Copley Square
Encyclopedia
Town square
A town square is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town used for community gatherings. Other names for town square are civic center, city square, urban square, market square, public square, and town green.Most town squares are hardscapes suitable for open markets,...
located in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, named for the donor of the land on which it was developed. The square is named for John Singleton Copley
John Singleton Copley
John Singleton Copley was an American painter, born presumably in Boston, Massachusetts, and a son of Richard and Mary Singleton Copley, both Irish. He is famous for his portrait paintings of important figures in colonial New England, depicting in particular middle-class subjects...
, a famous portrait painter of the late 18th century and native of Boston. A bronze statue of Copley, by sculptor Lewis Cohen, is located on the northern side of the square. The name Copley Square is frequently applied to the larger area extending approximately two blocks east and west along Boylston Street
Boylston Street
Boylston Street is the name of a major east-west thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. Another Boylston Street runs through Boston's western suburbs....
, Huntington Avenue, and St. James Avenue. The square is adjacent to the finish line of the Boston Marathon
Boston Marathon
The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by the U.S. city of Boston, Massachusetts, on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897 and inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, the Boston Marathon is the world's oldest...
, which is commemorated by a monument in the park.
Boundaries and history
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(MIT), founded in the square (including the first American school of architecture), within a block of which would be built the crown jewel of modern Harvard, its medical school; Boston's Museum of Fine Arts
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
, The New England Museum of Natural History
Boston Society of Natural History
The Boston Society of Natural History in Boston, Massachusetts, was an organization dedicated to the study and promotion of natural history. It published a scholarly journal and established a museum. In its first few decades, the society occupied several successive locations in Boston's Financial...
(today the Museum of Science), Trinity Church
Trinity Church, Boston
Trinity Church in the City of Boston, located in the Back Bay of Boston, Massachusetts, is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. The congregation, currently standing at approximately 3,000 households, was founded in 1733. The current rector is The Reverend Anne Bonnyman...
, the New Old South Church, the Boston Public Library
Boston Public Library, McKim Building
The Boston Public Library McKim Building in Copley Square contains the library's research collection, exhibition rooms and administrative offices...
, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
, the Massachusetts Normal Art School (today's Massachusetts College of Art), the Horace Mann School for the Deaf. In later years there first flourished there Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
, Emerson College
Emerson College
Emerson College is a private coeducational university located in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of oratory," Emerson is "the only comprehensive college or university in America dedicated exclusively to communication and the arts in a liberal arts...
and Northeastern University. The square was the cradle of the great galaxy of educational institutions which made Boston the American intellectual capital in the 20th century. Shand-Tucci asserts the square presided over what he calls "the dawn of the modern American experience."
The square is bounded by Boylston Street
Boylston Street
Boylston Street is the name of a major east-west thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. Another Boylston Street runs through Boston's western suburbs....
on the north, Clarendon Street on the east, St. James Street on the south, and Dartmouth Street on the west. The square was created following the 1858 filling of most of the Back Bay Fens
Back Bay Fens
The Back Bay Fens, most commonly called simply The Fens, is a parkland and urban wild in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States.Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to serve as a link in the Emerald Necklace park system, the Fens gives its name to the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood, and thereby to...
. Originally Huntington Avenue
Huntington Avenue (Boston)
Huntington Avenue is a secondary thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts beginning at Copley Square, and continuing west through the Back Bay, Fenway, Longwood, and Mission Hill neighborhoods...
diagonally bisected the square, running from the southwest corner to the northeast corner at Clarendon Street. The Museum of Fine Arts
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
was originally located on the southern side of the square, at the site of the present Fairmont Copley Plaza hotel. The founding buildings of MIT were located in the northeast corner of the square until the institution moved to a new campus in Cambridge in 1916.
In 1966 Huntington Avenue was terminated at the corner of Dartmouth Street and St. James Avenue, and the shape of the present square emerged. The 1966 site plan, designed by Sasaki, Dawson & DeMay, lowered the grade of the square almost 12 feet (3.7 m) below sidewalk level, added a pyramid-shaped fountain sculpture, and was mostly paved.
