Scollay Square
Encyclopedia
Scollay Square was a vibrant city square in downtown Boston
, Massachusetts
. It was named for William Scollay
, a prominent local developer and militia
officer who bought a landmark four-story merchant building at the intersection of Cambridge and Court
Streets in 1795. Local citizens began to refer to the intersection as Scollay's Square, and, in 1838, the city officially memorialized the intersection as Scollay Square. Early on, the area was a busy center of commerce, including daguerreotypist (photographer), Josiah Johnson Hawes
(1808–1901), and Dr. William Thomas Green Morton, the first dentist
to use ether
as an anaesthetic.
and Court streets, Cornhill
and Tremont Row
." Initially the city designated it Pemberton Square, but changed the name to "Scollay Square" when Phillips Square changed its own name to "Pemberton Square
." The building that gave the area its name, Scollay's Building, was "at one time a wedge-shaped row of wooden buildings, extending from the head of Cornhill to opposite the head of Hanover street, separated Tremont row from Court street (see Bonner's map, 1722); at the southeasterly end the second schoolhouse in the town was erected, 1683-84; at various times portions of these buildings were removed, leaving only the Scollay brick building, supposed to have been built by Patrick Jeffrey, who came into possession in 1795; ... removed about 1870."
Among the most famous (and infamous) of Scollay Square landmarks was the Old Howard Theatre
, a grand theater which began life as the headquarters of a Millerite
Adventist
Christian sect which believed the world would end in October 1844. After the world failed to end
on schedule, the building was sold in 1844 and reopened as a vaudeville
and Shakespearean venue. Later, in the 1900s and 1910s, it would showcase the popular minstrel show
s.
John Winthrop Statue
To mark the 250th anniversary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the sculptor Richard Saltonstall Greenough
was commissioned to create a bronze sculpture of John Winthrop
, the first Governor of the state. The statue was installed in September 1880.
By around the 1940s the Scollay Square area began to lose its vibrant commercial activity, and the Howard gradually changed its image and began to cater to sailors on leave and college students by including burlesque
shows, as did other nearby venues such as the Casino Theater and Crawford House
. "Always Something Doing" became the Old Howard's advertising slogan. The venue also showcased boxing
matches with such old-time greats as local Rocky Marciano
and John L. Sullivan
, and continued to feature slapstick
vaudeville acts, from likes of The Marx Brothers and Abbott and Costello
.
But it was the success and prominence of the burlesque shows that brought the Old Howard down. In 1953, vice squad
agents sneaked a home movie camera into the Old Howard, and caught Mary Goodneighbor on film doing her striptease
for the audience. The film led to the closure of the theater, and it remained closed until it caught fire mysteriously in 1961.
The square was also the home of Austin and Stone's Dime Museum
.
movement. Author William Lloyd Garrison
was twice attacked by an angry mob for printing his anti-slavery
newspaper The Liberator, which began publication in 1831. Sarah Parker Remond
's first act of civil disobedience
occurred in 1853 at the Old Howard when she was refused the seat she had purchased but was instead seated in the 'black' section
. Many of the buildings in the area in and around Scollay Square had hidden spaces where escaped slaves were hidden, as part of the Underground Railroad
.
With $40 million in federal funds, the city built an entirely new development on top of old Scollay Square, renaming the area Government Center, and peppering it with city, state, and federal government buildings: Boston City Hall
, City Hall Plaza
, Government Service Center
, Edward W. Brooke Courthouse
.
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. It was named for William Scollay
William Scollay
Colonel William Scollay was a Boston developer and militia officer who gave his name to the infamous Scollay Square. He was the only surviving son of John Scollay, a strong supporter of colonial rights and a member of Boston's Board of Selectmen in 1764. William was extremely active in the...
, a prominent local developer and militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
officer who bought a landmark four-story merchant building at the intersection of Cambridge and Court
Court Street (Boston, Massachusetts)
Court Street is located in the Financial District of Boston, Massachusetts. Prior to 1788, it was called Prison Lane and then Queen Street . In the 19th century it extended beyond its current length, to Bowdoin Square. In the 1960s most of Court Street was demolished to make way for the...
Streets in 1795. Local citizens began to refer to the intersection as Scollay's Square, and, in 1838, the city officially memorialized the intersection as Scollay Square. Early on, the area was a busy center of commerce, including daguerreotypist (photographer), Josiah Johnson Hawes
Josiah Johnson Hawes
Josiah Johnson Hawes was a photographer in Boston, Massachusetts. He and Albert Southworth established the photography studio of Southworth & Hawes, which produced numerous portraits of exceptional quality in the 1840s-1860s.-Biography:...
