Boylston Market

Last updated

Boylston Market, 19th century; photo by John B. Heywood Boylston market, by John B. Heywood.jpg
Boylston Market, 19th century; photo by John B. Heywood

Boylston Market (1810-1887), designed by architect Charles Bulfinch, was located in Boston, Massachusetts, on the corner of Boylston and Washington Streets. Boylston Hall occupied the third floor of the building, and functioned as a performance and meeting space.

Contents

History

The Boylston Market Association developed the building. John Quincy Adams served as the association's first president. [1] In 1809, the proprietors paid $20,560 for the land formerly belonging to Joseph C. Dyer (and to Samuel Welles before him). [2] The new building "was named to honor the benevolent and philanthropic Ward Nicholas Boylston" [3]

Architecture

Construction began in April, 1810, and was completed the same year. The 3-story building measured 120 feet long and 50 feet wide. "On the first floor are 12 stalls for the sale of provisions. The 2nd is separated by an avenue running lengthwise, on the sides of which are 4 spacious rooms. The 3rd story consists of a hall 100 feet in length with the entire width of the building. the central height of the ceiling is 24 feet. It contains an orchestra, and 2 convenient withdrawing-rooms adjoining." [4]

"In 1859 an extension of 40 feet was made." [5] "In 1870 the solid brick structure was moved back from the street eleven feet without disturbing the occupants." [6]

Tenants

Early tenants included the Linnaean Society of New England, and Edward Savage's New York Museum, c. 1812, both "handsomely fitted with natural and artificial curiosities." [7] [8] [9] The Handel and Haydn Society held concerts in the hall for several years. [10] In 1845 some of the members of the Workingmen's Protective Union opened a shop on the 2nd floor. [11] Other vendors in the market included butter & cheese dealers M.C. Strout and F.H. Thomas (c. 1877). [12]

Special events in Boylston Hall included the New-England Anti-Slavery Convention, 1834; [13] July 4 celebrations of the New England Anti-Slavery Society in the 1830s; and Corydon Donnavan's "Grand Serial Panorama of Mexico," c. 1848: "Capt. Donnavan, for several months a prisoner during the recent war in [Mexico], will deliver an explanatory discourse, relating many incidents of the war, Mexican life, manners, &c, as the painting passes before the audience." [14]

Demolition

Boylston Market was demolished in 1887. In its place, the "Boylston Building" was erected. [15] The belfry from the original Boylston Market structure went to the Bunker Hill Breweries in Charlestown, Massachusetts [16] and was moved to the Calvary Methodist Church in Arlington, Massachusetts, in 1921. [17]

Poet John Pierpont refers to the Boylston Market in his 1840 poem "The Drunkard's Funeral." [18]

Images

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Bulfinch</span> American architect (1763–1844)

Charles Bulfinch was an early American architect, and has been regarded by many as the first American-born professional architect to practice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copley Square</span> Square in Boston, Massachusetts

Copley Square is a public square in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, bounded by Boylston Street, Clarendon Street, St. James Avenue, and Dartmouth Street. The square is named for painter John Singleton Copley. Prior to 1883 it was known as Art Square due to its many cultural institutions, some of which remain today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Faneuil Hall</span> United States historic place in Boston, MA (opened 1743)

Faneuil Hall is a marketplace and meeting hall located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts. Opened in 1742, it was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain. It is now part of Boston National Historical Park and a well-known stop on the Freedom Trail. It is sometimes referred to as "the Cradle of Liberty", though the building and location have ties to slavery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African Meeting House</span> Historic church in Massachusetts, United States

The African Meeting House, also known variously as First African Baptist Church, First Independent Baptist Church and the Belknap Street Church, was built in 1806 and is now the oldest black church edifice still standing in the United States. A Baptist congregation led by Reverend Thomas Paul built the church. The church also established a school, at first holding classes in its basement. After serving most of the nineteenth century as a church, it then served as a synagogue until 1972 when it was purchased for the Museum of African American History. It is located in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent to the historically Black American Abiel Smith School, now also part of the museum. It is a National Historic Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Parris</span> American architect (1780–1852)

Alexander Parris was a prominent American architect-engineer. Beginning as a housewright, he evolved into an architect whose work transitioned from Federal style architecture to the later Greek Revival. Parris taught Ammi B. Young, and was among the group of architects influential in founding what would become the American Institute of Architects. He is also responsible for the designs of many lighthouses along the coastal Northeastern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asher Benjamin</span> American architect

