Historical Development of Park Square

Historical Development of Park Square. Water, Land and Early Development, also, Railroad and Urban Revival. , Water, Land and Early Development, 1700's , At Boston's founding in 1630 and well into the 1700s, this site was occupied by tidal marshes and flats of the Charles River. This 1777 map depicts Frog Lane (Boylston Street) and Pleasant Street (a portion of which survives , now named Broadway , on the east side of the Motor Mart Garage)., 1800's , By 1794, the site was filled for construction of ropewalks for the manufacture of ropes and rigging. This 1814 map also depicts dense new residential development along Pleasant Street, Elliot Street, Boylston Street, and Carver Street. A segment of Carver Street survives today as Townsend Street, an alley providing delivery access to the State Transportation Building., 1830's , In 1835, the Boston and Providence Railroad was extended to Boston and a depot (the first of three) was constructed in 1836 at the present location of the Boston Park Plaza Hotel., 1860's , The area was now referred to as Park Square on city maps, but Columbus Avenue had not yet been extended into the square from the South End. This circa 1860 view shows the second Boston and Providence Depot on Pleasant Street., 1870's , By 1872 the second depot was demolished, Columbus Avenue was extended across the site to connect with Charles Street and Boylston Street, and the first and final Park Square depot was erected in the new wedge formed by the intersection of Columbus Avenue with Providence Street. The new monumental passenger station, designed by Peabody and Stearns, was at the time of its construction the world's longest railroad station (850 feet) and featured rooms for billiards, reading, smoking, and dining. With construction of the depot came increased commercial development in the form of hotels, restaurants, and shops., Railroad and Urban Revival, 1880 , The Lincoln Freedmen Memorial, completed in 1879, is a replica of a statue commissioned by emancipated African Americans as a memorial to Abraham Lincoln and dedicated in 1876 in Washington, D.C. by Frederick Douglass. It was sculpted by Boston native Thomas Ball whose best known monuments include the equestrian George Washington in the Boston Public Garden., 1900 , The passenger depot and freight functions were relocated to the newly constructed South Station and trains were diverted south of Park Square along the Boston and Albany tracks. The abandoned Park Square station subsequently burned and was demolished by 1909, opening the 16 acre tract for redevelopment., 1910's
The former site of the Boston and Providence Railroad passenger station, freight depot, and rail yards were cleared and graded, streets extended and the area prepared for development. This view looks west on Providence Street to Arlington Street where the Paine Furniture Building was constructed in 1913., 1920's , Stuart Street was extended east from Copley Square to intersect with Elliot Street near Tremont Street. The Motor Mart Garage was constructed in 1925 and the Statler Hotel and Statler Office Building (now the Boston Park Plaza Hotel) was erected in 1926 on the site of the Boston and Providence passenger and freight depots., 1960 , Park Square became home to an increasing number of bars and lounges, music clubs, pool halls, and pinball arcades. Boston's Playboy Club was located on the current site of the Four Seasons Hotel. The club closed in 1977., 1980's , The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) targeted the now seedy Park Square for private redevelopment. A massive project, Park Plaza was defeated following an outcry by residents and environmentalists concerned by impacts on neighborhoods and the Public Garden. A smaller-scaled project, combining a hotel, condominiums, retailers, restaurants, and the state transportation building, was approved. Buildings were demolished, and streets reconfigured for construction of the Four Seasons Hotel (1982-185), the State Transportation Building (1983), and the Heritage on the Garden (1988)., 2004 , The last remaining urban renewal parcels, once the location of a lively block of commercial buildings, clubs and lounges, and the Union Bus Terminal, was completed with construction of One Charles Street South condominium and the Bristol/Courtyard Addition to the Four Seasons Hotel.