Boston: Complaining about development since before you were born

Mass. Moments alerts us that today's the anniversary of the grand opening of Quincy Market, in 1826:

[O]nly two years earlier, Bostonians had derided Mayor Josiah Quincy's huge construction project — the largest public works project yet undertaken in the new nation — as "Quincy's Folly." ...

From the beginning, the mayor faced stiff resistance. Many opposed the plan because of longstanding concerns about government regulation of trade. Some insisted the project was too expensive. Others felt that such an ambitious engineering and architectural project was better left to private enterprise. A few landowners simply refused to sell their property to the city.

The Whiskey Priest of its day - you could jump off it into the harbor.

But, Mass. Moments continues, within a few years, Bostonians grew to love the marketplace, which they started calling Quincy's Market in honor or the crusading mayor who had gotten it built.

By 1850, you could no longer jump off Quincy Market into the harbor.

By the turn of the 20th century, Quincy Market had gotten rather crowded.

All images from the BPL's Quincy Market collection. Posted under this Creative Commons license.