Boy on a dolphin

Logo in front of the Aquascutum of London store at 450 Boylston Street.

Dainty Dot Hosiery

The Dainty Dot Hosiery building on Kingston Street, a six story 53,000 sq. foot building, was built in 1889 in what was once a residential neighborhood. It is on the National Register of Historic Places because of its location in a once-significant textile district. A large portion of the building was lopped off in the mid-1950s, which reduced it to its present size, to make way for the Central Artery Project. It was sold last year (Nov. 2006) to a local businessman for $9 million. Hopefully, its status on the National Register of Historic Landmarks will prevent its exterior from being altered or modified.

Lannan Ship Model Gallery

Fénix (Bostonscapes DP) posted a picture of the Lannan Ship Model Gallery the other day too. You can visit her site to see another picture and information on the ship gallery.

Parker House Under Wraps

This is the School Street side of the Parker House. The entire facade is under iron scaffolding and dark netting.

You can see the view of the Parker House doorway on Tremont Street here.

Winthrop Lane, Series #2

Second series of bronze bricks in Winthrop Lane. Click here to see series #1; and for more information on Winthrop Lane click here.

Remembrance of things past

Car parking lot that used to be a building. You can see on the brick wall the imprint of the stairway and floors from the building that is now gone. I have always been intrigued with these "shadows" from the past that are still visible in the present. And how long before the parking lot becomes another high rise office building or luxury condominium?

Street Signs Three

Can you guess the name of this street? I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw not one, not two, but three signs for this one street, and two are on the same light pole. Doesn't it seem when you need to know a street's name there isn't a sign in sight. This can be particularly true in Boston (and New England) where it is expected you should know the name of the street you are on without need of a sign to identify it.

Have you ever seen a street with three signs?

Vanishing Point II

I like the perspective looking lengthwise in front of the John B. Hynes Convention Center.

Prudential Center

View of the front entrance to the Prudential Center from the Hynes Convention Center.

Outdoor Sculpture

"Cellular Yolk" by sculptor David Phillips at the Federal Reserve Bank.

Congress Street Rehabs

Buildings being renovated on Congress Street and the Fort Point Channel Area require more than just cosmetic updating as can be seen with the steel support beams on the exterior walls. These buildings were built over a century ago, before modern earthquake codes, and have to be reinforced with steel and concrete to stiffen walls and floors. They have to be able to hold their own weight, all their contents, and be able to withstand an earthquake.

Fort Point Channel Area Buildings

Reflections

[click image to enlarge]
Fall reflections in the pond in the Public Gardens.

Pink Bubble People

An art installation in the Fort Point Channel between Congress and Summer Streets features six floating bubbles with figures inside that float with the tide. The installation is called "Walking on Water" and was conceived by Lisa Greenfield. It is sponsored by the Fort Point Channel Arts Community - Public Arts Series Open Studio 2007. It sure caught my eye as I was walking past and luckily I had my camera with me.

Winthrop Lane, Series #1

The top picture contains tombstones from the Old Granary Burial Ground on Tremont Street; on the left below is a copy of Paul Revere's copper etching of the Boston Massacre; next to that are various stamps used by the British to enforce the Stamp Act of 1765; on the bottom row is Boston Latin School, the first public school in America, 1635; and in the lower right corner is the Boston Tea Party of 1775.

Winthrop Lane

Winthrop Lane connects Otis and Arch Streets in downtown Boston near Winthrop Square. It's a narrow, brick-paved passageway between two old buildings, but look down as you walk and you'll see 102 brick-shaped bronze bas-reliefs set into the bricks. These bricks were designed by Gregg LeFevre and Kate Burke, and depicts a different aspect of the city's history, culture, and events. For example, there are bronze bricks depicting the Molasses Flood of 1919, Paul Revere's Ride, the Boston Massacre, Boston Pops, Boston Common, Boston Red Sox, the State House, Franklin Park Zoo, and many more.

The copper alloys were chosen for the bricks not only for their esthetic appeal but also for their durability. Passersby who walk on the bricks actually keep certain raised elements buffed and shiny, which was planned by the designers. However, the raised portions can’t be raised more than a quarter of an inch higher than the surrounding pavement, according to the Americans With Disabilities Act. The brick-shaped bronze sidewalk plaques were cast by a now defunct foundry in Bedford, Massachusetts.

Tomorrow I will show you some of the bronze bricks depicting historic events that have taken place in Boston.

176 Federal Street

Street medallion in front of a Federal Street office building. Another example of what can easily be overlooked in our busy lives as we hurry along on crowded sidewalks.

Repairing Piers on the Esplanade

Rebuilding piers on the Charles River. This is near the Hatch Shell on the Charles River Esplanade.

109 State Street

73

Building Number on 73 Tremont Street, situated on the corner of Beacon and Tremont. It is directly across the street from the Omni Parker House and One Beacon Street, which can be partially seen in the brass plate.

Tree in the Public Gardens

Night Bank Deposits

A Mosler night deposit box on a Franklin Street bank. The Mosler Safe Company was at one time the largest safe-making company in the world. Its safes and vaults were renowned for their strength and precision manufacture, several Mosler vaults installed in Hiroshima's Mitsui Bank building prior to WWII survived the nuclear attack, and the company subsequently produced doors for missile silos and even the vault now used to display and store the United States Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Mosler was sold in 1967 to American Standard Inc., a diversified concern, and later to a private concern before going bankrupt in 2001.

I wonder how many of these night safe deposit boxes are still in use?

Haymarket III

Fresh fish for sale at Haymarket. In addition to all the fruit and vegetables we have seen the last couple of days, fresh fish is also sold at Haymarket.

Haymarket II

Here is another picture of some of the fresh fruits on sale at Haymarket. Be careful if you stand if front of any of the stands or there's no way you can go away empty handed!

Haymarket

Haymarket is Boston's great outdoor market, you can buy everything from fruits and vegetable to fish just off the boat. For the next couple of days, I'll show you a few pictures I recently took at Haymarket.

Freedom Trail Medallion

I was going to post this picture another day, but noticed that Fenix at Bostonscapes (DP) posted a picture of the Freedom Trail today so I thought it would be a nice complement to her posting. These medallions dot the Freedom Trail and are easily overlooked when following the red line. This medallion is on the corner of Beacon and Tremont in front of King's Chapel.

New Luxe Condo Going Up

This luxury condo being built is going to be a "full service condominium residence" and called "45 Province," probably because that is its address and they couldn't come up with a more imaginative name.

The light colored brick building in the background is the Omni Parker House Hotel, which is undergoing renovation. If you enlarge the picture you should be able to see workmen on the side of the building. The entire front of the hotel is covered with scaffolding and netting.

Arch Street Fair

The Arch Street Church's Franciscan Priests held a street fair on Tuesday this week to raise money for their outreach programs. The priest selling leather goods had quite a variety of quality items to sell.

Boston Common Garage Entrance

One of the entrances to the underground Boston Common Garage.

Charles Street Jail

The Charles Street Jail was closed in 1990 and acquired by neighboring Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). The X-shaped jail building has been totally renovated and re-christened as the luxury four star Liberty Hotel. The Jail's historical facade of gray Quincy Granite has been kept and a few of the original jail cells have also been restored and are supposed to be on view in the hotel lobby area. Enlarge the photo and you will see that bars on the window have been kept to enhance the flavor of the original building. How Disneyesque of the developers. Spend a night in Jail with bars on the windows, all for only about $400 a night.

Tombstones and tea

I thought this was an unusual sight, an outdoor cafe next to a cemetery. This is in the cemetery at King's Chapel.