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Boston: Disasters, Dirty Deeds, and Debauchery-Walking Map

If you’ve been led to believe that Boston is steeped only in patriotism, Brahmin sensibilities, Ivory Towers, and the Kennedys–think again. All is not sugar and spice in one of America’s oldest cities; the dark side is never more than a few steps away! Boston’s less-than-illustrious past extends from the arrival of the Puritans to the present day, with a ghastly deed lurking around every corer. As you stroll down the quaint streets of Boston, discovering its sometimes sordid past, you may look at this old city in an entirely new light.

This walk traces the legendary happenings of the Great Molasses Flood, the Brinks Robbery, the former Combat Zone, the Common’s 17th century Hanging Tree, and the era of Mayor James Michael Curley. The book recalls the notoriety that resulted when thousands of windows crashed one by one to the streets below from the John Hancock Tower, then under construction.

Click for “WalkBoston’s Disasters, Dirty Deeds, and Debauchery Walking Map” on Google Maps

Boston: Washington Street Walking Map

From Dudley Square to Chinatown, Washington Street is in the midst of an astonishing small-business and real-estate revival that is bringing new life and vitality to this historic part of the city. In colonial times Washington St was a narrow land bridge connecting Boston proper, which lay out on a peninsula, to the mainland behind. Boston Neck, as it was called, was not more than 100 feet wide at some points. When the early 19th century saw overcrowding of the city’s center, city business and government began to fill in the marshland along both sides of the Neck. New Chinese immigrants settled the land around the train station at the northern edge, and wealthy merchants built elegant town houses to the south. The financial panic of the 1870s led to the exodus of wealthy families. An elevated rapid transit train was constructed down the center in 1899 and did little to enhance the area’s appeal. The dismantling of the El in the 1980s finally set the stage for redevelopment.

Click for “WalkBoston – Boston’s Washington Street Walking Map” on Google Maps