Art & LiteratureCity PlanningNeighborhood LifePolitics & LawUrban RenewalWest BostonYankees & Brahmins Pemberton Square (man with bicycle by tree)

The Hidden History of Pemberton Square

Bostonians familiar with the demolition of the West End may not know how another once-prominent location in the city disappeared from the map. This spot, located on Beacon Hill, was designed for the homes of wealthy Boston families, and was established at about the same time as another famous residential location further down “the Hill.” But, unlike Louisburg Square, which is today synonymous with old Brahmin Boston, Pemberton Square remains largely forgotten, its remnants barely visible.

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New BostonUrban Renewal Victor Gruen lighting his pipe

Victor Gruen

Victor Gruen was the Austrian-born architect whom Jerome Rappaport, Sr. hired to design Charles River Park, the development that replaced the demolished West End in the 1960s. But Gruen’s work also had national significance as “the father of the shopping mall.”

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