Boston Rambles

Boston Rambles

A Rambler Walks and Talks About the Hub of the Universe

Posts filed under History

The Road to Harvard, Part 2

One of the difficulties in doing a project of this nature is the internal tension between a desire to produce these entries in a steady stream and the fear of making mistakes or of being superficial. I have an urge to generate as many entries as I can as quickly as possible. I also know… (read more)

The Road to Harvard

In a couple of previous entries I described the original road to Cambridge from Boston which passed along the Neck and through Dudley Square, winding its way to Brookline and what is today Allston and Brighton, crossing the Charles River at what is today the Larz Anderson Bridge and ending at Cambridge Common. I wrote… (read more)

Main Travelled Roads

Recently I was watching a documentary the French filmmaker Louis Malle produced in the late 1960s about India. In this film, which to me was as interesting a period piece reflecting the ideas, values, and prejudices of the era in which it was made as the subject matter of the film itself, one scene replayed… (read more)

The Road to Braintree

 Dudley Square, Roxbury, Massachusetts. I moved to Braintree, Massachusetts in February 1977 from the semitropical island of Bermuda. I had never seen snow and the ground in Braintree was covered in it. Lots of it. Also it was extremely cold, something for which I was completely unprepared. Also, as a teenager moving to a new… (read more)

The Upper Post Road Milestones (WTPR#14)

“He was buried in the tomb of his fathers; but his epitaphs are only to be read on the numerous mile-stones that skirt the roads…” Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, in History of Norfolk County, referring to Paul Dudley. One more entry (#14) from my Walking the Post Road Project. The purpose of these entries is to… (read more)

Milestones (WTPR#6)

‘Feria secunda, July 14, 1707. Mr. Antram and I, having Benjamin and David to wait on us, measured with his wheel from the Town-House Two Miles, and drove down stakes at each mile’s end, in order to place Stone-posts in convenient time. From the Town house to the Oak and Walnut, is a mile wanting… (read more)

Deviating from the Straight Path (WTPR#5)

. “One if by land, and two if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be” Paul Revere’s Ride Henry Wadsworth Longfellow . “Parting is such sweet sorrow” Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2 William Shakespeare This entry is another (#5 in the original project) from the Walking the Post Road project. I… (read more)

Transitions (WTPR#3)

“ As to politeness and humanity, they (the northern provinces of colonial America) are much alike except in the great towns where the inhabitants are more civilized, especially att Boston” Dr. Alexander Hamilton, Gentleman’s Progress: The Itinerarium, 1744. (*) In this entry I have brought over from my Walking The Post Road project entry #3,… (read more)

Bonner Map of 1722

1722 Map of Boston by John Bonner

A reproduction, dating to 1835, of the 1722 Map of Boston by John Bonner. This is one of my favorite maps. The detail is incredible, including all the churches, all the buildings, the fortifications at Boston Gate, and even the one mile stone and the “gallows.” Click on the map- a larger map will pop up that you can enlarge even more to take a closer look and appreciate the detail. I have this map framed on the wall in my office. One of the earliest versions of the map can be found here.   Thanks to Carl Zimba for alerting me to the various ‘versions’ of the original map.

Citation:

Bonner, John, ca. 1643-1726,  Dewing, Francis, fl. 1716-1722,  Smith, George Girdler,  Price, William, fl. 1725-1769,  and Fuller, Stephen P..  “The town of Boston in New England.”  Map.  1835.  Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center,  https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commonwealth:3f4631769 (accessed July 21, 2019).