250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party

The event that later came to be known as the Boston Tea Party took place 250 years ago tomorrow. There are special events marking the anniversary in Boston this weekend, including a reenactment tomorrow night.

I don't know of any Brookline men who took part in the Tea Party. But there's no doubt that Brookline people shared the fervor over policies regarding the importing of tea that culminated in the dumping of the tea in Boston Harbor.

In late November, a meeting of the town had resolved

"That this Town are ready to afford all the Assistance in our Power to the Town of Boston, and will heartily unite with them and the Other Towns in this Province to oppose and frustrate this most detestable and dangerous Tea Scheem and every other that shall Appear to us to be Subversive of the Rights and Liberties of America, and consequently dishonorably to the Crown and Dignity of our Sovereign Lord the King."

If that last phrase of obeisance to the King seemed to take a step back from outright rebellion, the last line made clear how angry the Brookline men were. It said they were resolved

"That hereafter whoever shall presume to import any Teas into this Province while subject to the Odius Duty Shall be considered and treated by this Town as an Enemy to his Country."

Seventeen months later, on April 19, 1775, Brookline men played an active role in the fighting that marked the start of the Revolutionary War.

1917: A Water Main Break (and a Flood of Details)

Since May of this year, I've been contributing a regular feature to Brookline News called Then....and Now. It compares old photos of different parts of Brookline with current photos, noting changes over time and offering a little bit of the history of the particular spot.

The latest of these -- you can check it out here -- features photos from a stretch of Boylston Street in 1917 and 2023. The change from then to now is dramatic. 

But a broader version of the 1917 image, from one of a group of photos documenting a water main break between Cameron Street and Cypress Street, has so many fascinating details that I thought I'd do a deeper dive into the scene.

Here is the broader photo, with different parts of it highlighted. 

It may be cliche to say that every picture tells a story, but there are so many little stories in this one photo that I couldn't resist.

Perhaps my favorite detail in this photo -- I've marked it #1 among the highlighted parts of the picture -- is an image of a man and woman watching the scene from a second floor window on Boylston Street. I even think I know who they are.

This and other details spilling out of this one photo call for a bigger format than my usual blog posts, so I've put them in a separate site. 

Check it at https://bit.ly/1917watermain or click on the headlines below for the whole tale.