Boston from the 50's and 60's

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jediot

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/35033278@N00/sets/72157594412774539/

I found this photoset on flikr and figured it would be a crime not the share it with you all. Enjoy!
 
Great find Jediot! Thank you for posting this.
 
Wow, great pictures. I find it funny that you never really see a lot of photos of Boston in the past, yet Boston is so well known for it's past and it's history. I am glad to see some pictures of Boston from the 50's and 60's. I would really like to see Boston pictures from the late 60's, the 70's and the 80's now.
 
Christ, just when I thought I knew something about this city, these show up.

I can't believe I've never seen a picture of the waterfront from this era before. I had no idea Rowes wharf used to look like this:

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Wow. :shock:

Of course someday, our great, great, great, great grandchildren might look at photo's of the South Boston Waterfront and think the same thing.
Assuming it not still a parking lot then. :roll:
 
A more direct look at Rowes Wharf. Note the central portal:

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These are a GREAT find, Jediot. There's just so much to take in here!

This one below struck me because of how long it took for me to identify what I was looking at. It's where the Moakley Bridge is today, with Independence Wharf on the left and the Coast Guard building on the right. But what is that "T" building in the center? It looks to be from the 40s/early 50s, maybe 15 stories tall and on the plot where 125 High street is today. Does anyone know this building's history?

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Looking at these pictures I can see why so many people wanted to tear all this down and replace it with modern skyscrapers. I still don't necessarily agree with the decision but I understand it now.
 
That is the Travelers Insurance Building, it was demolished in the 80's.
 
Looking at these pictures I can see why so many people wanted to tear all this down and replace it with modern skyscrapers. I still don't necessarily agree with the decision but I understand it now.
Click to expand...

There could have been a happy medium between leaving everything up or tearing everything down: selective replacement of the unsalvagable buildings, and restoration of the others, or at least incorporating facades of old buildings into new buildings.

Also, it would have been great to preserve or at least re-establish a dense street grid of small streets, city blocks with normal sidewalks and buildings built up to the streets, instead of what urban renewal in Boston actually did, which was massive demolition, hulking superblocks, multi-lane highway type streets, and Soviet style huge buildings set back behind empty plazas.

I was a kid during 1950's Boston, and remember vividly a lot of the now gone cityscape. A lot of it was dirty, run down and noisy, but there could have been a better solution. There is still ample opportunity to correct a lot of the mistakes made during the 50's and 60's urban renewal frenzy (and also the equally lame Rose Kennedy Greenway).
 
Mike said:
That is the Travelers Insurance Building, it was demolished in the 80's.
Click to expand...

Looks very much like some of the earlier renderings for Russia Wharf. Wonder if it was deliberate.
 
Charlie_mta said:
Looking at these pictures I can see why so many people wanted to tear all this down and replace it with modern skyscrapers. I still don't necessarily agree with the decision but I understand it now.
Click to expand...

There could have been a happy medium between leaving everything up or tearing everything down: selective replacement of the unsalvagable buildings, and restoration of the others, or at least incorporating facades of old buildings into new buildings.

Also, it would have been great to preserve or at least re-establish a dense street grid of small streets, city blocks with normal sidewalks and buildings built up to the streets, instead of what urban renewal in Boston actually did, which was massive demolition, hulking superblocks, multi-lane highway type streets, and Soviet style huge buildings set back behind empty plazas.

I was a kid during 1950's Boston, and remember vividly a lot of the now gone cityscape. A lot of it was dirty, run down and noisy, but there could have been a better solution. There is still ample opportunity to correct a lot of the mistakes made during the 50's and 60's urban renewal frenzy (and also the equally lame Rose Kennedy Greenway).
Click to expand...

Ever been to Society Hill in Philadelphia? They took that approach: maintaining the existing fabric for the most part and building appropriately scaled new buildings in the place of "unsalvageable" structures. Its now one of the most pleasant neighborhoods in the country, albeit pricey.
 
Here's my favorite:

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I always wondered what Charlestown looked like when it was actually building navy ships. What a loss.
 
kz1000ps said:
^^ Thanks, Mike. Veteran AB forumer tocoto posted some pics of the implosion of the building on Urban Planet, but the links have gone bad. So if you're still around tocoto, I'd appreciate it if you could repost them!

Here are some other photos I found of the implosion:

http://www.indexstock.com/content/topsearches/Implosion_photos.asp
Click to expand...
On that day my girlfriend and I took shots with two film cameras,one with black and white the other with color film. It was quite an event and great weather for pictures. Unfortunately, the scans I made of the prints and slides were lost so I have to rescan everything. I will try to post but am very busy these days.
 
I have an amazing Book titled "Lost Boston"
and it chronicles all of the amazing buildings that once stood in Boston and are no longer there.

I assume it is available at the BPL but if anyone wants to borrow it from me please feel free to email me.

I have it here in Boston on Franklin Street.

We can meet up and I can let you borrow it if you like.

Greg

or you can go buy it for 18 bucks . . .
http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Boston-Jane-Holtz-Kay/dp/0395966108
 
^ A tremendous book indeed, though I wish Jane Holtz Kay would come out with a new edition...there's probably a lot that can be added to her mid-80s (I think) repertoire.
 
You might want to search out "The Boston Book", Arthur Griffin and Esther Forbes, Houghton Mifflin, 1947, 122 pages. It has a few lovely saturated color photographs, and many more black and whites. A nice feature is the photographic table at the end that identifies the camera, film, lens, aperture, exposure and filter for each shot. Perhaps Brattle Book, Commonwealth Book, or alibris.com could help.
 
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