Tag: Boston

Boston: South End Running Route

Boston: South End Running Route

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The South End is a favorite of locals and visitors. It’s a compact, lively neighborhood that is easy to access from Downtown, Back Bay, and many hotels and tourist destinations. Running or walking along the flat, shady streets of the South End, you’ll be charmed by this “historic district”—the largest group of Victorian structures in the country. Long an immigrant neighborhood, the South End still retains its diversity. Its distinctive architecture is invigorated by an array of unique restaurants, art galleries clothing and furniture shops. The streets of the South End are flat, much like the Back Bay; both areas were created by filling in tidal marshes. Unlike the legendary crooked streets of Downtown, South End streets were laid out in a grid pattern, making it easier to get around.

Click for “WalkBoston’s South End Running Routes” PDF

 

Walking Map of Bridges and Esplanades along the Charles River

Walking Map of Bridges and Esplanades along the Charles River

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For a great cinematic view of Boston take a ride over the Charles River on the Red Line across the Longfellow Bridge between Kendall Square and Charles/MGH Stations. The train accelerates as it leaves the station to meet the rising curve of the bridge, and the short spell of darkness in the subway tunnel dissolves on a sunny day in a flash of blue sky and open water.

This walk takes a longer look at the views of the Lower Charles from a succession of vantage points along the bridge. It encompasses what appears to be one of the most visible and carefully preserved natural features of Boston. However, during the mid-19th century the shallow basin was lined with tenements and industries; at low tide it was a vast expanse of sewage-laden mud flats.

The reclamation of the riverbanks began with the Cambridge Esplanade in 1883 and continues to this day. This walk takes in many of the Charles River’s loveliest and most historic sites–not to mention its incomparable views of the city.

Click for “Bridges and Esplanades Along the Charles River” Walking map on Google maps

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

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

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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: South Bay and the Shirley-Eustis House Walking Map

Boston: South Bay and the Shirley-Eustis House Walking Map

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If you look past the South Bay’s energy of modern commerce with some imagination, you can still visualize three-masted sailing ships, muscular steam locomotives, aristocratic estates, horse-drawn streetcars, and personalities of an earlier age who shaped and were shaped by the evolution of this area.

When the Puritans arrived in Boston, they found two large bays separated by a narrow isthmus roughly following today’s Washington Street. The southern bay—unsurprisingly named South Bay—was a large tidal marsh.

The bluffs overlooking South Bay, graced by the stately mansion of British royal governor William Shirley, were gradually lined with homes by the local gentry of the young republic. Influenced by the Industrial Revolution, over the 19th century these forces transformed the bay into a place devoted to industry and commerce.
Today only the Fort Point Channel remains as a remainder of South Bay’s watery history. Explore today’s South “Bay,” the neighborhood that landfill built.


Click for “WalkBoston’s South Bay and the Shirley-Eustis House Walking Map” on Google Maps

Boston: South Boston and Dorchester Bay Walking Map

Boston: South Boston and Dorchester Bay Walking Map

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South Boston has the longest continuously accessible ocean waterfront of any Boston neighborhood; it also has one of the city’s highest hill, complete with panoramic views of Boston Harbor and Dorchester Bay. In comparison with the downtown side of South Boston, where port activities dominate, the south side of the peninsula is highly accessible, with many public beaches and walkways. Here active waterfront uses predominate–large public bathhouses and beaches, shaded pavilions to take in the views, yacht clubs, and fishing spots.


Click for “WalkBoston’s South Boston and Dorchester Bay Walking Map” on Google Maps