Corner of Church & Fayette Streets, Bay Village

The name gives a clue, this was once tidal mud flats that formed part of Back Bay. This part of Back Bay was reclaimed in the 1820s, before the the rest of the bay was filled in. The area was settled by craftsmen, many of whom worked  on Beacon Hill mansions. It is perhaps not surprising that many of the houses in Bay Village bear a resemblance to those on Beacon Hill, albeit on a somewhat smaller scale.

Theatre District & Chinatown

Jacob Wirth Restaurant, 31-37 Stuart Street

Boston’s second oldest restaurant (after the Union Oyster House) started in 1868 on the other side of the street, and in 1878 it moved to this 1844 building. Jacob Wirth was born in a wine growing area of Prussia that is now within Germany.  He emigrated to the USA and wasted no time in opening his restaurant in Boston’s Theatre District. The Jacob Wirth Restaurant is still going strong today and remains true to its Germanic roots. It has a menu that offers many traditional German specialities and a huge range of beers. The exterior has been restored to how it looked in Wirth’s days and the interior has been kept as close to the original as modern hygene regulations will allow.

Filene's Department Store, Washington & Summer Streets

William Filene's Sons & Co clothing store  was founded in Boston in 1881. William’s sons Edward and Lincoln expanded the business and turned it into a department store.  In 1909 Edward opened the "Automatic Bargain Basement" to sell surplus stock from the department store. Unsold stock would be marked down further after a set period of time. Filene’s Basement, as it became known, separated from the department store in 1988. In 2006 Filene’s Department Store was purchased by rival Macy’s. Although most Filene’s branches were re-branded as Macy’s, the  flagship store in Boston was closed and work began to redevelop the site. The building had been added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 so the facade had to be preserved. This picture was taken in 2003 when the store was still trading. When we last visited Boston in 2008 the exterior looked much the same but inside it was an empty shell.

St Paul's Cathedral

Overlooking Boston Common is a building that looks more like an American bank than a church. St. Paul’s Cathedral was built in 1820 to a Greek-revival design by Alexander Parris. It was Parris who designed Quincy Market and both buildings were designed to look like Greek temples. Built as and Episcopal church, St Paul’s became a cathedral in 1908.

Chinatown Gate, Beach Street

Although it is best known for its European immigrants such as the Irish and Italians, Boston has the third largest Chinatown in the USA after San Francisco and New York. While Boston’s Chinatown is full of Chinese, Japanese, Cambodian, and Vietnamese businesses, it does not have the bustle of the San Francisco and New York versions. It is the only Chinatown in New England. The obligatory Chinatown Gate marks the start of the area which is centred on Beach Street.

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In common with many parts of Boston, in Colonial times much of this area was mud flats but since then the mud flats have been reclaimed. This is a very diverse area which includes the main shopping centre known as Downtown Crossing in the north and the Theatre District in the centre. To the west is Bay Village where craftsmen who worked on Boston mansions built their houses. In the east of this area is Chinatown while to the south is an area that used to be known as the ‘Combat Zone’. It was Boston’s red light district but nowadays it is becoming more upmarket.

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© Mike  Elsden 1981 - 2023

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