1-35 Albany St.

The end of the 19th century was a time of great change and development in the city of Boston and there was a major focus on the expansion and growth of the city through landfill projects and efforts to develop the South End. The parcel of land between 1-35 Albany Street is an industrial area bounded by Beach St. and Kneeland St. and is part of the land-filled South Cove located at the intersection between Chinatown and the Leather District. The development and identity of Albany St. between the late 19thand mid-20th century was influenced by industrialization and the growth of railway transportation, the influx of immigrants to the south of Boston, as well as the aftermath of The Great Boston Fire of 1872. 

Once home to a multi-storyed brick building that hosted a variety of shoe businesses and tenants over the years, this parcel on Albany St. is now the John Fitzgerald Expressway Surface Road and includes just a small fraction of the infrastructure that was present before the construction of the Central Artery. Today, this parcel is also part of the Mary Soo Hoo Park in Chinatown, marking the southern end of the Rose Kennedy Greenway. In order to reconstruct and understand the story of the people, businesses and landscapes of this specific parcel and how it was impacted by major urban renewal projects, namely the construction of the Central Artery between 1951-59, there are 3 key narratives that look at the parcel's geographic proximity to railway infrastructure, the influence of the Leather Industry on the types of businesses, as well as the evolution of Boston’s Chinatown and its development on Albany St.