In 1983, to address public dissatisfaction with the lack of greenery and sightlines, the Copley Square Centennial Committee was formed. A series of public meetings and seminars established design criteria for a new park. A national design competition was held in 1989 and the current design was selected. In 1991 the new Copley Square Park was dedicated. In 1992 the Copley Square Centennial Committee was reconstituted as the Friends of Copley Square, a private, non-profit citizens' organization that raises funds to care for the square's plantings, fountain, monuments, and statuary.
Architecture of Copley Square
Copley Square may be unique in boasting of three masterpieces of world stature in the medievalGothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
, classical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
and modern
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
traditions. Indeed, Trinity Church and the Boston Public Library constitute perhaps the most famous confrontation in the history of American architecture. The various landmarks are listed below in the order in which they were constructed:
- Old South Church, completed in 1873, was designed by Charles Amos CummingsCharles Amos CummingsCharles Amos Cummings , is a nineteenth century American architect and architectural historian who worked primarily in the Venetian Gothic style. Cummings followed the precepts of British cultural theorist and architectural critic John Ruskin...
and Willard T. SearsWillard T. SearsWillard Thomas Sears was a prominent New England architect of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who worked primarily in the Gothic Revival and Renaissance Revival styles....
and built in the Venetian Gothic RevivalVenetian Gothic architectureVenetian Gothic is a term given to an architectural style combining use of the Gothic lancet arch with Byzantine and Moorish architecture influences. The style originated in 14th century Venice with the confluence of Byzantine styles from Constantinople, Arab influences from Moorish Spain and early...
style. The style follows the precepts of the British cultural theorist and architectural critic John RuskinJohn RuskinJohn Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
(1819 – 1900) as outlined in his treatise The Stones of Venice.National Historic LandmarkNational Historic LandmarkA National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance... - Chauncy Hall School, built circa 1874, was a High Victorian brick school building with tall gables that stood on Boylston StreetBoylston StreetBoylston Street is the name of a major east-west thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. Another Boylston Street runs through Boston's western suburbs....
near Dartmouth St. until 1908. Founded in 1828 by Gideon Thayer, this preparatory boys' school merged with the Chapel Hill girls' school in 1971 to become Chapel Hill - Chauncy Hall SchoolChapel Hill - Chauncy Hall SchoolChapel Hill – Chauncy Hall School is an independent college preparatory school for grades 9 through 12 located in Waltham, Massachusetts and founded in 1828.-History:...
, which is now located in WalthamWaltham, MassachusettsWaltham is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, was an early center for the labor movement, and major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, the city was a prototype for 19th century industrial city planning,...
. - Museum of Fine ArtsMuseum of Fine Arts, BostonThe Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
, completed in 1876, was designed by John Hubbard SturgisJohn Hubbard SturgisJohn Hubbard Sturgis was an American architect active in the Boston area.Sturgis was born in Macau, China, the son of Russell Sturgis , a wealthy Boston merchant active in the China trade. After attending Boston Latin School, he travelled extensively in Europe when his father became a partner in...
and Charles BrighamCharles BrighamCharles Brigham , was a prominent American architect.- Life :Born, raised, and educated in Watertown, Massachusetts, he apprenticed to the Boston architect Gridley J.F. Bryant. Brigham served as a sergeant in the Union Army during the American Civil War, then began work for John Hubbard Sturgis...
and built in the Gothic Revival style. The building was located on the southern side of the square and was torn down in 1910, after moving to the Fenway neighborhood, to make way for the Copley Plaza hotel. The Copley Square museum was the first purpose-built public art museum in the world. - Trinity ChurchTrinity Church, BostonTrinity Church in the City of Boston, located in the Back Bay of Boston, Massachusetts, is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. The congregation, currently standing at approximately 3,000 households, was founded in 1733. The current rector is The Reverend Anne Bonnyman...
