The Arlington Street Church is recognizable by its one hundred and ninety foot steeple and its exterior of New Jersey brownstone, modeled after the London church of Saint Martin-in-the-Fields. Dedicated in eighteen sixty-one, it was the…
Back Bay Victorian Architecture
This walk takes you through the grand, Parisian-style grid of Back Bay to showcase the magnificent brownstones and monumental churches that defined late 19th-century Boston.
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1. Arlington Street Church
2. Gibson House Museum
The Gibson House Museum is a four-story brownstone and red brick row house on Beacon Street, built in the Italian Renaissance style. It is recognized by its exterior architectural shell which remains intact from eighteen sixty, when it was…
3. First Baptist Church of Boston
The First Baptist Church stands out for its one hundred seventy foot tall bell tower, which dominates the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Clarendon Street. Near the top of this stone tower, four angels with golden trumpets look out over…
4. Old South Church in Boston
Old South Church is instantly recognizable by its tall, slender campanile, a bell tower that rises high above the surrounding Back Bay. The building is defined by its ornate, multicolored stonework and a roof striped with tiles of red and…
5. Boston Public Library
The Boston Public Library is distinguished by the McKim Building, an Italian Renaissance-style palazzo that occupies the corner of Dartmouth and Boylston Streets. Opened in eighteen ninety-five, the structure features a long row of arched…
6. Trinity Church
Trinity Church occupies a distinct place in Copley Square, defined by a massive, central square tower and heavy, rounded arches built of rough-faced granite and red sandstone. This structure is the third home of an Episcopal parish founded…