Expansions To cross Street

Though some would consider Cross Street congested today, this congestion is not exclusively a modern problem. Cross Street has long been the subject of widening efforts, with one project of note being carried out in the early 20th century. In 1916, a proposal was made that targeted the specific block that I am studying, from 26 to 54 Cross, which is flanked by Salem, Cross, Endicott, and Stillman streets. This article describes it as “undoubtedly the most congested block in the North End,” the home of 1000 persons, all housed in crowded tenements split up by blind, narrow alleys. This made the occupancy of the block 600 persons to the acre. According to this proposal, the hazards posed by these strenuous housing conditions necessitated the widening of all four streets and the razing of the central tenements in order to make space for a playground, which would be eventually be realized in 1920 as Cutillo Park (Boston Daily Globe, 1916). Though nothing initially came of this proposal, an architect named Ralph Adams Cram proposed a few years later that the city should approve a project that would raze tenements in the North End in order to widen congested streets, with Cross Street being one such example. He alluded to the awful conditions in the area, apparently “worse than the trenches in France” (Boston Daily Globe, 1920). However, despite acknowledgment of the situation, the city ultimately decided that other expansion efforts, focused on Stuart Street and Exchange Street, were more important than those regarding Cross Street (Boston Daily Globe, 1920).