, completed in 1877, was designed by H. H. Richardson and built in the Romanesque Revival style. It is located on the eastern side of the square. Considered Richardson's tour de force, the 1893 Baedeker's United States pronounced it "deservedly regarded as one of the finest buildings in America." National Historic Landmark - S.S. Pierce Building, built in 1887, was designed by S. Edwin Tobey in a Richardsonian RomanesqueRichardsonian RomanesqueRichardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose masterpiece is Trinity Church, Boston , designated a National Historic Landmark...
style as the headquarters of the S.S. Pierce & Co. grocery business, which Samuel Stillman Pierce had founded in Boston in 1831. Architecture critic Robert CampbellRobert Campbell (journalist)Robert Campbell is a writer and architect. He is currently the Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic for the Boston Globe. He lives and works in Cambridge, Massachusetts.-Education:...
has observed of the building: "It's no masterpiece of architecture, but it's great urban design. A heap of dark Romanesque masonry, it anchored a corner of Copley Square as solidly as a mountain." The building was demolished in 1958 for a parking lot. The Copley PlaceCopley PlaceCopley Place is an enclosed shopping mall, constructed in 1983, located in the Back Bay section of Boston, Massachusetts. It is owned by Simon Property Group, which acquired it in the 2002 breakup of the then-Dutch owned Urban Shopping Centers, Inc...
retail/hotel/office complex now occupies the site. - Boston Public LibraryBoston Public Library, McKim BuildingThe Boston Public Library McKim Building in Copley Square contains the library's research collection, exhibition rooms and administrative offices...
, completed in 1895, was designed by Charles Follen McKimCharles Follen McKimCharles Follen McKim FAIA was an American Beaux-Arts architect of the late 19th century. Along with Stanford White, he provided the architectural expertise as a member of the partnership McKim, Mead, and White....
in a revival of Italian RenaissanceItalian RenaissanceThe Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...
style. It is located on the Western side of the square. In the history of 19th century American architecture it is rivaled in importance only by the Capitol in Washington, and incorporates important art by John Singer Sargent, Edwin Austin Abbey, Puvis de Chavanne, Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Daniel Chester French. National Historic Landmark - FairmontFairmont Hotels and ResortsFairmont Hotels & Resorts is a Canadian-based operator of luxury hotels and resorts. Currently, Fairmont operates properties in 18 countries including Canada, the United States, Mexico, Bermuda, Barbados, United Kingdom, Monaco, Germany, Switzerland, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, the...
Copley Plaza HotelHotelA hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
, completed in 1912, was designed by Henry Janeway HardenberghHenry Janeway HardenberghHenry Janeway Hardenbergh was an American architect, best known for his hotels and apartment buildings.-Life and career:...
in the Beaux-Arts style and erected on the site of the original Museum of Fine Arts. Hardenbergh was the architect of New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's Plaza HotelPlaza HotelThe Plaza Hotel in New York City is a landmark 20-story luxury hotel with a height of and length of that occupies the west side of Grand Army Plaza, from which it derives its name, and extends along Central Park South in Manhattan. Fifth Avenue extends along the east side of Grand Army Plaza...
and Dakota Apartments. - John Hancock TowerJohn Hancock TowerThe John Hancock Tower, officially named Hancock Place and colloquially known as The Hancock, is a 60-story, 790-foot skyscraper in Boston. The tower was designed by Henry N. Cobb of the firm I. M. Pei & Partners and was completed in 1976...
, completed in 1976 as the headquarters of John Hancock InsuranceJohn Hancock InsuranceJohn Hancock Financial is a loose term for a United States insurance company which existed, in various forms, from its founding on April 21, 1862, until its acquisition in 2004 by the Canadian insurance company Manulife Financial. It was named in honor of John Hancock, a prominent patriot...
