USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Walks & talks about historic Boston > Part 6
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40
Franklin Printing Office. The Long Room Club. On this site stood the printing office of James Frank- lin, publisher of the "New England Courant," where his brother, Benjamin, served as an apprentice. Here from 1769 to 1776 Edes and Gill published the Bos- ton Gazette. In a room over the printing office the Long Room Club held their meetings. Its members were most active patriots. Here the leaders planned resistance to British authority from the time of the Stamp Act to the outbreak of the Revolution.
Crossing Court Street to the corner of Tremont Street one sees this tablet :
Wendell Powell House. On this site stood the Wendell Powell House, occupied as a Royal Custom House in 1759. Washington lodged here on his visit in 1789.
Wendell Porrell House
Corner of Court and Tremont Streets in 1840. Here Washington was entertained in 1789 when he visited Boston. It was a famous boarding house and kept by Mr. Joseph In- gersoll. Some have wondered why Washington should have stayed at a boarding house, but it was a good public house, and far better than any of the taverns of those days.
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John Hancock, the Governor of Massachusetts at that time, had an exalted idea of his position, and felt that it was the duty of the President of the United States to call upon him. "He made a great dinner and invited the President to it. ex- cusing himself from first calling to pay his respects on the ground that he was ill at home. Washington declined the in- vitation, and intimated that a man who was well enough to give a dinner party was well enough to call on his guest. So Hancock, who saw his mistake, sent word that he should call the next day at any hazard."
Where the Hotel Bellevue now stands was once the home of Governor Bowdoin, marked by this tablet :
Governor Bowdoin House. On this site stood the Mansion House of James Bowdoin, Governor of Massachusetts 1785-1787
Going down Beacon Street and crossing Tremont Street, we find some interesting tablets on School Street. Over the entrance of the Parker House, this tablet :
On this site stood The Mansion House of Jacob Wendell, Colonel of The Boston Regiment in 1745. Afterwards it was the residence of Lieut. Gov. Moses Gill.
Directly across the way on the City Hall Site another in- teresting memorial attracts our attention:
Here Stood the House Occupied in 1774-1775 by General Frederick Haldiman. To whom the Boston Latin School boys made protest against the destruction of their coast. He ordered the coast restored and reported the affair to General Gage who observed that it was impossible to beat the notion of Liberty out of the people as it was rooted in them from their childhood.
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Walks and Talks About Historic Boston.
Across the street at No. 20, this tablet : On this site stood the Church of the French Huguenots 1716-1741 ; used as a Congregational Church 1743-1785. Occupied by Roman Catholics 1788-1803. First Mass Celebrated November 2, 1788.
On the north corner of School and Washington Streets a tablet marks a spot known far and wide throughout the land :
Erected A. D. 1712 Old Corner Bookstore Building
Passing down Washington Street on our way to the North End we pass some historical spots. At No. 239, the site of the first tavern, is marked :
First Tavern in Boston. Site of Samuel Cole's Inn. The first Tavern in Boston, 1634. Later kept by James Penn. After- ward by William Phillips, and known as the Ship Tavern. It was owned by Major Thomas Savage. At No. 209. On this site stood the Second Meeting House of the First Church Built of wood, Dedicated 1640. Burned 1711. Rebuilt 1712 of Brick. Called the "Old Brick." Removed 1807.
At No. 173. Paul Revere's Shop on this site, 1789, stood The Shop of Paul Revere
At No. 298:
On this site stood the Home of Rev. John Mayo Minister of the Second Church
Walks and Talks About Historic Boston. 69
from 1653 to 1677, and of Rev. Cotton Mather, Minister from 1685 to 1728
On the corner of Clark and Hanover Streets :
On this Site the New North Meeting House was erected 1714
At 37 Sheafe Street is a fitting tribute to the author of our National Hymn.
Birthplace of Rev. S. F. Smith, D. D. Author of "America' 1808-1885 Erected by the Old South Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution 1887
Near the foot of Hanover Street is Constitution Wharf.
Here was built the Frigate Constitution "Old Ironsides"
Battery Wharf, 379 Commercial Street, bears this tablet :
North Battery Battery Wharf On this site at Merry's Point, the North Battery was erected in 1644 and works were maintained here until after the close of the Revolution.
A very old tavern stood on the corner of Battery and Sal- utation Streets.
