I have taken many pictures of the Trinity Church in Boston’s Copley Square over the last 7 or 8 years. Recently I came across some pictures in Flickr from various sources and thought I’d make a little bit of a time line. You can see the city grow around the church.
It is interesting see how much Copley Square has changed over the years and how many more tress there are now!
1860 (approximately)
This is the oldest picture I could find of the church. The chandelier in this is no longer there, but the rest of the church looks very similar.
Source: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. “Interior of Trinity Church, Boston.” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1860 – 1920.
1875
These early pictures show how much of a presence the church ad in that area. You can also see the road structure is much different than it is today with no clear square in place. The square as it is today was built out in 1989. There were several different build outs throughout the history of the square, to learn more check out this post on landscapenotes.com.
Source: WikiCommons
1876 (approximately)
That is the Museum of Fine Arts building on the right which was in Copley Square from 1876 to 1909.
Source: MIT Libraries on Flickr
1877
Source: Cornell University on Flickr
1895
Source: Boston Public Library on Flickr
1900
Source: Library of Congress
1901
Source: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Detroit Publishing Company Collection, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-D4-10865]
1903
Source: Library of Congress
This is a celebrations for visitors from London honored by the “Boston Ancients”. Here’s some background on the visit.
1906
Source: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Detroit Publishing Company Collection, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-D4-10865]
1910
Source: Boston Public Library on Flickr
1911
Source: Boston Public Library on Flickr
1919
Source: Boston Public Library on Flickr
1923
Source: Boston Public Library on Flickr
1928
Source: Boston Public Library on Flickr
1932
Source: Boston Public Library on Flickr
1940
Source: Boston Public Library on Flickr
1946-ish
Source: The Boston Public Library
This was a “Victory Garden” built in honor the Allied victory in World War II. More details here.
Source: Boston Public Library on Flickr
Lots of cars and the building of the Berkeley Building, that used to be called the Old John Hancock building.
1957
Source: MIT Libraries on Flickr
Source: MIT Libraries on Flickr
1962
Source: Boston Public Library on Flickr
1976
Source: City of Boston Archives on Flickr
Source: City of Boston Archives on Flickr
1987
Source: Library of Congress
2014-18
These are some pictures I’ve taken over the last few years. There’s many more in this Flickr album.
