Walk to the Sea

Government Center

The Scollay Square neighborhood stood here until the 1960s. Its colorful, Victorian buildings, bearing large painted advertisements, originally teemed with shoppers and theatergoers. Its buildings were razed and replaced by the "superblocks" of Government Center, where, by 1969, a monumental new City Hall anchored a vast 10-acre plaza.

Maginfy icon Photo of Boston City Hall with plaza fountain in front
Maginfy icon Photo of train platform and tracks of old Scollay Square station.
Maginfy icon Black and white photo of Scollay Square buildings taken from opposite side of street.
Maginfy icon 1894 print of Court and Tremont St from Scollay Square
Maginfy icon A crowded Scollay Square around 1942
Maginfy icon A vacant lot representing the future site of Boston City Hall around 1962
Maginfy icon City hall under construction around 1966

By the mid-20th century, the busy commercial district of Scollay Square was widely seen as an eyesore and a center of vice. The warren of 22 streets featured theaters that had been turned into burlesque houses, surrounded by bars and tattoo parlors that attracted sailors on leave.

Eventually, public opinion censured the lively squalor, and Scollay Square became a candidate for urban renewal. Its buildings were razed and replaced by the “superblocks” of Government Center, where, by 1969, a monumental new City Hall anchored a vast 10-acre plaza. Bostonians still debate the consequences of urban renewal, but the bold rebuilding reversed the decline in Boston’s fortunes that occurred during the first half of the 20th century.

Mayor John Collins arrived on the scene in 1960. He picked Ed Logue to direct the Boston Redevelopment Authority. Together they reshaped downtown Boston.

Scollay Square was the second Boston neighborhood to be demolished for a modern rebuilding project. Collins and Logue envisioned in its place a new City Hall that would become the centerpiece for a rejuvenated downtown which vaulted Boston into the modern age.

Resources

  • BPDA Model Room

    The Boston Planning and Development Agency's model room houses a 1:40 inch scale, physical, basswood model of Boston's downtown and portions of Beacon Hill, the North End, Charlestown, Back Bay and the South Boston Waterfront. The model room is open to the public Monday through Friday, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Visit the model room on the 9th floor of Boston City Hall, at One City Hall Square.

    Visit
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