CultureNOW - Province Street (Governor's Alley): Peter Vanderwarker

Province Street (Governor's Alley)

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ABOUT THE HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS
"Only a sign advertising a restaurant remains to evoke the rich history of Province Street, at right in the new photo. ‘Governor’s Alley Restaurant and Bar,’ it proclaims, reminding us that before 1833, Province Street was called Governor’s Alley. Both names derive from the fact that the street traverses what once were the gardens of Province House, which was the headquarters of the royal governors of Massachusetts from 1716 until the British rulers were ejected by the American Revolution.

Just out of sight, beyond the left edge of both photos, is one of those mysterious surviving fragments that make Boston as intricate and fascinating as a spy novel. This is the odd arrangement of granite steps that climb from Province Street to Bosworth Street. The last remaining trace of the Province Garden, the steps have marked this spot for something like 300 years. Province House itself, after declining into a tavern and finally a minstrel theater, burned in 1864.

The old photo was made in 1914 by J.A. Lynn. It shows us a Boston that recalls tum-of-the-century London as portrayed in Sherlock Holmes stories, a city laced with dark, narrow alleys crammed with activity and potential mystery. It would appear that many of the alley’s habitues were bibulous: We can make out the Genoa Cafe, Conway Co. Bottled Liquors, and what appears to be another bar and lunch counter. The other signs are all about keeping up appearances, announcing two purveyors of Panama hats, a shoeshine and shoe-repair shop, two sign-makers, and a painter-decorator.

All the buildings at the right in the old photo were demolished about 1920 during a street widening. Those on the left were eventually replaced by a parking garage and a parking lot and, beyond them, an office building called 44 Bromfield Street, much of which is now exposed as a blank party wall. The old street was probably considerably poorer and dirtier than we’d like to imagine. But the new one, along this left side, now lacks the single most important quality a street can possess: It just isn’t interesting."

-Robert Campbell and Peter Vanderwarker, "CITYSCAPES - Governor's Alley," Boston Globe, 1995

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Location

44 Province Street
Boston, MA 02108
United States

Nearby Items

Province Street		49 feet
45 Province Street		57 feet
Province Court		117 feet
Bromfield Street		424 feet
Nine Zero Hotel		475 feet
Washington Street at Bromfield Street		480 feet
Democratic Donkey		539 feet