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Who doesn't love a trolley parade?
By adamg on Thu, 09/04/2014 - 10:15am
The folks at the Boston City Archives wonder if you can figure out what was going on in this picture, and when. See it larger.
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Armistice Day parade...
Looks to be late 19-teens... soldiers watching others soldiers parade by inside the trolleys...
Possibly Boylston Street
Looks like a type of military
Looks like a type of military parade, perhaps to honor GIs at the end of WWI? Street kinda looks like Tremont Street in the South End to me. Possibly Beacon Street in Back Bay too.
Ex-military
It looks like the veterans for peace group.
My first instinct is the Schoolboy Parade
but that usually took place on Huntington Ave with the cars lining up by Mechanics Hall, and this is clearly the 600 block of Tremont Street in the South End.
Judging by the uniformed servicemen, this is most likely a service parade, but not necessarily during the war.
It's difficult to date because the streetcars are not running on their regular routes, so car assignment logs are of little use.
I can see an auto has a plate with a 1933 registration on it. The streetcars are wearing their dark green paint and have not been painted into the orange, cream and maroon yet.
Maybe 1934-38.
You are right about Tremont Street
The building in the center right of the photo is the corner of West Dedham and Tremont.
Definitely Tremont Street
Maybe 602? Photo taken between West Dedham Street and Upton, looking west at where Dartmouth meets Tremont.
Columbus Ave and Dartmouth St
Columbus Ave and Dartmouth St. South End, 1933. Memorial Day Parade
Columbus Ave and Dartmouth St
Columbus Ave and Dartmouth St. South End, 1933. Memorial Day Parade
The Siege of The South End
The military commandeered the trolleys to move troops to the front in a long-forgotten maneuver to defend the South End from an attack by subversive Mooninite fifth columnists in the waning days of WW I. Time was when this day was observed as a public holiday in Suffolk County.
Railroad.net "will be in
Railroad.net "will be in their bunk"
I'll say Mass Ave and Wash. St
I could be wrong
That is Tremont St at Dartmouth St
In the South End. The view today.
One of those cars is signed
One of those cars is signed "NO STOPS" which is a frequent destination along the T's car lines today!
police
Pretty sure the darker uniforms are police, not military, though not certain-- obviously not the sailors. If so, though, the 'T' patch on the shoulder may be for "training," or would we have had "trolley" cops even back then?
Don't keep us in suspense
So??????
The Answer!
Thanks for playing folks! This is Tremont Street in the South End on June 2, 1933. The event is a parade of Boston high school cadets.
Governor calls out National
Governor calls out National Guard to reinforce Mayor in the installation of curb cuts.
I like the "run slow" sign near the street corner. Clearly, they've continued to take that to heart all these decades later.