, was designed by Henry N. CobbHenry N. CobbHenry N. Cobb is an American architect and founding partner with I.M. Pei of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, an international architectural firm based in New York City....
of I.M. Pei & Partners (now Pei Cobb Freed & PartnersPei Cobb Freed & PartnersPei Cobb Freed & Partners is an architectural firm that was founded in 1955 by I. M. Pei as I. M. Pei & Associates, in 1966 called I. M. Pei & Partners, and received its current name and organization in 1989. The founders were I. M. Pei, Henry N. Cobb, and Eason H. Leonard. Pei and Leonard retired...
). Modeled on a 1922 proposal by Ludwig Mies Van der RoheLudwig Mies van der RoheLudwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect. He is commonly referred to and addressed as Mies, his surname....
for a glass skyscraper in Berlin, Germany, this sixty-story tower is a minimalist example of late ModernismModernismModernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
clad in reflective deep blue glass. It has an elongated parallelogram footprint and presents its narrowest profile to the square so as not to overshadow Trinity ChurchTrinity Church, BostonTrinity Church in the City of Boston, located in the Back Bay of Boston, Massachusetts, is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. The congregation, currently standing at approximately 3,000 households, was founded in 1733. The current rector is The Reverend Anne Bonnyman...
or the square itself. At 790 feet (241 m), it is New EnglandNew EnglandNew England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
's tallest building. - The postmodernist Bostix Kiosk, (1992, NW corner of Dartmouth and Boylsont streets) was designed Graham GundGraham GundGraham de Conde Gund is an American architect and the president of the Gund Partnership, an American architecture firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and founded by Gund in 1971...
with inspiration from Parisian park pavilions.
Farmers' market
From mid-May until the Tuesday before Thanksgiving a farmers' market is open in Copley Square every Tuesday and Friday from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. Farmers and other local food producers sell locally grown and produced vegetables, fruits, herbs, honey, baked goods, cheese, locally raised meats, annual and perennial garden plants, and cut flowers. The farmers' market is organized by the Federation of Massachusetts Farmers Markets , and is located along the south, west, and north edges of the square.Shopping
These are some examples of high-end boutiques found in or near Copley Square:- Bvlgari
- Miu MiuMiu MiuMiu Miu is a high fashion brand from the Prada fashion house, opened in 1993 and headed by Miuccia Prada. The name of the collection is taken from Miuccia Prada’s nickname.-Stores:...
- ChanelChanelChanel S.A. is a French fashion house founded by the couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, well established in haute couture, specializing in luxury goods . She gained the name "Coco" while maintaining a career as a singer at a café in France...
- Mont BlancMont BlancMont Blanc or Monte Bianco , meaning "White Mountain", is the highest mountain in the Alps, Western Europe and the European Union. It rises above sea level and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence...
- Coach
- BallyBallyBally Technologies, Inc. is a manufacturer of slot machines and other gaming technology based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is the descendant and continuation of the original Bally Manufacturing Corporation of Chicago....
- Barneys New YorkBarneys New YorkBarneys New York is a chain of luxury department stores headquartered in New York City. The chain owns large stores in New York City, Beverly Hills, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Scottsdale, and smaller stores in other locations across the United States.Brands sold include...
Transportation
CopleyCopley (MBTA station)
Copley is a station on the MBTA Green Line light rail subway in Boston, Massachusetts. Located in and named after Copley Square, the station has entrances and exits along Boylston Street and Dartmouth Street....
is a stop on the MBTA Green Line
Green Line (MBTA)
The Green Line is a streetcar system run by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in the Boston, Massachusetts area of the United States. It is the oldest line of Boston's subway, which is known locally as the 'T'. The Green Line runs underground downtown and on the surface in outlying...
subway; the Orange Line
Orange Line (MBTA)
The Orange Line is one of the four subway lines of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. It extends from Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain, Boston in the south to Oak Grove in Malden, Massachusetts in the north. It meets the Red Line at Downtown Crossing, the Blue Line at State, and the Green...
and commuter rail trains stop at nearby Back Bay Station. The southern side of the square facing the Copley Square Hotel is an MBTA bus stop for the 9, 10, 39, 55, 503, and 502.
External links
- Copley Square Farmers' Market site
- Boston Public Library. Copley Square Collection