The North End is Boston’s oldest neighborhood and its streets are laden with the treasures of time. Not much is known about the native Americans or anyone living here until the Puritans arrived in the 1600’s. As the colonists settled in, streets began to branch throughout the North End. Much has been written about the Read More…
Have you taken a North End Freedom Trail tour? Here is your chance to watch it from the comfort of your own home. The “Allegiance to Revolution” tour of the North End is narrated by Boston National Park Ranger Eric Hanson-Plass. Hear the story of the dynamics between Paul Revere and Governor Thomas Hutchinson leading Read More…
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 Commercial Street near where the bocce courts are located today at Langone Park. Despite many warnings that the tank was faulty, the molasses company Read More…
From the City of Boston Archives, we find this 1899 photo on the site of what is now Lincoln Wharf at the intersection of Commercial and Battery Streets. Looking inward is North Street and I believe that is the bell tower of St. Mary’s Church St. Stephen’s Church in the upper right. (Corrected: As pointed Read More…
This picture shows Salem St. at the intersection of Cross Street on a Saturday morning in the early to mid nineteen fifties. It was taken from the newly built Central Artery. It is especially meaningful to me because I was living in the building at the corner of Salem and Cross at that time, 53 Read More…
The North End Historical Society received a unique gift in the form of a neighborhood restaurant collage by Ed Sokoloff. The contemporary artist has been photographing eateries of all types in Massachusetts for over 10 years. The North End montage was one of five initial creations by Sokoloff, intended to preserve the storefront signs and Read More…
[responsive_youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je9Syp35KxE] This is the second of four parts of The Haymarket Project, telling the stories of the diverse array of vendors in Boston’s Haymarket. This section interviews vendors in the Boston Market Terminal and features archival images from the early twentieth century. Vendors interviewed in Part Two include Otto Gallotto, Joseph Omessimo and Frank Read More…
The Old North Church is hosting her annual brass polishing party on Saturday, November 23 from 9:00 until 12:00 in the church parish house. Volunteers polish two three hundred year old chandeliers and twelve 150 year-old sconces. The two twelve branch chandeliers were imported from Europe and installed in the church in 1724. Each chandelier Read More…
by Meredith Halsey On the evening of November 14, 2013, the North End Historical Society and the Mariners House presented a hands-on lecture on tracing your Italian family roots. Rhonda McClure, a nationally-recognized expert from the New England Historic Genealogical Society, conducted the program. Ms. McClure began the program with tips on how to start Read More…
by Kim Whitaker In 19th century Boston, grave robbing was not what you might think. Many of those involved with digging up bodies were using the remains for medical research. Despite the ghoulish undertones, medical training was dependent on a regular supply of human organs necessary for students to practice performing dissections. They couldn’t do Read More…
This is a video featuring the highlights of a 1970’s documentary of the North End produced by Abraham Ravett in 1977 and 1978 with other teenagers for the North End Teen Collaborative. The film starts out with kids playing at the St. Anthony’s Playground adjacent to the Bathhouse (now the Nazzaro Community Center) and Christopher Read More…
[responsive_youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lPbRCdRwUI] Historic New England is producing a four part series called The Haymarket Project, of which Part One is currently available. The project features historic photos and vendor interviews. From the producers: Ask anyone who lives in or has visited Boston, and they inevitably have a story about a trip to Haymarket – an Read More…