Asher Benjamin was an American architect and author whose work transitioned between Federal architecture and the later Greek Revival architecture. His seven handbooks on design deeply influenced the look of cities and towns throughout New England until the Civil War. Builders also copied his plans in the Midwest and in the South.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bowdoin Street</span> Street in Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Bowdoin Street in Boston, Massachusetts, extends from the top of Beacon Street, down Beacon Hill to Cambridge Street, near the West End. It was originally called "Middlecott Street" as early as the 1750s. In 1805 it was renamed after the Governor James Bowdoin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boylston Street</span> Major street in Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Boylston Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts and its western suburbs. The street begins in Boston's Chinatown neighborhood, forms the southern border of the Boston Public Garden and Boston Common, runs through Back Bay and Boston's Fenway neighborhood, merges into Brookline Ave and then Washington Street, emerging again contiguous with Route 9 out to where it crosses Route 128, after which it becomes Worcester Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Stephen's Church (Boston, Massachusetts)</span> Historic church in Massachusetts, United States

St. Stephen's Church is a historic church in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts. It was built in 1802–1804 as the New North Church or New North Meeting House and was designed by the noted architect Charles Bulfinch. It is the only one of the five churches he designed in Boston to remain extant. The church replaced one which had been built on the site in 1714 and enlarged in 1730. The Congregationalist church became Unitarian in 1813, and the church was sold to the Roman Catholic Diocese in 1862, and renamed St. Stephen's. It was restored and renovated in 1964-65 by Chester F. Wright, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Cross Church, Boston</span> Church building in Massachusetts, United States

The Church of the Holy Cross (1803-ca.1862) was located on Franklin Street in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1808 the church became the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. It was designed by Charles Bulfinch and was the first church built for the city's Roman Catholics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franklin Place</span>

Franklin Place, designed by Charles Bulfinch and built in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1793–95, included a row of sixteen three-story brick townhouses that extended in a 480-foot curve, a small garden, and four double houses. Constructed early in Bulfinch's career, Franklin Place came after he had seen the possibilities of modern architecture in Europe and had determined to reshape his native city. It was the first important urban housing scheme undertaken in the United States, and the city's first row-house complex. However, years of decline and the push of industry into the area forced its demolition in 1858.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calvary Methodist Church</span> Historic church in Massachusetts, United States

Calvary Methodist Church is a historic Methodist church building at 300 Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington, Massachusetts. Built in 1919-23, the building is a near replica of Boston's Kings Chapel, executed in wood. Its tower is topped by a belfry designed by architect Charles Bulfinch in 1809 and built for use on Boylston Market; it was rescued from demolition and given to the church in 1921. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Concert Hall (Boston, Massachusetts)</span>

The Concert Hall (1752–1869) was a performance and meeting space in Boston, Massachusetts, located at Hanover Street and Queen Street. Meetings, dinners, concerts, and other cultural events took place in the hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Street Church (Boston)</span>

The Federal Street Church was a congregational Unitarian church in Boston, Massachusetts. Organized in 1727, the originally Presbyterian congregation changed in 1786 to "Congregationalism", then adopted the liberal theology of its fifth Senior Minister, William Ellery Channing, (1780–1842). For most of the 18th century the church was known as the Long Lane Meeting-House. In 1788, state leaders met in the relatively spacious building to determine Massachusetts' ratification of the United States Constitution. Thereafter the church renamed itself the Federal Street Church in honor of the event. In 1803, it called Channing as its minister who defined "Unitarian Christianity" and launched the Unitarian movement, making the Federal Street Church one of the first to define itself as Unitarian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dock Square</span> Square in Boston in Massachusetts, United States

Dock Square in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, is a public square adjacent to Faneuil Hall, bounded by Congress Street, North Street, and the steps of the 60 State Street office tower. Its name derives from its original (17th-century) location at the waterfront. From the 1630s through the early 19th century, it served boats in the Boston Harbor as "the common landing place, at Bendell's Cove," later called Town Dock. "Around the dock was transacted the chief mercantile business of the town." After the waterfront was filled in during the early 19th century, Dock Square continued as a center of commerce for some years. The addition in the 1960s of Government Center changed the scale and character of the square from a hub of city life, to a place one merely passes through. As of the 1950s the square has become largely a tourist spot, with the Freedom Trail running through it. John Winthrop, coming from Salem where he landed as a Puritan from England, ended up "setting up a dock at the head of the cove, and here began the town of Boston, which soon was recognized as the political and economic center of the [Massachusetts Bay] colony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merchants Row (Boston)</span>

