I. The Layers of the Faneuil Hall Area

A visual of Boston, including Faneuil Hall in Dock Square, at a pivotal point in U.S. History, when Faneuil Hall played a particularly huge role. 

TYPES OF LAYERS

What different kinds of layers provide lenses through which to understand Faneuil Hall?  Particularly fascinating in a city like Boston, which has seen such excessive change, is to explore the layers of urban evolution that have shaped Boston.  One way to envision this is to think of the landscapes and structures that have come and gone as separate layers, built up over time.  The Faneuil Hall site, then, might contain relatively few layers, as it has stayed much the same since the 18th century.  Areas like the Rose Kennedy Greenway or City Hall Plaza, on the other hand, might contain four or five distinct layers, as they each have gone through many phases of demolition and rebuilding.

This map shows the Shawmut Peninsula (the original town of Boston) as it must have looked in 1635.  One of the few (if not the only) still-existing sites here is the King's Chapel Burial Ground, marked by the letter K.  

Visible at the bottom: 

Faneuil Hall & Market house, a ha(n)dsom large brick building worthy of the Generous Founder Peter Faneuil Esqr who in the year 1742. Gave it to the Town for the use of a Market.  Market Days Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays.

MAPS AS LAYERS

Treating maps as layers will help us consider just how Boston was shaped.  The paths in Item #30 follow the contours of the coastline, as they were not conceived of as city streets, but as town lanes.  What seems to be the first known map featuring Faneuil Hall—our second relevant layer—is Item #20, from the year 1743 (Faneuil Hall was first completed in 1742).  It is clear from this depiction that in 1743, Boston was full of crooked streets and small buildings with relatively few large public spaces or structures.  Faneuil Hall, as evidenced by the map, occupied what was called Dock Square, next to the Town Dock, a narrow squared-off inlet from the harbor.  For awhile, Faneuil Hall must have suited the expanding city’s commercial needs, as it was not until around 1824 that construction of Quincy Market began.  The first clear depiction of Quincy Market appears in Stephen P. Fuller’s 1826 map—Item #24.  

If we think of Faneuil as having fewer layers beneath it than many of the surrounding districts, we can come to an important conclusion.  It is as if certain areas of the former Shawmut peninsula have frozen at one point in their evolution.  Some are still changing before our eyes, whereas Faneuil Hall lost momentum back in the 1800s, which explains the stark contrast with its surroundings.  

This outstanding visual helps us appreciate what has shaped the city of Boston that we know today.  How have coastlines that now only exist in memory, when Boston was a small town, for example, determined the layout of the present metropolis? 

URBAN EXPANSION AS LAYERS

In Invisible Cities, Italo Calvino compares one city to a tree trunk, growing in concentric circles.  Boston is much the same way: in fact, as can be seen in Item #29, none of Shawmut Peninsula’s original coastline remains.  Like a tree trunk, Boston contains rings of history.  The concentric layers of expansion can be seen today in the architecture of Boston: certain architectural landmarks (such as Faneuil Hall) indicate where the coastline must have been at any given time.  If you mapped where the oldest structure in any given neighborhood is and when it was built, you would be able to see the “growth rings” of Boston fairly clearly.  For example, what is probably the oldest remaining site in Boston, the King’s Chapel Burial Ground, founded in 1630, clearly falls within the original outline of the Shawmut peninsula.  We can look at Item #29 and see that Faneuil Hall, however, built first in 1742, was built on reclaimed land, marking one ring.  Quincy Market, from 1826, was then built further out than that.  Today, there is now the Rose Kennedy Greenway, and just past that, the Christopher Columbus Park: successive bands of urban expansion.

Faneuil Hall as a palimpsest: it has always served as a marketplace, only that now souvenirs are being sold.  Faneuil Hall, as always, caters to the people who most frequently visit. 

DESIRES AND NEEDS AS LAYERS

It is clear today that this site has been molded according to people’s desires and needs.  Faneuil Hall itself does not serve the same exact purpose as what it used to (namely, selling meat and produce), since that is not where the needs and desires of the populace lie ("Faneuil Hall Marketplace").  Somewhat ironically, what are sold there today are tourist gift-shop items (see Item #32).  However, since Faneuil Hall itself is still a marketplace of sorts (albeit not the open-air marketplace it once was), it is a perfect example of an urban palimpsest: the basic outline of the original function of the building remains, although it has changed to fit the needs and desires of the vast majority of people who visit the site.  

This map shows Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall again, except that they flanked on the west by the hugely altered Government Center, now containing Boston City Hall.  

HISTORICAL PERIODS AS LAYERS

Many historical periods have brought their own unique layers to the Faneuil Hall area.  Boston City Hall revolutionized the neighborhood, necessitating the relocation of 20,000 people.   The New England Holocaust Memorial is located just a few steps away from Faneuil Hall, confirming this area as a site of commemoration and celebration of freedom. Renewed interest in American history must explain the Freedom Trail.