The current repair work on the Prudential Center Tunnel has traffic tied up on weekends and getting around the area on the minds of drivers. Those of us who walk the neighborhood are more likely to think about the architecture that is there now and what was there before.
From the City of Boston Archives, here's a photo of Boylston Street looking Easterly from October 4,1912.
The Lenox Hotel is the first building you see at the end of the train tracks. And along the left side, you can spot Engine33 and Ladder 15's Fire Station and the Racquet Club (both still standing today) at the corner of Hereford Street.
This aerial photo is from MIT's Kepes-Lynch Photograph collection. It was taken by photographer Nishan Bichajian, May 4, 1957. That is Massachusetts Avenue and the Harvard Bridge running from the upper left to the bottom. Boylston Street runs from the lower left to the center of the right. And, you can see the beginning of the railyards, where the Prudential Center and the tunnel are today, in the middle to lower right.
Here's a view (circa 1930) from the Boston Public Library Collection. This one is looking North from around Huntington Avenue with another view of the Lenox hotel in the upper right.
One final view from the City of Boston Archives looking West from Lenox Hotel. This was taken June 14, 1912 and is part of the Public Works Department photograph collection.
Don't miss any photo opportunity. This Canon PowerShot G15 camera
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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: As noted and all used under this creative common's license