BusinessImmigrant NeighborhoodModernNew BostonTransportation & IndustryWest BostonYankees & Brahmins Photograph of a ten story brick and glass building along a body of water and dock with a sign at the top that says "Converse"

Converse Businesses in the West End

In 2015 Converse Inc. moved its world headquarters to Lovejoy Wharf in the West End. Its 214,000 square foot facility was a major part of an effort to rejuvenate the former industrial area bordering the Charles River and the North End. This was, however, not the first time a business founded by members of the Converse family chose the West End as an advantageous place to set up business.

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BusinessCity PlanningTransportation & IndustryWest Boston Photograph of a row of multi-story brick buildings with a dug out area of earth framed by wooden boards with workmen around it.

The Middlesex Canal: Massachusetts’ First Big Dig

Two hundred years before construction began on the Ted Williams tunnel, businessmen in post-revolution Boston sought to improve upon dirt and gravel paths used to bring inland goods to the growing port city. The result not only helped New England become an economic driver in the early 19th century, but acted as a blueprint for future engineering endeavors in the young United States of America.

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ImmigrationNeighborhood LifeSocial & Religious InstitutionsWest Boston Photograph of a bronze plaque mounted to a wall with following words: October 1788, October 1973, IN GRATITUDE TO ALMIGHTY GOD, FOR THE FIRST MASS OFFERED IN THE WEST END OF BOSTON, ON GREEN STREET (VERY CLOSE TO THIS EXACT SITE) AT THE HOME OF M. BAURY, ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1788 BY L’ABBE DE POTERIE. THIS PLAQUE WAS GIVEN IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE BY: REV. GERALD L. BUCKE P.P. & THE JACKMAN FAMILY

The West End Hosts the First Catholic Service in Boston

After centuries of exclusion by Boston’s ruling Puritan leaders, Roman Catholics were finally allowed to officially practice their faith in Massachusetts in 1780. Led by French Catholics, the movement to establish a Catholic community in Boston is reported to have started with a private mass in the West End. This was the first step in establishing what would become one of the most recognized Catholic archdiocese in America.

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Immigrant NeighborhoodModernNew BostonSocial & Religious InstitutionsWomen Portrait of three women in uniform; one sitting and the others to her left and right. The seated woman is holding a document on her lap and the others are holding tambourines. A caption reads, "LIEUT Aldridge; ADJT. Shirley, D.O.; Captain Baker, Lawrence Mass.

The Salvation Army Arrives in Boston

As the Salvation Army stormed into Boston to continue its evangelical and humanitarian mission, it chose a location in the West End for its headquarters in Massachusetts. From this initial foothold in the city, the Salvation Army and its leader Annie Shirley withstood the persecution of established churches and angry mobs, and expanded its operations throughout New England. The organization continues to pursue its mission today as one the country’s largest and most visible charities.

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BusinessCity PlanningImmigrant NeighborhoodPolitics & LawSchools & EducationSocial & Religious InstitutionsSportsTransportation & IndustryUrban Renewal Magazine cover with the words 1915 New Boston written across the top and above a scene of the city of Boston viewed from the harbor with boats and people in the foreground and framed by two large pillars topped with birds with out-stretched wings

The Boston-1915 Movement and the West End

The Boston-1915 Committee was formed in 1909 to improve conditions in Boston and to make it “the finest city in the world” by 1915. For many West Enders, Boston-1915 represented the promise of a brighter future, but none of them could have foreseen that some of the movement’s ideas would inspire city leaders to demolish the West End half a century later.

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