Hanover Street is located in the
North End of
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
.
History
The street is one of the oldest in Boston, and was originally a
Native American path, allowing access to the shore, prior to the first European settlement. In the 17th century, the street was called Orange Tree Lane. In 1708, the street was renamed after the
House of Hanover
The House of Hanover ( ) is a European royal house with roots tracing back to the 17th century. Its members, known as Hanoverians, ruled Hanover, Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Empire at various times during the 17th to 20th centurie ...
, heirs to the British throne under the
Act of Settlement 1701
The Act of Settlement ( 12 & 13 Will. 3. c. 2) is an act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catho ...
.
In 1824, North Street and the former Middle Street became part of Hanover. In the 1950s, the block of Hanover Street between Cross Street and Blackstone Street was demolished to make way for the construction of the
Central Artery
The Central Artery (officially the John F. Fitzgerald Expressway) is the concurrent section of Interstate 93, US 1 and Route 3 through Downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The modern-day Artery, built as part of the Big Dig from ...
. This block was reopened in 2004 when the elevated Central Artery was removed as part of the
Big Dig
The Big Dig was a megaproject in Boston that rerouted the then elevated Central Artery of Interstate 93 that cut across Boston into the O'Neill Tunnel and built the Ted Williams Tunnel to extend Massachusetts Turnpike, Interstate 90 to Logan I ...
and replaced by the
Rose Kennedy Greenway.
In the 1960s the southern section of Hanover street, from
Congress Street to
Court Street (now Cambridge Street), was demolished to make way for the construction of
Government Center. Hanover Street is now home to many businesses, cafes, churches, and
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
restaurants. The portion of the street between the
Rose Kennedy Greenway and Union Street is closed on Friday and Saturday each week for the
Haymarket open-air market.
See also
*
Boston Harborwalk
*
St. Stephen's Church, Boston
*
Rose Kennedy Greenway
*
North End Parks
The North End Parks are the two northernmost parks on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, built over O'Neill Tunnel in Boston, Massachusetts and adjacent to the neighborhood known as the North End. Two landscape architecture firms (Boston's Crosby, ...
*
Boston Public Market
The Boston Public Market is an indoor Market (place), public market that opened in July 2015 in downtown Boston, adjacent to the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. The market houses more than 28 year-round vendor stalls, and is open seven days a ...
*
Blackstone Block Historic District
*
Freedom Trail
The Freedom Trail is a path through Boston that passes by 16 locations significant to the history of the United States. It winds from Boston Common in downtown Boston, to the Old North Church in the North End and the Bunker Hill Monument i ...
*
Government Center
;Former tenants
*
American House (Boston)
*
Concert Hall (Boston, Massachusetts)
*
Michele Felice Cornè, artist, c. 1810s
*
Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather (; February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728) was a Puritan clergyman and author in colonial New England, who wrote extensively on theological, historical, and scientific subjects. After being educated at Harvard College, he join ...
lived on Hanover St., 1688-1718
[State Street Trust Company. Forty of Boston's historic houses. 1912.]
*
John Mayo
*
Second Church, Boston
References
Image gallery
Image:1769 NorthEnd Boston map WilliamPrice.png, Detail of 1769 map of Boston, showing Hanover St. and North End
Image:Boston, 1775bsmall1.png, Map showing a British tactical evaluation of Boston in 1775. It shows a street called "Hanover Street" and "Middle Street". Map by Lieut. Thomas Hyde Page
Image:WarrenHouse HanoverSt Boston.png, House of General Joseph Warren
Joseph Warren (June 11, 1741 – June 17, 1775), a Founding Father of the United States, was an American physician who was one of the most important figures in the Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot movement in Boston, Massachusetts, Bos ...
, Hanover St., 18th century
Image:DriggsLace Boston 1850s.jpg, L.S. Drigg's Lace and Bonnet store, Hanover St., 1850s (illustration from Gleason's Pictorial)
Image:AmericanHouse Boston.jpg, American House, Hanover St., 1850s (illustration from Gleason's Pictorial)
Image:2351554680 HanoverSt Boston.jpg, The Gem 99 Cent Store, c. 1860s-1870s
Image:1868 Southworth Photographer BostonDirectory.png, Advertisement for Albert Southworth, photographer, 1868
Image:2351620356 HanoverSt and CourtSt.jpg, Hanover St., from Court St., 19th century
Image:Bundesarchiv Bild 137-047635, USA, Boston, Hannoverstrasse.jpg, Corner of Hanover and Union Streets, Boston, 1930
File:Boston City Hall, from Haymarket (8609103149).jpg, View west on Hanover Street from the Central Artery
The Central Artery (officially the John F. Fitzgerald Expressway) is the concurrent section of Interstate 93, US 1 and Route 3 through Downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The modern-day Artery, built as part of the Big Dig from ...
showing Haymarket, 1975
External links
Bostonian Society has materials related to the street.
* City of Boston Archives
Hanover Street looking from Richmond Street to Prince Street November 11, 1948
Library of Congress Waldron's Casino Theatre, Hanover St. near
Scollay Square, Boston, Massachusetts, 1922.
Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey. Codman Building, 30-48 Hanover Street.
{{coord, 42, 21, 50.85, N, 71, 03, 14.14, W, display=title
Streets in Boston
Former buildings and structures in Boston
History of Boston
North End, Boston
Government Center, Boston