For two days in November, 1872, a massive fire swept through Boston, leaving the downtown in ruins and the population traumatized. Coming barely a year after the infamous Chicago fire, Boston’s inferno turned out to be one of the most expensive fires per acre in US history. Yet today few are aware of how close Boston came to destruction. Boston author Stephanie Schorow masterfully recounts the fire’s history from the foolish decisions that precipitated it to the heroics of firefighters who fought it. Lavishly illustrated with period artwork and photographs and published just before the fire’s 150th anniversary, The Great Boston Fire captures the drama of a life-and-death battle in the heart of the city.

Few events can be said to have changed the face of Boston forever. Eventually destroying 775 buildings and causing millions of dollars in damage to the commercial section that we now know as Boston's business district, the Great Boston Fire of 1872 was a spectacular conflagration that destroyed "old Boston" and allowed a phoenix to arise from the ashes. This exciting new pictorial history brings to life the drama that began one Saturday evening in 1872 when a fire started in an empty hoop-skirt factory on the corner of Summer and Kingston Streets. At the time, Boston was in the throes of a epizootic disease that caused all horses in the area to be ill. This caused a virtual shutdown of transportation and city services and delayed the fire department's response to calls for help. By the time the breathless firemen arrived, the fire had already consumed the granite five-story factory and burst through the mansard roof, which acted as a flue and spread the fire. Within an hour, much of Summer Street was engulfed in flames and firemen from near and far were being summoned to combat the spread of the deadly blaze. By midnight, the fire had spread through Summer Street to Arch Street and was attacking Winthrop Square. Old Trinity Church, at the corner of Summer and Hawley Streets, had given itself up to the flames.

The characters and tales from the author’s 42 years with the BFD will be sure to hold your interest and put a smile on your face. There may just be a tear in your eye when you read about the tragedies he has seen over the years. It is written not only for the lay person, but the firefighter as well. You are sure to be entertained.

Presents a chronologically-arranged reference to catastrophic events in American history, including natural disasters, economic depressions, riots, murders, and terrorist attacks.

Boston. Bahston. A wicked good look at the city of Boston, it’s people, history, culture, and surrounding neighborhoods. Whether it's called Beantown, The Olde Towne, Titletown, The Cradle of Liberty, The Athens of America, The Puritan City, The City on a Hill, or any of its other obscure or oft-repeated nicknames, Boston has a long and varied history. Its universities and hospitals lead the nation, and its sports teams, politicians, and colloquialisms continue to captivate. Exploring this city’s fascinating history, people, myths, culture, and trivia, The Handy Boston Answer Book takes an in-depth look at one of America's oldest major cities. Learn about the city’s founding by Puritan settlers, the Boston Massacre, the Great Fire, the opening of the T, the busing desegregation strife, the Big Dig, and much, much more. Tour landmarks from Faneuil Hall to Fenway Park to the United States' first public school, Boston Latin School, and important institutions such as Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital. Sports (and the local sports fanatics) are illuminated (and explained). Popular neighborhoods, ethnic enclaves, and the surrounding suburbs are canvassed. The government, notable sons and daughters, parks, and cultural institutions are all packed into this comprehensive guide to the city of Boston. Find answers to 1,200 questions, including: What was the Boston revolt of 1689? Who dramatized Paul Revere's Midnight Ride? How did the Embargo Act of 1807 affect Boston? How did Protestant and Yankee Boston become the multi-ethnic metropolis of today? When did Boston's Great Fire occur? How much of the city's land was reclaimed by filling in marshes, mud flats, and gaps between wharves along the waterfront? What cities and towns comprise the “Greater Boston” region? How many college students reside in Boston? Why is the Boston Marathon always run on the third Monday of April? Who ran the Boston Marathon the most times? Were the baseball players always called the Red Sox? Why did Boston get the "Athens of America" nickname? What's “The T”? What's “The Pike”? Who designed Boston’s “Emerald Necklace”? Who was Boston's longest-serving mayor? Are “Tonics” and “Whoopie Pies” available at most “Spas”? What do the colored lights on top of the old Hancock building say about the weather? What do Samuel Adams, James Taylor, Benjamin Franklin, and Taylor Schilling have in common? A convenient place to go to look up the basic—and fun—facts about Boston, its history and culture, The Handy Boston Answer Book illustrates the unique character of the city through a combination of facts, stats, and stories, as well as the unusual and quirky. This informative book also includes a helpful bibliography and an extensive index, adding to its usefulness.

