{"id":1477,"date":"2014-10-17T10:10:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-17T10:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bostonzest.com\/?p=1477"},"modified":"2014-10-17T10:10:00","modified_gmt":"2014-10-17T10:10:00","slug":"then-and-now-back-street-was-once-the-shoreline-of-the-charles-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bostonzest.com\/?p=1477","title":{"rendered":"Then and Now: Back Street Was Once the Shoreline of the Charles"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the days before political manipulations created the dreadful Storrow Drive, Back Street was the shoreline of the Charles River. Here's a photo from the City of Boston Archives taken 107 years ago<\/a>, on this day, in 1907.<\/p>\n

\"14390756006_0d01974f22_o<\/a><\/p>\n

Here's the scene in a photo I took last week.<\/p>\n

\"CHE_4945<\/a><\/p>\n

Below is a map of what the area looked like a few years later, after a new dam created the Charles River basin and the mud from the dredging of the river was used to create a parkland beyond Back Street.<\/p>\n

\"Back<\/a><\/p>\n

\"9681685030_e792c360df_o<\/a><\/p>\n

As you can see, what we call the Charles River Esplanade was identified as the Charles River Embankment.<\/p>\n

\"Embankment<\/a><\/p>\n

This is an idealized postcard depiction of the embankment parkland. You could walk from your home on Beacon Street right into the park.<\/p>\n

\"Parkway<\/a><\/p>\n

Next came the parkway along the river for pleasure drives. It was called a driveway back in the day and as you can see, you could pull over and enjoy the river scenes.<\/p>\n

Then, in the 1950s, the ugly scar called Storrow Drive became a barrier between Bostonians and their riverside park. <\/p>\n

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon<\/a>\"\" from here to support this site!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n