(1808–1901), and Dr. William Thomas Green Morton, the first dentist
Dentist
A dentist, also known as a 'dental surgeon', is a doctor that specializes in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity. The dentist's supporting team aides in providing oral health services...
to use ether
Diethyl ether
Diethyl ether, also known as ethyl ether, simply ether, or ethoxyethane, is an organic compound in the ether class with the formula . It is a colorless, highly volatile flammable liquid with a characteristic odor...
as an anaesthetic.
History
Scollay Square was located "at the junction of TremontTremont Street
Tremont Street is a major thoroughfare in Boston, Massachusetts.-Etymology:The name is a variation of one of the original appellations of the city, "Trimountaine," a reference to a hill that formerly had three peaks. Beacon Hill, with its single peak, is all that remains of the Trimountain...
and Court streets, Cornhill
Cornhill, Boston
Cornhill was a street in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 19th-20th centuries, located on the site of the current City Hall Plaza in Government Center. It was named in 1829; previously it was known as Market Street . In its time, it comprised a busy part of the city near Brattle Street, Court Street...
and Tremont Row
Tremont Row
Tremont Row in Boston, Massachusetts, was a short street that flourished in the 19th and early-20th centuries. It was located near the intersection of Court, Tremont, and Cambridge streets, in today's Government Center area. It existed until the 1920s, when it became known as Scollay Square...
." Initially the city designated it Pemberton Square, but changed the name to "Scollay Square" when Phillips Square changed its own name to "Pemberton Square
Pemberton Square (Boston)
Pemberton Square in the Government Center area of Boston, Massachusetts, was developed by P.T. Jackson in 1835 as an architecturally uniform mixed-use enclave surrounding a small park. In the mid-19th century both private residences and businesses dwelt there...
." The building that gave the area its name, Scollay's Building, was "at one time a wedge-shaped row of wooden buildings, extending from the head of Cornhill to opposite the head of Hanover street, separated Tremont row from Court street (see Bonner's map, 1722); at the southeasterly end the second schoolhouse in the town was erected, 1683-84; at various times portions of these buildings were removed, leaving only the Scollay brick building, supposed to have been built by Patrick Jeffrey, who came into possession in 1795; ... removed about 1870."
Culture
Old Howard TheatreAmong the most famous (and infamous) of Scollay Square landmarks was the Old Howard Theatre
Howard Athenaeum
The Howard Athenæum in Boston, Massachusetts, was one of the most famous theaters in Boston history. Founded in 1845, it remained an institution of culture and learning for most of its years, finally closing in 1953.- History :...
, a grand theater which began life as the headquarters of a Millerite
Millerites
The Millerites were the followers of the teachings of William Miller who, in 1833, first shared publicly his belief in the coming Second Advent of Jesus Christ in roughly the year 1843.-Origins:...
Adventist
Adventist
Adventism is a Christian movement which began in the 19th century, in the context of the Second Great Awakening revival in the United States. The name refers to belief in the imminent Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It was started by William Miller, whose followers became known as Millerites...
Christian sect which believed the world would end in October 1844. After the world failed to end
Great Disappointment
The Great Disappointment was a major event in the history of the Millerite movement, a 19th-century American Christian sect that formed out of the Second Great Awakening. Based on his interpretations of the prophecies in the book of Daniel The Great Disappointment was a major event in the history...
on schedule, the building was sold in 1844 and reopened as a vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
and Shakespearean venue. Later, in the 1900s and 1910s, it would showcase the popular minstrel show
Minstrel show
The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface....
s.
John Winthrop Statue
To mark the 250th anniversary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the sculptor Richard Saltonstall Greenough
Richard Saltonstall Greenough
Richard Saltonstall Greenough was an American sculptor and younger brother to Neoclassical sculptor Horatio Greenough....
was commissioned to create a bronze sculpture of John Winthrop
John Winthrop
John Winthrop was a wealthy English Puritan lawyer, and one of the leading figures in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the first major settlement in New England after Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the first large wave of migrants from England in 1630, and served as governor for 12 of...
, the first Governor of the state. The statue was installed in September 1880.
By around the 1940s the Scollay Square area began to lose its vibrant commercial activity, and the Howard gradually changed its image and began to cater to sailors on leave and college students by including burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
shows, as did other nearby venues such as the Casino Theater and Crawford House
Crawford House
Crawford House may refer to:in the United States* W. D. Crawford House, Cisco, AR, listed on the NRHP in Arkansas* Crawford Hill Mansion, Denver, CO, listed on the NRHP in Colorado* Crawford House,...
