Introduction | Early development | Later changes | The public bath | The tunnel ventilation buildings | Roads | Conclusion | Footnotes and other notes

Introduction

Early development

1838	1852	1879
Boynton map from Mapping Boston	McIntyre map from The Boston Atlas	Bailey view from the Library of Congress

East Boston lies across Boston Harbor from downtown Boston. Maverick Square is several blocks from the waterfront, but used to be right on the water. Ferry service from downtown Boston began in 1835, and was provided by the East Boston Company, which sold the land in East Boston for development.1 The main ferry served Maverick Square directly, and East Boston quickly became a ferry suburb of Boston, with more than a thousand riders per day taking the two-cent, five-minute commute across the water.²

Maverick Square appears to have been the center of development in East Boston, judging from building locations on the early maps. This is likely because the ferry to downtown Boston was located at the south end of Maverick Square. About half of the streets in my site were laid out by 1838, and all of them were laid out by 1852. By 1879, all the blocks in my site had the majority of land developed, except for the one bounded by Havre Street, Porter Street, Paris Street, and Gove Street (formerly part of Decatur Street), where a large open space remained.

Later changes

1888	1927	1950	Current
Traced from Sanborn maps			Generated from Boston Water and Sewer Commission GIS data, from The Boston Atlas
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In the first three maps above, I have taken Sanborn fire insurance maps and traced the buildings or property lines to create land use maps. The fourth map is generated from GIS data. Since the GIS data uses the exact boundaries of buildings, while the Sanborn map tracings were mostly along property lines, the fourth map seems less developed than it should when compared to the first three.

A general trend of single-family housing becoming multi-family housing is evident. The amount of commercial space has stayed about the same; the few industrial lots are no longer used for industrial purposes. In several areas, detached buildings, often service-oriented, have replaced connected row houses (for example, the north side of Gove Street between Havre Street and Paris Street, covered below).

The East Boston Tunnel (MBTA Blue Line, which opened on December 30, 1904³), East Boston Traffic Tunnel (now the Sumner Tunnel), and Callahan Tunnel had major impacts on East Boston. The East Boston (subway) Tunnel surfaced in Maverick Square, where there is now a station on the Blue Line. The building of the subway did not require any land, since the center of Maverick Square has always been empty. It likely made East Boston more attractive to live in, since travelers to downtown Boston did not have to transfer to and from the ferry. Later on, two highway tunnels were built to downtown Boston, and buildings were torn down both for the portals and connecting highways, and for the ventilation buildings. Areas closer to the tunnels tend to be institutional and commercial, while areas further away are residential and commercial. This makes sense, since most people don't want to live right next to a major highway.

The public bath

1879	1888	1927	1950	Current
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As we saw above on the 1879 view, all the blocks were mostly developed except for the one bounded by Havre Street, Porter Street, Paris Street, and Gove Street. Three sides of this block were occupied, but there was a large vacant space in the center, abutting the east side (Paris Street). On the 1888 Sanborn map, part of the space was filled by a skating rink. The skating rink was not in use, however; the reason for this is unknown. The rest of the land was listed as "ground 6' to 8' below street". A small alley, Allen Court, separated the first and second rows of houses on the south side.

The 1900 Sanborn atlas shows the building as the East Boston Athletic Association; it appears to have been the same building, converted to a different use. Also between 1888 and 1900, the remainder of the lots were subdivided and houses were erected. In 1894, the homes in the south portion were replaced by a public school.

Photos taken 3-6-03

In 1909, a new building, the Municipal Gymnasium and Baths, was constructed on the same site as the old skating rink. The 1927 and 1950 Sanborn atlases show it being used for this purpose. In 1927, the building in the south part of the block was still a school, but by 1950, the building had been converted to the City of Boston Offices and Veterans Club.

Photo taken 3-6-03

The public bath has since been converted into the Paris Street Community Center, which still has a swimming pool. The old schoolhouse has been torn down and replaced by part of the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center.

