North Street (Boston, Massachusetts)

North Street in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts, extends from Congress Street to Commercial Street. It runs past Dock Square, Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market, the Rose Kennedy Greenway, and North Square. It was first named in 1852, and consists of segments of streets formerly named Ann, Fish, Ship, Drawbridge, and Conduit Streets.

Ann Street in the 19th century

Ann Street, also known as the "Black Sea", was an infamous neighborhood in the 19th century. The main street and its side alleys formed a red-light district where brothels, inns, "jilt shops", and tavernsBergen 23. could be segregated from the rest of the city.Duis 235. Over half of Boston's brothels were located there.

The establishments in the area relied heavily on custom from sailors, who had come ashore at Dock Square nearby, and working men, who used the taverns as meeting places in the winter. The area was one of the few places in Boston where African Americans and whites intermingled.Hobson 45.

Ann Street was the main thoroughfare through the neighborhood. It ran from Faneuil Market, spanned an old drawbridge, and led into the rest of the Boston's North End, terminating at the wharves. On 4 December 1834, Ann Street was widened to connect Merchant's Row and Blackstone Street. The area lay about ten minutes by foot from Boston's banking and commercial center.

Police raids

The Ann Street area was occasionally subject to police raids, generally superficial affairs that left the brothels alone. In 1851 Ann Street had reached the height of its notoriety. Police who patrolled the area (now known as the "Black Sea") estimated that it was home to 227 brothels, 26 gambling dens, and 1,500 establishments that sold liquor.Hobson 41.

The Boston government responded by organizing a raid. The first, on 8 March 1851, nabbed 86 gamblers. A second on 14 March took many more. Officer Edward H. Savage described the final phase of this Great Descent: "On the eve of the 23rd of April, this year, we made the great Police descent in Ann Street, capturing some one hundred and sixty bipeds, who were punished for piping, fiddling, dancing, drinking, and attending crimes." This raid involved some 50 officers (the whole day force's contingent) and 50 night officers. In all, 60 men, including 35 brothel keepers, and 95 women, mostly prostitutes, were arrested.

Name change: North Street

At the behest of residents eager to improve the area's image, Boston rechristened Ann Street "North Street" in 1852. The change made little difference. In 1866, some Protestant missionaries described the area as "squealing of fiddles" and the "disorderly shuffle of many feet", populated by criminals of every kind.Quoted in Hobson 45.

In 1896, Benjamin Orange Flower described a similar scene in his book '' Civilization's Inferno''. Over time, the area did improve, but this was more likely the result of economic and community changes.

Present day

Today's North Street is part of a rejuvenated North End and all of Boston's red-light district is limited to a few bookstores and two strip clubs on Lagrange Street, part of the now defunct "Combat Zone".

Image gallery

Image:OchtorlonyHouse NorthSt Boston byEdwinWhitefield 1889.png, Ochtorlony house, built before 1695; bought by David Ochtorlony in 1762.
Image:1790 SamSturgis NorthSt Boston.png, Advertisement for Samuel Sturgis, hatmaker, 1790
Image:1852 NorthSt Boston map bySlatter.png, Detail of 1852 map of Boston, showing North St., Ann St., and vicinity
Image:1868 Blake NorthSt BostonDirectory.png, Advertisement for C. Blake, manufacturer of what-nots and hat-trees, 1868
Image:1868 Dighton NorthSt BostonDirectory.png, Advertisement for Dighton Furnace Co., 1868
Image:2885405538 TremereHouse Boston NorthStreet 1898.jpg, Tremere house ca.1898 (built prior to 1674 by William Paine)
Image:2006 NorthSt Boston.jpg, House on North Street (built 1901)
Image:2010_UnionSt_NorthSt_Boston2.jpg, Intersection of Union Street and North Street, adjacent to Dock Square, 2010

See also

* Market Museum (Boston)
* Old Feather Store

References

Further reading

* Bergen, Philip. ''Old Boston in Early Photographs, 1850-1918: 174 Prints from the Collection of the Boston Society''. Dover Publications.
* Duis, Perry R. (1999). ''The Saloon: Public Drinking in Chicago and Boston, 1880-1920''. University of Illinois Press.
* Hobson, Barbara Meil (1987). ''Uneasy Virtue: The Politics of Prostitution and the American Reform Tradition''. Chicago University Press.
* Savage, Edward H. (1865). ''A Chronological History of the Boston Watch and Police, from 1631 to 1865: Together with Recollections of a Boston Police Officer, or Boston by Daylight and Gaslight.: From the Diary of an Officer Fifteen Years in the Service''. Boston.

External links

Bostonian Society
has materials related to the street.

Google news archive
Articles related to North Street

Libraries
* https://www.flickr.com/photos/krobb/3537151666/
* https://www.flickr.com/photos/gigharmon/3023067772/
* https://www.flickr.com/photos/manzari/179287240/

{{Prostitution in the United States, state=collapsed

Streets in Boston
North End, Boston
History of Boston
Sex industry in Massachusetts
Former red-light districts in the United States