How It All Began
The Beginnings of Back Bay Boston
Before the 19th century, the Back Bay was tidal flatland. In 1821, two mill dams were built across the bay – one paralleling today’s Beacon Street. In the 1830’s, railroads from the west and south were extended to Boston, making tracks across the mud flats and filling in stagnant land, which was becoming a health hazard!
A thirty-year project to fill in the Back Bay began in the 1860’s which was aided by the railroad system and the invention of the steam shovel, which expedited the ability to haul in more earth (dredged from the hills of Needham). With one train of earth arriving every 45 minutes in the Back Bay, two house lots could be filled each day – no more smelly, muddy flats!
To celebrate the conclusion of the Civil War, an extensive Peace Coliseum was built in 1869 in the area that is now known as Copley Square. The development of the Back Bay was further spurred by the Great Fire of 1872 and Boston’s most notable church, Trinity, was relocated from Summer Street to its current location in Back Bay.
By the 1880’s, the Back Bay became home to many of the city’s cultural institutions – the Museum of Fine Arts (1874), the original Museum of Natural History (1862), the Boston Public Library (1888) to name a few. In 1882 the Harvard Medical School was built at the corner of Exeter and Boylston Streets and MIT built a drill hall and gymnasium on the site of the future Hotel Lenox in 1883!
The Birth of the Hotel Lenox
Amidst the bustle for a “bigger, better and busier Boston”, the Hotel Lenox was constructed in the heart of the cultural center of Boston and opened in October of 1900. The Hotel Lenox was one of the early large-scale budlings that signaled an end to the depressed construction industry following the financial crisis of 1893. It was modern from the start – the building was fireproof, with both guest and service elevators to all floors and designed for a European Plan operation. The 250 sleeping chambers boasted bathrooms with modern plumbing, closets, annunciator telephones and electric lights.
Innovation in construction made it possible for very large hotels to be built in the late 1880’s – iron and concrete framing allowed taller buildings. At 11 stories, the Hotel Lenox was one of Boston’s earliest high-rise hotels, exceeding the 400 room Hotel Vendome at 8 stories, but in keeping with the scale of Copley Square.
Compared to its New York contemporary, the 1,000 room and 16 story Waldorf Astoria, the Hotel Lenox was more refined and compact. Built by the George A. Fuller Construction Company and designed by architect Arthur H. Bowditch. The U-shaped design of the building, with the base facing Exeter Street and the “legs” opening to the west. The Palm Room, with its domed glass roof snuggled between the “legs” in the lower three stories of the opening, is affectionately now the Dome Room.
Originally (and currently), one entered the hotel from Exeter Street. The main entrance was flanked by electric lamps, was at the center of the building through a glass vestibule with swinging mahogany doors. To the side, a separate lady’s entrance led directly to a reception room where ladies waited while gentleman took care of registering. The ladies could proceed to the elevator without entering the lobby, a design feature sympathetic to the etiquette of the day. It was an unwritten custom that ladies should keep out of the lobby, except to cross to the dining room! They should not linger, as that would expose them to smoke, which was generally permitted in hotel lobbies. Ladies traveling alone were advised to provide letters of introduction to hotel management in advance of their arrival to be sure of the appropriate accommodations – my, we’ve come a long way!
*Cover image: Detail from an 1853 map of the City of Boston by George W, Boynton, courtesy of the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library.