Great Cities of the United States: Historical, Descriptive, Commercial, IndustrialSouthworth, Gertrude Van Duyn
History
Great Cities of the United States: Historical, Descriptive, Commercial, Industrial
Southworth, Gertrude Van Duyn
Cities and towns -- United States; United States -- Description and travel
Are we tired of the noise and confusion of the crowded tenement district?
If so, let us go to the broad streets and beautiful parks of the Back
Bay, the abode of the wealthy. The Back Bay, as its name suggests, was
originally the Back Cove, and where these houses now stand, the waves
once danced in glee. But Boston filled in the marshes and coves and
laid out fine streets on the newly made land. Here is the famous
Beacon Street, and parallel to it is Boston's most beautiful
thoroughfare,--Commonwealth Avenue,--two hundred and twenty feet wide,
with a parkway running through the center. See the children with their
nurses, playing on the grass or roller skating on the broad sidewalks,
apparently no happier than the little ones of the North End.
But it is not merely its fine streets and homes that make the Back Bay
the handsomest part of the city. In this section are many of Boston's
finest public buildings. Come to Copley Square, the most beautiful in the
city. Here stands Trinity Church,--Phillips Brooks' church,--a
magnificent structure of granite with sandstone trimmings. Phillips
Brooks was for a brief year the Protestant Episcopal bishop of
Massachusetts. He was loved by those of all denominations. After his
death the citizens of Boston united in erecting a splendid memorial, in
token of their love for him and their gratitude for his services. The
statue is by Augustus Saint Gaudens and is considered one of the greatest
works of that great sculptor.
[Illustration: COMMONWEALTH AVENUE]
On Copley Square we see also the New Old South Church and the Boston
Public Library.
Boston is very proud of her public library, and rightly so, for it is not
only one of the finest buildings in Boston but also one of the finest
libraries in the country. Look at the magnificent marble staircase, the
curiously inlaid floor and ceiling of the entrance hall, the graceful
statues, the wonderful paintings, and the fine courtyard with its
sparkling fountain. On the floors above are the children's room with its
low tables and chairs and rows upon rows of interesting books; Bates
Hall, a most attractive reading room; Sargent's mystical paintings; and
Edwin A. Abbey's series of paintings, which are called "The Quest of the
Holy Grail."
[Illustration: PHILLIPS BROOKS' MEMORIAL]
Besides the main library there are branch libraries or reading rooms in
every section of the city. Altogether the Boston Public Library contains
over one million volumes, making it the largest circulating library in
the United States.
But there are other buildings in the Back Bay which rival those on Copley
Square. We should see the Christian Science church with its massive dome;
the Boston Opera House; and Symphony Hall, the home of the famous Boston
Symphony Orchestra, known the country over.
[Illustration: BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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