the gipster

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Mapping The Tragedy: Boston Bombs Set On Symbolic Street

“We shall pick up an existence by its frogs.” ― Charles Fort, Lo!

And its Masonic Taverns.

The Patriots' Day explosions at the end of the Boston Marathon were placed on Boylston Street. So far, 176 were injured and three have died, caused by two pressure cooker-style bombs in black duffel bag, left concealed near the race's end stretch.

There will be discussions of many aspects of this sad tragedy. Here we look at the twilight language. Yesterday, I examined parts of the hidden and forgotten history of the date.

The first bomb was placed in front of LensCrafters, 699 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02116, near the end of the Boston Marathon, next to a shop called Marathon Place, to the side of a reviewing stand. The white ash of the bomb is visible above. The second bomb (below) was across from the Lenox Hotel.

The location of the second bomb seems to have been in front of the Forum in the 700 block of Boylston Street.

What do we know about the general but specific site? The location? If we dig more deeply into the toponymy (the study of place names) of this event, what do we find?

Detail of a 1723 map of Boston

The White Horse Tavern stood on Newbury (later Washington Street), near Frogg Lane (later Boylston Street).

Detail of an 1883 map of Boston. The location of the Masonic Temple is clearly visible.

Boylston Street is the name of a major east-west thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston street was known as Frog Lane (or Frogg Lane) in the early 18th century and was later known as Common Street. The street stretches from the Fenway neighborhood to Copley Square and the Boston Common.

In 1749 and 1750, it is known that the Third Lodge of Freemasonry in Boston was held at the White Horse Tavern on the first and third Wednesday in every month.

This one section of Boston has some of the most important old Masonic landmarks and sites of anyplace in America. This area housed many taverns which served as Masonic Meeting Houses, including the Greyhound Tavern (Washington & Warren Sts), British Coffee House (King St, now State St), George, later called King's Arm Tavern (Boston Neck), White Horse Tavern (Frog Lane, now Boylston St), and the two most famous Masonic taverns, the Green-Dragon Tavern (Hanover & Union Sts) and Brunch-of-Grapes Tavern (King St, now State St).

Masonic Temple, corner of Tremont and Boylston Street.

Frog (or Frogg) Lane was later again renamed for Ward Nicholas Boylston (1747–1828), a man of wealth and refinement, an officer of the Crown, and philanthropist.

Wikipedia notes the background of the man who would lend his name to this street:

Ward Nicholas Boylston (1747-1828; born Ward Hallowell), a descendent of the physician Zabdiel Boylston, was a man of wealth and refinement, a merchant, a philanthropist and a great benefactor of Harvard University. He was a brother of Admiral Sir Benjamin Hallowell Carew, one of Nelson's Band of Brothers, and a nephew of Governor Moses Gill.
He was born in Boston and spent much of his life in it. His father, Benjamin Hallowell, Esq., was the Commissioner of Customs, and the family lived in the Jamaica Plain end of what was then the town of Roxbury, just south of Boston. His mother, Mrs. Mary (Boylston) Hallowell, was the daughter of Thomas Boylston, and a first cousin of Susanna Boylston, the mother of the 2nd President of the United States, John Adams, and grandmother of the 6th President, John Quincy Adams.
Ward received his early education in the free public schools of Boston. In 1770 at the request of his uncle Nicholas Boylston, he dropped his surname of Hallowell and changed it to his uncle's name, Boylston, who promised to leave him certain large estates in his will.

In 1773, Boylston left Boston for an extended journey through Europe and Asia. In 1775 he arrived in London, living there for twenty-five years and in various aspects of trade.

In 1800 he returned to Boston.

Old maps often do not match the parallel nature of the current street names, as in the following new maps. It is to be assumed that shifts in street placements and names have occurred over time.