From Dave Brigham:
Nearly 40 years ago I went on what was essentially the first Backside of American expedition. A senior at New Hampshire's Keene State College, I walked around the downtown one night with two friends, singing, playing music, bantering, emgaging with strangers, checking out the back lots of the town (see October 6, 2019, "Remembering a Foundational Moment").
Since that time, I've had a fascination with the hidden parts of small towns and big cities, the places where the rats and riff-raff go. For quite a few years, I've wanted to explore the public alleys of Boston. Last fall, I did my first proper adventure in the city's Back Bay neighborhood (see February 1, 2025, "Sneakin' Sally Through Boston's Alleys"). Earlier this year, I returned to the Back Bay for another foray.
I started at the eastern end of Public Alley 421, which is off Arlington Street, directly across from the Public Garden. It runs between Marlborough and Beacon streets. As I mentioned in the first alley dispatch, the Back Bay is a fairly posh area. Even the parking spaces are architecturally wonderful.
I crossed Berkeley Street and into Public Alley 420. Where that alley meets Clarendon Street, I was inspired by a steam release.
The exhaust was coming from Hale House, a residential home for senior citizens located in a building named for Edwart Everett Hale, a Boston author, historian and minister. "Hale House was once the home of the historian and writer Henry Adams, grandson of President John Quincy Adams," per the Hale House web site. "In 1896, the Massachusetts Audubon Society was founded by Bostonians Harriet Lawrence Hemenway and her cousin Minna B. Hall, in the parlor of the house."
Continuing along, I was in Public Alley 419 when I spied the rear of 237 Beacon Street. Something about the hand-written house number just looked good to me.
I was also quite taken by the tall, skinny building facing onto Marlborough Street.
In Alley #418, I found a nice little scene asking for neighborly etiquette.
I hear Emily Post was big into the whole No Dumping movement.
I don't traverse back alleys looking for great architecture, although sometimes I do find some. What I tend to look for is little scenes that you wouldn't necessarily expect to find in a neighborhood like the Back Bay.
Obviously there is renovation afoot. But that white "X" on a red background essentially cautions first responders it's not safe to enter. I see that sign all over the place, usually on long-abandoned properties.
Why is there a lawnmower?
In Alley #417, I saw the first of two basketball hoops. This one is pretty sweet.
Great architecture, no. But cool details - yes.
And more etiquette lessons.
OK, great architecture, too.
I love this little building. I believe it was brought into the world in 1919, whereas the main buliding it sits behind rose in 1888. It's a tiny house for the post-World War I generation.
The scene below could be the cover for Urban Slacker Design weekly.
The photo below makes me wonder whether some tenant along this public alley descends the fire escape ladder to illegally dispose of rubbish.
Eventually I crossed Massachusetts Avenue and into Public Alley #908. I'm not sure why the system goes from #414 to #908. I saw another basketball hoop.
And then the back entrance to 531 Beacon Street.
The apartment building features studios, 1- and 2-bedroom units, with rents starting at $2,300 a month.
At this point, the alley makes a sharp curve to the south and toward Marlborough Street. I found the mix of buildings at this point quite pleasant.
I walked east on Marlborough Street for a minute before ducking into Public Alley #905. There, I saw a scene reminiscent of the old-timey days....and of the second photo in this post.
And then an odd little door.
At first I assumed this was another old coal-delivery entry point. But then I realized that this door used to be bigger before it was partially bricked up. I crossed back over Mass. Ave. and into Public Alley #429. I don't remember which alley I was in when I saw the industrial yellow locker featured below. This was the second set of lockers I've seen on my back-alley wanderings.
Whereas the locker was neat and secure, the barrels below look gross and dangerous. Perfect for a back alley!
I continued on through Public Alleys 428-423, enjoying seeing other folks using the alleys, and appreciating the relative peace and quiet. Not much caught my eye until the gorgeous fire escape seen below.
At the entrance to Public Alley #422, I made a photo of the gated entrance to the First Lutheran Church of Boston.
The congregation traces its history to 1839. The building dates to 1959.
My final shot was of a lovely old brick and sandstone home directly across the alley from the church.
Known as the Samuel Hooper House, this Commonwealth Avenue residence rose in 1861, from a design by Arthur Gilman and Gridley J.F. Bryant. "The house itself is one of the most elegant examples of the Second Empire style in Boston, with octagonal bays projecting up into the mansard roof," according to this Society of Architectural Historians write-up.
Gilman "advocated filling in the Back Bay district, urging this plan for years before his views were carried out by the state," according to Wikipedia. "Here Gridley James Fox Bryant was his colleague. Commonwealth Avenue, now one of the finest streets in the world, is due almost entirely to his persistent efforts, along with Frederick Law Olmsted. Gilman designed the H. H. Hunnewell house (1851) in Wellesley (then West Needham) and, with Bryant, the Old City Hall in Boston (1862–65).
That's a wrap on public alleys for now. I will explore more later this year for sure.