Salutation Tavern On this site stood the Salutation Tavern Also called the "Two Palaveries" Here met the Revolutionary Associates composed largely of residents of this part of the town which formed the North End Caucus. Its members were active patriots in the People's Cause.
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Walks and Talks About Historic Boston. . 1
On North Square and Main Street :
Second Church
On this site stood the Meeting House of the Second or "Old North Church," built 1650, burnt 1676. Rebuilt 1677. Destroyed for Firewood by British Soldiers in 1776 during the Siege.
The Foster Hutchinson House
This fine old mansion on the corner of Garden Court and Fleet Streets was a great resort for the Tories in the days of the Revolution. Here they held their conferences and laid their plans. The Foster Hutchinson house was probably built by John Foster about the year 1686, as in that year he bought the land, which became his estate, from Richard Wharton. John Foster was a prominent Boston merchant who was prom- inent in official and military life. He died, intestate, in 171I. and his wife surviving him but two months, bequeathed the bulk of the famly estate, including his "dwelling or brick mansion" to her nephew, Thomas Hutchinson. He and his
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distinguished son of the same name, who was Governor of Massachusetts Bay from 1771 to 1774, occupied it in turn until 1765 when it was sacked by a mob and partly destroyed, who thus showed their disapproval of Hutchinson's action, while Lieutenant-Governor in the enforcement of the obnox- ious Stamp Act. It was a very large brick house, painted stone color, having ample grounds, extending to Fleet Street and back to Hanover Street. Hutchinson wrote his "History of Massachusetts" in this house. "The first volume in manu-
Graregard, Cambridge
script lay in the rich library, nearly ready for the press. It was thrown out with other precious books and papers and left lying in the street for several hours in a soaking rain. But most fortunately all but a few sheets were carefully collected and saved by the Rev. Andrew Elliott, Minister of the 'New North Church,' living near by on Hanover Street, and the author was thus enabled to transcribe the whole and publish it two years later."
Hutchinson and his family made their hurried escape from the house just before the mob reached it, finding refuge in neighboring dwellings. The estate was later confiscated and sold to William Little, merchant, who for many years, was appraiser at the Custom House, and he occupied it until his death in 1835.
Boston Streets, Dlo and Present Rames, and Some Items of Interest Concerning Them
Of the names first given to Boston's streets, but very few are in use today. Where the same name occurs it is usually in an entirely different section than when first given.
Washington Street, for instance, was given its name in 1789, following the visit of the Father of His Country to Boston. Previous to that time the street from Cornhill to Roxbury had four distinct names. It was called Cornhill from the present Cornhill to Milk Street; then Newbury Street to Summer Street; then Marlboro Street to Essex Street, and from thence Orange Street, through Boston Neck to Roxbury.
Tremont Street opposite the Granary Burial Ground was sometimes called Paddock's Mall on account of the trees planted in front of the Burial Ground in 1762, by Major Paddock, a prominent and well-known citizen in the days preceding the Revolution. Tremont Street, like Washington Street, has had several names. Different sections of it were known as Common, Nassau, Longacre and Holyoke. It was not extended to the Roxbury line until 1831. In 1760 there were only a few streets in the city, the two great thorough- fares being Hanover and Washington Streets, but there were numberless bypaths and alleys. At that time the larger part of the population was in the territory from the shore on the North End to what is now Mason Street, what we call today the "down town" section.
State Street in Revolutionary days was King Street, and the Town House (Old State House) stood at the head of the street. The house of Governor Leverett faced the Town House, King Street, in those early days was the fashionable residential section and was the favorite daily promenade of the social leaders.
Court Street was originally known as Prison Lane, be- cause of the jail which occupied the site of the new City Hall Annex. In Revolutionary days it was Queen Street, but in 1776, when the Americans were again in possession
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of the town, the Registry of Deeds, and higher and lower courts were re-established and it was then named Court Street. It has been truly said, "this thoroughfare is rich in memories of great men and great events." On this street were located in the first half of the 19th century the great lights of the legal profession. On the west side of Franklin Avenue was a building owned by Governor Moses Gill. Hon. James Sullivan, a Judge, Representative, Attorney-General and Governor in 1807-1808, and a noted writer, had his office in this building. Next to Gill's Building was the home of Governor Bowdoin, a man of wealth and of high standing. Just beyond was the Adams Building, where Judge George R. Minot had his office. He wrote the History of the State and was the founder of the Massachusetts Historical Society. On the south side of Court Street was the office of Josiah Quincy, a statesman and scholar and one of Boston's great Mayors. It was during his administration of the City Gov- ernment that the Quincy Market was built, and some of the greatest improvements ever made in the city were carried through. Two other great men of Boston had offices near by, Hon. John Phillips and Harrison Gray Otis, a representative in the State Legislature, United States Senator, and Mayor of Boston, 1829-1832.
