Back Bay, Boston

Coordinates: 42°21′4.66″N 71°4′49.28″W / 42.3512944°N 71.0803556°W / 42.3512944; -71.0803556 (Back Bay, Boston)
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Back Bay
)

Back Bay Historic District
Back Bay and the Charles River
Back Bay, Boston is located in Boston
Back Bay, Boston
Back Bay, Boston is located in Massachusetts
Back Bay, Boston
Back Bay, Boston is located in the United States
Back Bay, Boston
LocationBoston, Massachusetts, U.S.
ArchitectMultiple
Architectural styleMid 19th Century Revival, Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Late Victorian
NRHP reference No.73001948[1]
Added to NRHPAugust 14, 1973

Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts,[2] built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and the area was fully built by around 1900.[3] It is most famous for its rows of Victorian brownstone homes—considered one of the best preserved examples of 19th-century urban design in the United States—as well as numerous architecturally significant individual buildings, and cultural institutions such as the Boston Public Library, and Boston Architectural College. Initially conceived as a residential-only area, commercial buildings were permitted from around 1890, and Back Bay now features many office buildings, including the John Hancock Tower, Boston's tallest skyscraper.[4] It is also considered a fashionable shopping destination (especially Newbury and Boylston Streets, and the adjacent Prudential Center and Copley Place malls) and home to several major hotels.[5]

The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay considers the neighborhood's bounds to be "

Huntington Avenue, Dalton Street, and the Massachusetts Turnpike on the South; Charlesgate East on the West."[6][7]

History

View (1858) from the State House dome westward along the Mill Dam (now Beacon Street), which separated Back Bay (left) from the Charles River. The Mill Dam and the Cross Dam (in distance, in modern Massachusetts Avenue-Kenmore Square area, with mills barely visible near juncture with the Mill Dam) were part of an attempt to derive mill power from river tides. Trees along north-south waterline represent western boundary (now Arlington Street) of the Boston Public Garden.[8]

Before its transformation into buildable land by a 19th-century filling project, the Back Bay was a bay, west of the Shawmut Peninsula (on the far side from Boston Harbor) between Boston and Cambridge, the Charles River entering from the west. This bay was tidal: the water rose and fell several feet over the course of each day, and at low tide much of the bay's bed was exposed as a marshy flat. As early as 5,200 years before present, Native Americans built

fish weirs here, evidence of which was discovered during subway construction in 1913 (see Ancient Fishweir Project and Boylston Street Fishweir
).

In 1814, the Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation was chartered to construct a milldam, which would also serve as a toll road connecting Boston to Watertown, bypassing Boston Neck. The dam prevented the natural tides from flushing sewage out to sea, creating severe sanitary and odor problems.[9] With costs higher and power lower than expected, in the end, the project was an economic failure, and in 1857 a massive project was begun to "make land" by filling the area enclosed by the dam.[10]

The firm of Goss and Munson extended railroad lines to quarries in Needham, Massachusetts, 9 miles (14 km) away; a 35-car train carrying gravel and other fill arrived every 45 minutes, day and night.[11] When the Needham gravel pits were exhausted, additional fill was found in Canton, Dedham, Hyde Park, and Westwood.[12] William Dean Howells recalled "the beginnings of Commonwealth Avenue, and the other streets of the Back Bay, laid out with their basements left hollowed in the made land, which the gravel trains were yet making out of the westward hills."[13]

Present-day Back Bay itself was filled by 1882; the project reached existing land at what is now Kenmore Square in 1890, and finished in the Fens[vague] in 1900.[14] Much of the old mill dam remains buried under present-day Beacon Street.[15] The project was the largest of a number of land reclamation projects which, beginning in 1820, more than doubled the size of the original Shawmut Peninsula.

