Bowdoin Square (Boston)
Bowdoin Square (established 1788) in Boston, Massachusetts was located in the West End. In the 18th and 19th centuries it featured residential houses, leafy trees, a church, hotel, theatre and other buildings. Among the notables who have lived in the square: physician Thomas Bulfinch; merchant Kirk Boott;[1][2] and mayor Theodore Lyman.[3] Since the 20th century the area has become a traffic intersection at Cambridge Street, Bowdoin Street, and New Chardon Street.[4][5] Bowdoin Square is served by the MBTA Blue Line station Bowdoin.
Brief history
Some of the features of Bowdoin Square in its heyday included:
- Kirk Boott house (built 1804). "The half-acre lot on which Boott build his brick house was then a pasture in Boston's West End, an area that was just beginning to be developed. Boott's 3-story Federal mansion, with its tall Palladian windows lighting the staircase overlooking the garden, was very likely designed by Charles Bulfinch."[6]
- Samuel Parkman house (built c. 1816). "The large granite double house which stood for years at the western end of Bowdoin Square was built about 1816 by Hon. Samuel Parkman, a rich merchant. He was father of Dr.George Parkman who was murdered in 1849 by John White Webster, ... [and] grandfather of Francis Parkman, the historian."[7]
- Baptist Tabernacle (built 1840); also known as the Bowdoin-Square Church or the Bowdoin Square Baptist Church[8][9][10]
- Revere House hotel (1847-1912)[9]
- United States Court House (19th century)[11]
- Bowdoin Square Hotel[12]
- Bowdoin Square Theatre[13][12]
Images
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House built by Thomas Bulfinch II, after 1722. His grandson Charles Bulfinch was born here[1]
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Kirk Boott house, built 1804
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Samuel Parkman house, built c. 1816
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Daniel Webster, 1850 ("A great crowd had collected ... and on his appearance in a barouche, he was enthusiastically cheered."[2]
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Bowdoin Square Baptist Church, built 1840[3]
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Railroad Jubilee, 1854
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U.S. Court House, Bowdoin Square, c. 1856; engraving by Samuel Smith Kilburn, Ballou's Pictorial
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1883
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Intersection of Cambridge, New Chardon and Bowdoin Streets, Boston, 2010
- ^ Life and Letters of Charles Bulfinch, Architect. 1896.
- ^ New Hampshire Sentinel; Date: 05-02-1850
- ^ Homans. Sketches of Boston, Past and Present. 1851.
References
- ↑ Boston Directory. 1807.
- ↑ Daily Atlas (Boston), April 2, 1844.
- ↑ Boston Directory. 1823
- ↑ Massachusetts Centinel; Date: 07-02-1788
- ↑ Boston Street Laying-Out Dept. A record of the streets, alleys, places, etc. in the city of Boston]. Boston: City Printing Dept., 1910.
- ↑ Alan Emmet (1997). "Radishes and orchids: the Boott's garden in Boston". So Fine a Prospect: Historic New England Gardens. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England.
- ↑ State Street Trust Company. Forty of Boston's historic houses. 1912.
- ↑ Robert Woodward Cushman. Bowdoin Square Church book: comprising a brief history of the formation and organizations of the church : a list of its members : its articles of faith, covenant, etc. Boston: Samuel N. Dickinson, 1843
- 1 2 King's hand-book of Boston. 1889. Includes illustration of the church.
- ↑ Parson Downs squelched, The Boston Baptists drop the Bowdoin-Square Church. New York Times, Sep 16, 1886. p.1.
- ↑ Boston Directory. 1856.
- 1 2 Boston hotel on fire; The Bowdoin Square House Damaged and Two inmates Injured. New York Times, Feb 28, 1902. p.6.
- ↑ A Boston Theatre Sold: The Bowdoin Square Bid Off, After Many Adjournments, for $96,000. New York Times, Aug 8, 1893. p.1.
Further reading
- Fire in Bowdoin Square, Last Evening. Boston Daily Globe, Jan 7, 1874. p.1.
- Bowdoin Square Literary Union Entertainment. Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922); Boston, Mass. Dec 1, 1875. p.4.
- The Outside Show: Illuminations Along the Line of March- Columns Avenue a Blaze of Light--The Display Elsewhere--Some of the More Prominent Illuminations and Decorations. Boston Daily Globe, Oct 27, 1876. p.8.
- Twelve missing in Boston fire; Blaze Starts in Old Revere House and Spreads to Nearby Buildings. New York Times, Jan 16, 1912. p.1.
- Robert Campbell. From square to bare; once filled with stately homes, Bowdoin Square's modern incarnation is decidedly less impressive. Boston Globe. May 21, 2006.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bowdoin Square (Boston, Massachusetts). |
- Library of Congress. A Group of Boot-Blacks in Bowdoin Square, a Passing Juvenile Industry. Location: Boston, Massachusetts. Photo by Lewis Hine, 1909
- Google news archive. Articles about Bowdoin Square
- Flickr. Photo of Cambridge Street looking toward Bowdoin Square, 1950s
- Flickr. Photos of area that was Bowdoin Square by Gig Harmon, 2009
- Flickr. Gleason's. Cambridge omnibus, Benjamin Franklin, passing Bowdoin Square church in a snow storm, 1852
- Flickr. Boston and Cambridge New Horse Railroad (Bowdoin Square), c. 1856 engraving
