Bird's-eye view of Boston, showing the burned district

Active selection in cart:
Go to cart
Bird's-eye view of Boston, showing the burned district. Most bird's eye views were not designed to depict a specific date. However, this view is tied to an actual event, similar to Fuchs' view dated July 4, 1870. Three weeks after Boston's great fire of November 9 and 10, 1872, Harpers Weekly published this view illustrating the extent of the burned district. In their haste to provide graphic images of the disastrous event in their weekly news magazine, the editors borrowed sketches of the city compiled by Charles R. Parsons before the fire. These materials were generated during the preparation of a magnificent bird's eye view which was to be published by Currier and Ives, as was acknowledged in the bottom marginal notes and an accompanying article. In this journalistic presentation, the city is viewed from the east with the burned district highlighted by shading. The designated area includes that portion of today's Financial District bordered roughly by Summer, Washington, Milk, and Broad Streets. The most destructive of several great fires that occurred in Boston, the disaster engulfed more than 60 acres of some of the most valuable real estate in the city, destroying 930 businesses valued at approximately $100,000,000 (about $3.5 to $4 billion in current dollars). Creator: Parsons, Charles R. (Charles Richard), 1844-1918. Date: 1872. Sourced from Digital Commonwealth website.
CaptionBird's-eye view of Boston, showing the burned district. Most bird's eye views were not designed to depict a specific date. However, this view is tied to an actual event, similar to Fuchs' view dated July 4, 1870. Three weeks after Boston's great fire of November 9 and 10, 1872, Harpers Weekly published this view illustrating the extent of the burned district. In their haste to provide graphic images of the disastrous event in their weekly news magazine, the editors borrowed sketches of the city compiled by Charles R. Parsons before the fire. These materials were generated during the preparation of a magnificent bird's eye view which was to be published by Currier and Ives, as was acknowledged in the bottom marginal notes and an accompanying article. In this journalistic presentation, the city is viewed from the east with the burned district highlighted by shading. The designated area includes that portion of today's Financial District bordered roughly by Summer, Washington, Milk, and Broad Streets. The most destructive of several great fires that occurred in Boston, the disaster engulfed more than 60 acres of some of the most valuable real estate in the city, destroying 930 businesses valued at approximately $100,000,000 (about $3.5 to $4 billion in current dollars). Creator: Parsons, Charles R. (Charles Richard), 1844-1918. Date: 1872. Sourced from Digital Commonwealth website.
Creator
Artwork medium1 view: col; 35 x 52 cm
CreditBoston Public Library
Terms of useNo known copyright restrictions
Search
stock images
by keyword
Stock image ref Size Views
YB0030608 7,272 x 5,200 pixels 683

Free public domain image

To download this free image, please register (this takes just 30 seconds) or log in.

This is one of 1,687,037 free hi-res public domain images, selected from major public collections to complement the Look and Learn archive, and to save you time and money. Typically, it may be used for any purpose, but users should satisfy themselves that the intended use will not infringe the rights of any third party.

Can we help?

Look and Learn is one of the world’s leading sources of historical and cultural images for personal and commercial use. Feel free to contact us with any questions or requests.

Links