Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and the area was fully built by around 1900. It is most famous for its rows of Victorian brownstone homes—considered one of the best preserved examples of 19th-century urban design in the United States—as well as numerous architecturally significant individual buildings, and cultural institutions such as the Boston Public Library, and Boston Architectural College. Initially conceived as a residential-only area, commercial buildings were permitted from around 1890, and Back Bay now features many office buildings, including the John Hancock Tower, Boston's tallest skyscraper. It is also considered a fashionable shopping destination and home to several major hotels.
Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT) is a private university in Boston, Massachusetts. Wentworth was founded in 1904 and offers career-focused education through 22 bachelor's degree programs as well as 11 master's degrees.
Agganis Arena is a 7,200-seat multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, on the campus of Boston University, built on the location of the former Commonwealth Armory. It is home to the five-time national champion Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey team. It is named after Harry Agganis, a football and baseball player for BU. The ice hockey rink is named Jack Parker Rink, after the legendary BU hockey player and coach. The arena is part of Boston University's John Hancock Student Village, which also includes dormitories and the university's five-story Fitness and Recreation Center.
Walter Brown Arena is a 3,806-seat multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Boston University Terriers women's ice hockey team and hosted the men's team before they moved to Agganis Arena. It is named in honor of Walter A. Brown, the original owner of the Boston Celtics, former president of the Boston Bruins and second manager of the Boston Garden. The arena is part of the Harold Case Physical Education Center, which includes Case Gym directly above the arena, as well as the former home of student recreation before the opening of the John Hancock Student Village. The building lies in the general area of the left field pavilion seats at the former Braves Field, whose right field pavilion and a portion of the field have been converted to neighboring Nickerson Field.
Oliver Ames High School is a public high school in Easton, Massachusetts, United States. The school currently enrolls approximately 1200 students in grades 9 through 12 and is named after Oliver Ames, who was the 35th governor of Massachusetts. Oliver Ames offers Advanced Placement, Honors, college preparatory, business, and standard programs, as well as electives in the visual and performing arts, business and industrial arts, and home economics.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts played a significant role in national events prior to and during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Massachusetts dominated the early antislavery movement during the 1830s, motivating activists across the nation. This, in turn, increased sectionalism in the North and South, one of the factors that led to the war. Politicians from Massachusetts, echoing the views of social activists, further increased national tensions. The state was dominated by the Republican Party and was also home to many Radical Republican leaders who promoted harsh treatment of slave owners and, later, the former civilian leaders of the Confederate States of America and the military officers in the Confederate States Army.
Fenway, commonly referred to as The Fenway, is a mostly one-way, one- to three-lane parkway that runs along the southern and eastern edges of the Back Bay Fens in the Fenway–Kenmore neighborhood of Boston, in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As part of the Emerald Necklace park system mainly designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the late 19th century, the Fenway, along with the Back Bay Fens and Park Drive, connects the Commonwealth Avenue Mall to the Riverway. For its entire length, the parkway travels along the Muddy River and is part of the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston. Like others in the park system, it is maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
The Hudson Armory is a former Massachusetts Army National Guard armory and training center located at 35 Washington Street in Hudson, Massachusetts, United States. It is a castle-like, two-story brick masonry building built in 1910 at the intersection of Park Street and Washington Street in Hudson along the Assabet River. It was originally constructed for the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. It was designed by architects James E. McLaughlin and James Mulcahy. As of June 2021, there are plans to convert the currently vacant armory into a community arts center.
The Chestnut Hill Reservoir Historic District is a historic district encompassing the Chestnut Hill Reservoir and the surrounding water works facilities which were historically used to provide fresh water to Boston, Massachusetts, and surrounding towns. The district is nearly coextensive with the Chestnut Hill Reservation, a state park managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR); those elements of the water works that are still required as an emergency backup are managed by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA). The reservoir is located between Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue in Boston's Chestnut Hill district, just east of the Boston College Main Campus Historic District.
Boston College Main Campus Historic District encompasses the historic heart of the campus of Boston College in the Chestnut Hill area of Newton, Massachusetts. It consists of a collection of six Gothic Revival stone buildings, centered on Gasson Hall, designed by Charles Donagh Maginnis and begun in 1909.
The Boston University Fitness and Recreation Center is an athletic facility at Boston University. Built in 2004–2005 to replace the aging and inadequate Case Gym, the FitRec was built on the site of a National Guard Armory, to which there is a nod in the form of an informative plaque, found just west of the building.
The Muddy River is a series of brooks and ponds that runs through sections of Boston's Emerald Necklace, including along the south boundary of Brookline, Massachusetts. The river, which is narrower than most waterways designated as rivers in the United States, is a protected public recreation area surrounded by parks and hiking trails, managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
The Armory of the First Corps of Cadets is a historic armory at 97–105 Arlington Street and 130 Columbus Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts. Over the years it has been known as Park Plaza Castle, Castle at Park Plaza, and The Tower.
The Benedict Fenwick School is a 1912 historic school building at 150 Magnolia Street in Boston, Massachusetts. The Classical Revival brick school building was designed by Boston architect James E. McLaughlin, who also designed Fenway Park, the Commonwealth Armory in Boston, and the Hudson Armory in Hudson, Massachusetts. It was named for Benedict Fenwick, the second bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. The city used it as a school until 1981. It was purchased by the American Muslim Mission and opened the following year as the Sister Clara Muhammad School, named for Clara Muhammad, the first wife of Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad. In 1999, it was acquired by a developer and converted to housing.
The Second Church (1649–1970) in Boston, Massachusetts, was first a Congregational church, and then beginning in 1802, a Unitarian church. The congregation occupied a number of successive locations around town, including North Square, Hanover Street, Copley Square, and the Fenway. Ministers included Michael Powell, Increase Mather, Cotton Mather, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. In 1970 it merged with Boston's First Church.
The Fenway Theatre (1915–1972) of Boston, Massachusetts, was a cinema and concert hall in the Back Bay, located at no.136 Massachusetts Avenue at Boylston Street.
Armenian Heritage Park is a memorial park dedicated to the victims of the Armenian genocide located on Parcel 13 on the Rose Kennedy Greenway between Faneuil Hall Marketplace and Christopher Columbus Park in Boston, Massachusetts.
James Ernest McLaughlin was a Canadian-American architect active primarily in Boston, Massachusetts, and the surrounding area from about 1905 through the 1950s. He designed Fenway Park—home stadium of the Boston Red Sox baseball team—among many other buildings in Massachusetts. Early in his career, McLaughlin collaborated on some designs with his maternal uncle and fellow architect James Mulcahy. From 1920 onward, McLaughlin was partnered with architect George Houston Burr under the name McLaughlin and Burr.
James Mulcahy was a Canadian-American architect active primarily in Boston, Massachusetts, and the surrounding area from at least 1888 until his death in 1915. He served as Boston Building Commissioner from 1903 to 1906. He collaborated for many years with his nephew and fellow architect James E. McLaughlin, who designed Fenway Park, home stadium of the Boston Red Sox baseball team.
