Back Bay Historic District | |
 Back Bay and theCharles River | |
    | |
| Location | Boston,Massachusetts, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Architect | Multiple |
| Architectural style | Mid 19th Century Revival, Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Late Victorian |
| NRHP reference No. | 73001948[1] |
| Added to NRHP | August 14, 1973 |
Back Bay is an officially recognized historicneighborhood ofBoston,Massachusetts,[2] built onreclaimed land in theCharles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and the area was fully built by around 1900.[3] It is most famous for its rows ofVictorianbrownstone homes—considered one of the best preserved examples of 19th-century urban design in the United States—as well as numerous architecturally significant individual buildings, and cultural institutions such as theBoston Public Library, andBoston Architectural College. Initially conceived as a residential-only area, commercial buildings were permitted from around 1890, and Back Bay now features many office buildings, including theJohn Hancock Tower, Boston's tallest skyscraper.[4] It is also considered a fashionable shopping destination (especiallyNewbury andBoylston Streets, and the adjacentPrudential Center andCopley Place malls) and home to several major hotels.[5]
The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay considers the neighborhood's bounds to be "Charles River on the North; Arlington Street toPark Square on the East;Columbus Avenue to theNew York New Haven and Hartford right-of-way (South of Stuart Street andCopley Place),Huntington Avenue, Dalton Street, and theMassachusetts Turnpike on the South; Charlesgate East on the West."[6][7]
Before its transformation into buildable land by a 19th-century filling project, the Back Bay was a bay, west of theShawmut Peninsula (on the far side fromBoston Harbor) between Boston andCambridge, theCharles River entering from the west. This bay was tidal: the water rose and fell several feet over the course of each day, and at low tide much of the bay's bed was exposed as a marshy flat.As early as 5,200 years before present, Native Americans builtfish weirs here, evidence of which was discovered during subway construction in 1913 (seeAncient Fishweir Project andBoylston Street Fishweir).
In 1814, the Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation was chartered to construct amilldam, which would also serve as a toll road connecting Boston toWatertown, bypassingBoston Neck. The dam prevented the natural tides from flushing sewage out to sea, creating severe sanitary and odor problems.[9] With costs higher and power lower than expected, in the end, the project was an economic failure, and in 1857 a massive project was begun to "make land" by filling the area enclosed by the dam.[10]
The firm of Goss and Munson extended railroad lines to quarries inNeedham, Massachusetts, 9 miles (14 km) away; a 35-car train carrying gravel and other fill arrived every 45 minutes, day and night.[11] When the Needham gravel pits were exhausted, additional fill was found in Canton, Dedham, Hyde Park, and Westwood.[12]William Dean Howells recalled "the beginnings of Commonwealth Avenue, and the other streets of the Back Bay, laid out with their basements left hollowed in the made land, which the gravel trains were yet making out of the westward hills."[13]
Present-day Back Bay itself was filled by 1882; the project reached existing land at what is nowKenmore Square in 1890, and was completed in 1900 in the area now known as theBack Bay Fens.[14] Much of the old mill dam remains buried under present-day Beacon Street.[15] The project was the largest of a number ofland reclamation projects which, beginning in 1820, more than doubled the size of the original Shawmut Peninsula.
Completion of theCharles River Dam in 1910 converted the former Charles estuary into a freshwater basin; theCharles River Esplanade was constructed to allow residents to enjoy the view of the new lagoon.[16] The Esplanade has since undergone several changes, including the construction ofStorrow Drive.[17]
The Back Bay is traversed by five east–west corridors:Beacon Street, Marlborough Street,Commonwealth Avenue,Newbury Street andBoylston Street. These are interrupted at regular intervals by north–south streets named alphabetically: Arlington (along the western border of theBoston Public Garden), Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester and Hereford Streets. All of the west–east streets, except Commonwealth Avenue, are one-way streets.
In the 1960s, the "High Spine" design plan, in conjunction with development plans, gave way to the construction of high-rise buildings along theMassachusetts Turnpike, which in turn allowed the development of major projects in the area.
