45-83 Albany street boston, ma
Zachary E.
Welcome to 45-83 Albany Street! In this section you will learn about urban continuity and change in Boston via a niche look at a small parcel situated next to the Boston and Albany Railyard. This parcel is a unique look into the residential landscape of downtown Boston and the changes that this landscape underwent from the 19th into the 20th centuries. Enjoy!
The people
The Evolution of an Irish Neighborhood in the Urban Landscape of Boston.
We start our journey with the Hopkins map from 1874. This is a good place to ground our understanding of the parcel and it's evolution overtime. From this map we can see that the parcel residents are primarily of mixed Anglo and Irish origin. This is suggested by the surnames of the residents. Some have more Anglo surnames such as Wellington and Bennett, while others have typical Irish surnames like Riley, Casey, Kimball and McLaughlin. The Bennetts, for example, are an American family and live on the property of their father. The map states that the property belongs to "Joshua Bennett Heirs". The resident, however, is Andrew Bennett, a policeman, and his wife Elizabeth and two children. On the other hand, you have the McLaughlins, who are a prime example of Irish residents. James McClaughlin was a physician born in Ireland. According to the 1870 census, Dr. James McLaughlin resided on Albany Street and was 53 years old at the time of the census. He had a wife, Mary, and a son, James age 10. It is also interesting that Dr. McLaughlin was employed as a physician and lived in such a working class neighborhood adjacent to the policeman Mr. Bennett. If we look at proceeding maps over twenty or so year intervals we can see a substantial increase in the number of Irish residents and the flight of the Anglo residents. What is interesting, however, is that the Bennetts held their plot all the way into the 1920s. The only time they do not appear as property owners is in the 1938 map, when their property is bought by the Irish Cadigans. This story of increasing "Irishitization" makes sense as the US saw continuous increases in Irish immigration as the 19th century progressed, especially in East Coast cities like Boston. In the 1895 Bromley map we see a great many more Irish owners and substantial continuity of ownership as well. The Kimball heirs now own the parcels of their father's and the McLaughlins still reside on the parcel as well.
New Irish residents, the McCaffreys also appear to have acquired property according to the 1890 census and the Bromley map from 1895. John J. McCaffrey was born in Ireland about 1829 and was age 70 at the time of the census. He is the only J. McCaffrey living in Boston at this time. It may be that he was in real estate investing as he began to acquire multiple properties on this parcel around this time. In 1917, the neighborhood consolidated in terms of property ownership and was still predominantly Irish. McCaffrey acquired two more additional properties via a trust on the parcel, expanding his ownership on the block. The Waterproofing Co., a cement manufacturer, also moved into the parcel and was the first business to open its doors there. Jumping ahead twenty more years, by 1938 in the Bromley Map we can see two banks owning multiple parcels. I speculate that this is due to foreclosures brought on by the Great Depression. It is not clear if this is the case, but we can see the banks mentioned, Home Savings Bank and Union Savings Bank, involved in other foreclosures at this time. Specifically, Home Savings Bank was involved in legal litigation in Massachusetts regarding foreclosures in Amy P. Row vs. Home Savings Bank, a case regarding residential rights and foreclosed properties.
Ultimately we can see that, over time, the neighborhood became predominantly Irish with a significant amount of family continuity. Irish immigrants flooded Boston in the 19th and early twentieth centuries, and they would have settled in the area of this parcel. The properties also remained in the same families for multiple generations. This was a common trend among immigrant families. Property was expensive and if there was no need to replace a home, then why replace it? It is also interesting to note that among all of the people I found, none were employed by the Boston and Albany Railroad even though it was located right across the street.
