Topic: Business
Businesses, corporations, executives, those commonly identified with a business

BusinessImmigrant NeighborhoodNeighborhood LifeSocial & Religious InstitutionsUrban Renewal A brightly colored postcard showing a bustling city square with businesses and people walking.

Scollay Square

Scollay Square was a vibrant entertainment hub in Boston from the mid-19th century to the early 1960s, known for its burlesque theaters, comedy shows, boisterous bars, and eclectic mix of businesses. Located directly next to the West End at the intersection of Cambridge, Court, and Tremont streets, it attracted both locals and out-of-town visitors, including sailors, with its lively nightlife and commercial offerings. The area was demolished in 1962 as part of an urban renewal project, to be replaced by Government Center.

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BusinessCity PlanningImmigrant NeighborhoodNeighborhood Life Photograph the front and side of a four-story brick building with a cupola. People horse drawn carts can be seen in the street in front.

The Parkman Market

Charles Bulfinch and his architecture transformed Boston during the Federalist era. Many of his works, such as the Massachusetts State House, still grace the city today. One of his now lost and lesser known buildings, the Parkman Market, served the West End as a public market, a factory, and an early home of St. Joseph’s congregation. Despite its historic significance, it did not survive Urban Renewal.

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Art & LiteratureBusinessImmigrant NeighborhoodImmigrationNew BostonPolitics & LawSchools & EducationSports photograph of a man seated at a desk and working on a piece of calligraphy

Joseph Rosen: The Engrosser of Harvard

Inspired by his experiences at the West End House and Hale House, Joseph Rosen became one of the country’s leading engrossers, thanks in part to the kindness of James Jackson Storrow. He inscribed over 125,000 diplomas during his career, mainly for Harvard graduates, but he also produced honorary degrees for dignitaries such as the Roosevelt’s, Kennedy’s, and Winston Churchill. Despite his success, he never forgot the opportunities he received in the West End and found ways later in life to honor the West End House and its great benefactor.

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BusinessMedicineModernPolitics & Law Photograph of the front of a four story brick building at an intersection with cars parked on the right side. Other

Thomas L. Jenks and the Jenks Building

Thomas L. Banks left New Hampshire for Boston in 1845 to pursue a degree in medicine from Harvard University. He settled in the West End where he built a successful medical practice and forged a career in local and state politics. The site of his successful apothecary business, formerly known as the Jenks Building, still stands today at 132 Portland Street and is noted as one of the more architecturally unique historic buildings in the Bulfinch Triangle.

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BusinessImmigrant Neighborhood Photograph of a multi-story brick factory building with a facade covered in windows.

The West End’s “Bakery with a Thousand Windows”

The Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company (previously Austin Biscuit Company, and later Sunshine Biscuit) opened its “bakery with a thousand windows” in the West End in the early 1900s. The company’s location on Causeway Street was an ideal spot to do business in Boston. Workers at the Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company formed a mutual aid association and formed close relationships through both work and play.

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