I've seen this done several times previously with the original photograph above. From example page 16 of "How buildings Learn" by Stewart Brand from 1994 (a really great book) has this exact comparison with a photograph from 1981 (the tall building the the exact centre is missing). There is another example from last year here: http://stevedunwell.com/aboveandbeyond/?p=27 and another here http://www.boston.com/ae/specials/aerialboston/
How buildings Learn" by Stewart Brand from 1994 (a really great book)
Yes. Stewart Brand should need no introduction to readers of HN for his many influences on high-tech industry, but I'm always telling friends about How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built,
It's amazing to see the buildings that are still there. Moving the mouse quickly left and right on the comparison picture shows up quite a few buildings that appear unchanged.
In some areas of Boston, you'd actually see a large number of buildings still there from 1860--although that would be just a little early for the Back Bay to be fully completed. The aa in this photo is, to a large degree, the West End which was mostly torn down to construct the concrete monstrosity which is Government Center among other changes.
It's fascinating to see how some of the main constructs that help define a city ie. major roads, intersections, are still highly visible and intact over 100 years later.
Would recommend "The City in History" by Lewis Mumford. Great read about how cities have formed, died, and some renewed throughout history.
Fascinating, but probably shouldn't be surprising. By 1860, Boston was already 1/3 of it present size--too developed for wholesale re-layouts to happen without something major (like the Great Chicago fire did in Chicago).
Look at this map of lower Manhattan from the 1600's to today: http://www.racontrs.com/stories/nyc-land-reclamation. Look how, aside from land reclamation, the basic street architecture has changed little since the mid 1700's.
Very cool. My company has offices on the left hand edge by the Old South Meeting house spire near Milk St. Amazing how much stuff has changes and stayed the same. The spire's was where the revolution started in 1773. It's now dwarfed on all sides.