School Street received its name from the Boston Latin School which stood in the rear of King's Chapel.
Park Street. leading up to Sentry (Beacon) Hill was first called Sentry Street. Many of the residents on that aristo- cratic thoroughfare, Beacon Street, may not be aware that that street in the very early days was described "as a way leading to the almshouse," a building erected in 1632, at the corner of Beacon and Park Streets.
Water Street has been known as Blotts, Bannisters and Willis Lane.
Boylston Street was Frog Lane.
Essex Street was "a path leading to the windmill."
Bedford Street was at one time called Pond Street. prob- ably because of a small pond which was then nearly opposite the site of the old English High and Latin School Building. At this pond the teamsters watered their horses.
Batterymarch Street was Gibbs Lane and Crab Lane, Con- gress Street, was Quaker Lane, Dutton Lane and Atkinson Street.
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Change Avenue, from State Street to Faneuil Hall Square, was Royal Exchange Lane.
Doane Street, prior to 1807, was Lobster Alley.
Crab Alley of the olden time still retains its original name. It runs from Batterymarch to Broad Street, but there is no sign on any building to indicate it, neither is the name found in the Boston Directory. Until the great Boston fire of 1760 which burned the Town House, the First Church and 350 buildings, Kilby Street was a narrow lane and known as Cooper's Lane from State to Water Street, and Mackerel Lane from Water to Milk Street.
Milk Street in all probability retains its original name which may have been the name of a London Street. The Records of 1708, speak of it as "running from the South Meeting House down to the sea."
Devonshire Street from State Street to Milk Street re- ceived its name in 1784, previous to that time it was known
Franklin Street, 1859
as Pudding Lane, Joylieff's Lane, and Black Jack Lane. Pearl Street, prior to 1800 was known as Hutchison Lane.
Like Washington Street, Franklin Street, although a short street, was named by sections. There was Vincents Lane,
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Walks and Talks About Historic Boston.
Franklin Place, Sturgis Street, Baker's Alley and Hamilton Court. In the days just preceding the Revolution there was quite a large pasture between Milk, Hawley, Summer and Federal Streets, known as De Costa's Pasture and Franklin Street was laid out through it. When the street was com- pleted the land was quickly taken up for residential purposes.
In the early part of the 19th century Franklin Street from Washington to Federal, was an aristocratic residential sec- tion. As late is 1859 it retained somewhat of its old time grandeur. Here many of Boston's wealthy business and professional men had their large and comfortable resi- dences. Previous to 1793 the lower part of the street was low and marshy, with an unhealthy, stagnant pool, but this was reclaimed by Joseph Burrell, who erected a residence there with a fine garden of fruit trees, plants and flowers. The cut of Franklin Street represents a block of houses on the south side of the street as they appeared in 1859. It was the first block of residences ever erected in Boston and was built in 1793. There were 16 separate residences in the block and in the centre was an arch over a street lead- ing to Summer Street, now known as Arch Street. Over this archway were the rooms of the Massachusetts His- torical Society and the Boston Library. In the centre of the street was a pretty little park in which were large and noble trees whose spreading branches lent a grateful shade in the hot summer days.
Federal Street was originally known as Long Lane, but the present name was given to it when the Convention for the adoption of the Federal Constitution was held in 1788.
High Street, leading from Summer Street to the top of Fort Hill, was called Cow Lane, as the slopes of the hill afforded excellent grazing for cattle.
Summer Street was Mylne Street. In 1738 a part of it was called Seven Star Lane.
Hawley Street has been known by many names, among them Bishop's Alley, Board Alley, Richardson's Alley, Gil- bert's Alley and Waybourne Lane.
Beach Street is mentioned as "a street running Eastward to the Sea."
