USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Topographical and historical description of Boston > Part 4
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Parkway, land
$672,182 20
construction 1,552,385 72
$2,224,567 92.
Franklin Park, land . $1,423,866 99
tion
657,598 29
2,081,465 28
Marine Park, land
$232,972 57
con struc-
tion .
273,744 87
506,717 44
Charlesbank, land
$370,886 45
construc-
tion .
253,507 66
624,394 11
Arnold Arboretum, land,
$79,932 71
con-
struction .
103,229 02
183,161 73
Wood Island Park, land,
$50,000 00
con-
struction .
74,040 38
124,040 38
Maintenance, &c. .
194,423 84
Balance unexpended
124,988 33
Total .
.
$6,063,759 03
construc-
xlvi
PREFATORY NOTE.
We may sum up the matter as follows : -
Spent to Dec. 31, 1890, on land and con-
struction of parks . $5,750,000
1890 and 1891 loans ordered 1,000,000
Loan of 1888 authorized 600,000
Loan for Charlestown Park
200,000
or a total of seven and one-half millions to be invested in the parks, of which five millions are represented by debt for which annual interest has to be provided and a con- siderable sum paid into the Sinking Fund.
The extent of the Parks is estimated officially as follows : -
Back Bay
106 acres
Riverdale
110
216 acres
Franklin Park, West Roxbury .
518 66
Arnold Arboretum
167
Wood Island Park, East Boston
81 ..
Marine Park, City Point
50
66
Charlesbank
10 66
Total
1,042 acres
It is needless to call attention to what the public receives for this vast outlay. The Franklin Park is resorted to by thousands of our inhabitants ; the Charles River em- bankment, not exactly a park but something more, as it has a gymnasium and other appliances, has been pro- ductive of incalculable good. The South Boston Park, soon to be enlarged by the addition of Castle Island, is unique, as it is a Marine Park, mainly composed of a pier ; but already the haven of hundreds of boats, and the
xlvii
PREFATORY NOTE.
chosen resort, in summer time, of thousands of children thus afforded the delights of a sea-shore play-ground.
3
It can also be truly said that this vast undertaking has been carried on without any accusations of unworthy acts. There have been disputes about localities, and even grave doubts about the advisability of such great expenditures, but the successive commissioners have had the confidence of the community in all their official acts. The best talent has been secured in the preparation of the plans for the construction of these parks, and the popular ver- dict has been in favor of all that has been done. Even the opponents of parks allow that the city has made so large an investment that it is too late to stop and draw back, and that a fair chance must now be given for the realization of the promises of the early friends of the project. Boston has undoubtedly been beautified by this expenditure ; it remains to be proved that she has also been enriched in taxable property thereby.
THE GREAT FIRE OF NOVEMBER 9TH, 1872.
Although the Great Fire of 1872 was the greatest conflagration by which Boston has been visited, I believe that no official account thereof has ever been prepared. In 1873, the Commissioners ap- pointed to investigate the cause and management of the fire made a long report, printed in 662 pages, but its scope was limited.
Very soon after the fire Mr. R. H. Conwell printed a popular ac- count, pp. 312, but it gave very few accurate figures.
The official Report begins as follows : -
" The fact is painfully familiar, that on the 9th of November last, on a calm and mild evening, a fire broke out in the building numbered 83 and 85 Summer street, and raged without control till the afternoon of the following day, spreading through the best business portions of
xlviii
PREFATORY NOTE.
Boston, covering sixty-five acres with ruins, destroying 776 buildings assessed at the value of $13,500,000, and consuming merchandise and other personal property estimated at more than sixty millions of dollars."
To proceed to details : The extent of the fire was officially at- tributed to the delay in beginning work when the fire first started, and to the faulty architecture of the buildings in that section of the city. The latter point may be discussed first. About 1860, Franklin street was given up to stores, and during the next ten years the course of business had been to the southward, taking in Summer street and all the cross-streets, and covering much of Pearl, Federal, Congress, High, and Purchase streets with warehouses and stores. Although all these buildings were substantially built of brick and stone, a ridic- ulous fashion obtained of crowning them with mansard roofs of wood. As was proved at the time of the fire, the fire-apparatus was entirely inadequate to throw any efficient streams of water to the height of these peculiarly dangerous edifices.
