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Source Description
The Back Bay was once a marsh flat, but by the late 1840s, the severely polluted quagmire was considered a public health hazard, and officials had no choice but to act. The Commissioners on Boston Harbor and the Back Bay were tasked with devising a plan to fill in the flat. They met in 1852 and heard the proposals of a number of stakeholders, including David Sears; a version of his plan, shown here, features a 37 ½-acre Silver Lake, complete with a tree-lined promenade. The Commissioners ultimately rejected his proposal, and commenced the land reclamation project in 1858.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
cf95jd161
label
Plan presented to the honble. the State Commissioners for the improvement of the Back Bay
core
obj
dtoType
map
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
cf95jd161
contentType
map
stage
normalized
title
Plan presented to the honble. the State Commissioners for the improvement of the Back Bay
description
The Back Bay was once a marsh flat, but by the late 1840s, the severely polluted quagmire was considered a public health hazard, and officials had no choice but to act. The Commissioners on Boston Harbor and the Back Bay were tasked with devising a plan to fill in the flat. They met in 1852 and heard the proposals of a number of stakeholders, including David Sears; a version of his plan, shown here, features a 37 ½-acre Silver Lake, complete with a tree-lined promenade. The Commissioners ultimately rejected his proposal, and commenced the land reclamation project in 1858.
date
["[1852]"]
year
1852
rights
No known copyright restrictions.
rightsUri
No known restrictions on use.
reuseAllowed
no restrictions
language
English
identifierLocal
06_01_005002
institution
Boston Public Library
collections
Urban Maps
Boston and New England Maps
Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center Collection
subjects
City planning--Massachusetts--Boston--Back Bay--Maps
Back Bay (Boston, Mass.)--Maps
Sears, David, 1787-1871
subjectsGeographic
Back Bay
Boston
Massachusetts
North and Central America
Suffolk (county)
United States
genreBasic
Maps
typeOfResource
Cartographic
country
United States
state
Massachusetts
county
Suffolk
city
Boston
thumbnailUrl
largeImageUrl
pageCount
1
source
import
pubPlace
Boston
publisher
s.n.
Source extras
institutionArkId
sf268508b
collectionArkId
9s1621613
citySection
Back Bay
schema:latitude
42.35
schema:longitude
-71.0833
extent
1 map ; 36 x 48 cm.
notes
Oriented with north toward the upper right.
"See Mr. Sear's letter to the commissioners dated December 30th, 1850."
Issued with: Massachusetts Senate documents, 1852 (no. 45).
hasTranscription
no
dcId
cf95jd161
type
map
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
3759ddde247a8362