Completion of the Charles River Dam in 1910 converted the former Charles estuary into a freshwater basin; the Charles River Esplanade was constructed to allow residents to enjoy the view of the new lagoon.[16] The Esplanade has since undergone several changes, including the construction of Storrow Drive.[17]

Roads

Principal streets of Back Bay.

The Back Bay is traversed by five east–west corridors: Beacon Street, Marlborough Street, Commonwealth Avenue, Newbury Street and Boylston Street. These are interrupted at regular intervals by north–south streets named alphabetically: Arlington (along the western border of the Boston Public Garden), Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester and Hereford Streets. All of the west–east streets, except Commonwealth Avenue, are one-way streets.

In the 1960s, the "High Spine" design plan, in conjunction with development plans, gave way to the construction of high-rise buildings along the Massachusetts Turnpike, which in turn allowed the development of major projects in the area.

Architecture

John Hancock Tower
.

Building guidelines

The plan of Back Bay, by

Massachusetts Avenue (a regional thoroughfare crossing the Harvard Bridge to Cambridge and far beyond) and Charlesgate
, which forms the Back Bay's western boundary.

Setback requirements and other restrictions, written into the lot deeds of the newly filled Back Bay, produced harmonious rows of dignified three- to five-story residential brownstones (though most along Newbury Street are now in commercial or mixed use). The Back Bay is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is considered one of the best-preserved examples of 19th-century urban architecture in the United States.[20] In 1966, the Massachusetts Legislature, "to safeguard the heritage of the city of Boston by preventing the despoliation" of the Back Bay, created the Back Bay Architectural District to regulate exterior changes to Back Bay buildings.[7][21]

Since the 1960s, the concept of a High Spine has influenced large-project development in Boston, reinforced by zoning rules permitting high-rise construction along the axis of the Massachusetts Turnpike, including air rights siting of buildings.[22]

Buildings around Copley Square

Trinity Church c. 1903

John Hancock Tower
, and numerous other notable buildings.

Original home of the Museum of Fine Arts
Back Bay in Boston at night as seen from the South End
One Dalton Street
residences under construction (at left)

Other prominent Back Bay buildings

Cultural and educational institutions

Main building of the Boston Architectural College

Prominent cultural and educational institutions in the Back Bay include:

Parkland

Transportation

Back Bay is served by the

Prudential stations, and the Orange Line's Back Bay station (which is also an MBTA Commuter Rail and Amtrak
station).

Demographics

Race

Back Bay/Fenway–Kenmore (02115) Racial Breakdown of Population (2017)[29][30]
Race Percentage of
02115
population
Percentage of
Massachusetts
population
Percentage of
United States
population
ZIP Code-to-State
Difference
ZIP Code-to-USA
Difference
White 67.2% 81.3% 76.6% −14.1% −9.4%
White (Non-Hispanic) 60.7% 72.1% 60.7% −11.4% +0.0%
Asian 15.1% 6.9% 5.8% +8.2% +9.3%
Hispanic 13.2% 11.9% 18.1% +1.3% −4.9%
Black 8.9% 8.8% 13.4% +0.1% −4.5%
Native Americans/Hawaiians 0.3% 0.6% 1.5% −0.3% −1.2%
Two or more races 3.5% 2.4% 2.7% +1.1% +0.8%
Back Bay/Bay Village (02116) Racial Breakdown of Population (2017)[31][30]
Race Percentage of
02116
population
Percentage of
Massachusetts
population
Percentage of
United States
population
ZIP Code-to-State
Difference
ZIP Code-to-USA
Difference
White 77.1% 81.3% 76.6% −4.2% +0.5%
White (Non-Hispanic) 70.9% 72.1% 60.7% −1.2% +10.2%
Asian 14.4% 6.9% 5.8% +7.5% +8.6%
Hispanic 7.5% 11.9% 18.1% −4.4% −10.6%
Black 4.9% 8.8% 13.4% −3.9% −8.5%
Native Americans/Hawaiians 0.2% 0.6% 1.5% −0.4% −1.3%
Two or more races 2.2% 2.4% 2.7% −0.2% −0.5%

