Back Bay Before and After

[bowesst]

(Repost)

Beacon St. 1870

Central Church Newbury St. 1865

First Church Marlborough St. 1880

Boston Public Library and New Old South Church 1913

Beacon St. 1868

Beacon St. 1946

Beacon St. 1880

Boylston St. 1946

Boston Public Library 1895

Copley T

Trinity Church/Copley Square

Commonwealth Ave. 1890

Commonwealth Ave. 1887

Commonwealth Ave. 1890

Commonwealth Ave. 1940

Copley Square Hotel 1950

Fairfield St. 1880

Fairfield St. 1880

Commonwealth Ave. 1890

Hotel Royale Beacon St. 1890

Newbury St.

Marlborough St. at Arlington St.

Arlingotn St. Church

Museum of Natural History 1867

Marlborough St. 1890

Newbury St. 1890

Newbury St. 1890

New Old South Church 1880

New Old South Church 1880

Hotel Vendome

Trinity Church Rectory 1893

 

[Joe_Schmoe]

Beacon Street, townhouses by H.H. Richardson and McKim, Mead, and White:

Before:

After:

 

[castevens]

Very, very interesting. Thanks for posting!

 

[Ron Newman]

So what exactly happend to the McKim Mead & White buildings in the last post?

 

[lexicon506]

Well, it would appear that those poor, defenseless houses were eaten alive by the mighty Vinus Destructivus!! That building to the left doesn't stand a chance.

 

[briv]

Lexicon, ha!

I was hoping you would repost this Boswest.

Anybody know what the building was behind the BPL in the before photo -- where the Johnson building is now?

 

[FastLane]

Great re-post! I didn't notice the roofline of the Hotel Vendome last time you posted it. It appears to have been rebuilt somewhat differently after collapsing in the deadly 1972 fire. (There is a memorial on the Comm. Ave. Mall in remembrance of the nine firefighters who lost their lives).

 

[Joe_Schmoe]

Anybody know what the building was behind the BPL in the before photo -- where the Johnson building is now?

It was the Brunswick Hotel, by Peabody and Stearns.

 

[Ron Newman]

I never knew that. How did it come to be torn down in order to build a library extension?

 

[Joe_Schmoe]

Opps, I got it backwards. The Brunswick Hotel was behind Trinity church, not the BPL. That was the "Johnson" building I thought you were talking about--500 Boylston.

I think the building you were talking about was the Harvard Medical School.

 

[blade_bltz]

I was walking through Back Bay this afternoon - something I don't often do these days. I noticed a new looking development at 386 Comm Ave - it was hideous. Anybody have any information on this one?

 

[kz1000ps]

It's actually 388 Comm Ave, but yes it's hideous. I don't know exactly what year it was built, but by the looks of it I'd say the mid to late 80s, so yeah, it's sorta newish. Typing it into Google, a lot of health professions come up as tenants, such as MGH Back Bay and the Boston Evening Medical Center, which strikes me as weird because I live close by and I never see doctors or medical staff in the area... I woulda thought it were just some more apartments or condos like everything around there.

 

[castevens]

I love this thread. I want to go out with copies of the originals in hand so I can try to get the exact original shot to see more of the changes next to the subject buildings