A Timeline of Urban Development
1700-1800: Boston as a Maritime Town
1713 Today's "Old State House," then known as the second Town House is dedicated at today's 206 Washington Street . The Town House is intended to be the center of both commerce and government.
1715 Boston's Long Wharf is completed. At 1,500 feet long and 54 feet wide, the Wharf is the longest pier in the colonies, making Boston an important port city.
1742 Fanueil Hall opens. The building serves as the town hall and home of the state legislature and the Supreme Judicial Court, with the first floor serving as a market.
1760 A Great Fire breaks out in the Dock Square and waterfront area. Over three hundred shops, warehouses, and homes are burned.
1775 Another Great Fire burns twenty-five warehouses in Boston.
1775 The battles of Lexington and Concord are fought on April 19, marking the beginning of the Revolutionary War. On April 20, the Siege of Boston begins. During the following winter the British demolish over one hundred buildings for firewood.
1776 The British evacuate Boston on March 17, leaving the Boston harbor aboard 125 ships. On July 18 the Declaration of Independence is read at the Town House (today's Old State House) in Boston.
1800-1900: The Beginnings of Urban Renewal
1800-1820 Boston 's population grows rapidly due to a boom in the maritime industry. By the mid-19 th century, Boston is facing a shortage of land to support its multiplying population and expanding commercial industry.
1803 The Middlesex Canal opens, allowing boats to bring goods including textiles and granite from the Merrimack Valley to the Boston Harbor . The canal remains an important transport route until the railroads are developed. The last boat sails through the canal in 1852.
1822 Boston becomes a city; the townspeople vote to incorporate as a city on January 7
1826 The original Quincy Market opens. The complex is considered the first urban renewal project in the United States.
1845 1855 Boston receives over 230,000 new immigrants, including many Irish immigrants escaping the potato famine. Poor Irish districts become overcrowded, and slums develop.
1840 1860 Development of the South End: Elegant homes and commercial buildings are constructed to attract wealthy families.
1850s The Back Bay landfill project is launched to transform the marshlands surrounding the Charles river into land for building expansion. The State Commission on Boston Harbor and the Back Bay was established in 1848, and in 1852 it completed a report stating recommendations to fill the Back Bay. Excavation and construction for the Back Bay Landfill project begins in 1858 with gravel transported from Needham filling the marshlands west of Charles Street. The project is completed in 1880.
1861 Oliver Wendell Holmes uses the term Boston Brahmin to refer to the elite class of Anglo-Saxon (Yankee) Bostonians in his book Elsie Venner . The Brahmins dominated Boston 's political scene until the early 20 th century, when the Irish challenged their political power.
1875 The first community in today's Chinatown is created after Chinese workers are brought from California because of a strike in North Adams , and settle in Boston .
1880s Large numbers of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe begin arriving in Boston .
1900-1950: Boston in Decline
1914 - Irish-American Mayor James Michael Curley is elected to his first term as Boston 's Mayor. He dominates Boston 's political scene for almost forty years, serving three terms as mayor before being elected Governor in 1935. He is elected to a fourth term as Boston 's Mayor in 1945.
1920s The textile industry begins to weaken, and Boston 's economy declines.
1928 Local Zoning codes are modified to allow for the construction of taller buildings.
1930 Mayor James Michael Curley proposes the Fifty-Year Plan for Boston 's development, though his promises fall short when he is unable to get sufficient federal funds for emergency projects during the great Depression.
1930s Boston falls into steep decline during the Depression years, as once-vibrant areas like Scollay Square and the Boston Common become run down.
1940s Prosperity is generated by the war-time economy, but very little is spent on long-term restoration projects. New businesses in the growing electronics industry move to the suburbs.
1947 The Old John Hancock Building is opened.
1950-1990: Demolition and Development
1950-1960 Boston's population falls by 100,000.
