Halloween on Beacon Hill

I have lived in Boston for several years now, but I did not know that Beacon Hill is such a happening place on Halloween. This year I ended up on Beacon Hill on the night of Halloween because I was helping out with Boston By Foot's "Beacon Hill With A Boo" tour.

The tour itself fits in with the Halloween spirit very well, uncovering the stories of mystery and murder that still haunt the neighborhood. While listening to these stories, we walked through the usually quiet streets of Beacon Hill now filled with crowds of people dressed in costumes. It seemed like the entire population of greater Boston has gathered on the hill. Almost every house proudly displayed carved pumpkins on their steps and spider webs spread across the windows. The neighborhood residents sat around on their doorsteps sipping wine and giving out candy to children. Even Senator John Kerry, who lives in Louisburg Square, came out to greet the crowds gathered at his doorsteps while someone from his house was offering candy.

After the tour ended, Nick and I spent more time walking the streets of Beacon Hill. I particularly enjoyed a little garden on Chestnut Street where a headless knight and ghosts flying overhead greeted the passers by.

Boston: Getting into the Details

After 5 weeks of complete immersion in Boston’s history and architecture, I have passed the written and the oral exams to become a Boston By Foot guide. Now I can concentrate on learning my tour. And by “my tour” I mean the Victorian Back Bay tour, which I signed up to give for the first time on June 7th.

I have been enjoying looking through old photographs of Boston uploaded by the Boston Public Library. The Trinity Church in Copley Square was completed in 1877, but at the time it did not look the same as we know it today. The following photos show Trinity Church before the western porch was added in 1897. At the time, the towers above the western entrance were also replaced. In these photographs you can see the church with the original entrance towers.

Stereograph of Trinity Church taken circa 1875

This stereograph of Trinity Church is not dated, but I dare to guess that it was also taken circa 1875

This photo of Trinity Church was taken in August, 1888, and there are no towers above the western entrance.

Trinity Church today as seen on a postcard

While doing homework on Victorian Boston...

While doing research for my Victorian Boston paper (for the Boston By Foot Guide In Training program), I went back to the Boston Public Library flickr account. Thus I came across a whole set of old photographs documenting the construction of the McKim building.

Amongst those photos, I came across this gem (the photo above), capturing Trinity Church before the western porch and the west facade towers were added.

On the right in this same photo you can see Sturgis & Brigham's original Museum of Fine Arts building of 1876.

Walking Around Colonial Boston

If you thought my discussion of the word "muddle" was a bit... should we say muddled, then you cannot imagine my state of confusion in trying to figure out and write about the difference between Colonial and Georgian architecture. And why am I writing essays on Colonial Boston? Because I am currently training to become a Boston By Foot guide. One lecture and one paper down, 4 lectures, 3 papers and 1 exam to go before I might be ready to give any tours.

In the process of reading up on a few of Boston's 18th century buildings, I have discovered that the Boston Public Library has a Flickr account containing public images of old Boston photographs, rare books, manuscripts and many other interesting items.

Did you know that the Old South Meeting House was the largest building in Boston at the time it was built in 1729?

Though built to function as a church, the Old South Meeting House often housed town meetings because it was the largest building in Colonial Boston, and Faneuil Hall has become too small. (Faneuil Hall was not expanded until 1806.) Thus, inadvertently, the Old South Meeting House has become one of the centers for Revolutionary activity.