Upper Beacon Hill (Images of America)

By: Rhea Hollis Atwood

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Synopsis: Upper Beacon Hill chronicles the drama and excitement of an intriguing and little-known community on top of Boston's Beacon Hill. Separated by the Massachusetts State House and Bowdoin Street from the hill's western residential area, the upper summit and its lower eastern slope formed a magnet for power and change in the century from 1850 to 1950. Period photographs from leading Boston institutions and museums uncover the community's celebrations, history, famous men and women, architecture, entertainment, and cultural and educational institutions.With its unique in-depth treatment of the area, Upper Beacon Hill has much to offer the reader. The classic architecture of Beacon Street's Boston Athenaeum library, Bulfinch's State House, and the Park Street Church is celebrated in period photographs. Historical sites are defined-for example, the chapel off Beacon Street that was home to Transcendentalist movement meetings and, later, to Boston's first French-speaking Roman Catholic church. Upper Beacon Hill follows the area's changing neighborhoods, including that of Scollay Square, and traces the haunts of notables Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, Alexander Graham Bell, "Honey" Fitzgerald, and John F. Kennedy. Residents and visitors, as well as history buffs, will enjoy Upper Beacon Hill's rare glimpse into Boston's history.