Give Me Liberty Square...and the Financial District

From Dave Brigham:

I recently walked around Boston's Liberty Square, and part of the Financial District. Here's what I found....

I was shocked by the Hungarian Revolution Memorial in the heart of Liberty Square. Approaching it, I had no idea what it was, and as I got closer I felt a real sense of dread.

Sculpted by E. Gyuri Hollosy, the monument "depicts a nude woman holding her baby, a fallen Hungarian soldier, and multiple heads representing the students who died during the revolution," per Wikipedia. The sculpture is bronze and stands over 16 feet tall.

Once I read the plaque explaining the statue, however, I wondered how and why this monument to an uprising 4,000 miles away that resulted in the deaths of thousands and nearly a quarter-million Hungarians fleeing the country had ended up in downtown Boston.

"The monument was commissioned by the Hungarian Society of Massachusetts to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956," per Wikipedia. "It was originally dedicated on October 23, 1986, but was dismantled during November 15–16, 1986, and stored until May 1989. The work was rededicated after Liberty Square Park's plaza opened."

So there you go.

Around the corner on Broad Street I ambled past Mr. Dooley's. Opened in 1991, the bar on the outskirts of the Financial District is located in a beautiful building (below).

Catty-corner from Mr. Dooley's sits a slice of Boston history that was preserved as part of the Boulevard On the Greenway condo project.

I wrote about this building -- which was once bigger and known as the Bulfinch building -- in November 2016 (see "The Buildings That Time Forgot"). At that time, this building was two thin walls held up by braces. Here's some of what I wrote back then:

"Most recently this building and the one next to it were home to The Littlest Bar and The Times Irish Pub & Restaurant. I never went to either, although I did go to The Littlest Bar in its original location in Downtown Crossing many years ago....Built in 1805 and located hard by the Greenway, the Bulfinch building was originally a warehouse for goods coming off nearby wharves (back before the city installed fill to make itself bigger).

According to the [Boston Globe] article, the outside of the building was declared a landmark, but the interior wasn't, because it had been changed significantly over the years. After negotiating with the city's Landmarks Commission, the developer, New Boston Ventures, agreed to keep the portion of the building....and to incorporate it into a 12-story condo development."

If you are able to, enlarge the photo to see the ghost sign for The Littlest Bar just below the first row of windows.

Not far away, on Batterymarch Street, I looked up and saw this sign.

So what is the Supreme Council Royal Arcanum? After scanning through the organization's web site, I can't tell you. Not because of some "If I tell you, I have to kill you" reason. No, simply because I don't understand the group's gibberish.

"The Royal Arcanum is the only surviving founding member of the American Fraternal Alliance (formerly the National Fraternal Congress of America), an organization representing 70 fraternal benefit societies and millions of fraternalists." The group's objectives include:

"Uniting fraternally all eligible male and female persons of sound bodily health and good moral standing, who are socially acceptable." (Italics added by me.)

"Giving moral and material aid within its power to its members and those dependent on them."

"Teaching morality without religious distinction, patriotism without partisanship, and brotherhood without creed or class."

"Assisting the families of deceased members."

So, I guess it's a social fabric/charitable organization/insurance company? Dunno. Founded in 1877, the Royal Arcanum placed 15th on the "23 Most Powerful Secret Societies" list published in March 2018 by something called 24/7 Wall St. Seriously.

Located a stone's throw from Mr. Dooley's, 22 Batterymarch Street (below) was built in the late 1800s and is on the National Register of Historic Places, according to 42 Floors.

Batterymarch Street is so named because of a "company of British soldiers that marched from their barracks to the South Battery and back again every day" during Colonial times, according to always helpful Next Phase Blog.

I love when street names are carved into the exterior of buildings. Running two blocks from John F. Fitzgerald Surface Road near the Greenway to Broad Street, Central Street used to push along one more block to Kilby Street. According to this very thorough MIT report, buildings in this area were torn down in the 1940s to make room for a parking lot, truncating Central Street. On the plus side, "while excavating the old Central Street parking lot to prepare for 75 State Street's foundation, wood from the old wharves used for land fill were dug up," per the MIT document.

Now let's moved out of the Greater Mr. Dooley's Area, to another fringe of the Financial District: Pearl Street near Purchase Street, near the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

The above photo shows the middle of what is known as the Richardson Block. Built in the immediate years after the Great Boston Fire of 1872, this block in part used granite and brick salvaged from buildings that had previously stood on the site, per Wikipedia. "The area was an important locus of the leather goods business both before and after the fire."

Above is a shot of most of the block including, at the far left, Biddy Early's Pub. Established in 1993, the bar is named for Bridget Ellen "Biddy" Early, an Irish herbalist who was accused in her homeland of conducting witchcraft.

The Richardson Block was undergoing some construction when I took these photos many months ago, as you can see by the scaffold in the first picture. I'm not sure if it's just cosmetic or if something more involved is going on. Ten years ago the Boston Redevelopment Authority (now known as the Boston Planning & Development Agency) issued a Greenway District Planning Study, which in part mentioned the possibility of redeveloping the Richardson Block.

P>The block "represents one of the few remaining Greenway sites capable of supporting significant density," the report states. "Because of its unique location relative to the orientation of the parks, significant heights are possible with minimal shadow impact on the Greenway. From an Urban Design standpoint, the heights are supported by three other adjacent Financial District towers. At the ground plane, the existing historic buildings, particularly along Pearl Street, should be preserved either in whole or in part to retain the character of the street there and to provide a lower-rise base to support a tower."

So, like so many of Boston's iconic brick and stone buildings, the Richardson Block likely some day soon will present a historic facade for a sleek glass tower.

Around the corner, on High Street, I saw the funky sculpture below.

Crafted by Lars-Erik Fisk, the "T ball," as I call it, is made of polycarbonate and is modeled after Red Line subway trains. The sculptor also installed a larger sphere that looks like the Green Monster scoreboard at Fenway Park.

Finally, at the other end of the Financial District, I found this unusual view.

I took this photo while standing on Quaker Lane near the Old State House. We're looking at the backsides of the following buildings, from left to right: 13-15 Congress Street, 19-21 Congress Street (with the fantastic fire escapes), 33-35 Congress Street and 40 Water Street. Quaker Lane is little more than an alley connecting Devonshire and Congress streets, with a loop going around the buildings in the above photo. According to online accounts, the lane is so named because it once ran past a Quaker meetinghouse and cemetery.

Below is the backside of 27 State Street, which is also along Quaker Lane. The fire escapes are similar to the ones in the above photo. They're quite spectacular.

Such an unassuming little byway now, Quaker Lane stands to become the exterior focal point of an ongoing redevelopment.

Go back and look at the penultimate photo above. The glass curtain that forms an upside-down "L" along the right side gives you an idea of the work that's being done by Related Beal, which has developed numerous high-profile Greater Boston properties. The company is in the midst of reimagining five interconnected buildings, four of which appear in that photo. The former headquarters of Fidelity Investments, the complex is now known as Congress Square. Check out this web page to see the dramatic transformation.

"The new Congress Square is for companies seeking creative and innovative space with superb amenities in a high energy Downtown location," per the development's web site. Related Beal also plans retail and restaurant spaces in the development, including some that face onto Quaker Lane. The goal is make this somewhat dark pass-through into a vibrant entertainment, shopping and nightlife destination.

I look forward to checking out the Congress Square of the future....