Missing Link
A humble homage to a vanished neighborhood
T
here are few places in Boston as secret as the old West End. That’s because the neighborhood was demolished in the ill-conceived 1950s “urban renewal” that wiped out Boston’s only real integrated neighborhood and replaced it with the architecturally dubious Government Center and Charles River Park. The West End Museum, as little known as the district it commemorates, preserves the memories of the former neighborhood and its 7,000 displaced residents, with photographs of daily life on streets that no longer exist and Charles River beaches since dismantled. Moravek
Shhhh! Jane Jacobs cited the
neighborhood in her classic study The Death
and Life of Great American Cities.
neighborhood in her classic study The Death
and Life of Great American Cities.
Shhhh! The story of the West End was
documented in a 1962 ABC News program, The Lost Neighborhood, that you can see at the museum.
documented in a 1962 ABC News program, The Lost Neighborhood, that you can see at the museum.
Shhhh! Former residents of the West End still have reunions and their own newspaper, the West Ender.
Shhh who knew
Leonard Nimoy—Mr. Spock on Star Trek—grew up in the old West End, where his father was a barber.
150 Staniford St.
at Lomasney Way, West End
Boston,
MA,
02114
617.723.2125
Find on a map|Get directions.
These lines serve the West End Museum. Click to find more secrets on your route.
89 Bus, Government Center/Blue Line, Government Center/Green Line, North Station/Green Line, North Station/Orange Line
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Get directions to the West End Museum by T.
Find more secrets like Boston history, Free museum, Historic, History, Museum, West End
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Tuesday through Friday, noon to 4 p.m.
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