History
The square was first constructed in the mid-19th century to attract a growing wealthy merchant class. The park was once the largest garden square in the South End. It originally included a very large white, three tiered fountain with a seating area and numerous trees, flowers, and other gardens. It fell into decline shortly after the start of the 20th century, as wealthy residents moved to the Back Bay and a growing immigrant class moved in. The grand Victorian townhouses were gradually divided up and converted into smaller units, public buildings, and rooming houses. The park suffered its most devastating change in the 1950s when City and State officials decided to run Massachusetts Avenue directly through the park, dividing the square in half.
Read more about this topic: Chester Square (Boston)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“English history is all about men liking their fathers, and American history is all about men hating their fathers and trying to burn down everything they ever did.”
—Malcolm Bradbury (b. 1932)
“Three million of such stones would be needed before the work was done. Three million stones of an average weight of 5,000 pounds, every stone cut precisely to fit into its destined place in the great pyramid. From the quarries they pulled the stones across the desert to the banks of the Nile. Never in the history of the world had so great a task been performed. Their faith gave them strength, and their joy gave them song.”
—William Faulkner (1897–1962)
“There is one great fact, characteristic of this our nineteenth century, a fact which no party dares deny. On the one hand, there have started into life industrial and scientific forces which no epoch of former human history had ever suspected. On the other hand, there exist symptoms of decay, far surpassing the horrors recorded of the latter times of the Roman empire. In our days everything seems pregnant with its contrary.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)