As to the delay, it seems that the fire broke out near the elevator in the building on the south-east corner of Summer and Kingston streets ; that the fire was seen on Saturday evening, November 9th, at 7.08 or 7.10 P.M. The first alarm was not given till 7.24, the second at 7.29, and other alarms at 7.34, 7.45, and 8 o'clock. The delay in giving the alarm was inexplicable, - a fatality. Unfortunately the fire-de- partment was crippled peculiarly at this time. For several weeks pre- viously, Boston had suffered from an epidemic attacking horses, so that for days scarcely one could be seen at work in the streets. Those belonging to the fire department were sufferers, and the ma- chines were almost entirely hauled by hand.
The first engine and hose which responded to the alarm were not really delayed on this account, as they were stationed in the vicinity. " Three engines were drawn by horses," say the Commissioners, " but all the other Boston apparatus was delayed from three to five minutes for the nearest to forty minutes for the most distant. No one can tell what was the cost of these minutes to our city."
It will be noticed that the fire spread in a northerly direction. It soon crossed Summer street to Otis street, and within an hour or less
xlix
PREFATORY NOTE.
reached " Beebe's block," which stood in Winthrop square, facing Franklin street. Then the fire spread across into the south side of Franklin street; at one bound, according to an eye-witness (Report, p. 206), it crossed that street, and from that time nothing could check the conflagration until it reached smaller buildings and less com- bustible material. Every Bostonian knows, for every one was there, that during the height of the fire, human efforts seemed utterly useless. Even by ten o'clock, the spectator would see vast sheets of flame sweep- ing from the tops of these high stores down to the pavements and then rebounding, apparently filling the whole space. In the narrow streets with warehouses on both sides filled with goods, instances were reported where the contents seemed to be so heated by the surrounding air that the windows were forced outward, and a flash from the outside kindled instantaneously throughout the building. It was noticed early that though the night was unusually quiet and still, the fire created tre- mendous currents of air to and from the flames. The rapid spread of the ruin was doubtless owing to the quantities of burning wood and other material carried by the winds from roof to roof in every direction.
The annexed map will show the territory covered by the fire, as represented by the present streets. It will be seen that the fire swept the north side of Summer street, thence along the east side of Wash- ington to Milk street, down the south side of Milk street, turning north below the Post-office (one-half of which only then was built), along Congress street, on both sides, to Lindall street, then across Kilby street to Batterymarch street, Oliver street, and so to the water front.
This was not, of course, the course of the flames. On the contrary the great business streets were the core of the fire, and our lines mark the limits. The water front of course stopped the flames ; and on the easterly side, the Fort Hill territory was fortunately nearly open ground, having been recently levelled. Liberty square, and the stores on Water and Central street, - old-fashioned low buildings mostly used for offices, -served to check the fierceness of the flames, and gave the firemen a chance to work. The new Post-office building, containing nothing inflammable, also served as a point of advantage,
PREFATORY NOTE.
and deflected the course of the fire. But to the firemen belongs the credit of preventing the flames from crossing Washington street or reaching State street.
Recourse was had to the use of gunpowder in blowing down build- ings, but the results were not particularly favorable. Possibly, how- ever, this was owing to its being a novelty, and to a lack of system on the part of the volunteers for the work. It should be said, how- ever, that the opinion of Postmaster W. L. Burt, who had charge of the matter, is very positive that great good resulted from the use of powder.
The fact that it was impossible to cut off the gas-pipes throughout the district during the fire, accounts for much of the damage done and the spread of the disaster. About midnight on Sunday, after the fire was supposed to be under control, a heavy explosion of gas occurred in the store of Shreve, Crump, & Low, on the southerly corner of Summer and Washington streets, which threatened a renewal of danger. By the efficient work of the fire-department this fire was prevented from spreading.