The northern row of houses was torn down in 1934, when the Sumner Tunnel opened⁴ and Porter Street was widened to make way for increased traffic. When the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority built the Callahan Tunnel in 1961⁴, the whole block north of the public bath was torn down and replaced by a Turnpike Authority maintenance building. As with the Callahan Tunnel ventilation building (below), the building of the Callahan Tunnel was fairly disruptive to East Boston, maybe even more so than the construction of the connecting East Boston Expressway (1951⁵).

The tunnel ventilation buildings

1888	1927	1950	Current
legend

Now we look at the two blocks bounded by Liverpool Street, Decatur Street, Havre Street, and Maverick Street, with London Street separating the two blocks. These blocks are a bit south of the portals for the Sumner and Callahan Tunnels.

The buildings changed little between 1888 and 1927. A few buildings were torn down and a few were built, and single-family homes because multi-family homes, but very little changed in the actual structures. The Church of the Holy Redeemer (Catholic), in the south half of the east block, built a new school, replacing some tenements and a house.

Photos taken 3-6-03

In 1934, the city of Boston built the Sumner Tunnel4 (shown in gray on the map). As with all long tunnels, a ventilation building was needed. Two lots, formerly occupied by garages and a wagon shed, were taken by the city and a ventilation building was built in their place. The process does not seem to have been very disruptive, with no residences being removed. The building blends in fairly well with the surrounding buildings, though it is a good amount taller.

Photos taken 3-6-03

In 1961, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority built the Callahan Tunnel, and took over maintenance of the Sumner Tunnel.⁴ Another ventilation building was required for the new tunnel. Many buildings were torn down in order to build the ventilation building, which is taller than the first one, and has the name of the tunnel in big letters, as if to advertise the power of the Turnpike Authority. The building is surrounded by empty land and a parking lot owned by the Turnpike Authority, as opposed to the other ventilation building, which has only very small strips of land next to it.

Photos taken 3-6-03

Between 1927 and 1950, and especially after 1950, many buildings in the north half of the west block were torn down. A park, with a Vietnam veterans memorial, was put in the north part of the block. The reasons for this are unknown; it is possible that the construction of the tunnel weakened the foundations. The building in the northwest corner of the block is a Vietnam veterans post; this obviously had something to do with the placement of the memorial. The park seems to be owned by the Turnpike Authority, possibly giving credence to my guess about why the buildings were torn down. It is possible though that the location is simply coincidental, and the Turnpike Authority bought the vacated land because it owns the building across the street.

Roads

When ferry service started in 18351, Maverick Square was placed on one of the through routes between downtown Boston and the North Shore. Traffic to Chelsea could also go via East Boston, rather than taking the ferry from Charlestown. Soon after the East Boston (now Sumner) Traffic Tunnel opened in 1934⁴, the Massachusetts Department of Public Works signed a system of city routes through Boston, including Route C1, which passed through the new tunnel, and turned east on Porter Street and north on Chelsea St towards Revere. Prior to the C-routes, downtown Boston (and East Boston) had no numbered routes. The route and tunnel also served Logan Airport, which opened to passengers in 1928.⁶ In 1951, the East Boston Expressway replaced Porter Street and Chelsea Street as the through route.⁵ Over the years, Route C1 changed to US 1 (in the early to mid-1970s, when the C-routes were removed) and then Route 1A (in the late 1970s, when US 1 was moved to the Northeast Expressway, after I-95 was removed from Boston)⁷, but it has always served the same corridor, from downtown to the North Shore.

Conclusion

Footnotes and other notes

¹ Sammarco, Anthony Mitchell, "Images of America: East Boston" http://www.eastboston.com/Archives/sammarco.htm
² Jackson, Kenneth T, Crabgrass Frontier. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985.
³ Belcher, Jonathan, "Abandoned Stations, Tunnels, and Station Entrances found on the MBTA" http://members.aol.com/eddanamta/abandoned/abanstas.html
⁴ Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, "About Us - Past, Present, and Future" http://www.massturnpike.com/about/about-past.html
⁵ Anderson, Steve, "East Boston Expressway" http://www.bostonroads.com/roads/east-boston/
⁶ Massport, "About Logan: History" http://www.massport.com/logan/about_histo.html
⁷ Moraseski, Dan, "MA Route Log" http://web.mit.edu/spui/www/boston/sr/sr.html

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