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The horsey set in old Boston

By adamg on Mon, 11/13/2017 - 11:39am
Scene in old Boston with horses and trolley tracks

The folks at the Boston City Archives wonder if you can place this scene. See it larger.

Neighborhoods: 
Boston
Topics: 
History


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Comments

By bohhh on Mon, 11/13/2017 - 11:46am.

Cambridge & Wilton streets, 1889.

By Div2Supt on Mon, 11/13/2017 - 4:58pm.

And that electric streetcar is very likely hauling a horsecar trailer. Electric Route 902 ran from Allston Depot to Park Square. At the latter point the horsecar was detached (and paired with horses), took on a driver and conductor, and continued to Southie as Horse Route 502 via Broadway (a la modern Route 09).

By Gary C on Tue, 11/14/2017 - 10:06am.

The brick building on the left is still there....

https://goo.gl/maps/1ptgzbf62yS2

By Exchange on Mon, 11/13/2017 - 11:48am.

Jp

By luke warm on Mon, 11/13/2017 - 12:09pm.

this is just part of why i love Uhub. and i convert people and then they love Uhub

By capecoddah on Mon, 11/13/2017 - 12:20pm.

A quick guess from end the streetcar on the left, it is along the Bowdoin/Harvard line in the 1800s.

edit : I was hung up on the nonsensical awning on the back of the streetcar, but I just realized the awning is in the background on a building. That is definitely the same model car from the Bowdoin/Broadway/Harvard line.

By Oscar Worthy on Mon, 11/13/2017 - 3:55pm.

I'm brain stumped trying to figure out where a line that could include a Broadway, a Bowdoin and a Harvard would run.

By Div2Supt on Mon, 11/13/2017 - 4:49pm.

There had been an omnibus line from Harvard Square to Bowdoin via Broadway Cambridge that was essentially bought out by the Union Railway in 1855. The Cambridge Horse Railroad, chartered May 25, 1853, had a hard time convincing well-to-do gentlemen that horsecars would be more than a fad. They set up the Union to shill and buy out/take out the established omnibus lines. The Union, under lease agreement, ran the omnibuses until track could be laid.

By SamWack on Mon, 11/13/2017 - 12:29pm.

is the drone in the upper left.

By Gary C on Mon, 11/13/2017 - 12:59pm.

LOL, I thought the same thing.

By Brighton-ite on Mon, 11/13/2017 - 5:46pm.

...I saw that the horse in the middle of the photo is in the Witness Protection Program. See how its face is blurred to keep a secret identity?

By The Fox 915 on Mon, 11/13/2017 - 1:12pm.

Thanks for the belly laugh on that one!

By Ron Newman on Mon, 11/13/2017 - 1:25pm.

is my wild guess. Before the elevated Orange Line was built.

By Boston City Archives on Mon, 11/13/2017 - 4:14pm.

Thanks for playing, folks! Those of you who guessed Brighton are correct. This photo was taken in 1888, and shows Cambridge and Wilton Streets.

By capecoddah on Mon, 11/13/2017 - 4:43pm.

That could be the same building there today

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