Chinatown

Tarek Elkheir: A photo taken of a building on the corner of Beach and Knapp Street circa 1970-1980. In the historical photo, the building was home to a business in the garment industry, as can be seen by the name "Nick the Tailor" and a sign advertising "Shoe repair". The garment industry had a large presence in Chinatown due to its low land values, which allowed it to expand. However, after the decline of Boston's manufacturing industry and the passage of lax immigration laws, immigrant owned businesses grew.

Tarek Elkheir: A picture taken circa 1970-1980 of a building at 17 Essex Street. The building appears to be rundown and vacant in the historical photo. However, it has since been renovated and is now an Asian American lodging home.

(Peter Dudko): On the border of the current day Chinatown, all of the storefronts are gone but the background buildings have stayed the same. There are still recognizable brands in 1949 that are in this photo, such as Coca-Cola, Lincoln Motors and M & M. 

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In the past the site was a pizza place and it was right next to some three story tall buildings, and over time the site became a restaurant in Chinatown. It is located right next to high rises, which shows the economical improvements over time.

Nebile Gorenoglu

690 Washington Street now houses the infamous Empire Garden restaurant, however from 1947 to 1995 it was the Loew's Center Theater. The vintage decor and ornamental interior offers a unique dining experience for visitors.

Ally Rugg

Taken just over a century apart, on the border of the Chinatown neighborhood, these images reveal the changes undergone in the organization of Boston’s roadways.  Throughout the 20th century, Boston’s extensive lines of elevated railways and streetcars were gradually supplanted by underground transit systems and public roadways.

-Matthew Collins-

Will Baker

Here we can see the changes in the business district in Chinatown, from the 70's until now. Most of the buildings were demolished when the city started to clean up the area in the 80's and 90's

An elevated train crashed on the intersection between Harrison Ave and Beach Street. Right in the middle of Boston's Chinatown. You can see that today, the trains are moved underground.

In this photo you can see a park/ green area has been built over for living areas. The building that is the main focus of the older picture still stands today

Brett Tierney

Corner of Harrison Avenue and Johnny Court

The image below is from the Chinatown of Boston. Chinatown is an area of Boston that has been heavily influenced by both Chinese and Vietnamese cultures. There are several changes in the picture including the installment of “DO NOT ENTER” signs on the one-way road and the remodeling of the building in the background as well as the restaurants/ stores in the foreground of the photo. Surprisingly there were no changes to the fire escapes. The photo dates to circa 1968-1970.

Christopher Norve

José Cata- These photos show a huge change from the use and the exterior faces of the building. In the 1960s this was once a Fire Station but years later was the demolished and the Fire Station was moved to another named location. An soon after, developers had created an apartment complex.  

<p>(Alexander Horn) This original photograph, from the late 1960's, shows an alley in the southern part of Chinatown. This alley has gone over a significant amount of changes; I would have walked past it If it were not for the fire escape on the left building. The sidewalk went form concrete to brick, which was quite surprising. Their clearly was other road work, as the plumbing is quite clearly different, along with the direction of one way traffic flipping. The housing complex in the back was torn down and replaced with this much newer addition.&nbsp;</p>

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Julian Pullo-

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Benjamin Monahan:

This image show the Rear View of Maple Place in Chinatown. The obvious difference is the construction of a big building between the times that both photos were taken.