- Mechanics Hall (Boston, Massachusetts)
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For other buildings called Mechanics Hall, see Mechanics Hall.
Mechanics Hall, Huntington Ave., Boston, 1892
Mechanics Hall (Boston, Massachusetts) was a building and community institution on Huntington Avenue at West Newton Street, from 1881 to 1959. Commissioned by the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, it was built by the noted architect William Gibbons Preston. The building was located between the Boston and Albany railroad yards and Huntington avenue. It was razed for the Prudential Center urban renewal project of the early 1960s.[1] The site is on the north side of Huntington Avenue, and since 1941 has been served by Prudential Station (nee Mechanics Hall Station) of the MBTA Green Line "E" Branch.
The building's sizable auditorium was host to meetings and conventions. Over the years the building was host to events such as boat shows, auto shows, dog shows, flower shows and sporting shows.[2][3] For example in 1883 the Foreign Exhibition Association held a large exhibit of "foreign arts, manufactures and products."[4]
The Christian Science Center's reflecting pool is at the site of the former meeting hall.[5]
See also
Notes
- ^ Sports Temples of Boston http://www.bpl.org/online/sportstemples/temple.php?temple_id=11&pid=bpldc:05_02_010652
- ^ Sports Temples of Boston http://www.bpl.org/online/sportstemples/temple.php?temple_id=11&pid=bpldc:05_02_010652
- ^ Charles Giuliano, "The New Boston: On the Waterfront City Hall to Join the ICA's Harbor View" http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/?page=article&article_id=185&catID=3
- ^ Official catalogue Foreign Exhibition, Boston, 1883: Foreign Exhibition Association, Boston, Mass., USA. Boston: G. Coolidge, 1883
- ^ Boston Family History http://www.bostoninnovation.org/BostonFamilyHistory/neighborhoods/neigh_bbay.html
Image gallery
- Mechanics Hall, Huntington Avenue (1881–1959)
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Detail of 1888 map of Back Bay, showing the new Mechanics Hall on Huntington Ave.
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Sportsman's Show, Mechanics Hall, 19th c.
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Sportsman's Show, Mechanics Hall, 19th c.
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Mechanics Hall, Huntington Ave., 1920
External links
Categories:- Cultural history of Boston, Massachusetts
- Former buildings and structures of Boston, Massachusetts
- 19th century in Boston, Massachusetts
- 20th century in Boston, Massachusetts
- Back Bay, Boston
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