Tarek Elkheir: A photo of a shopping center at 101 Summer Street taken in June 1999. The building and the area around it did not change much since the historical photo was taken. It now houses several popular American restaurants and businesses such as Chipotle and Dunkin' Donuts.
Aashka Kamdar: Park Street T-Station. The southern section of the Tremont Street Subway from the Public Garden through Boylston to Park Street first opened in September 1, 1897. It is the oldest subway tunnel in North America.
The image below shows Atlantic Avenue in front of South Station. It is hard to picture the recreation of the photo since many things have changed ever since. The train was above the cars and buildings were not as high as they are now. The date of the old photo is unknown but it looks like it is around 1930's because of the cars. -Jorge Morales
The images seen below are of Merchants Row and Dock Square. Many structural changes are seen with the addition of a restaurant. Also some of the neighboring buildings has undergone some changes.
During the mid-20th century, the city of Boston undertook an ambitious and destructive urban renewal effort. Many of the old buildings in Scollay Square, todays Government Center, were cleared for the project. Fortunately, the Old State House, seen on the left, survived this controversial undertaking. The 18th century structure still stands today, now surrounded by modern high-rises. In place of the building being demolished in the photo, there now exists an open space for the public to gather, take a seat, and temporarily escape the congestion of the city.
-Matthew Collins-
South Station has changed drastically since the original photo was taken in 1965. The electrical trusses seen in the old photo are further back from where the new photo was taken, and the South Station bus terminal was built over the platforms. The covered platforms are newer, but cannot be seen in the new photo because the bus terminal building blocks everything. The track platforms were also raised much higher than they were in the old photo. The platforms sit several feet above the tracks. -Phil Chagnon-
The Old State House on State Street has not changed since the original photo was taken in 1968. The area around it, however, has. In the old photo, a building with what appears to be stacks on the roof can be seen above it. Now, there is a skyscraper behind it, with sleek black windows and offices. Also the sign that says "Corey" in the old photo is no longer visible in the new photo. -Phil Chagnon-
A lot of urban growth has happened around the Boston Common while also preserving historic buildings such as the Park Street Church. Street cars no longer operate above ground, as the green line has been built underneath this section of Tremont Street.
The Big Dig project is one that come to transform the downtown area of Boston from a place of highway overpasses to one of beautiful park systems. The addition of underground tunnels for I-93 allowed for the demolition of sections of the overpass. In its footprint, the Rose Kennedy Greenway sits as a set of small instillations that form a park system for the city. The Greenway has fundamentally changed how people move throughout the city.
Aashka Kamdar: The State opened in 1879 as the Park Theatre across Washington Street. The State was popluar for showing "aduly content" in the late 50’s. Even though Downtown Boston's architecture has changed immensely over the decades its social culture still remains the same.
(JakePirulli) Located on the corner of Summer Street & Arch St, The original photo was taken in 1967 looking towards Park Street Station. While there is little difference in the buildings between 1967 and 2019, this area is where the Great Fire of 1872 occurred and sparked a massive wave of reconstruction in the Financial District. New zoning regulations, such as widening the streets, non-combustible building materials, and high pressure water pipes, were put into place to combat and prevent future fires.
Nate Vitale: The Winthrop building, located at 7 Water St and completed in 1894 remains standing and mostly unchanged today. The most significant difference is the produce market that has been replaced by State Station in 1904 which today services the blue and orange lines.
Shown in the picture is the façade of 101 Summer St. as it faces South Station. This picture particularly interested me because I’ve done work in the building and was surprised how well the exterior has lasted through the years. The building is over 100 years old and the picture was taken in 1999. So even 20 years later not one thing has changed on the building besides the awnings and major renovations to the interior. You can also notice the Millennium Tower in the background that was completed in 2016 which has been a big addition to Boston’s Downtown Crossing area.
Daniel Campbell
Nick Madden: On the left, we can see the corner of Milk Street and Atlantic Ave as it was in June 1908. This area was already quite developed with trains running over Atlantic. At the center of the photo ios Bain Brothers Co, a local grocery store. In the left photo, we can see the corner as it is today, now the home of the Granary Tavern, we can also see that the elevated train track have been removed.
Here we see a picture taken on the corner of Franklin and Devonshire Street. This picture from September of 1954 and shows the flooded streets after a water main break.
Connor Gallant: This is a photo pf Atlantic Wharf from 1960 to now. The main thing that changed was that the wharf is now a higher elevation than the water. This could be done to the fact that the water level has gone down. There is now a building right next to the bridge and more smaller buildings on the wharf itself. The boats are now docked over to the left instead of in the same spot.