1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Boston

BOSTON (see ). The pop. of the area incorporated as the &ldquo;City of Boston&rdquo; was in 1920, 748,060; in 1910, 670,585, an increase of 77,475 or 11.6%, being by far the smallest percentage of increase in the history of the city, and the smallest numerical increase for 50 years. But the two figures are not precisely comparable, as the municipal area was increased from 43 to 48 sq. m. in 1912 by the inclusion of Hyde Park which in 1910 had a pop. of 15,507. During the five years 1915-20 the increase of pop. was less than 1%. The &ldquo;metropolitan area,&rdquo; constituted by the Legislature of Massachusetts for certain purposes of common action, includes in addition to municipal Boston 38 adjacent

cities and towns and had in 1920 a pop. of 1,641,756 (according to the provisional U.S. census returns), and in 1910 1,423,439. The percentage of pop. in &ldquo;the city&rdquo; as compared with that of the &ldquo;metropolitan&rdquo; area thus decreased from 47.8% in 1910 to 45.5% in 1920.

Buildings, Libraries and Museums. &mdash; In 1910 the old Museum of Fine Arts was demolished and on the site was erected the Copley Plaza Hotel, built at a cost of $3,800,000 and opened in 1911. The new building of the Museum of Fine Arts, erected on Huntington Ave., was opened Nov. 15 1909, and a second section opened Feb. 3 1915, the total cost at that time being $3,900,000. To the State House east and west wings were added during 1914-9, at a cost approximating $3,000,000. John Sargent's series of panels in the public library was practically completed in 1916, when he added a third sequence, the &ldquo;Theme of the Madonna.&rdquo; In Jan. 1919 the public library contained 1,197,498 volumes (922,348 in Jan. 1908). It continued to be the largest free circulating library in the world, with a circulation of 2,300,732 for 1919 (1,529,111 for 1907). The New England Conservatory of Music remained the largest in the United States, having in 1919 3,700 students. The Boston Opera House was erected on Huntington Ave. in 1909.

History and Finance. &mdash; Boston, as a metropolitan district, has retained much of the institutional structure of the old towns which have grown together and become consolidated for certain purposes by legislation. Several things have happened in the 10 years 1910-20 indicating a drift toward political unification. What was called the &ldquo;Boston 1915&rdquo; movement resulted in better business leadership, in more ample support given to the chamber of commerce and other trade bodies; and legislation looking toward a unified harbour place. A new charter adopted in 1909 gave to the city a small council (9 members) elected &ldquo;at large.&rdquo; In 1920, under the leadership of Mayor Peters, a first effort was made to consolidate the several independent cities and towns under a &ldquo;Greater Boston&rdquo; charter. In many ways the whole metropolitan district had developed the habit of acting together, as was exemplified in the Liberty Loan and Victory Loan drives, the results of which were as follows: First Liberty Loan $133,790,360; Second Liberty Loan $147,259,650; Third Liberty Loan, $77,202,500; Fourth Liberty Loan, $139,008,150; Victory Loan, $83,852,700; total amount subscribed $581,113,350.


 * (Author:Frederick Albert Cleveland)