190 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



Old State-House, Boston. 



The wharves of Boston surpass those of any 

 seaport of the United States, for size and conven- 

 ience. Long wharf, at the bottom of State Street, 

 is 1,650 feet long, and has a line of lofty brick 

 stores nearly its whole extent. Central wharf is 

 1,240 feet in length and 150 wide, and contains 54 

 stores in a single pile, with a spacious observatory 

 in the centre, where telegraphic signals are receiv- 

 ed from the islands in the bay. India wharf has a 

 double row of stores six stories high ; all these 

 wharves have spacious docks, and wide and con- 

 venient landings, carriage-ways, &c. A handsome 

 custom-house, of granite, now nearly completed, is 

 one of the ornaments of the city. There are several 

 marine railways. 



The Massachusetts General Hospital is a sub- 

 stantial stone edifice, much commended for the 

 convenience of its interior arrangements. The 

 Houses of Industry, Correction, and Reformation, 

 with an Insane Hospital for the poor, on the penin- 

 sula of South Boston, which is connected with the rest 

 of the city by two wooden bridges 

 and within the city limits, are of 

 stone, and of a solid architecture. 

 The Perkins Asylum for the Blind 

 occupies a commanding situation 

 in this section. The court-house 

 and jail in Leverett Street are of 

 stone, and comprise three well- 

 built edifices. The United States 

 bank in State Street is a well-built 

 structure, but more remarkable for 

 strength than classic proportion ; 

 the columns in front are the largest 

 in the city, and are each of a sin- 

 gle stone. The Washington Bank 

 has a more symmetrical design and 

 better effect. The Masonic Tem- 

 ple is a neat building of granite, 



Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. gj^^J ij^jg ^ gj-jg fpgnt 



The great ornament of Boston is its Common, a space of 50 acres, occupying the southerly 

 ulope of Beacon Hill, surrounded by a mall planted with elms, and fronted widi elegant build- 

 ings in every quarter except the west, where it is left open, and affords a beautiful prospect into 

 the country. On this side a Botanic Garden, which covers about 25 acres, has been tastefully 

 laid out, adding much to the beauty of the spot. The avenues to the city are eight. Eoxbury 

 neck, the western causeway, and six bridges ; tw'o of which lead to Charlestown, two to Cam- 

 bridge, and two to South Boston ; these bridges are of wood, and built upon piles driven into 

 the bed of the river. The longest is West Boston bridge, leading to Cambridge, 3,483 feet 

 in length. The western causeway or avenue, serves as a dam to the great mill basin, and is 

 a solid mass of materials faced with stone, a mile and a half in length, and 50 feet in widtn. 

 A branch of this dam separates the enclosed space into an empty and full basin, and the mills 

 which are here situated, are in operation at all times of the tide. South Boston consists of 

 a part of the peninsula formerly belonging to Dorchester, and is rapidly increasing in the num- 

 ber of buildings and inhabitants ; here are extensive manufactories of glass, iron, &c. East 

 Boston has lately sprung up on a large island in the harbor, and having deep water along shore 

 is already become the seat of much mechanical industry. The Eastern railroad terminates 

 here, and steam ferryboats keep up a communication with the main city. 



In literature, Boston lias always maintained a high rank. Public libraries are numerous but 



