Crawford House (Boston, Massachusetts)
History
The Crawford House was originally opened in December 1865, as a café on Brattle Street. In 1873 the owners decided to build a new hotel on the premises and undertook a substantial expansion of the building, adding several stories and extending it west to Court Street. The hotel was completed in the following year and opened on March 10, 1874. It was further enlarged around 1886, when it merged with the nearby Carelton House on Hanover Street. Following the merger, the Crawford had a capacity of 450 guests.
In 1926, the portion of the Crawford House facing Court Street was seized by the city via eminent domain in order to widen Cambridge and Court Streets, and the front wall on that side was torn down. As a result, the hotel temporarily closed on April 17, 1926. The remaining part of the building was subsequently taken over by new management and underwent a period of remodeling. The hotel reopened on December 4, at which time the upper floors had approximately 100 guest rooms. The ground floor was occupied by a theater, which opened soon after.
During the 1930s and 1940s, the Crawford House theater was considered a landmark of Scollay Square; it served as a venue for numerous local dancers, musicians and comedians. It gained particular fame during this period as the home of Sally Keith, a prominent burlesque performer in the city.
The Crawford House hotel was permanently closed after the building was damaged by a fire on March 23, 1948. In January 1950 the third through sixth floors of the hotel were demolished, but the first and second floors were retained and the theater was kept open. The truncated building remained in operation until the early 1960s, when the city cleared the Scollay Square area to make way for the new City Hall Plaza.
References
- ^ Boston of To-day: A Glance at its History and Characteristics. Ed. Richard Herndon. Boston: Post Publishing, 1892.
- ^ Vrabel, Jim. ''When in Boston: A Time Line & Almanac.". Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2004. ISBN 1-55553-620-4. p. 181.
- ^ "Harry Swartz Buys Old Crawford House." Boston Daily Globe. 17 August 1926: p. 1.
- ^ "New Crawford House Opens Its Doors Tonight." Boston Daily Globe. 4 December 1926: p. 5.
- ^ "Theatrical Bar at Crawford House to Be Continued." Boston Daily Globe. 18 January 1950: p. 25.
- ^ City of Boston. Office of the Board of Fire Commissioners. "Fire Commissioners Report." Documents of the City of Boston, For the Year 1875, Volume III. Boston: Rockwell and Churchill, 1876. p. 226.
- ^ "Old Boston Hotel Ceases to Exist." Boston Daily Globe. 18 April 1926: p. A17.
- ^ King's Hand-Book of Boston 9th ed. Buffalo, N.Y.: Matthews, Northrup & Co., 1889. p. 69.
- ^ "Building Improvements." Boston Daily Globe. 7 June 1874: p. 8.
- ^ "A New Hotel." Boston Daily Globe. 10 March 1874: p. 5.
- ^ "Some New Hampshire Bonifaces." The Granite Monthly Jan.-Dec. 1909: 283-95. p. 288
- ^ "Crawford House's New Management." Boston Daily Globe. 2 January 1889: p. 6.
- ^ Kruh, David. Always something doing: Boston's infamous Scollay Square, rev. ed. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1999. ISBN 1-55553-410-4. pp. 94 ff.
- ^ Kruh, David. Scollay Square. Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2004. ISBN 0-7385-3667-9. p. 2.
- ^ "Crawford House Swept by $50,000 Fire; 40 Escape." Boston Daily Globe. 24 March 1948: p. 1.
- ^ "Another Boston 'Institution,' Crawford House, Going Down." Boston Daily Globe. 13 January 1950: p. 15.
- ^ Yudis, Anthony J. "Scollay Sq. on The Move--I." Boston Globe. 29 January 1962: p. 9.
Images
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Crawford House (upper right), c. 1800s -
Crawford House, 1879 advertisement -
Map of Boston, showing location of the Crawford House (lower left), 1896 -
Crawford House, 1898 -
Crawford House (left, with window awnings) during the Boston Police Strike, 1919
External links
- Crawford House, 1910 - Shorpy
- Photo of Crawford House fire, 1948 - Boston Public Library
- Crawford House Theatrical Bar, late 1950s - MIT Libraries