Ancestry

According to the 2012–2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the largest ancestry groups in ZIP Codes 02115 and 02116 are:[32][33]

Ancestry Percentage of
02115
population
Percentage of
Massachusetts
population
Percentage of
United States
population
ZIP Code-to-State
Difference
ZIP Code-to-USA
Difference
Irish 13.43% 21.16% 10.39% −7.73% +3.04%
Italian 10.57% 13.19% 5.39% −2.61% +5.18%
Chinese 7.82% 2.28% 1.24% +5.54% +6.58%
German 7.36% 6.00% 14.40% +1.36% −7.04%
English 4.89% 9.77% 7.67% −4.88% −2.77%
Polish 3.36% 4.67% 2.93% −1.31% +0.42%
Russian 3.20% 1.65% 0.88% +1.55% +2.33%
French 2.97% 6.82% 2.56% −3.85% +0.41%
Asian Indian 2.82% 1.39% 1.09% +1.43% +1.73%
Sub-Saharan African 2.67% 2.00% 1.01% +0.67% +1.66%
American 2.40% 4.26% 6.89% −1.87% −4.50%
Arab 2.12% 1.10% 0.59% +1.02% +1.53%
Mexican 2.00% 0.67% 11.96% +1.33% −9.96%
Puerto Rican
1.95% 4.52% 1.66% −2.57% +0.29%
French Canadian
1.79% 3.91% 0.65% −2.12% +1.13%
European 1.77% 1.08% 1.23% +0.69% +0.54%
Korean 1.39% 0.37% 0.45% +0.67% +0.89%
Scottish 1.16% 2.28% 1.71% −1.12% −0.55%
Greek 1.05% 1.22% 0.40% −0.17% +0.65%
Portuguese 1.05% 4.40% 0.43% −3.35% +0.62%
Swedish 1.05% 1.67% 1.23% −0.62% −0.18%
Ancestry Percentage of
02116
population
Percentage of
Massachusetts
population
Percentage of
United States
population
ZIP Code-to-State
Difference
ZIP Code-to-USA
Difference
Irish 16.93% 21.16% 10.39% −4.23% +6.54%
Italian 10.58% 13.19% 5.39% −2.61% +5.19%
Chinese 10.16% 2.28% 1.24% +7.88% +8.92%
German 9.82% 6.00% 14.40% +3.82% −4.58%
English 9.39% 9.77% 7.67% −0.39% +1.72%
Polish 4.84% 4.67% 2.93% +0.17% +1.91%
Russian 4.18% 1.65% 0.88% +2.53% +3.30%
French 3.25% 6.82% 2.56% −3.58% +0.69%
Scottish 2.65% 2.28% 1.71% +0.37% +0.94%
American 2.46% 4.26% 6.89% −1.80% −4.43%
Puerto Rican
2.46% 4.52% 1.66% −2.06% +0.80%
European 2.08% 1.08% 1.23% +1.00% −0.85%
Sub-Saharan African 1.72% 2.00% 1.01% −0.28% +0.71%
Mexican 1.56% 0.67% 11.96% +0.89% −10.40%
Asian Indian 1.52% 1.39% 1.09% +0.13% +0.43%
Arab 1.48% 1.10% 0.59% +0.38% +0.89%
Swedish 1.39% 1.67% 1.23% −0.28% +0.16%
Cape Verdean 1.38% 0.97% 0.03% +0.41% +1.35%
French Canadian
1.35% 3.91% 0.65% −2.55% +0.70%
Greek 1.29% 1.22% 0.40% +0.07% +0.89%
Dutch 1.27% 0.62% 1.32% +0.65% −0.05%
Eastern European 1.16% 0.42% 0.17% +0.74% +0.99%
Scotch-Irish 1.09% 0.63% 0.96% +0.46% +0.13%
British 1.08% 0.48% 0.43% +0.60% +0.65%