1950 Mayor John B. Hynes is enters office, after defeating James Michael Curley. During his three consecutive terms as Mayor, Hynes oversees several redevelopment projects including the demolition of the West End and the New York Streets of the South End. He creates the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), which demolishes Scollay Square to make way for Government Center. While in office, Mayor Hynes also begins the Artery Project.
1951 Demolition work begins for the Central Artery, an elevated highway running through the center of Boston . The Centeral Artery cuts through the North End and Chinatown, dividing downtown Boston from the waterfront. The construction displaced an estimated 20,000 residents and 1,000 structures have to be removed from its path. The highway opens in 1956.
1954 Mayor John Hynes outlines a new vision for Boston in a speech delivered at Boston College entitled Boston Whither Goest Thou?
1954 Preservation efforts for Quincy Market begin.
1958 The controversial West End urban renewal plan begins, calling for the demolition of forty-six acres of land to build an upscale neighborhood to attract private investment. An estimated 28,000 homes are torn down and 4,050 families displaced. The West End is redeveloped by the Rappaport Group as Charles River Park luxury apartments.
1959 The Boston Planning Board releases the Government Center Plan, which calls for the transformation of Scollay Square into a site for government buildings.
1960 1968 John Collins serves as Boston 's mayor. During his term he oversees the construction of the Prudential Center and Government Center .
1962 Demolition of Scollay Square and construction of Government Center begins.
1965 The Prudential Center is finished and dedicated with an estimated 35,000 people in attendance. Standing at 750 feet, it is at the time the tallest building in the world outside Manhattan .
1974 Turmoil erupts around Phase I of the Boston busing plan, in which four thousand students were bused to promote integration in the Boston public school system. The busing plan was enacted after Judge W. Arthur Garrity ruled in the Morgan v. Hennigan case that the school system knowingly carried out a systematic program of segregation. Opposition to busing ignites protests and violence over the next two years.
1974 The Boston National Historic Park is created which includes Bunker Hill, Old State House, Faneuil Hall, and the Charlestown Navy Yard.
1976 Quincy Marketplace reopens after extensive renovations. The reopening marks the 150 th anniversary of its original dedication.
1976 The New John Hancock Tower opens. Standing at 790 feet it is the tallest building in Boston .
1976 Boston's Bicentennial celebration is marked by Queen Elizabeth's visit to Boston . The Queen tours sites on the Freedom Trail and speaks from the State House balcony where the Declaration of Independence was first read two hundred years earlier.
1983 The Boston Zoning Commission adopts the Linkage ordinance which requires large commercial developers to contribute to affordable housing building projects. Though this ordinance was nullified by the Supreme Court in 1986, it is redrafted and signed into law in 1987.
1986 The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) launches the South End Neighborhood housing initiative to redevelop the South End.
1990-2006: Big Dig and Big Plans
1990 Boston becomes the city with the twentieth largest population (574,283 inhabitants) in the United States .
1991 Groundbreaking and construction for the Big Dig, also known as the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, begins. The largest public works project in U.S. history with $755 million allocated by Congress, the Big Dig lasts for over fourteen years. The project aims to reduce traffic congestion from the 190,000 vehicles clogging the Central Artery every day by dismantling the elevated Artery and rerouting traffic underground. It is completed in 2006.
1993 Thomas Menino is named acting mayor of Boston , and in 1994 wins the election to become the first Italian-American Mayor in Boston 's history. Mayor Menino goes on to be elected to four terms in office.
1995 The Fleet Center opens as a replacement for the Boston Garden .
1997 The Lowell Square housing development opens as the first affordable housing unit in the West End since the neighborhood was bulldozed in the late 1950s to make way for luxury housing. Former West End residents seek priority on all the units but are given preference to no more than 55 percent.
2002 Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge is completed.
2003 The depressed Central Artery is opened, now built to cope with 250,000 vehicles per day.
2004 The old elevated Central Artery is dismantled. The Rose Kennedy Greenway is dedicated and construction begins.
2006 The Big Dig reaches 98 percent completion as of March. |
