CultureNOW - Washington Street at Vernon Street: Peter Vanderwarker

Washington Street at Vernon Street

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ABOUT THE HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS
"One century, almost exactly, separates these two photos of Roxbury. We’re looking at the west side of Washington Street, with the comer of Vernon Street at the end of the block. As is so often the case in Boston, not one brick or board appears to have survived from the old view to the new – although there’s no guarantee that parts of the old buildings aren’t hiding behind the facades of the new ones. After becoming part of Boston in 1868, Roxbury grew quickly as a ‘streetcar suburb.’ The cars were pulled along their tracks by horses, at first. Most weren’t electrified until after the turn of the century. Streets like Washington, where these railways ran, naturally developed continuous retail frontage.

By 1899, say historians, lower Roxbury was already in economic decline. As the streetcar lines extended into the countryside, the first Roxbury inhabitants moved farther out. Poorer people crowded two or three families into the small, single-family wood houses of the neighborhood.

But you can’t spot the decline in the old photo. A prosperous-looking carriage stands at the curb. Five well-dressed women examine the display windows of Timothy Smith & Co., dry-goods merchants, purveyors of dresses, feathered hats, nightgowns and dolls, and probably notions and yard goods. There were three other clothing stores on the block, along with dealers in coal and sewing machines, and an express delivery service.

What may strike us today is the way these stores opened their doors and windows so congenially to the public street. The architecture was fragile and trustful. In the new photo, by contrast, every storefront is protected by a roll-down metal security grate. The upper floors are blank; either they don’t have windows or the windows are boarded up. The stores, though, aren’t that different. Jack’s Department Store dominates the block as Smith’s once did, offering discount mattresses and furniture and, on a lower level, Nikki’s Fashions. The African Market offers Caribbean foods.

At the top of the tall brick building, a sign still announces Timothy Smith Co., but no such business is listed in the phone book. The sign is one of those ghosts that give a city a sense of mystery and depth."

-Robert Campbell and Peter Vanderwarker, "CITYSCAPES - Washington Street, Roxbury," Boston Globe, 1999

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Location

Washington Street & Vernon Street
Roxbury, MA 02119
United States

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