Essex Street was called Achamutty Street, receiving its present name in 1808. It was the centre of the Distillery business in the days when the favorite beverage of topers
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was "New England Rum." In 1794 there were 30 Distil- leries on Essex and South Streets.
Harrison Avenue when first laid out was called Front Street and was described as "a perfectly straight street 70 feet wide." In 1844 it received its present name in honor of President Harrison, in the days of "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too."
Province Street was known as Governor's Alley. When the old Province House was a social and political centre, this narrow street was an alley leading to the stables of the old mansion.
Hancock Street, formerly George Street, received its name in 1800 in honor of Governor John Hancock. Those old Revolutionary patriots did not wait long before renam- ing streets whose names were suggestive of royalty and Colonial rule and in their places we have the names of Presidents and Governors.
In 1708 Faneuil Hall Square, in parts, had many names, among them, Fish Market, Corn Market and Bread Market.
Elm Street is a very old street and was long known as Hudson's Lane and Wing's Lane.
Merchant's Row, originally known as Roebuck passage, from a notorious tavern which bore an unsavory reputation.
To many Bostonians of the present day Dock Square, so far removed from the water, seems an odd name for a busi- ness centre, but in the 17th century the sea flowed up as far as the juncture between Elm Street and the Square. At high tide the water probably covered all the level land now comprised in Dock Square, which was a favorite landing place in 1634.
In 1732 Sudbury Street running from Court Street to Cold Lane (Portland Street) was familiarly known as Tuttle Lane.
Chardon Street takes its name from the wealthy mer- chant, Peter Chardon, who had a fine residence at the head of the street, where the Bowdoin Square Church Building now stands.
Bowdoin Square received its name in honor of Governor James Bowdoin. In Revolutionary Days this was a very delightful part of the city. There were fine estates here with broad acres, gardens and noble trees.
Leverett Street perpetuates the name of Governor John Leverett. East of Beacon Hill, between Bowdoin and Somerset Streets, was known as Valley Acre.
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W'alks and Talks About Historic Boston.
At the North End there were many quaint names given to the streets and by-ways such as Swing Bridge Lane, Paddy's Alley, Beer Lane, Elbow Alley, Crooked Alley, Moon Street, Sliding Alley, Salutation Alley, White Bread Alley, Blind Alley and Frog Lane.
During the year 1914, Avery Street, an old thoroughfare in the heart of the shopping district was widened and im- proved. In the early days of the Colony it was called Cole- burn's Lane, after one William Coleburn, a man prominent in town affairs. Early in the 18th century it received the title of Sheafe's Lane, which it maintained for a hundred years.
Colonnade Roir, Tremont Street, Corner West Street
Dlo Boston: Additions and Improvements
A view of Boston from the harbor, 250 years ago, would have shown three prominent hills, one to the north, fifty fect high, called Copps' Hill, for Warren Copp, a shoemaker, who came from Shakespeare's home, Stratford on Avon, England, and who erected a mill on the summit of the hill; another hill, eighty feet high, adjacent to the shore, near India and Rowes Wharves, known as Corn Hill, and later as Fort Hill, because of a fort built on it in 1632 ; the third and middle hill, but more distant than the others, one hundred and eighty feet high, called both "Sentry" and Beacon Hill, from the custom of maintaining a sentry and an apparatus for a signal from its summit.
The name of "Trimount" sometimes bestowed on Boston, did not come from the three hills above named, but was de- rived from three prominences along the top of Beacon Hill, namely, Cotton, or Pemberton Hill, where Pemberton Square now is, Sentry Hill, now the site of the State House, and West Hill, or Mount Vernon, later the site of Louisburg Square.
In 1672, a sea wall was built from the base of Copp's Hill to Fort Hill, making a crescent-shaped bay, known as the Town Cove. It was designed as a protection of the town against hostile fleets, for the wall was mounted with big guns, and at the Fort Hill end, it terminated in a fort called the "Sconce," or South Battery. Rowe's Wharf is today the site of that battery. In 1632, two years after the founding of Boston, a fort was begun on the eminence of Fort Hill, and in 1636, the work was continued. Messrs. Keane, Hutchin- son, Coggan, Oliver Hastings and others, loaned five pounds each, to complete it. The "Sconce" was an outwork and was constructed of whole timbers, with earth and stones between and was considered very strong. The sea wall or "Barricado" as it was called, was a prodigious work for those days, the wall being 20 feet thick and 2200 feet long. There were open- ings in it through which vessels could enter the Town Cove. It marked the first great undertaking in wharf building.
