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Pray always did have the best selection of hardware
By adamg on Thu, 06/29/2023 - 10:12am
The folks at the Boston City Archives wonder if you can place this scene. See it larger. Also note what appears to be a cop on a quadcycle:
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Comments
This one is too easy
Everyone knows where this is.
It's 1851 to 1831 Washington St
As printed on the side of the building in the photo.
When the photo was taken is harder. 1910?
Probably around 1900
Or a bit before when the Washington St. Elevated was built out to Dudley Sq. Service started in 1901 and a lot of these photos document existing conditions before construction of BERy projects.
The Start of Lower Roxbury
This is Washington Street just south of Northampton Street looking west.
Every building is gone.
Re: Bicycle
Looks like two bicycle riders side by side but with one almost completely blocked by the other from the vantage of the camera lens.
Burying the lede
What's really interesting is the two guys in the back (including the guy in the long white coat.) They seem to be standing rather close together and maybe (?) having an argument.
The guy in white was just
The guy in white was just trying to shoplift some scarves and handbags and the store owner is patting him down
The hardware store makes me
The hardware store makes me think of the area near Dudley Station. They had a really long run for a wooden building in that area.
Cop on a quadcycle
I think I'm seeing the little kid standing between the front wheels of two people on two bikes, with the mostly hidden background guy's hat popping up above the other guy's hat in the forefront, and the profile of their arm/hand(s) on the handlebars somewhat visible, too...
The Answer!
Thanks for playing, folks!
This is the west side of Washington Street at the north corner of Willard Street on October 30, 1899. You can see a high res image here: https://cityofboston.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_11bdcca4-f6d...
This photo was taken as part of a survey of Washington Street. We're digitizing that survey and what we have done so far is available here: https://cityofboston.access.preservica.com/index.php?name=SO_0af02851-1a...
We're typically adding more photos every week so check back!