The Boston department furnished twenty-one engines, ten hose com- panies, seven hook and ladder companies, and two extinguishers. The aid given by out-of-town companies was great and timely. Forty- two steam engines, four hand engines, and fifty-three hose companies, with seventeen hundred men, were furnished, mainly by the cities and towns nearest Boston, though some came from Portland, Portsmouth, Manchester, Worcester, Fall River, New Bedford, Providence, Nor- wich, and New Haven. During Saturday night it became evident that more protection was needed than could be afforded by the police.
Merchandise and other property was being hastily removed from the course of the fire and deposited, with hardly the pretence of a guard, in the streets and even on the Common. Many persons unwisely gave permission to the bystanders to take whatever could be rescued from stores already ablaze or clearly doomed. Under these circumstances the fears of an inroad of thieves were justifiable. At two o'clock Sunday morning, Adj. Gen. Cunningham was called upon, and he ordered out the first and ninth regiments. Later in the day the first
li
PREFATORY NOTE.
battalion of cavalry, the first battalion of artillery, and the first and second battalions of infantry were also put on duty. In all about 1200 men were on the spot on Sunday afternoon, and 2100 by Wednesday. By this means a cordon was formed around the burnt district ; and during the enforced darkness of Sunday and Monday nights, the presence of the troops had a most salutary effect in pre- serving order and restoring confidence.
Owing probably to the fact that few dwelling-houses were burned, the loss of life at this fire was not so great as might have been feared. William T. Farry and Daniel Cochran, of the Boston fire-department, were killed on Washington street. Frank D. Olmstead, of Cambridge, a volunteer, was killed on Federal street while trying to save others, and William S. Frazer, a fireman, from Cambridge, was killed at the . same place. William S. Twombly, of Malden, and Lewis C. Thomp- son, of Worcester, both firemen, were killed; and two ex-firemen, Lewis P. Abbott and Albert C. Abbott, perished, the former after weeks of agony. It was reported that at least five unknown persons were lost. A considerable number were injured, some severely.
As the district burnt was so largely devoted to business, very few public buildings were lost. Trinity Church was destroyed ; and of the newspapers, the Transcript and the Pilot were entirely burnt out, while the Post was greatly damaged.
The worst feature, from a business point of view, was the collapse of many of the local insurance companies. It was estimated that the twenty-one joint-stock companies of the city lost over twenty-five mil- lions of dollars. Many of them not only failed, but even then were able to pay only a portion of their policies, and in all cases the stock so held by our citizens was as truly lost as if burnt in the fire.
In the excitement of the hour the Governor was persuaded to call an extra session of the Legislature, which accordingly met November 19th, and sat for a month. Twenty acts were passed ; one. allowing the city of Boston to loan twenty million dollars to the owners of land who desired to rebuild, was never put into execution. A new build- ing act was passed and a general insurance law; but it was felt that the session was really unnecessary.
lii
PREFATORY NOTE.
Besides the great expense to the city at the time, the fire rendered great expenditures necessary within the next two years. It was at once decided to avail of the occasion to widen many of the streets in the burnt district, and in January, 1873, Mayor Pierce estimated that four or five million dollars would be needed.
The total cost for widening and building streets in the burnt district was $6,363,828.12.
Boston had yet more losses to sustain from fires. On November 20th, 1872, the fears of our citizens were again aroused by the burning of the great printing office of Rand, Avery, & Co., on the corner of Washington street and Cornhill. Fortunately this fire was not allowed to spread, and the loss was confined to this locality.
On Decoration Day, May 30th, 1873, a second fire broke out, which was second only to the Great Fire in extent. It began about 8.20 o'clock in the morning, in the furniture warehouse of Haley, Morse, & Boyden, on Washington street, opposite the Globe theatre. The fire soon crossed Washington street, burnt the theatre, spread north- wards to Hayward place and Fayette place, and southward to Essex and Boylston streets. The assessed value of the buildings destroyed was $642,000; the area covered was about two acres. The fire burnt the Globe theatre, Chauncy-hall school, Chickering's piano-forte warehouse, the International Hotel, and many large stores. The total losses ran into millions.
