fbpx

View of Franklin Street before the fire of 1872, Franklin Place and Tontine Crescent, Boston, Mass., 1856-1858

Update Our ticketing, donations, and membership sales portal is down for scheduled maintenance on the afternoon of 4/11.

Search Collections

Collection Type

  • Photography

GUSN

GUSN-202258

You can find this within

Browse Collection

Description

Tontine Crescent, a Bulfinch designed block of residences, is seen on the right side of the image. It was completed in 1794 and demolished in 1858. The block was part of Franklin Street and was between Hawley and Otis Streets. The central pavilion with the pillars was used by the Boston Library Society until 1858 and was replicated as the façade of the Kirstein Business Branch of the Boston Public Library on City Hall Avenue. The street on the left is Franklin Place. The structures on both sides of the street and the park were replaced by commercial buildings.

Details

Descriptive Terms

exterior views
houses
dwellings
town houses
intersections
libraries (buildings)
pillars
albumen prints
photographs

Inscription

Recto of mount: [embossed with photographer's name and address:] Photograph By WHIPPLE & BLACK 96 WASH'N ST.; Verso of mount: Franklin St. Boston - Before the fire of 1872 [in a different hand:] From Estate of W.W. Clapp June 23-1915. [in a different hand:] File Spec. Photos Whipple & Black - 1856-1859 {Gift of Bostonian Society 22 Nov. 1923}

Additional Identification Number

OVP Photo Database Number 45
OVP Number OVP0043

Physical Description

1 photographic print

Collection Code

PC001

Collection Name

General photographic collection

Date of Acquisition

22 November 1913

Reference Code

PC001.01.TMP.043

Image Dimensions

10.875 x 9.75 (HxW)(inches)

Credit Line

Gift of the Estate of W.W. Clapp to the Bostonian Society, 13 June 1913; Gift of the Bostonian Society to Historic New England/SPNEA.

Places

Boston (Suffolk county, Massachusetts)

Record Details

Originator

Whipple & Black (Photographer)

Material Type

albumen prints
photographs

Other People

Bulfinch, Charles, 1763-1844

Other Organizations

Boston Library
Boston Public Library

Subjects

Architectural photography
Tontine Crescent (Boston, Mass.)
Franklin Place (Boston, Mass.)
Franklin Street (Boston, Mass.)
Hawley Street (Boston, Mass.)
Otis Street (Boston, Mass.)

Restrictions

Top right quarter of recto stained; scratched; mount stained from adhesive along edges of print; bottom right corner of mount missing.

Description Level

Item

Reparative Language in Collections Records

Historic New England is committed to implementing reparative language description for existing collections and creating respectful and inclusive language description for new collections. If you encounter language in Historic England's Collections Access Portal that is harmful or offensive, or you find materials that would benefit from a content warning, please contact [email protected].