History of Phillips Brooks Statue at the Trinity Church Boston

If you make your way around the left corner from the front façade of Trinity Church (that would be the north side) there is a memorable bronze statue which commemorates the long time preacher for Trinity, Phillips Brooks. Brooks was known for delivering some of the most noted sermons across American right here during the late 19th century.

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It was Brooks who, after the original Trinity Church was destroyed via fire in 1872, who worked so diligently to ensure the construction of the building in front of you. Brooks’ powerful sermons, including the funeral of Abraham Lincoln, were the product of much hard work. When he delivered his 1st sermon in London’s Westminster Abbey it was said, his voice could not be heard beyond the 1st row. Through much effort and motivation, Phillips became one of the most influential speakers of our time. Ironically, despite his countless motivational speeches, it is a little song known as O’ Little Town of Bethlehem for which we wrote that he is best known for.

The statue was constructed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens in 1910, although not formally moved to its current location until 1925. The statue depicts Brooks standing in his robes with his left arm resting on a podium while raising his right arm while no doubt delivering one of his infamous speeches. Situated directly behind Brooks is Jesus Christ with his hand resting on the Brooks’ shoulder as if providing support or perhaps filtering his own message directly through Brooks. Just below the statue are the words, “Preacher of the Word of God / Lover of Mankind / Born in Boston / Died in Boston.”

• Website: http://www.trinitychurchboston.org/
• Address: 206 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA
• Cost: Tours are $6 for adults (guided or self-guided) and free for children under 16

Street History of North End in Boston

Street History of North End in Boston - Ever find yourself walking a neighborhood, perhaps for the first time or perhaps for the hundredth time, and wondering, “How did this street get its name?” or “”What are the origins of this street?”

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You Might Read This: Boston’s North End History

1. Endicott Street – This street was named on June 13, 1836 for Governor Endicott whom was the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colonies 1629-1665. It is also the site of the worst spelled intersection ever.
2. Fulton Street – It’s in an area just off of Fulton Street whereby many of the early Italians who came to Boston first settled upon their arrival in the 1860s. Many of the buildings around here pre-date the Italian arrival by about thirty years, placing them construction sometime around the 1830s. Fulton Street contains Boston’s first cast iron building.
3. Hanover Street – Hanover is known as the center of commercial activity in the North End, especially for restaurants. It is said that each restaurant brings with it the local cuisine of a particular area of Italy. It other words you can pick almost any one of them and not go wrong. The street was named in Colonial times in honor of King George the Third’s House of Hanover. The House of Hanover provided six monarchs to the British crown and was followed by the House of Windsor (familiar to most via Princess Diana).
4. North Street – North Street was formerly known as “Ann Street.” It had a rather poor reputation based upon the substantial number of ladies of the evening and criminal activity. It even spurred nicknames such as “The Murder District.” A large effort to cleanup the area was eventually successful. In 1851, police arrested 92 women charged with prostitution. In a final attempt to cleanup the area in 1854, the city even changed the name of the street to a simple name without negative connotations, North Street. This street is home to the oldest sign in the city.
5. Parmenter Street – In 1708 this street was the toast of the town, quite literally as in May of this year it had been named Beer Lane. When the hangover from that decision had finally subsided, the locals took a number of more attempts at trying to find the right name over the ensuing years. Other names included Bear and Bur Lane, Bridge’s Lane and Richmond Street. The street finally took on its present name on December 31, 1870. Parmenter has a unique library that is worth checking out.
6. Parmenter Street / Hanover Street Intersection – O.k., while not a lesson on street names, the street sign at this intersection is a fantastic photo opportunity to subtly remind people in the area that they are in fact in the Little Italy of Boston. Situated atop the sign are the names of various Italian cities and the direction (supposedly) to reach them. While the geography may leave something desired, it does not stop countless tourists from taking in the directions.

 INFO

• Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_End,_Boston
• Address: Various Streets (See above), Boston, MA
• Cost: Free

Boston’s North End History

To get into the tale of Boston’s North End we must begin by rolling back the clock some three hundred years before this area was truly developed. At the time, the North End was actually an island separated from Boston by a canal called the Mill Stream. As Boston began to literally expand its borders via landfill in the 1600 and 1700s, the area became home to many wealthy merchants.

The area was especially popular with a group of loyalists to the King of England called Tories. After the American Revolution, though the area began to fall into disfavor as the Tories were bolting to Canada and other rich merchants were moving to new areas such as Beacon Hill. As the money left, in moving the working class during most of the 19th century, primarily those from the shipping industry due to the area’s proximity to the waterfront. In the 1840s a new group began to make its way and settle in the North End—the Irish.

