Update: The billboard has been taken down. See this updated post. A group identified as the “Turkic Platform, Istanbul” has purchased a large North End billboard along the Greenway as part of a campaign to deny the 1915-1923 genocide of the Armenian people. The controversial exhibition is located just steps away from the Armenian Heritage Park and its Abstract Sculpture honoring Read More…
This is Part 3 of a series on the history of North Square in Boston’s North End. Catch up on Part 1, Paul Revere & Banca Italiana, Part 2, The Italian Banks and Part 3, What News on the Rialto? The first Italians began arriving in Boston around 1860 and were mainly from Northern Italy, especially the region Read More…
The Old North Foundation has filed a grant application with the Edward Ingersoll Browne Fund to remodel its garden and courtyard area adjacent to the church at 193 Salem Street. Stephen T. Ayres, Vicar of the Old North Church and Executive Director of the Old North Foundation, presented plans to the North End / Waterfront neighborhood groups. Read More…
St. Patrick’s Day is an auspicious time to recall that before the North End was Italian it was Irish, inhabited by refugees trying to escape the terrible famines of the 1840’s. When they arrived here the Irish met an unyielding wall of prejudice and enmity. The original settlers of Boston, mostly Swamp Yankees, used to Read More…
This is Part 3 of a series on the history of North Square in Boston’s North End. Catch up on Part 1, Paul Revere & Banca Italiana and Part 2, The Italian Banks. Tourists love visiting the North End. They love exploring our narrow streets and alleys, buying a slice of pizza at Umberto’s or some Read More…
It was a similarly cold night 246 years ago on March 5, 1770 when the Boston Massacre took place in front of the Old State House. Tensions were rising with 4,000 British troops occupying Boston. The military presence was considerable as Boston only had about 20,000 residents at the time. As tensions rose, an angry crowd surrounded and clashed with the British troops who Read More…
In our grandparents time the three main shopping streets in the North End were Salem, Hanover and Endicott, in that order, but the business center of the North End was always North Square. It would be difficult to over emphasize the importance of North Square in the day to day lives of the early Italian Read More…
When the Italian tsunami swept into the North End during the late 19th century Yankee Bostonians were aghast. Bad enough they had to deal with the Irish and the Jews but this new group was even more threatening. These Italians were a strange bunch. They were clannish and only socialized with their own kind, ate Read More…
by Stephen T. Ayres, Vicar and Executive Director, Old North Church and Foundation The Old North Foundation is conducting an historic paint analysis this winter to research the rich colonial color schemes used to decorate the church. If you drop in to visit Old North Church between now and early March, you will notice scaffolding Read More…
January 2016 Video: NEWRA President Ford Cavallari talks about the molasses still packed into the MBTA electrical conduits under the streets in Boston’s North End. January 15th is the anniversary of the Great Molasses Flood in Boston’s North End. The United States Industrial Alcohol Company constructed a faulty 50 foot high steel tank in 1918 on Read More…
“Friday Night Bingo” is the sixth in a series of 1990 skits from “My Corner of Boston” performed at the North End Union, produced by resident Rosaria DiFinzio. See all the scenes here. Without a doubt, the biggest and most profitable industry in the North End when I was a child was gambling. It blended Read More…
“Songs by Rosaria” is the fifth in a series of 1990 skits from “My Corner of Boston” performed at the North End Union, produced by resident Rosaria DiFinzio. See all the scenes here. This skit has Rosaria singing in French and Italian and I think she does a fantastic job. She is accompanied by the Read More…