The plan of Back Bay, byArthur Gilman of the firmGridley James Fox Bryant, was greatly influenced byHaussmann's renovation of Paris.[18] It featured wide, parallel, tree-lined avenues unlike anything seen in other Boston neighborhoods.[citation needed] Five east–west corridors—Beacon Street (closest to the Charles), Marlborough Street,Commonwealth Avenue (actually two one-way thoroughfares flanking the tree-lined pedestrian Commonwealth Avenue Mall),Newbury Street andBoylston Street—are intersected at regular intervals by north–south cross streets: Arlington (along the western edge of thePublic Garden), Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester, and Hereford. An 1874 guidebook[19] noted the trisyllabic-disyllabic alternation of that alphabetic sequence; the series continues in the adjacent Fenway neighborhood with Ipswich, Jersey, and Kilmarnock Streets. West of Hereford areMassachusetts Avenue (a regional thoroughfare crossing theHarvard Bridge to Cambridge and far beyond) andCharlesgate, which forms the Back Bay's western boundary.
Setback requirements and other restrictions, written into the lot deeds of the newly filled Back Bay, produced harmonious rows of dignified three- to five-story residentialbrownstones (though most along Newbury Street are now in commercial or mixed use). The Back Bay is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places, and is considered one of the best-preserved examples of 19th-century urban architecture in the United States.[20] In 1966, the Massachusetts Legislature, "to safeguard the heritage of the city of Boston by preventing the despoliation" of the Back Bay, created theBack Bay Architectural District to regulate exterior changes to Back Bay buildings.[7][21]
Since the 1960s, the concept of aHigh Spine has influenced large-project development in Boston, reinforced byzoning rules permitting high-rise construction along the axis of theMassachusetts Turnpike, includingair rights siting of buildings.[22]
Copley Square featuresTrinity Church, theBoston Public Library, theJohn Hancock Tower, and numerous other notable buildings.
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Prominent cultural and educational institutions in the Back Bay include:
Back Bay is served by theGreen Line'sArlington,Copley,Hynes Convention Center, andPrudential stations, and theOrange Line'sBack Bay station (which is also anMBTA Commuter Rail andAmtrak station).
| Race | Percentage of 02115 population | Percentage of Massachusetts population | Percentage of United States population | ZIP Code-to-State Difference | ZIP Code-to-USA Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 67.2% | 81.3% | 76.6% | −14.1% | −9.4% |
| White (Non-Hispanic) | 60.7% | 72.1% | 60.7% | −11.4% | +0.0% |
| Asian | 15.1% | 6.9% | 5.8% | +8.2% | +9.3% |
| Hispanic | 13.2% | 11.9% | 18.1% | +1.3% | −4.9% |
| Black | 8.9% | 8.8% | 13.4% | +0.1% | −4.5% |
| Native Americans/Hawaiians | 0.3% | 0.6% | 1.5% | −0.3% | −1.2% |
| Two or more races | 3.5% | 2.4% | 2.7% | +1.1% | +0.8% |
| Race | Percentage of 02116 population | Percentage of Massachusetts population | Percentage of United States population | ZIP Code-to-State Difference | ZIP Code-to-USA Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 77.1% | 81.3% | 76.6% | −4.2% | +0.5% |
| White (Non-Hispanic) | 70.9% | 72.1% | 60.7% | −1.2% | +10.2% |
| Asian | 14.4% | 6.9% | 5.8% | +7.5% | +8.6% |