This book examines the rebuildings of Chicago, Boston, and Baltimore following great fires.

A lively history of Boston’s emergence as a world-class city—home to the likes of Frederick Douglass and Alexander Graham Bell—by a beloved Bostonian historian “It’s been quite a while since I’ve read anything—fiction or nonfiction—so enthralling.”—Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River and Shutter Island Once upon a time, “Boston Town” was an insulated New England township. But the community was destined for greatness. Between 1850 and 1900, Boston underwent a stunning metamorphosis to emerge as one of the world’s great metropolises—one that achieved national and international prominence in politics, medicine, education, science, social activism, literature, commerce, and transportation. Long before the frustrations of our modern era, in which the notion of accomplishing great things often appears overwhelming or even impossible, Boston distinguished itself in the last half of the nineteenth century by proving it could tackle and overcome the most arduous of challenges and obstacles with repeated—and often resounding—success, becoming a city of vision and daring. In A City So Grand, Stephen Puleo chronicles this remarkable period in Boston’s history, in his trademark page-turning style. Our journey begins with the ferocity of the abolitionist movement of the 1850s and ends with the glorious opening of America’s first subway station, in 1897. In between we witness the thirty-five-year engineering and city-planning feat of the Back Bay project, Boston’s explosion in size through immigration and annexation, the devastating Great Fire of 1872 and subsequent rebuilding of downtown, and Alexander Graham Bell’s first telephone utterance in 1876 from his lab at Exeter Place. These lively stories and many more paint an extraordinary portrait of a half century of progress, leadership, and influence that turned a New England town into a world-class city, giving us the Boston we know today.

Boston's financial district is considered the heart of New England's banking and finance. It is a veritable overlay of sleek modern office buildings and elegant high-rise structures of the early twentieth century. In the center of this contemporary skyline is evidence of the financial district's long history. Boston's first skyscraper, the Boston Custom House tower, stands high from where it was built in 1915 on top of the original 1849 custom house building. Boston's Financial District chronicles the steady change from a romantic neighborhood to numerous banking and business houses. It was originally known as Old South End and was a residential site of elegant mansions designed by Charles Bulfinch and located on tree-lined squares and streets that emulated the aristocratic boroughs of London. The photographs in Boston's Financial District show evidence of the destruction wreaked by the Great Boston Fire of 1872 and the rebuilding of Boston's center of commerce. With its well-known banks and businesses, the financial district has witnessed some of the most monumental and influential historical changes in the city of Boston.

In the aftermath of the Civil War and the Great Boston Fire of 1872, those who would rebuild Boston looked to new ground in Brookline and Allston-Brighton. The two towns were invited to join Boston, but only Allston-Brighton accepted. The decisions and subsequent growth of these communities, along with Boston's decline and fall during the same period, are told in a fast-paced story by local historian Ted Clarke. Learn about James Michael Curley's lasting impact on Boston as the city's mayor and of John Collins's collaboration with Edward Logue in their efforts to create a "New Boston."? Travel with Clarke as he takes a look back at the fascinating events that shaped the character of these historic communities.

On March 4, 1822, the townsfolk of Boston voted to incorporate their town as the City of Boston. A great change had just taken place, but even greater changes were to come during the ensuing century, as Boston's population grew from 50,000 to 750,000 by 1922 and as it developed from a colonial town into the "Hub of the Universe." Boston: A Century of Progress brings to life one hundred amazing years, from 1822 to 1922. More than two hundred fascinating images are combined with compelling text to take us on a mesmerizing journey back into our past and bring us face to face with the people, places, and events which shaped Boston's destiny. Through these images we explore neighborhoods ranging from the North End to Downtown, Beacon Hill, Back Bay, and Fenway. We see landmarks and buildings both familiar and long-gone - schools, churches, mansions, stores, tenements, and parks. We meet not only the movers and shakers but also the ordinary people who lived, worked, and played in Victorian Boston, including the vast numbers of immigrants (by 1850, half of all Bostonians were foreign-born).