Anthony Sammarco, “Lost Boston”

Boston Athenæum

May 22, 2014 at the Boston Athenæum. Although historic Boston has a reputation as one of the best-preserved cities in America, it has always been a subject to the constant change of any busy commercial center. Lecturer and historian Anthony Sammarco, author of some sixty books on the history and development of Boston, will reveal sixty- eight major Boston locations that are no more, including schools, churches, theaters, grand mansions, dockyards, racetracks, parks, stores, hotels, offices, and factories. Organized chronologically, Sammarco’s lecture will features much-loved institutions that failed to stand the test of time, victims of Boston’s redevelopment era, and old-fashioned hotels and sports facilities that once seemed beyond updating or refurbishment. Vanished landmarks on this virtual tour include Franklin Place, the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, the Hancock House, Gleason’s Publishing Hall, Fort Hill, Franklin Street, the Boston Coliseum, Boylston Market, the Merchants Exchange, Haymarket Square, earlier homes of the Boston Public Library, Boston City Hall, Horticultural Hall, Boston Latin School, and the Museum of Fine Arts, the once celebrated Revere House hotel, Huntington Avenue Grounds, Charlestown City Hall, the Cyclorama, Readville Trotting Park and Race Track, East Boston Airport, East Boston Ferries, Braves Field, Massachusetts State Prison, the original Boston Opera House, the Boston Aquarium, the beloved Howard Athenaeum of old Scollay Square, and Dudley Street Station.