Social & Religious Institutions – The West End Museum

A black and white drawing of cruciform-layout building, filled with large arched windows and topped with a central rotunda.

The Charles Street Jail

Charles Street Jail stands as a landmark of major national significance, both as a key example of the Boston Granite Style of architecture and as the embodiment of mid-nineteenth-century penal reform movements. The jail’s history was marked by dramatic shifts: initially celebrated as an architectural and reformist triumph at its opening in 1851; later decried for its “cruel and unusual” conditions in the 20th century, prompting its closure; before being reinvented as a luxury hotel in the 21st century.

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Abolition African Americans Social & Religious Institutions West Boston

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The Fugitive Slave Church: The Twelfth Baptist Church, Leonard Grimes, and Abolitionism in the West End

Established in 1840, Boston’s Twelfth Baptist Church was located on the North Slope of Beacon Hill (in the historic West End) until its move to Roxbury in 1906. In the 1850s and ‘60s, the Church defiantly mobilized in response to the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act. Under the leadership of Leonard Grimes, the congregation raised funds to aid freedom seekers and became known as the “Fugitive Slave Church.” This active political, cultural, and religious meeting place had many prominent members and visitors from the Black abolitionist community, including Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Lewis and Harriet Hayden, Shadrach Minkins, Anthony Burns, Thomas Sims, Christiana Carteaux and Edward Mitchell Bannister, and Peter Randolph.

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Art & Literature Social & Religious Institutions West Boston

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Alexander Parris: Architect of West End Landmarks

Architect Alexander Parris (1780-1852) designed some of Boston’s most enduring neoclassical architectural landmarks, from Quincy Market to St. Paul’s Church. Parris also played a role in three notable projects in the West End: Massachusetts General Hospital’s Bulfinch Building, the Leverett Street Jail, and St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.

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Immigrant Neighborhood Politics & Law Social & Religious Institutions

An early 20th-century poster, labelled: "Hendricks Club. Boston's Famous Democratic Organization." Beneath the title are photographs of Martin Lomasney, the club (a brick building), and a group of men.

Martin Lomasney & John Ignatius Fitzgerald: A West End Political Relationship

After Martin Lomasney (1859-1933), the legendary “Mahatma of Boston,” made John Ignatius Fitzgerald (1882-1966) a precinct captain at age 18, Fitzgerald became Lomasney’s right-hand man. Their political relationship provides a window into the inner workings of early-twentieth-century ward politics in the West End.

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Immigrant Neighborhood Neighborhood Life Social & Religious Institutions Women

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Helen Osborne & James Jackson Storrow: West End Benefactors

Helen Osborne Storrow (1864-1944) and James Jackson Storrow (1864-1926) were influential Bostonian philanthropists. Much of their work had a lasting impact on the West End, especially through their support of the West End House, Charles River Basin development, and Saturday Evening Girls’ club.

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Immigrant Neighborhood Immigration Neighborhood Life Social & Religious Institutions Women

A black and white photograph of a group of young girls, wearing white frocks and carrying plates.

The Frances E. Willard Settlement House

Founded in 1894, the Frances E. Willard Settlement House was located on the West End’s Chambers Street for nearly five decades. The Settlement House aimed to serve the neighborhood’s immigrant population and factory workers by offering social services, community clubs, and housing to young women and children.

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New Fields Social & Religious Institutions War

An eighteenth century drawn map, showing streets, pastures, and a church at the corner of Cambridge and Lynde streets.

Boston’s Original West Church: A Revolutionary Meetinghouse

The original West Church, a wood-framed structure erected in 1737 at the corner of Cambridge and Lynde Streets, played a significant role in Revolutionary-era Boston. At this site, minister Jonathan Mayhew preached for civil liberties and resistance to tyranny, influencing prominent patriots such as John Adams and Paul Revere. The church was used as barracks by British troops during their occupation of the city and its steeple was destroyed by British forces in 1775. Severely damaged during the Revolutionary War, the original West Church was taken down and the current Old West Church was built in 1806.

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City Planning History Politics & Law Social & Religious Institutions West Boston Women

lithograph showing the front of a four story brick building, lined with windows and topped with 11 chimneys. The building is surrounded by grass and a few trees.

The Leverett Street Almshouse

For almost twenty-five years, the Leverett Street Almshouse dominated Barton’s Point, a blunt strip of land jutting out from the West End into the Charles River. In this building, designed by Charles Bulfinch, Boston continued to carry out its tradition of housing and caring for its most needy residents.

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