Highway to Henry

I thought this might be interesting for some folks...

Last year we saw a really great presentation about the history of the 5th Street corridor in St. Anne's Hill. So I was looking at the old Sanborn Maps (available from our local library) and noticing some of the ways the neighborhood has changed over the last hundred years.

For example, take a look at the block between McClure and Henry Street, circa 1896:

And take a look at it today, where the former Richard Street is now Josie Street:

As you can see, I added lines to show that this block of Henry Street was actually 25% longer before the highway was constructed. I would not be surprised to learn that they shaved off these blocks in order to spare Ruskin School on the other side of the highway, but I don't know that for sure.

The same thing happened on the surrounding blocks on the South side of the neighborhood. So you might imagine how different things might be if we had another 20-30 houses in St. Anne's Hill. Do you think the neighborhood be better off with those additional houses, or would there be too many? We'll never know...

P.S. Don't forget our regular meeting on April 1st!