The following event notices are courtesy of the Paul Revere House, located at 19 North Square, Boston: This fall our “Saturday Happenings” explore a variety of elements of life in 18th century Boston. On Saturday afternoons from 1:00-3:00 presenters will demonstrate crafts, play period music, or represent real people who lived in colonial Boston at the Paul Read More…
With the modern-day 24-hour news cycle, it’s hard to believe that we once relied on daily newspapers to deliver word of current events. But so it was in 1948, when one of the most infamous—and totally inaccurate—headlines of the day broke. A new exhibit at The West End Museum highlights that headline, the post-WWII national housing Read More…
Sally Ling’s was a notable upscale Chinese restaurant located at 256 Commercial Street on the Boston waterfront from 1984 to 2003. The restaurant also had a location at Newton Center. In 2013, artist and photographer Edward Sokoloff created a three panel montage containing more than 3,000 greater Boston restaurants and other eating places. In updating Read More…
The photo I’m sharing today comes from a postcard dating from the 1890’s. It depicts Salem St. looking towards Cross St. The photographer was most likely standing near Blackstone St. in front of the new Boston farmer’s Market. At that time Salem St. was mainly a Jewish colony although Italians were starting to move in. Read More…
For the first time in over 200 years, an eighteenth century style copper plate rolling press is in operation at the Printing Office of Edes and Gill. Print master and his assistants are printing copies of Paul Revere’s famous engraving of the Boston Massacre. The new copper plate rolling press is a replica of an Read More…
The Haymarket Project documentary has been released in a feature video titled Haymarket, the Soul of the City. For the last two years, the project has been releasing seasonal videos about the historic outdoor food marketplace. An accompanying exhibition is also being shown at Suffolk University’s Adams Gallery through August 30, 2015. The feature presents the four seasons at Boston’s Haymarket with photographs by Read More…
History aficionado Dr. Susan Hanson, whose experience in U.S. museums includes positions at the Smithsonian Institution and history projects in seven states, has been named President of The West End Museum Board of Directors. She aims to increase the Museum’s public offerings, stabilize its finances and increase its visibility within Metro Boston and throughout New Read More…
Recently I’ve researched and written a book about a group of immigrants to America in the 1840s and 1850s. Getting to Grand Prairie: One Hundred Londoners and Their Quest for Land in Frontier Illinois will appear this summer. It tells a true story of the farming community I grew up in. I’m preparing the book’s Read More…
This photo is a view of Haymarket Square looking down Canal Street. It was taken at the same time as the photo in Part 1, around 1905 and both post cards look like they were printed by the same company. The building with the columns is the Boston City Hospital health dispensary. Behind it you Read More…
I have a small collection of old postcards depicting scenes of the North End which I will share with readers of this column over the next few months. This first photo is of Haymarket Square at the turn of the 20th century, I would guess around 1905, and the view is looking down North Washington Read More…
Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin, Chairman of the Massachusetts Historical Commission, announced the selection of the Boston Police Station Number One and Boston Printing Department Building / North Bennet Street School, in the city’s North End neighborhood, to receive a 2015 Massachusetts Historical Commission Historic Preservation Award. “The Massachusetts Historical Commission is proud Read More…
The Spanish tall ship, Juan Sebastian De Elcano, arrived on a rainy Monday through Boston Harbor. The four-mast topsail schooner is the 3rd largest Tall Ship in the world. It will make its way to Charlestown Navy Yard for public tours starting Tuesday and throughout the week. Soon to follow on July 10th will be the Portuguese Navy ship, Sagres, Read More…