From School Squash to Showcase Splendid

Boston Public Library (BPL), cramped as a schoolhouse in 1854, transformed into a grand cultural bar over the last century and a half. Fasten your seatbelts for a rollicking history of renovations, revamps, and financial hangover.

In 1854, BPL started life as a tiny, two-room schoolhouse. It moved thrice, and in 1880, Massachusetts bestowed Back Bay land for the McKim Building, a Beaux-Arts monstrosity designed by Charles Follen McKim, construction commencing in 1887, delayed by cost issues. Doors opened in 1895, lacking decorations due to budget woes. Faced with a burgeoning book collection, alterations in 1898 and expansion in 1918 were necessities. By the 1960s, the Brutalist Johnson Building, made possible by Robert C. Hendrick's generosity, was erected in 1969, serving as home to both circulating and rare-books sections. Both the McKim Building and Johnson Building have since endured numerous renovations in the 1990s and 2010s. Today, BPL welcomed over 4 million annual visitors, offering more than just books, standing as a cultural and educational Tavern.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons

From School Squash to Showcase Splendid: BPL's Long Drunken Journey Through Time

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