Merchants Row in Boston, Massachusetts, is a short street extending from State Street to Faneuil Hall Square in the Financial District. Since the 17th century, it has been a place of commercial activity. It sits close to Long Wharf and Dock Square, hubs of shipping and trade through the 19th century. Portions of the street were formerly known as Swing-Bridge Lane, Fish Lane, and Roebuck Passage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis Jackson (abolitionist)</span> American abolitionist

Francis Jackson (1789–1861) was an abolitionist in Boston, Massachusetts. He was president of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society for many years, was also president of the New England Anti-Slavery Conventions, and vice president of the American Anti-Slavery Society. He was also affiliated with the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society and the Boston Vigilance Committee. He worked for the South Cove Corporation, filling in land in Boston's South End in the 1830s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornhill, Boston</span> Street in Boston, Massachusetts, US

Cornhill was a street in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, located on the site of the current City Hall Plaza in Government Center. It was named in 1829; previously it was known as Market Street (1807–1828). In its time, it comprised a busy part of the city near Brattle Street, Court Street and Scollay Square. In the 19th century, it was the home of many bookstores and publishing companies. As of 1969, Cornhill exists as 144 feet along the edge of City Hall Plaza.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hotel Boylston</span>

Hotel Boylston (1871-1894) of Boston, Massachusetts, stood at the corner of Tremont Street and Boylston Street in today's Boston Theater District. The architecture firm of Cummings and Sears designed it "in the Italian-Gothic style" as a residential apartment building. Among the tenants: New England Kennel Club; Christian Science Publishing Co.; and piano dealer Steinert & Sons and its 350-seat concert hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horticultural Hall (Boston, 1845)</span> Building in Boston, Massachusetts, US (built 1845)

Horticultural Hall (1845-1860s) of Boston, Massachusetts, stood at no.40 School Street. The Massachusetts Horticultural Society erected the building and used it as headquarters until 1860. Made of granite, it measured "86 feet in length and 33 feet in width ... [with] a large hall for exhibitions, a library and business room, and convenient compartments for the sale of seeds, fruits, plants and flowers." Among the tenants: Journal of Agriculture; Azell Bowditch's seed store; and Morris Brothers, Pell & Trowbridge minstrels.

References

  1. King's hand-book of Boston. 1889; p.319-320.
  2. Snow, Caleb Hopkins, A History of Boston : The Metropolis of Massachusetts, Boston : Abel Bowen, 1828; p.118 (Boylston Market place), 332 (Boylston Hall).
  3. Drake, Samuel Adams. Old landmarks and historic personages of Boston. Boston: Little, Brown, and company. (1900 ed. p. 403)
  4. Snow. 1828; p.332.
  5. King. 1889; p.320.
  6. Drake. 1873.
  7. Shubael Bell. An account of the town of Boston written in 1817. Bostonian Society Publications v.3, 2nd series. 1919; p.38.
  8. Walker K. Watkins. The New England Museum: the home of art in Boston. Bostonian Society Publications v.2, 2nd series. 1917.
  9. Augustus Addison Gould. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, v.9. 1863; p.337.
  10. Harmonicon. 1832.
  11. R. Heber Newton. Coöperative Distribution. North American Review, Vol. 137, No. 323 (Oct., 1883); p.327.
  12. Boston Almanac and business directory. 1877.
  13. Proceedings of the New-England Anti-Slavery Convention: held in Boston on the 27th, 28th and 29th of May, 1834. Boston: Garrison & Knapp, 1834
  14. Flyer. American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series 1. For more information on Corydon Donnavan, see his 1847 Adventures in Mexico.
  15. King. 1889; p.320.
  16. Rojo, Brian. "15 October 2013 THE HISTORY OF CALVARY UNITED METHODIST CHURCHÕS BULFINCH BELFRY".
  17. "Calvary Church, United Methodist, Arlington, MA". Archived from the original on 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  18. Airs of Palestine and Other Poems (Boston: Munroe, 1840). Reviewed in The North American Review, Vol. 51, No. 109 (Oct. 1840), pp. 479-492.

Further reading

42°21′08″N71°03′47″W / 42.3521°N 71.0631°W / 42.3521; -71.0631