BOSTON 



146 



BOSTON 



and their direction is determined by the irregu- 

 larities of the surface. Many of them are so 

 narrow that vehicles are allowed to traverse 

 them only in one direction. Even Washington 

 Street, the main thoroughfare in the retail 

 t, is so narrow that sufficient space can- 

 not be allowed for reasonably-wide sidewalks, 

 and during the busy hours crowds of pedes- 

 trians regularly use the paved street. Tremont 

 Street, another important avenue for retail 

 shops, is wider, and for a considerable part of 

 ita length runs along the Common, a large and 

 famous park in the heart of the city. In 

 striking contrast to the narrow streets of the 

 retail district are the many broad, regular 

 avenues in the newer portions of the city (see, 

 below, Parks and Boulevards). 



Historic Buildings. In the gradual rear- 

 rangement and reconstruction which have 

 been almost continuous since the beginning of 

 the nineteenth century, Boston has suffered 

 heavily in the destruction of many historic 

 buildings. Fortunately, however, the most im- 

 portant structures have been preserved with a 

 care and reverence which is seldom found in 

 America. 



FANEUIL HALL. 

 As It appears to-day. 



Faneuil Ball. Probably first in interest is 

 Faneuil Hall, popularly known as the "Cradle 

 of Liberty." It was the gift of Peter Faneuil 

 (1700-1743), a prosperous merchant, who offered 



to build a market house if the town would agree 

 to maintain It. As completed in 1743 it was 

 150 feet long and forty feet wide, and was sub- 

 stantially built of bricks imported from Eng- 

 land. In 1761 it was almost destroyed by fire, 

 only the four walls remaining. It was at once 

 rebuilt, considerably enlarged, and was dedi- 

 cated to the cause of liberty in a fiery speech 

 by James Otis. 



Then followed the exciting times of the Revo- 

 lutionary period. In Faneuil Hall the local 

 Committee of Correspondence established its 

 headquarters in 1772. There, on the night pre- 

 ceding the Battle of Bunker Hill, General Howe 

 was watching the performance of a farce, The 

 Blockade of Boston, presented by some of the 

 English officers and their wives. The audience 

 was being amused by a dialogue between a 

 caricatured Washington, bearing a rusty sword, 

 and his grotesque squire, when a messenger 

 burst into the hall with the shout, "The Yankees 

 are attacking our works on Bunker's Hill." 

 Many in the audience were highly amused, 

 thinking that the interruption was a part of the 

 play. But they were undeceived by Howe's 

 sharp command, "Officers, to your alarm posts," 

 and amid shouts and screams the performance 

 came to an abrupt end. For a description of 

 the battle and the monument, see BUNKER HILL. 



After the colonies had won their independ- 

 ence, Faneuil Hall became the favorite meeting- 

 place for the discussion of public affairs. The 

 hall could not be rented or sold, but was open 

 to the public by permission of the aldermen. 

 This semi-public character gave a peculiar au- 

 thority to Faneuil Hall meetings, and in other 

 parts of the country the speeches and resolu- 

 tions at such meetings were considered to rep- 

 resent public opinion in Boston. There were 

 held many blood-stirring assemblies at the 

 height of the anti-slavery movement. There, in 

 1837, Wendell Phillips delivered his first great 

 oration as a protest against the murder of 

 Elijah Lovejoy, at Alton, 111. Webster, Choate, 

 Sumner and Theodore Parker were a few of the 

 others who made history within those four walls. 

 Although much enlarged in 1805 and carefully 

 restored in 1898 Faneuil Hall has long since 

 been too small for great public meetings, and 

 it is now a museum of colonial and Revolu- 

 tionary days. The lower floor is still used as 

 a market. 



Old South Meeting-House. "Old South," as 

 it is familiarly and affectionately known, is 

 intimately connected with the stirring times 

 before the Revolutionary War. The present 

 structure was built in 1730 to replace an older 

 church which had stood on the same site since 

 1669. During the pre-Revolutionary agitation 

 meetings were held there and addresses were 

 delivered which won for it the title of the 

 "Sanctuary of Freedom." There was held the 

 great public meeting which preceded the Boston 

 Tea Party (which see). During the siege of 

 Boston it was despoiled of its library and was 

 turned into a riding school for the British sol- 

 diers, and for a short time after the great fire 

 of 1872 it was used as a post office, but it now 

 serves as an historical museum. 



Other Historic Features. The oldest church 

 in the city Is Christ Church, built in 1723; it 