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Walks and Talks About Historic Boston.
The North Battery was at the extreme end of this great sea wall. Drake says: "It stood at the lower part at the North End of the town, and it was not demolished until after the Revolution. The site was then converted into a wharf for the accommodation of ships and merchandise, and it now bears the name of Battery Wharf. This, in early days, was a very important point, as it commanded a great extent of the harbor, and quite a sum of money was expended to put
Lowering Beacon Hill, rear of State House
it in a condition to be of service in case an enemy should suddenly appear. After a few years the "Barricado" fell into decay, as no hostile fleets came here until after the Revolu- tion, one hundred years lter. Portions of the "Barricado" became parts of wharves, that were afterwards built. In 1709 the foreign trade of Boston had so increased that it became necessary to have larger wharf facilities and it was at that time that Long Wharf and Central Wharf were built. Long Wharf was the extension of State Street and it extended far out into the harbor. In historical associations, Long Wharf ranks second to Griffin's Wharf, for it was at Long Wharf that the British troops landed in 1768, the men who were sent over by George the Third to overawe and punish the citizens of Boston and other colonists for daring to resist his tyranny.
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Walks and Talks About Historic Boston.
In 1679 Boston was the principal seaport in North America, There was no royal custom house and the flags of many na- tions waved over the vessels in the harbor. The population at that time was 9,000, living in less than two thousand tene- ments. Some of the houses in the business portion were of brick, with tile or slate roofs, and others were of wood, plas- tered rough cast on the outside with cement, in which finely powdered glass was mixed. The greater portion of the houses
Landing British Troops in Boston, 1768
were of wood, covered with clapboards and roofed with cedar shingles. The chimneys were large, built on a stack in the centre of the house, and the windows were small. The streets, of different widths, were paved with round beach stones. There were neither street lamps nor side walks, but hitching posts were numerous, and nearly every large house had its horse block in front for convenience in mounting or dismounting. The cows of many of the freeholders were pastured on the Common. The Common from the very be- ginning was used for pasturage. During the first sixteen years of the settlement every resident of Boston owning a cow had the privilege of driving his cow thither and letting
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her feed on the "herbage," as the grass was always called in the Town Records. In 1642 John Ruggles had the supervision of the cows pastured there, and a toll was exacted of a bushel of corn a year for every cow pastured there under his super- vision. It was his duty to go forth with the cows to the Com- mon, with the sun an hour high, and to return them to their owners at 6 o'clock in the evening. Over a hundred years later, a vote in town meeting stipulated that only four men should be allowed to have the use of the Common for pas- turage. In those early days the Common was a great dump- ing ground for rubbish and trash of every conceivable sort.
Tradition tells us that the town officials were constantly at strife with William Hawkins, a butcher, who lived and car- ried on his business on the present site of the Somerset Club on Beacon Street, who persisted in depositing the entrails and other offal from his slaughtering establishment on the Com- mon to get rid of it. There were in those early days in the centre of the town villas, surrounded by gardens, and one which eclipsed all others had just been completed by Peter Sargeant, a wealthy merchant, on land which he purchased of Colonel Shrimpton. This was afterwards known as the Prov- ince House, which is elsewhere described. Edward Ward, a Cockney traveler, visited Boston in 1699, and thus describes it : "On the southwest side of Massachusetts Bay is Boston, whose name is taken from a town in Lincolnshire and is the Metropolis of New England. The houses in some parts of the town joyne as in London. The buildings, like their wo- men, being neat and handsome. And their streets, like the hearts of their male inhabitants, are paved with pebble."
Captain Wing, in his "Voyages and Travels," describes Boston as he saw it twenty years later. He says: "The town is near two miles in length, and three-quarters of a mile broad in some places, and contains about 4,000 houses. Most of them are built of brick and there are about 18,000 inhabi- tants. It is much the largest of any town in America, under the British government; they have built several wharves, one of which goes by the name of Long Wharf, and may well be called so, running about 1800 feet into the harbor. Here large ships, with great ease, may be laden and unladen; on one side of the wharf are warehouses about the whole length of it."
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