
To these great improvements we must add, in the same quarter, that of Central-wharf, which was completed in the year 1816. It extends into the harbour, from India-street about midway between Long and India wharves, and is 1240 feet in length, and 150 in width, There are 54 stores on this wharf, four stories high. There is a spacious hall in the centre, over which is erected an elegant observatory. The stores are fifty feet in width, and stand in the middle of the wharf, so that there is, on either side, the best of accommoda- tion for the landing and delivery of merchandize. It has been remarked, that for extent, convenience, and elegance combined, Central-wharf is not exceeded by any in the com- mercial world.
While these undertakings were going forward, the same great projector of the whole, Mr. Cotting, had his mind em- ployed on another. Between the foot of Cornhill and the northerly end of Tremont-street, in a straight course, there was considerable vacant land and many old buildings of lit- tle value. Possession was obtained of these estates by pur-
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HISTORY OF BOSTON.
chase, and a street 48 ft. in width was laid out, in as direct a course as the unevenness of the ground would permit. In 1817, a block of stores was erected on each side, which, be- tween Cornhill and Court st. measure 432 ft. in length on the north side, and 436 on the south. They are all four stories high and have uniform fronts. The stores on the north side are marked with the odd numbers (1 to 91) and those on the south with the even numbers, (2 to 76) the chambers in each . building bearing one number, and the store, below, the odd or even number next in order. It was at first proposed to call this avenue New Cornhill, from the circumstance of its being devoted to the same kinds of business for which Cornhill had so long been celebrated : to what fancy the present name is to be attributed we know not .*
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Immediately on the completion of Market-street, part of the building at the east end of Scollay's buildings, (long famous as Master Carter's school, but which became private property, March 4, 1793) was taken down, to make the pas- sage free from Tremont street into Market-street. In the next year, Brattle street leading E. from Court st. to Dock square by the rear of the stores on Market st. was opened, and an elegant block of 14 houses built on the north side, present- ing a front of hammered stone, 312 ft. in extent and four sto- ries high. This was the first stone block erected in the town.
While these changes were making mostly for commercial purposes, extensive improvements were going forward in oth- er parts of the town, to accommodate a population increasing in wealth and numbers, with dwelling houses suited to their fancies and wants. Fort hill was put into repair and the lots adjacent sold by the town to individuals,t who erected the brick block called Washington place, around the mall, or cir- cular green which is a walk about 200 ft.in diameter,lined with double rows of poplars. North-Russell, Vine,and Poplar streets, and the neighbourhood of the Massachusetts Hospital to the Alms-house in Leverett st. which had recently been marsh and pasture ground, or improved only for Ropewalks, were con- verted into building lots and covered with fashionable and substantial houses. Beacon street on the west side of the
* The stores in Market Street were the first erected on granite pillars, a thing now so common. Mr. Tuckerman's store at the corner of Dock sq. and Market Row, was about the first in which the improvement was attempted (1820) of substituting those pillars for the original brick walls. Extreme caution was deemed necessary, and the work occupied almost a whole summer. Market Row, which is a continuation of similar buildings from Market street to Dock sq. measures 118 feet, making the whole block on the north side 550 feet.
The town empowered the Selectmen to dispose of the Fort hill lots, May 23, 1805, and sales were made to Messrs. Wells, Bradbury, Tuck, Howland and others, in the month of June, 1806.
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HISTORY OF BOSTON.
Common, and Colonnade row on the east, (mostly built in 1811,) presented, the one an elegant uniform range of 24 brick dwellings four stories high, and the other an irregular series of single buildings finished in a varied style, according to the taste of the individual owners. Besides these there were nu- merous other courts, rows, squares, and places, comprising from six to twelve or more modern brick houses, erected prior to the year 1822, which is the period within which we confine our observations in this chapter.
There were also crected prior to this period several edifices devoted to publick purposes, which are worthy to be noted in this connection.
The Custom-House stands on the north side of Custom- house street, near the head of Central wharf. 'It is 60 feet square and two stories in height exclusive of the basement, which is divided by brick walls and brick arches supporting the different passages above. The lower part of the front is built of stone and the upper part of brick, with a colonnade 60 feet long and 10 ft. wide, supported by 10 stone columns of the Doric order, 14 feet in length. The floor is paved with stone, and a broad flight of stone steps with iron railings leads to the several offices. It is finished with a stone frieze and cornice, and the windows ornamented with marble dres- sings. The front is crowned by a pediment, on the top of which is a spread eagle. The basement and first story is cal- culated for the storing of goods, and contains a number of com- partments occupied by the house-keeper, and some of the under officers. The upper story contains 6 rooms 20 feet high. in which the business of the office is transacted. The building is remarkably well contrived for the convenience of business, and exhibits a chaste and elegant specimen of archi- tecture. It cost about thirty thousand dollars.'
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