Since then Boston has had many large fires, but hardly a conflagra- tion, until, on Thanksgiving Day, November 26th, 1889, the city was startled by the fire which consumed so much property on Bedford and Chauncy streets and in the immediate vicinity. It was not so much the loss itself, great as it was, which disturbed our citizens, as the dis- covery that such a fire was possible still, and that a very little addi- tional impetus would have started the flames beyond the control of the firemen as surely as in the case of the Great Fire. The space covered was not great in area, but the destruction involved new warehouses constructed in view of past experience, and considered to be non- inflammable. The loss of life was unusually severe, the victims being
liii
PREFATORY NOTE.
Daniel J. Buckley, Frank P. Loker, John J. Brooks, and Michael Murnan, - all of the fire-department, - and Edward E. Whiting, a veteran who volunteered.
It was generally believed that this fire was caused by an electric wire, and public attention was again called to the dangers resulting from the unrestricted employment of electricity. The Fire Commis- sioners sent a communication to the City Council saying that " with the bare trolley wire threading our narrow streets in every part, there will be a constant and all-pervading menace of a repetition of such conflagrations as that through which we have just passed, and the city will be fortunate if the fires caused thereby are confined to one building or section at a time. Moreover, the overhead feed wire cable, stretched over the poles in some streets, must prove a source of delay and trouble, in preventing the speedy use of ladders for ventila- tion and other purposes." Farther, the Commissioners represented that more engines, and those of greater power, were needed to main- tain the efficiency of the department ; and they urged the removal of the fire-alarm headquarters from City Hall. The City Council in con- sequence provided more than half a million dollars for these objects.
This last fire suggests how much Boston has changed since Shurtleff wrote, as the whole subject of electric wires for light and for motors has come into prominence so recently. But our limits forbid anything more than this allusion.
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lv
PREFATORY NOTE.
NATHANIEL BRADSTREET SHURTLEFF.
We are fortunately able to prefix to this edition an admirable like- ness of the accomplished author. The following brief sketch may be of interest to his readers.
Nathaniel Bradstreet Shurtleff was born in Boston, June 29, 1810, and was the son of Dr. Benjamin and Sally (Shaw) Shurtleff, of Bos- ton. He was educated in the public schools of his native town, and after two years' study at Northampton was admitted to Harvard Col- lege, where he was graduated in 1831. In 1834 he received the de- gree of M.D. and began the practice of his profession in Boston, where his father had long enjoyed a high reputation. His professional reputation was always good, and his practice was ample until he with- drew from it to enter into public life. After giving proofs, in some minor publications, of his taste for antiquarian studies, more especially in the history of Massachusetts, he was employed from 1853 to 1857 in editing and supervising the publication of our state records, under the authority of the legislature. He issued six large volumes of Mas- sachusetts records, covering the period from 1628 to 1686, and eight similar volumes of the Plymouth records, 1633 to 1692. In this work he compared every word of the original with the printed copy, and the accuracy of his transcript is as great as could be secured by any one person. These volumes have been of the greatest possible assistance to students of our history, and even to the judges and those who prac- tice before them. Their publication undoubtedly gave a great impetus to the study of our local history and the resulting preparation of town histories and genealogies.
His principal literary work after this was the volume here reprinted.
In 1867, 1868, and 1869, Dr. Shurtleff was chosen Mayor of Boston, by rapidly increasing pluralities, and after his third term he declined a re-election. "His mayoralty," says his biographer, " was not bril- liant, but it was marked by economy, and by a close attention to the ordinary duties of the office. The most important events were the annexation of Roxbury and Dorchester, the laying-out of Atlantic avenue. and the widening of Hanover street."
lvi
PREFATORY NOTE.
Dr. Shurtleff was, from 1854 until his death, a member of the Boston School Committee. He was also a Trustee of the Public Library from its organization in 1852, until he became mayor; and he was one of the commissioners for the erection of the Boylston street building. He gave much time and thought to this matter and shaped the form of its arrangement and management. From 1854 until his death, he was Secretary of the Board of Overseers of Harvard College ; he was one of the founders of the New England Historic- Genealogical Society, a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, of the American Antiquarian Society, and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences ; an honorary member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries, of London ; and a member of many other his- torical, literary, or scientific associations.
