Downtown Crossing in Boston in Suffolk County, Massachusetts — The American Northeast (New England)
Franklin Place
Commercial District
Photographed by J. Makali Bruton, June 13, 2021
1. Franklin Place Marker
There were shrubs and flowers in the Franklin Place front-yards or borders; Commerce is just putting his granite foot upon them.
In The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table (1857), Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes mourns the change in Franklin Place, with a fine residential block designed by Charles Bulfinch in 1793. The fashionable area - houses, gardens and all was torn down in 1857-58, and renamed Franklin Street when commercial buildings were built here. Only the width and crescent shape of the street remain from the original design.
Caption: A photograph before 1857 of Franklin Place, with the Tontine Crescent to the right.
Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities
Erected by Boston 200. (Marker Number CD07.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1793.
Location. 42° 21.338′ N, 71° 3.534′ W. Marker is in Boston, Massachusetts, in Suffolk County. It is in Downtown Crossing. It is at the intersection of Franklin Street and Hawley Street, on the left when traveling west on Franklin Street. Touch for map.
this page online
Regionally, this marker is in Massachusetts’ Historic Boston. It is also in the American Northeast and in New England. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Trinity Church (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Trinity Church in the City of Boston (about 300 feet away); The Gerrymander (about 400 feet away); Birthplace of Ralph Waldo Emerson (about 400 feet away); Jordan Marsh (about 400 feet away); Boston Transcript Building (about 400 feet away); Beginning of Jordan Marsh (about 400 feet away); The Province House (about 500 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Boston.
Photographed by J. Makali Bruton, June 13, 2021
2. Franklin Place Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on June 27, 2021, by J. Makali Bruton of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 612 times since then and 49 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 27, 2021, by J. Makali Bruton of Washington, District of Columbia.
