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THE SHAW MEMORIAL IS THE MOST INSPIRING PIECE OF OUT-DOOR SCULPTURE IN BOSTON. IT FACES THE STATE HOUSE ON BEACON STREET, AND STANDS BETWEEN TWO MAJESTIC ELMS. COLONEL SHAW WAS COMMANDER OF A MASSACHUSETTS REGIMENT IN THE CIVIL WAR, COMPOSED OF COLORED TROOPS. HE WAS KILLED WHILE LEADING AN ASSAULT ON FORT WAGNER, 18TH JULY 1863. THE MONUMENT COMMEMORATES THE COLORED TROOPS IN THAT ENGAGEMENT AS WELL AS THEIR COMMANDER. THE SCULPTOR WAS AUGUSTUS ST GAUDENS, AND THE DESIGNER OF THE ELABORATE STONE SETTING WAS CHARLES F. McKIM. THE EXTENSIVE INSCRIPTIONS INCLUDE VERSES BY LOWELL AND EMERSON, AND A MEMORIAL BY EX-PRESIDENT ELIOT OF HARVARD. THE COST OF THE MONUMENT WAS MET BY VOLUNTARY SUBSCRIPTIONS. IT WAS DEDICATED IN 1897. FACING THE MONUMENT THERE IS A GOOD VIEW, ACROSS THE COMMON, OF THE SPIRE OF THE PARK STREET CHURCH. IT IS THE BEST EXAMPLE REMAINING IN THE CITY OF THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE.
THE CURIOUS “PAGODA” BUILDING AT THE CORNER OF WASHINGTON AND STATE STREETS IS A CONTRAST TO THE OLD STATE HOUSE ON THE OPPOSITE CORNER. STATE STREET HERE DIVIDES, GOING ON EITHER SIDE OF THE OLD STATE HOUSE WHICH STANDS AT ITS HEAD. THE OLD STATE HOUSE OCCUPIES THE IDENTICAL SITE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MARKETSTEAD CHOSEN FOR THE FIRST TOWN HOUSE IN 1657. IT HAS SERVED AS TOWN HOUSE, COURT HOUSE, PROVINCE COURT HOUSE, STATE HOUSE, AND CITY HALL. AFTER ITS ABANDONMENT FOR CIVIL USES IT SUFFERED MANY INDIGNITIES, BEING MADE OVER & PATCHED UP FOR BUSINESS USE. IN 1881 ITS REMOVAL WAS THREATENED BY THE EFFORTS OF PUBLIC-SPIRITED CITIZENS ITS PRESERVATION WAS SECURED AND RESTORATIONS IN 1908, BY J. E. CHANDLER, HAVE GIVEN TO IT THE APPEARANCE IT HAD IN PROVINCIAL DAYS.
THE BEST VIEW OF THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE TEMPLE IS THROUGH THE FORMAL GARDEN FROM HUNTINGTON AVENUE. THIS IS THE SO-CALLED MOTHER CHURCH —THE FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST—GENEROUSLY ENDOWED BY MRS. EDDY, THE FOUNDER OF THE DENOMINATION. THE STRIKING STONE STRUCTURE IS SURMOUNTED BY A MAGNIFICENT DOME RISING TO A HEIGHT OF 220 FEET. THE AUDITORIUM HAS SITTINGS FOR FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE. CONNECTED WITH THE NEWER TEMPLE IS THE ORIGINAL CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCH IN BOSTON. THE BUILDINGS USED FOR THE PUBLICATIONS OF THE DENOMINATION ARE ALSO GROUPED UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE GREAT DOME OF THE TEMPLE. THE NORTH END OF BOSTON DURING THE EARLY COLONIAL PERIOD CONTAINED THE MANSIONS OF THE GENTRY. THE DISTRICT HAS NOW LOST MOST OF THE LANDMARKS THAT WOULD GIVE IT A DISTINCTIVE CHARM TO THE SEEKERS OF THINGS OLD AND HISTORIC. THE FIRST “COURT END” OF THE TOWN ISA FOREIGN QUARTER WITH A SWARMING POPULATION AND A JARGON OF TONGUES. YET A TONE OF TIME IN THE OLD COURTS AND NARROW STREETS MAY STILL ATTRACT THOSE IN QUEST OF THE PICTURESQUE.
THE CROSS STREETS RUNNING AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE ESPLANADE GIVE EXCELLENT IMPRESSIONS OF THE BACK BAY DISTRICT. HERE, ON MADE LAND, RECLAIMED FROM THE FLATS, IS THE MODERN COURT END OF THE CITY. GOOD EXAMPLES OF RECENT DOMESTIC AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE ARE CONSPICUOUS. ON BERKELEY STREET IS THE FIRST CHURCH OF BOSTON (UNITARIAN), FIFTH IN SUCCESSION FROM THE RUDE LITTLE STRUCTURE BUILT IN 1632 ON THE PRESENT STATE STREET. ALSO IN BERKELEY STREET IS THE GOTHIC CENTRAL CHURCH (CONGREGATIONAL TRINITARIAN). ITS SPIRE, 230 FEET HIGH, IS THE TALLEST IN THE CITY.
THE CAMBRIDGE SUBWAY TRAINS RUN UNDERGROUND FROM HARVARD SQUARE AND CROSS THE CAMBRIDGE BRIDGE IN DAYLIGHT BEFORE PLUNGING UNDER BEACON HILL TO THE PARK STREET TERMINUS. AS THE TRAIN EMERGES FROM THE TUNNEL ON THE CAMBRIDGE SIDE—WHILE CROSSING THE BRIDGE—THERE IS A MAGNIFICENT VIEW OF THE CITY FROM THE WEST. THE BACK BAY DISTRICT LIES ACROSS THE CHARLES RIVER BASIN. ON THE OTHER SIDE, AT THE END OF THE CHARLES BANK, IS THE VIADUCT CONNECTING BOSTON AND EAST CAMBRIDGE AT THE CHARLES RIVER DAM. IN FRONT RISES BEACON HILL, UNDER WHICH THE SUBWAY BURROWS. THE STATE HOUSE, WITH ITS GILDED DOME, CAPS THE HILL AS IT RISES FROM THE RIVER BANK. THE DIGNIFIED RESIDENTIAL STREETS ON THIS WESTERN SLOPE ARE FULL OF THE ATMOSPHERE OF OLD BOSTON. |