Dr. Shurtleff married, July, 1836, Eliza, daughter of Hiram Smith, of Boston, and one son and two daughters survived him at his death, at Dorchester, October 17th, 1874. His oldest son and namesake was a captain in the 12th M.V. regiment, and was killed at the battle of Cedar mountain, August 9th, 1862, at the age of twenty-four.
A very discriminating memoir of Dr. Shurtleff, by Charles C. Smith, Esq., was printed in the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society for December, 1875, of which the foregoing is an abstract. It concludes as follows : -
" A ceaseless activity characterized his whole life. No man was more familiarly known in our streets ; and probably no one in the community was connected with a greater number of organizations formed for either temporary or permanent objects. If the knowledge and activity which were dissipated in so many and so various direc- tions could have been concentrated on a smaller range of interests, he would doubtless have left a more durable reputation. As it is, very little remains to justify to another generation the undisputed rank which he held as one of our most learned antiquaries, - a man, whose knowledge was minute, thorough, and exact, always ready, and always at the service of other inquirers pursuing similar investiga- tions."
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.
·
INTRODUCTION.
DISCOVERY AND COLONIZATION OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT PREVIOUS TO THE SETTLEMENT OF BOSTON.
A BRIEF review of the principal facts relating to the discovery and settlement of the American continent by European enterprise, and particularly that portion of it included within the limits of New England, is indispen- sably requisite to a correct understanding and apprecia- tion of the peculiar institutions which must be depicted in giving a faithful history and description of a place so noted in American history, so distinguished in its own relations, and so identified with all the liberal movements of the age, as is Boston.
With a full belief of the sphericity of the earth's figure, and consequently possessing the knowledge that where the ocean terminated land would have a begin- ning, the great discoverer of the western hemisphere, under the patronage of Ferdinand and Isabella, the for- tunate sovereigns of Spain, set sail from Palos on Friday, the third day of August, 1492, with three vessels and a few men, to perform a voyage, the grandest in design, the most daring in achievement, and the most wonderful and important in its result, of any that have ever been undertaken and accomplished by man. Of the largest
-
.
4
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.
of the three vessels, called the Santa Maria, Columbus himself, as Admiral, took command. The Pinta was placed under the charge of Martin Alonzo Pinzon, and the Niña under that of Vincent Yañez Pinzon, both of these gentlemen holding the rank of Captain.
Putting into Gomera, one of the most westerly of the Canary Islands, on the twelfth of August, for the purpose of repairs and refitting, these vessels sailed for the grand exploration on the sixth day of the next Sep- tember. A sufficiently minute detail of the occurrences of this ever-memorable voyage is given by the eloquent and gifted historian of Columbus and his companions, Washington Irving; which being familiar to historical readers precludes the necessity of repeating in this connection any of the interesting particulars of the eventful passage.
On the night of the eleventh of October, the eagle- eye of the enthusiastic and ever-watchful Columbus dis- covered a small glimmering light, the harbinger of land so much desired : And this, on the morning of the next day, became apparent also to the eyes of the discouraged and almost rebellious voyagers, his com- panions on the sea. At break of day, Columbus, sword in hand, and superbly arrayed in rich and costly gar- ments, strongly contrasting with the naked inhabi- tants of the newly discovered land, went first on shore; and there with his happy and wondering follow- ers gave thanks for their safe deliverance from the per- ils of the ocean, and for the successful and glorious termination of their voyage.
The land thus discovered proved to be Guanahani, now known as San Salvador, one of the Bahama Islands; and the day of the discovery was Friday, the twelfth day
5
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.
of October, 1492, which should now be commemorated on the twenty-first day of the same month, to accord with the new style of computing time now in use. After the discovery of several other islands, Columbus, sailing from Hispaniola, the last discovered land, on the six- teenth day of the following January returned to Spain, arriving at the mouth of the Tagus on the fourth of March.
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