J.L. Bell educates us on some of the early, municipally appointed town criers of Boston. One got his job after telling selectmen (yep, Boston had selectmen back in the day) that one of his qualifications was:

"being weake in Body," so he needed a job with no heavy lifting, or else he might become a charity case for the town.

Lesley Schoenfeld, a librarian at Harvard, reports on an interesting find: An account by James Rodney Wood, a Boston police chief who founded New England's first detective agency, of post-War (post Civil War, that is) activity on North Street in the North End, home to 25 bars, 13 dance halls and 30 to 50 brothels:

There were frequent delegations of students from Harvard College, come to see Boston by gaslight, and they would make for North Street, and were sure to get into trouble. They would come to the dance-halls, dance and drink, and get into trouble either with the girls or the sailors, and a fight would ensue. We would then be called in and often would have to lock up fifteen or twenty of the students.

Via ArchBoston.

Mark Bulger explains how Day Street got its name - and its connection to Boston's once important rope industry.

Richard Beaubien spent time this summer at the 9/11 memorial at Logan Airport (he has more photos here).

Earlier: The flag at Gate 32.

Copyright Richard Beaubien. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

That was nothing compared to what a South Carolina congressman did to Sen. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts:

In one of the most dramatic and deeply ominous moments in the Senate's entire history, a member of the House of Representatives entered the Senate chamber and savagely beat a senator into unconsciousness.

South Carolina elected officials are often unable to control their id:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZLka0JQlw4&feature=channel_page

Press Pass TV looks at how gentrification is affecting Boston and how value is established.

Press Pass TV examines the meaning of the word "ghetto" and its current uses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTAdUM2iyww&feature=channel_page

Remember the possibly apocryphal story about Groucho Marx telling a woman with 19 kids that he loved his cigar but took it out of his mouth every once in awhile?

J.L. Bell reports on a sort of similar anecdote from a 1740 political battle between colonial legislators from Boston and Woburn.

The Boston Public Library has posted photos of its collection of old Boston matchbook covers, including this one from the landmark hotel. What other things did the hotel used to offer guests?

Posted under this Creative Commons license.

Back Bay station in 1976, before the el was taken down and before Copley Place.

From this collection of photos from the days when the Penn Central still existed and still ran passenger trains in New England.

Via Cosmo Catalano.