The Business
The Waterproofing Co. and its Legacy
The Waterproofing Company is also known as the Cow Bay Corp due to their patent on Cow Bay cement, a proprietary coating for interior foundation walls. The company was founded in New York in 1905 by John Manville. The company specializes in interior foundation coating against mold and water damage. Their secondary office was located at 63 Albany Street in Boston and was run by Blanchard Ford. The company is denoted as owning property on both the 1917 and 1938 Bromley maps. This new location for the company was a smart choice for a firm involved in construction. The parcel abuts the freight house for the Boston and Albany Railroad, allowing ease of access to transportation for the product. Additionally, the Albany Street neighborhood was an industrial area. The port was close by, and the railroad was right across the street. This area would have been teaming with potential clients for the firm. New construction was taking place rapidly. The Hudson Building, for instance, was a new art deco office building located right behind the parcel and the Albany building across Kneeland Street is another piece of major new construction taking place at around the same time. Clearly the Waterproofing Company did well as they are still in existence today and are located in Roxbury, a neighborhood of Boston, and by the same family.
It is interesting to note that no other businesses ever operated on this parcel in its entire existence. The Waterproofing Co. is the only business to ever have opened its doors on 45-83 Albany Street. This is in contrast to the rest of the neighborhood, which was incredibly industrialized. Directly across the street was the Boston and Albany Railroad Freight House No. 2, a depot behind South Station that would have acted as a freight terminal for the railroad and the port. Diagonally across Kneeland Street from the parcel was the Leather District, which housed numerous tanneries and workshops. Most of these buildings were built to strict code due to the great fire of 1872, however, the Beaux-Arts Albany Building is an architectural gem which still stands today. Also, the Hudson Building was another architectural gem that stands directly behind the parcel. This building was a commercial office built in the Art-Deco style, one of the few in Boston, and still stands today.
These three buildings adjacent to the property are the business legacy of the neighborhood, and save for the railroad they still remain today.
The Built Neighborhood
Demolition
View from the demolished buildings of the backside of the homes on Hudson Street. These buildings would have been similar to the demolished ones in style and size.
The Freight House
From the Parcel with the Albany Building and Custom House in Background.
View from Kneeland Street
The demolished Parcel is clearly visible from Kneeland street with the Hudson building standing prominently in the background.
It seems that the neighborhood in which 45-83 Albany Street is a part of changed and grew in many ways over the years. However, this parcel remained, for the most part, unchanged throughout its history. The neighborhood began as relatively residential with the only industrial buildings belonging to the Boston and Albany Railroad. This can be seen in the map from 1874 with the Freight House and terminals. However, as time went by we can see a substantial increase of industrial/commercial use buildings in this neighborhood.
Specifically looking at the B&A Railroad and the Albany and Hudson Buildings as case studies, we can see that increasing industrialization occurred in the neighborhood between 1874-1938. The B&A Railroad began to develop property in the later 19th century. In the map from 1874 the freight house and passenger terminal do not yet exist. However, in the 1895 map we can see the addition of the freight house and train station. A picture of the train station is included below to the right. This shows increasing industrialization in the neighborhood because when industrialization occurs, the need for increased transportation goes along with it. Hence the buildup of the railroad. The Albany Building in the Leather District, adjacent to the parcel, is another example of how the built landscape changed over time. This building, from 1899 (featured below), was designed by Peabody & Stearns in the Beaux-Arts style as a commercial office building.
Finally, by the 1920s we can see the development of skyscrapers in the neighborhood with the addition of the 14 story Hudson Building. This building is a prime example of the Art Deco style in Boston and was used as a commercial office building. This building lies directly behind our parcel.
The parcel, on the other hand, remained relatively unchanged as time went by. No new building were ever built on the parcel and it remained largely residential for its entire existence. This is very interesting considering how much the neighborhood developed overtime.
The Present & Closing Remarks
The legacy of 45-83 Albany Street stands today as a modern high-rise apartment building called One Greenway. This luxury property is a far cry from the town homes of old, which were demolished in the 1950s to make way for the Chinatown Tunnel as a part of the Central Artery. Moreover, this parcel can be seen as an analogy for the urban landscape of Boston. This parcel stood the test of time until it was demolished to make way for the Central Artery. For more than half a century it stood empty until it was replaced by the modern One Greenway. Boston has followed a similar path. The city is a blend of old and new, with modern skyscrapers and colonial era buildings. The struggle to preserve the past and build the future will be a part of Boston for the rest of its existence.
Works Cited
A special thanks to Leslie Jones for providing some of the amazing images seen on this website!
Leslie Jones, 1886-1967