Site History
In the 18th century, this location was on what was then considered the South End, on the western side of Ransford's (or Rainsford's) Lane. At that time it was just to the north of the town's shoreline, adjacent to several wharves and distilleries.
Site in 1722
Between 1764 and 1769, several parcels between Rainsford's Lane and Orange (now Washington) Street were purchased by
John Haskins, a cooper who inherited a business from his father-in-law. In 1765 he built a substantial house on the Rainsford's Lane side. This property had a large garden known for its plums and pears, and in its early years a carriage-way extended through the grounds from Rainsford's Lane to Orange Street. During the Revolutionary era, Haskins initially joined the Sons of Liberty but later became a moderate royalist; he stayed in Boston during the 1775-1776 siege and gave his allegiance to the new government after the British evacuation. He remained at the house until his death in 1814, as did his wife until her passing five years later. The property thereafter continued to be the home of his three unmarried daughters for around the next half-century.
John Haskins residence
In 1824, Ransford's Lane was turned into a northern extension of Front Street. In April 1841 Front Street was renamed to Harrison Avenue, in honor of President Harrison who had died earlier that month. Over the course of the 1830s and 1840s the southeast coast of Boston was filled in by the railroad companies, causing the site to lose its proximity to the waterfront.
Site in 1814
Site in 1852
In 1862, the City of Boston opened a primary school called the Savage School on the site. For a period of time, some classes of the Boston Latin School were held at this facility.
In the early 1880s, a minor controversy erupted when the city attempted to force the Boston School Committee to abandon its existing headquarters on Mason Street and take up occupancy in the Savage School instead. The Committee however objected to this proposal and was able to kill it. In 1883 the Savage School lot was put up for auction, and in the following year it was demolished.
Site in 1867
Beginning in the late 1870s, Chinese immigrants started moving into Boston in force. Initially centering themselves along Harrison Avenue between Essex and Beach Streets, their presence came to be negatively received by city officials. In the early 1890s the city decided to widen that stretch of Harrison Avenue, ostensibly because it would improve rapid transit capabilities and convince real estate builders of the viability of constructing modern projects at the location. City officials and the press, however, were openly ecstatic about another aspect of the widening, arguing (in hindsight, incorrectly) that the prospect that this project would result in the elimination of the "iniquitous Chinese quarter" of the "little brown men of the Orient" and that if it went through, ""Chinatown, now an eyesore alike to pedestrians and property owners thereabout, would become a thing of the past."
Delineation of Chinatown, vs. Proposed Widening, 1893
Harrison Avenue, looking north from Beach Street, before widening, 1893
Harrison Avenue, looking north from Beach Street, during widening, 1894
Meanwhile, in 1891 the John H. Pray & Sons Co., a carpet and upholstery company, decided to build a new six-story building on 658 Washington Street immediately opposite the site, in what was then characterized as the "very heart of the [downtown] retail district."
Following the widening of Harrison Avenue, Pray & Sons announced its intention to expand its building to 19-25 Harrison in 1894, and constructed the four-story property currently on the site. As originally designed, the building had a panel brick and Queen Anne style to it, though this was later covered up by the current stucco treatment.
658 Washington Street, following completion
Announcement of the 19-25 Harrison Avenue development
In October 1903, 19-25 Harrison was used as a temporary detention center for Chinese residents swept up in an anti-immigration police raid. The operation, described at the time as the largest in Boston's history,
resulted in 234 men being arrested, of whom 52 were ultimately deported.
In 1911, a portion of 658 Washington Street was remodeled into the
Olympia Theatre. At the same time, 19-25 Harrison was converted into a hotel, which opened in 1912 as "Hotel Maxim." This enterprise did not however survive the decade.
The Olympia Theatre, Washington Street
Hotel Maxim, 1917
In the following decades the former Pray Buildings shared a fairly typical trajectory for a Chinatown property. On the Washington Street side, the Olympic became the Pilgrim in the 1950s; it subsequently became a part of the Combat Zone and was finally replaced by the 660 Washington residential tower in 2006. As for 19-25 Harrison, it became the home of a long-running grocery store (Sun See Market) and apartments. In 2012, firefighters responding to a false alarm found over 33 households living in "deplorable living conditions" and the city forcefully emptied the residences.
Harrison Avenue looking north, 1930
19-25 Harrison Avenue, late 20th century
658 Washington Street in the Combat Zone
660 Washington Street
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