. "Always Something Doing" became the Old Howard's advertising slogan. The venue also showcased boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
matches with such old-time greats as local Rocky Marciano
Rocky Marciano
Rocky Marciano , born Rocco Francis Marchegiano, was an American boxer and the heavyweight champion of the world from September 23, 1952, to April 27, 1956. Marciano is the only champion to hold the heavyweight title and go undefeated throughout his career. Marciano defended his title six times...
and John L. Sullivan
John L. Sullivan
John Lawrence Sullivan , also known as the Boston Strong Boy, was recognized as the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing from February 7, 1881 to 1892, and is generally recognized as the last heavyweight champion of bare-knuckle boxing under the London Prize Ring rules...
, and continued to feature slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
vaudeville acts, from likes of The Marx Brothers and Abbott and Costello
Abbott and Costello
William "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...
.
But it was the success and prominence of the burlesque shows that brought the Old Howard down. In 1953, vice squad
Vice Squad
Vice Squad is a punk band formed in 1978 in Bristol, England. The band formed from two other local punk bands, The Contingent and TV Brakes. Songwriter and vocalist Beki Bondage was a founding member and is currently with the band, although there was a period of time when the band had a different...
agents sneaked a home movie camera into the Old Howard, and caught Mary Goodneighbor on film doing her striptease
Striptease
A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner...
for the audience. The film led to the closure of the theater, and it remained closed until it caught fire mysteriously in 1961.
The square was also the home of Austin and Stone's Dime Museum
Austin and Stone's Dime Museum
Austin and Stone’s Dime Museum was an entertainment emporium located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA's famous Scollay Square . It featured a freak show as well as dancing girls for entertainment...
.
Abolitionism
Scollay Square was also a flashpoint for the early abolitionAbolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
movement. Author William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison was a prominent American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer. He is best known as the editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, and as one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society, he promoted "immediate emancipation" of slaves in the United...
was twice attacked by an angry mob for printing his anti-slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
newspaper The Liberator, which began publication in 1831. Sarah Parker Remond
Sarah Parker Remond
Sarah Parker Remond was an American physician, lecturer, abolitionist, and agent of the American Anti-Slavery Society. She worked giving speeches throughout the United States over the horrors of slavery...
's first act of civil disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
occurred in 1853 at the Old Howard when she was refused the seat she had purchased but was instead seated in the 'black' section
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
. Many of the buildings in the area in and around Scollay Square had hidden spaces where escaped slaves were hidden, as part of the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
.
Destruction and redevelopment
As early as the 1950s, city officials had been mulling plans to completely tear down and redevelop the Scollay Square area, in order to remove lower-income residents and troubled businesses from the aging and seedy district. Attempts to reopen the sullied Old Howard by its old performers had been one of the last efforts against redevelopment; but with the theater gutted by fire, a city wrecking ball began the project of demolishing over 1000 buildings in the area; 20,000 residents were displaced.With $40 million in federal funds, the city built an entirely new development on top of old Scollay Square, renaming the area Government Center, and peppering it with city, state, and federal government buildings: Boston City Hall
Boston City Hall
Boston City Hall is the seat of the municipal government of Boston, Massachusetts. Architecturally, it is an example of the brutalist style. It was designed by Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles...
, City Hall Plaza
City Hall Plaza (Boston)
City Hall Plaza in Boston, Massachusetts, is a large, open, unadorned public space in the Government Center area of the city. The architectural firm Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles designed the plaza in 1962 to accompany Boston's new City Hall. The multi-level, irregularly-shaped plaza consists of red...
, Government Service Center
Government Service Center (Boston)
The Government Service Center is an unfinished, controversial, and neglected brutalist structure by architect Paul Rudolph. It is one of the major buildings in the Government Center complex in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, at Cambridge, Staniford and New Chardon Streets.- Function :The building...
, Edward W. Brooke Courthouse
Courthouse
A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...
.
Further reading
- David Kruh. Always something doing: Boston's infamous Scollay Square, rev. ed. UPNE, 1999.
- David Kruh. Scollay Square. Arcadia Publishing, 2004.
- Daniel A. Gilbert. "Why Dwell on a Lurid Memory?": Deviance and Redevelopment in Boston's Scollay Square. The Massachusetts Historical Review, Vol. 9, (2007), pp. 103-133.
External links
- http://www.joeandnemo.com The Scollay Square Web Site
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/2350725919/ Scollay's Building, 19th c.
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/2350724709/ Scollay's building, 19th c.
- http://www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/dpc/history/billboard1.asp Henry Ford advertisement, ca.1900
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/sargent/249104349/ Aerial photo, 1946
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/mit-libraries/tags/scollaysquarebostonma Photos by Nishan Bichajian, 1950s
- http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2009/04/09/once_a_relic_of_the_past_earthy_art_form_sees_a_revival/ Burlesque revival, 2009
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/gigharmon/sets/72157606318827540/