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Apartments by the El

Apartments by the El in Boston.

When and where was this photo taken? See it larger. From the folks at the Boston City Archives, of course.

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Comments

By Chinatown and the Double Tree Hotel on Washington. Old Orange Line above

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Yeah this one was super easy. Oak St. sign super visible. Yawn. Next one?

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Boston has four Oak Streets. At least two of them intersected with an elevated track at some time.

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Right, but at "some point" is vague. Look at the kids' clothing. The only elevated in Boston at that time was Washington St. Did you think it was the Atlantic El?

Edit: Forgot about Charlestown. Has to be one or the other, though!

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Better question: when was this taken? I say late 50's early 60's.

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Charlestown - Oak and Main. My guess, 1960s-70s.

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late 60s-70s. This is when you started to see a lot of urban decay and abandoned buildings.

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not Chinatown. I'll guess the age of the photo is late 50s'. All the men/boys have greased hair, some with high-cuffed jeans, definitely a 50's style.

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There were TWO Oak Streets along the route of the El -- one in South Cove; one in Charlestown. The presence of wooden buildings makes it clear this one is in Charlestown, since wooden buildings of this size and date weren't allowed in the South Cove area.

Additionally, when the El came out of its portal -- near where Tufts Medical Center is today -- it was about 1/2 block east of Washington Street. The El crossed Oak Street while it was still on an incline, resulting in very low clearance for vehicles on Oak Street. At that point it was in a private right of way parallel to, and east of Washington. It didn't come over Washington until it got to the railroad tracks, where the Mass. Turnpike is today.

Maybe the 60s from the clothing?

Nothing in the picture is there today, other than the streets themselves. Here's Google Streetview:
http://goo.gl/maps/EaWIL

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Replaced by those low-rise brick housing development. Is that subsidized elderly housing or some such?

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Why weren't wooden buildings allowed in South Cove?

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I think the game is supposed to be, figure out what it is without looking at the obvious clues, like the street name, or figure out what part of town it is.

That is one run-down block.

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My guess is Hyde Park Ave and Oak St in Hyde Park. Apparently there was an elevated train there for some time.

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i think the charlestown guessers are right....

the kid on the bicycle in the right side of the image is riding NE on Mead Street, just beyond him is an open lot, a billboard, and a brick building facing Main Street that are all now Edwards Playground, and the townhouses in the farthest background are on Eden Street and are still standing

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Thanks for playing, everyone! This is the intersection of Oak and Main Streets in Charlestown, ca. early 1960s (pre-urban renewal).

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