Read more news at
INSIDE HISTORIC BOSTON INC.
About Us
History
Historic Boston Incorporated was started in 1960 as a rescue mission.
One of the city’s oldest buildings, a small brick structure that was once a flourishing literary center, had fallen into disrepair. The Old Corner Bookstore was slated to become a parking garage.
The building, constructed in 1718, was used by Dr. Thomas Crease as a home and apothecary shop. It later housed a number of booksellers and publishers, the most famous of which was Ticknor and Fields. That company published many well-known American titles including Thoreau’s Walden, Hawthorne’s The Scarlett Letter, and Alcott’s Little Women. They were also publishers of the Atlantic Monthly. There were gatherings there of he greatest writers of the 19th century including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Oliver Wendell Holmes.
In 1960, a group of Bostonians concerned about the impending loss of an important piece of the city’s heritage, raised $100,000 to acquire and refurbish the building. The façade was preserved and the inside was renovated to accommodate shops and offices.
A New Model for Preservation
The project demonstrated that the preservation of historic buildings can be a driving force in economic revitalization. The building became home to new business and the Old Corner Bookstore became a site on Boston’s Freedom Trail, attracting thousands of visitors annually.
That model inspired Historic Boston Incorporated’s transition to a non profit developer. Since 1979, HBI has supplemented the planning and regulatory powers of the Boston Landmarks Commission by providing technical assistance, financing and developing new services to support historic rehabilitation projects. Its most visible projects include Charlestown’s Hurd House and Austin Block, Chinatown’s Hayden Building, and Roxbury’s Spooner Lambert House. HBI has also supported more than 52 active religious congregations with preservation of their historic houses of workshop through its Steeples Project.
Old Corner Bookstore, Downtown Boston
Historic Boston's Casebooks
Historic Boston's 1999 Preservation Revolving Fund Casebook identified 40 properties in Boston whose future was uncertain and recommended strategies for their preservation that could guide action by HBI as well as others. While many have been addressed, several remain seriously threatened.
Full document
Historic Boston's Religious Properties
Preservation: A Boston Casebook, published in 1991, deals specifically with buildings built for worship. It targets twenty-nine religious properties that are significant to the architectural and social history of the City of Boston. At the time of publication, each of the twenty-nine properties had uncertain futures.
Full document
