Adams Square (Boston)

Adams Square c. 1905, looking south. The rear of the Ames Building is visible on the right

Adams Square (1879–1963) was a square in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. Now demolished, it was formerly located on the site of the current Boston City Hall in Government Center.

History

The square was a product of the 1873–4 extension of Washington Street to Haymarket Square,^[1] which created a large open space at the junction of Cornhill, Brattle, Washington, and Devonshire Streets. In 1879 the city decided to erect a statue of the Patriot and statesman Samuel Adams at this spot, and the area was accordingly given the name Adams Square that same year.^[2] During its early history the square was part of a thriving retail district near the northern end of Washington Street and was the home of Leopold Morse & Co., one of the largest clothing retailers in the city.^[3]

In 1898 Adams Square became a stop along the Tremont Street Subway (the predecessor to the MBTA Green Line) with the opening of Adams Square Station, whose large granite head house became the principal architectural feature of the area.^[4] Subsequent alterations to the square in the early twentieth century were undertaken in an effort to relieve congestion caused by increasing automobile traffic. In 1928 the city removed the Adams statue and relocated it to adjacent Dock Square in order to improve traffic flow, and three years later the original head house of the subway station was torn down to increase driver visibility and replaced with a significantly smaller entranceway.^[5]

In the mid-twentieth century the square was targeted for urban renewal as part of the Government Center project. It was demolished in 1963 and replaced with Boston City Hall.^[6]

Images

• 

  View from Dock Square toward the future site of Adams Square (center) and Brattle Street (right), 1860

• 

  Map of Adams Square, 1896

• 

  Adams Square looking west toward Brattle Street (left) and Leopold Morse & Co. (center), c. 1895

• 

  Adams Square looking north toward Haymarket Square, during the construction of Adams Square Station, 1897

• 

  South side of Adams Square looking west toward Cornhill (left) and Brattle Street (right), 1905

See also

• Dock Square
• Scollay Square

Notes

References

• Bacon, Edwin M. (1903). Boston: A Guide Book. Boston: Ginn & Company. 
• Belcher, Jonathan (March 19, 2016). "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district, 1964-2016" (PDF). Retrieved 19 May 2016. 
• Cheney, Frank; Sammarco, Anthony M. (1997). Trolleys Under the Hub. Charleston: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-0907-7. 
• City of Boston Street Commissioners (1910). A Record of the Streets, Alleys, Places, Etc. in the City of Boston. Boston: City of Boston Printing Department. 
• Illustrated Boston: The Metropolis of New England (Second ed.). New York: American Publishing and Engraving Co. 1889. 
• Kruh, David (2004). Scollay Square. Charleston: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-3667-9. 
• Pepe, William J.; Pepe, Elaine A. (2009). Boston. Charleston: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-6541-5. 
• Smith, Robert Dickson (1880). Oration Delivered Before the City Council and Citizens of Boston, on the One Hundred and Fourth Anniversary of the Declaration of American Independence, July 5, 1880. Boston: Boston City Council. 
• "Statue of Adams on Way to Dock Sq". Boston Daily Globe. December 6, 1928. p. 9. Retrieved 19 May 2016 – via ProQuest. 
• "Will Tear Down Adams-Sq. Station". Boston Daily Globe. July 30, 1931. p. 6. Retrieved 19 May 2016 – via ProQuest. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Adams Square, Boston.

• Adams Square - The Curse of the Bambino Musical
• Washington Street, Adams Square, Facing North, in 1954-1959 - Perpetual Form of the City, via Dome

Streets and squares in Boston
Streets	Arborway Atlantic Avenue Beacon Street Bennington Street Blue Hills Parkway Bowdoin Street Boylston Street Brattle Street Brookline Avenue Charles Street Columbus Avenue Commonwealth Avenue Congress Street Court Street Day Boulevard Dorchester Avenue Federal Street Fenway Franklin Street Gallivan Boulevard Hanover Street Huntington Avenue Jamaicaway Massachusetts Avenue Melnea Cass Boulevard Memorial Drive Milk Street Morrissey Boulevard Morton Street Neptune Road New Chardon Street Newbury Street North Street Park Street Park Drive Riverway School Street Soldiers Field Road State Street Stony Brook Reservation Parkways Storrow Drive Summer Street Tremont Street Truman Parkway Union Street Veterans of Foreign Wars Parkway Washington Street West Roxbury Parkway Winter Street Yawkey Way
Squares, circles, crossings and corners	Adams Square Andrew Square Blackstone Square Brigham Circle Central Square Chester Square City Square Cleveland Circle Codman Square Copley Square Day Square Dewey Square Dock Square Downtown Crossing Dudley Square Egleston Square Fields Corner Franklin Square Haymarket Square Hyde Square Jackson Square Kenmore Square Louisburg Square Maverick Square Packard's Corner Park Square Peabody Square Post Office Square Roxbury Crossing Scollay Square Sullivan Square Teele Square Thompson Square Union Square Uphams Corner
Italics denote streets and squares that no longer exist. See also Neighborhoods in Boston Transportation in Boston

Coordinates: 42°21′36″N 71°03′27″W / 42.359882°N 71.057458°W / 42.359882; -71.057458