| Hispanic | 7.5% | 11.9% | 18.1% | −4.4% | −10.6% |
| Black | 4.9% | 8.8% | 13.4% | −3.9% | −8.5% |
| Native Americans/Hawaiians | 0.2% | 0.6% | 1.5% | −0.4% | −1.3% |
| Two or more races | 2.2% | 2.4% | 2.7% | −0.2% | −0.5% |
According to the 2012–2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the largest ancestry groups inZIP Codes 02115 and 02116 are:[32][33]
| Ancestry | Percentage of 02115 population | Percentage of Massachusetts population | Percentage of United States population | ZIP Code-to-State Difference | ZIP Code-to-USA Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish | 13.43% | 21.16% | 10.39% | −7.73% | +3.04% |
| Italian | 10.57% | 13.19% | 5.39% | −2.61% | +5.18% |
| Chinese | 7.82% | 2.28% | 1.24% | +5.54% | +6.58% |
| German | 7.36% | 6.00% | 14.40% | +1.36% | −7.04% |
| English | 4.89% | 9.77% | 7.67% | −4.88% | −2.77% |
| Polish | 3.36% | 4.67% | 2.93% | −1.31% | +0.42% |
| Russian | 3.20% | 1.65% | 0.88% | +1.55% | +2.33% |
| French | 2.97% | 6.82% | 2.56% | −3.85% | +0.41% |
| Asian Indian | 2.82% | 1.39% | 1.09% | +1.43% | +1.73% |
| Sub-Saharan African | 2.67% | 2.00% | 1.01% | +0.67% | +1.66% |
| American | 2.40% | 4.26% | 6.89% | −1.87% | −4.50% |
| Arab | 2.12% | 1.10% | 0.59% | +1.02% | +1.53% |
| Mexican | 2.00% | 0.67% | 11.96% | +1.33% | −9.96% |
| Puerto Rican | 1.95% | 4.52% | 1.66% | −2.57% | +0.29% |
| French Canadian | 1.79% | 3.91% | 0.65% | −2.12% | +1.13% |
| European | 1.77% | 1.08% | 1.23% | +0.69% | +0.54% |
| Korean | 1.39% | 0.37% | 0.45% | +0.67% | +0.89% |
| Scottish | 1.16% | 2.28% | 1.71% | −1.12% | −0.55% |
| Greek | 1.05% | 1.22% | 0.40% | −0.17% | +0.65% |
| Portuguese | 1.05% | 4.40% | 0.43% | −3.35% | +0.62% |
| Swedish | 1.05% | 1.67% | 1.23% | −0.62% | −0.18% |
| Ancestry | Percentage of 02116 population | Percentage of Massachusetts population | Percentage of United States population | ZIP Code-to-State Difference | ZIP Code-to-USA Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish | 16.93% | 21.16% | 10.39% | −4.23% | +6.54% |
| Italian | 10.58% | 13.19% | 5.39% | −2.61% | +5.19% |
| Chinese | 10.16% | 2.28% | 1.24% | +7.88% | +8.92% |
| German | 9.82% | 6.00% | 14.40% | +3.82% | −4.58% |
| English | 9.39% | 9.77% | 7.67% | −0.39% | +1.72% |
| Polish | 4.84% | 4.67% | 2.93% | +0.17% | +1.91% |
| Russian | 4.18% | 1.65% | 0.88% | +2.53% | +3.30% |
| French | 3.25% | 6.82% | 2.56% | −3.58% | +0.69% |
| Scottish | 2.65% | 2.28% | 1.71% | +0.37% | +0.94% |
| American | 2.46% | 4.26% | 6.89% | −1.80% | −4.43% |
| Puerto Rican | 2.46% | 4.52% | 1.66% | −2.06% | +0.80% |
| European | 2.08% | 1.08% | 1.23% | +1.00% | −0.85% |
| Sub-Saharan African | 1.72% | 2.00% | 1.01% | −0.28% | +0.71% |
| Mexican | 1.56% | 0.67% | 11.96% | +0.89% | −10.40% |
| Asian Indian | 1.52% | 1.39% | 1.09% | +0.13% | +0.43% |
| Arab | 1.48% | 1.10% | 0.59% | +0.38% | +0.89% |
| Swedish | 1.39% | 1.67% | 1.23% | −0.28% | +0.16% |
| Cape Verdean | 1.38% | 0.97% | 0.03% | +0.41% | +1.35% |
| French Canadian | 1.35% | 3.91% | 0.65% | −2.55% | +0.70% |
| Greek | 1.29% | 1.22% | 0.40% | +0.07% | +0.89% |
| Dutch | 1.27% | 0.62% | 1.32% | +0.65% | −0.05% |
| Eastern European | 1.16% | 0.42% | 0.17% | +0.74% | +0.99% |
| Scotch-Irish | 1.09% | 0.63% | 0.96% | +0.46% | +0.13% |
| British | 1.08% | 0.48% | 0.43% | +0.60% | +0.65% |
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42°21′4.66″N71°4′49.28″W / 42.3512944°N 71.0803556°W /42.3512944; -71.0803556 (Back Bay, Boston)
