CultureNOW - Washington Street at Massachusetts Avenue: Peter Vanderwarker

Washington Street at Massachusetts Avenue

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ABOUT THE HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS
"Built with ambition in the 1850s, wrecked with despair in the mid-20th century, and now ripe for redevelopment in a newly prosperous South End: That's the story of this block of Washington Street.

We’re looking north, toward the Back Bay, with the corner of Massachusetts Avenue at the left in both photos. Gone is the handsome brownstone on the corner (with a less handsome top-floor add-on); gone, too, is the lovely brick bow-front beside it – although it’s quite probable that chunks of the corpses of these old houses are buried in their dumpy replacements.

As for the empty lot, it boasts a fascinating history. Vacant in 1899 and vacant again today, it was for many years the site of the Pilgrim Theater. Built in 1911 for vaudeville and silent films, the Pilgrim is said to have featured stars like Eddie Cantor and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. It was eventually converted to a Spanish-language cinema, which burned in 1977. Do certain sites vibrate mystically with certain activities? You might think so, because in the old photo, the site of the future Pilgrim is filled with billboards for theaters: the Boston, the Park, the Hollis, and the 5th Avenue.

Notice, too, the building at far right. This is the Smith Block, once home to a well-known ballroom called Minot Hall. The Smith was designed in the late 1850s, probably by Gridley J. Fox Bryant, architect of Boston's Old City Hall and Charles Street Jail. The Smith Block and the vacant lot in the new photo were recently acquired by a developer from Buffalo, who is said to be negotiating as well for the two smaller buildings. (Both are largely vacant now, except for the Olympia Flower Store on the corner, which is bigger and better than our photo suggests.)

The Smith Block is to be renovated as loft-style condominiums, with a restaurant on the ground floor. A similar mix of dwellings and shops will probably replace the smaller buildings. Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy, incidentally, must have seen our site when they recently chowed down with Mayor Menino at Mike’s City Diner, across Washington Street.

The older photo is one of a series showing both sides of Washington Street from downtown to Dudley Street, made by the city in preparation for the construction of an elevated transit line. Erected in 1899-1901, the El came down in 1987. One of its stations - the Northampton Street one- can still be seen today at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine."

-Robert Campbell and Peter Vanderwarker, "CITYSCAPES - Washington Street," Boston Globe, 5 March 2000

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Location

Washington Street & Massachusetts Avenue
Boston, MA 02118
United States

Nearby Items

Alexandra		237 feet
Washington Street at Northampton Street		607 feet
South End		701 feet
Washington Street at W Concord Street		991 feet
Art on View at the Moakley Building		0.3 miles
Airfoil/Captain David Ramsey Memorial		0.4 miles
Roxbury Canal (Albany Street at Massachusetts Avenue)		0.4 miles