Many of these immigrants moved between the short period of 1846-1847 during the Great Potato Famine. Over 13,000 people moved in 1847 alone. This was a significant number considering that the total population of the North End was approximately 20,000 in 1850. The Irish remained the dominant ethnicity in the North End until 1880 when another group of immigrants began to take over. The reason for the transition was twofold.

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One, was that the North End Irish population had begun to decrease as they had started to settle in greater numbers in a new area—South Boston. The 2nd reason was the increased influx of another group, the Eastern European Jews (some 6,300 between 1870 and 1920). Many of the Jews settled in the area along Salem Street. While today, many of those traces are gone, replaced by Italian bakeries and such, there is still one gentle reminder on a narrow street called Baldwin Place.

If you make your way down Baldwin and look just above the 3rd floor window on #4, there is a fading Star of David visible on the façade of this former apartment building. The final major ethnicity to settle in the North End was when the Italians first began arriving in the 1860s. These figures began to steadily increase in the 1870s and by the 1920s a new majority had officially been established. And the proud Italian neighborhood we know as the North End has never looked back since as today the North End is known throughout the city as “Boston’s Little Italy.”

• Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_End,_Boston 
• Address: Hanover Street, Boston, MA (Note: Hanover is the main thoroughfare through the North End.) 
• Cost: Free.

Old South Meeting House History

The current structure with its 183 foot steeple dates back to 1729, however, was preceded by another meeting house on this site which dated back to 1670. The architectural style of the current structure is Georgian as evident via its high usage of symmetry throughout and the balustrade square tower.

Located on the fourth level of the tower is a black rounded clock which installed within the tower in 1770. That clock is still functional to this day. While multiple famous incidents have occurred at the Old South, including the baptism of Benjamin Franklin who was born not far from here, it is an incident which transpired on December 16, 1773 which will forever immortalize this former meeting house. With the Stamp Act in 1765, the British under King Charles the II, made one of their first attempts at trying to profit from their colonies by mandating a tax on all legal documents.

The British, however, did not anticipate the public outcry and response they would receive and actually rescinded this tax in less than a year. They were however less lenient on a subsequent tea tax. These taxes were collectively implemented in 1767 via the Townsend Acts, named for a British politician Charles Townsend who proposed the act. The Colonists, in turn, were not willing to concede either. On December 16, 1773 approximately 5,000 individuals gathered here (the largest meeting house in the city at the time) to discuss a course of action.

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Having previously agreed on possible “escalations” and upon realization of lacking any more diplomatic alternatives, Samuel Adams stepped to the podium and gave the signal by announcing, “The meeting can do nothing more to save this country.” As the crowd roared their approval a group of men disguised as Mohawk Indians exited the meeting house and made their way down Milk Street towards what was known as Griffin’s Wharf. Docked here were three ships named the Beaver, Dartmouth and Eleanor which were stocked full of 342 chests of imported Behea or a black tea that was imported from the Wuyi Mountains in China.

The value of that tea today would exceed more than $1 million. Obviously this act was more than the British could take and they responded via MORE legislation, this time in the form of the Coercive Acts. This effectively shuts down Boston Harbor. In further backlash, and getting back to our site at hand here, the British seized control of the Old South Meeting House in 1775, ripped it apart and basically turned it into a stable with a pub located on the balcony. The Old South almost was further desecrated in 1872 as part of the Great Fire of Boston before it was fortunately saved via a fire department which came to its rescue via Portsmouth, NH of all places.

After falling into general disarray after many years, the building was actually scheduled for demolition before a last ditch effort was successful in preserving the landmark. In 1877 the Old South finally found itself a more proper use when it was transformed into the museum as it is to this day. The Old South Meeting House is a popular attraction along Boston’s Freedom Trail. In reference to the site of the Boston Tea Party itself, Griffin’s Wharf (to which we have earlier referred) no longer exists and is now the site of the Intercontinental Hotel. Near the site of this hotel, however, is a bridge off of Seaport Boulevard and it is here that beginning in the Spring of 2012 a new museum will open with a replica of one of the ships from this famous incident.

• Website: http://www.osmh.org 
• Address: 310 Washington Street, Boston, MA 
• Cost: To enjoy the wonderful exterior is free. Museum prices are $6 for adults, $5 for senior and students, $1 children ages 6-18