Special Topics: Engineering Boston

This report concludes that "social costs increase rather than decrease following renewal" (p.69).

This photo-illustrated article from New Boston Magazine looks at housing conditions in the tenements of the North and West Ends.

Local historian Anthony Sammarco discusses the destruction of Scollay Square and the rise of Government Center (2:25 min).

A 1961 article on the destruction of the finer residences that once existed in the West End.

Photos of the neighborhood and of the clearance project.

Photos of the area known for its bars, burlesque houses, tattoo parlors, and Joe & Nemo's Hot Dogs. The site is now occupied by Government Center.

Historic photos, oral histories, and printed items from the Digital Public Library of America.

The actor reminisces about his childhood in the West End (8 min).

This article discusses how urban clearances made possible by the Housing Acts of 1949 and 1954 led to the displacement of black and poor people across the United States.

The Boston-1915 Committee was formed to advance the cause of civic beauty and sanitary housing. This report examines substandard housing conditions then existing in various parts of Boston. Illustrated with photographs.

A look back at the the main attractions that made the Square famous (15 min).

Tells how the 1949 Federal Housing Act provided funds for the clearance of urban neighborhoods, such as the West End, that were designated as slums.

This online museum relates the history of the West End neighborhood and its demolition in the 1950s to make way for the construction of Government Center and the elevated Southeast Expressway.

A preliminary plan for the redevelopment of the neighborhood.