Paul's House Diary

These are a few pics I took a couple months back walking from class to work. Boston has as many statues and busts as it does CVS’s and TD Bank ATM’s – it’s an old town and has hosted many statue-worthy notable’s over the past 400-odd years. Some of these guy’s get their own parks, some get stuck onto the cornice of a TD Bank or CVS. Here is a collection of a few from in and around Post Office and Winthrop Squares.

The one on the main post is one of I believe four really imposing lanterns on an old white-granite building off High Street, home to a Wachovia Bank (or something). I got a close up on that detailed mug because it’s odd to see so much attention put into such a small architectural feature. I don’t think this or it’s counterparts commemorate any specific individuals, except maybe from mythology, but they make that Wachovia ATM seem like Gringotts.

These guys I found just across the street. I know that there is a gold mural circling this building, but I forget the specific story behind it. Interpreting the mural based on the images depicted, it seems that Ancient Egyptian slaves built this thing out of rock and mortar with the cooperation of guys dressed like Maytag Repairmen. The murals is as pretty as it is subtle on clarity, but these doorways take the cake. I’ll research and update when I can, but in the meantime, I’m going to assume these guys and gals were some kind of Gods, or early Harvard Grads.

Here’s another angle on the Winthrop Square side of the building, looking up.

And this guy below is John Winthrop, one of the early leaders of the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony. He’s one of the lucky ones who got his own park, although there are the same amount of pan-handlers here as there are outside the CVS around the corner. His awesome dog must have protected him from the panhandlers of yesteryear!

Panhandlers aside, Winthrop Square is beautiful and was once the front-yard of a proposed 1,000 foot tower a few years back that the Mayor wanted made but the economy wouldn’t permit. It’s a real nice spot with real urban surroundings, but knowing what could be on the parks east corner instead of the city garage puts a real din on the spot. Original proposals for the tower involved a glass enclosed  public atrium, and one can assume more street-life to the underused park. The economy could pick up any minute now and whether or not Boston gets a new tallest building on the Winthrop Garage site or not, that is a prime location for redevelopment.