See also

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. ^ "NEIGHBORHOODS". October 13, 2017.
  3. ^ City of Boston 2017, p. 2.
  4. ^ City of Boston 2017, p. 8.
  5. .
  6. ^ "About NABB". Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay. Archived from the original on February 16, 2009. Retrieved February 25, 2009. While the city of Boston does officially recognize various neighborhoods within its confines, it does not assign precise boundaries.[citation needed]
  7. ^ a b The Back Bay Architectural District, somewhat smaller than "Back Bay" as defined by the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, is bounded by "the centerlines of Back Street on the north, Embankment Road and Arlington Street on the east, Boylston Street on the south, and Charlesgate East on the west."
  8. , p. 126
  9. Boston Globe. April 28, 2018. Archived from the original
    on May 5, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2018. which says: By 1849, a city report described Back Bay as a "cesspool" covered with "greenish scum," and its waters "bubbling like a cauldron with the noxious gases that are exploding from the corrupting mass below."
  10. . Retrieved February 25, 2015.
  11. ^ Whitehill, Walter Muir (1968). Boston: A Topographical History (Second ed.). Cambridge, Mass., Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. pp. 152–154.
  12. ^ Puleo, Stephen (2010). A City So Grand. Beacon Press. p. 95.
  13. ^ Antony, Mark; Howe, DeWolfe (1903). Boston: The Place and the People. New York: MacMillan. p. 359.
  14. ^ However, the Kenmore and Fenway land was not all built up immediately, as explained by Bainbridge Bunting in 1967: By 1900 the Back Bay residential area had almost ceased to grow. After 1910 only thirty new houses were constructed, after 1917 none at all. Instead of paying high prices for filled land on which to erect a home within walking distance of his office, the potential home builder escaped to the suburbs on the electric trolley or in his automobile. This flight from the city left empty much of the area west of Kenmore Square and adjacent to Fenway Park, and only later was it occupied by non-descript and closely-built apartments.
  15. ^ Back Bay History Archived September 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2009-02-25
  16. ^ "100 years of celebrating the Fourth of July at Esplanade". The Boston Globe. July 4, 2010. Archived from the original on July 9, 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2010.
  17. ^ Campbell, Robert (March 4, 2012). "To make a better Esplanade, harness citizens' passion". Boston Globe. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
  18. ^ City of Boston 2017, p. 3.
  19. ^ Nason, Elias (1874). A Gazetteer of the State of Massachusetts. B. B. Russell. p. 95.
  20. BBC Magazine
    . Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  21. ^ [1], [2]
  22. . Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  23. ^ Baedeker's United States, 1893
  24. ^ .: the Hancock "may be nihilistic, overbearing, even elegantly rude, but it's not dull;" the Prudential is "an energetically ugly, square shaft that offends the Boston skyline more than any other structure."
  25. ^ "Case Studies" – Urban Land Institute
  26. ^ "Nominees". Archived from the original on November 15, 2006. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
  27. ^ "Church of the Covenant:Tiffany Windows"[permanent dead link]
  28. ^ Mark Jarzombek, Designing MIT: Bosworth's New Tech (Northeastern University Press, 2004)
  29. ^ "ACS DEMOGRAPHIC AND HOUSING ESTIMATES 2012–2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  30. ^ a b "Massachusetts QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau". census.gov.
  31. ^ "ACS DEMOGRAPHIC AND HOUSING ESTIMATES 2012–2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  32. ^ "PEOPLE REPORTING ANCESTRY 2012–2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  33. ^ "ACS DEMOGRAPHIC AND HOUSING ESTIMATES 2012–2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved August 25, 2018.

References

Further reading

External links

42°21′4.66″N 71°4′49.28″W / 42.3512944°N 71.0803556°W / 42.3512944; -71.0803556 (Back Bay, Boston)