Boston Watercolors – Scenes of Historic Back Bay and Beacon Hill
It’s easy to understand why the Back Bay is one of America’s most desirable neighborhoods. Newbury Street, Boylston Street and Commonwealth Avenue are lined with unique shops, trendy restaurants and vintage homes, making the Back Bay an extremely fashionable destination for Boston residents and visitors. In fact, it’s not uncommon to spot celebrities strolling up and down these picturesque streets. This bustling neighborhood also houses the two tallest members of Boston’s skyline, the Prudential Center and the John Hancock Tower, in addition to architectural treasures such as Trinity Church and the Boston Public Library.
These watercolor images of the Back Bay and Beacon hill areas of Boston by artist/photographer Edward M. Fielding are available for purchase as prints via Pixels. com. Just click on an image for more information.
“Boston is noted for its cobblestone streets, but, truth be told, most of them are not made of cobblestones. How could this happen? Well, a “cob” in Old English was a rounded mass or lump. Boston’s soil was loaded with these “cobs”, so it was natural we would do whatever we had to do to get rid of as many as possible – from building stone walls to ballast in ships to, you guessed it, paving material. To put many together roughly was to “cobble”. This begat “cobblestone” paving. Many of Old Boston’s streets were made with these “cobblestones”, exactly as we took them out of the ground. This led to many uneven surfaces, broken wheels, and, of course, massive complaints. The problems with the irregular features of the cobblestones led to the creation in the 19th century of “setts”, which were granite stones cut into more or less regularly-shaped rectangles and made the street paving surface much more even. “Setts” became the standard for Boston streets during the 1800’s. However, guidebooks have continued to call these new-fangled paving blocks “cobblestones” as well, but now you know that this is not correct. The only place that TRUE cobblestones are still around in any significant quantity is up in Beacon Hill. Their most famous location is on Acorn Street, which is one of the most photographed parts in the city. But you’ll also see them in some of the worn-down exposed areas of Louisburg Square and close by on a few driveways along Mount Vernon Street. Acorn Street runs between Willow and West Cedar Streets. Willow Street continues on to Louisburg Square. You can then turn right on Mount Vernon Streets and see some of the cobblestone driveways on the left. “
Flowering trees of spring in Boston’s historic Back Bay neighborhood. Fine art by Edward M. Fielding
Louisburg Square is a private square located in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston. It was named for the 1745 Battle of Louisbourg, in which Massachusetts militiamen led by William Pepperrell, who was made the first American baronet for his role, sacked the French Fortress of Louisbourg.
The square itself is a small grassy oval surrounded by a wrought-iron fence; access is generally not available. There is a statue of Columbus at the north end and of Aristides the Just at the south end.
Swan boats take tourist for a ride around the pond in the Boston Public Gardens next to the Boston Common is Back Bay area of Boston. Fine art by Edward M. Fielding
More magnolia trees will be blossoming along Back Bay streets next spring as the Garden Club of the Back Bay celebrates its 50th anniversary by selling and planting 50 magnolia trees throughout the neighborhood.