Boston, MA - Hanover Street, Congress Street

A MAYBE AND A DEFINITELY. Lewis Hine took this first photo in August 1912. It is captioned “Vitto Romano, 76 Charter Street, Boston, Mass., carrying load of garments from 30 Blackstone Street. Said 12 years old and that only his mother finishes them.”

At first, I thought the location of this building behind Vitto was easily solved … it looked like the entrance to the pub called “Bell in Hand Tavern,” which is America’s oldest and continuously operating tavern. When I compared the two locations, though, they were similar, but too different for me to claim a match.

When I went out searching for the location of another of Hine’s photos near 7 Marshall Street, I noticed something similar in a building beside it, coincidentally the other side of the Bell in Hand building. It’s 147 Hanover Street, home to “The Point.” Do you think it’s a match?

I’m not yet convinced, and another thing throwing me off is that in the photo Hine took 3 years before at the next door location of 7 Marshall Street, you can see trolley car tracks in cobblestone Hanover Street, but in this photo from 1912, none are visible. Hmmm… definitely up for discussion.

A found match to report, though, is one whose present-day location is 55 Congress Street. It took me a few tries to nail down this match, I’ve had my eye on it for a few weeks. I overlooked it a few times because those metal grates on the windows are not still fully with us. This location is at the corner of Congress and Water Streets, near Post Office Square and right around the corner from another found location on Water Street that Hine photographed.

Hine shot both of these photos in November, 1910. The first is titled “Day Messenger,” and the other “Day Messengers.”


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Hine photo credits in their order of appearance on this page:

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, National Child Labor Committee Collection, [LC-DIG-nclc-04241].

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, National Child Labor Committee Collection, [LC-DIG-nclc-03382].

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, National Child Labor Committee Collection, [LC-DIG-nclc-03381].