Yes, I’m slightly obsessed with the photos I took in and around Boston’s waterfront back in the early 1980s. And why shouldn’t I be? What a city! If these pix give you all the feels, be sure to read my book about my family’s transformational move to the city from the ‘burbs in 1980.
Taken from the pedestrian overpass that went from Atlantic Ave. over the Central Artery to Surface Road, outside the “new” Boston Harbor Hotel. (I was really in to time-lapse photography back then.)Same Central Artery overpass as above, but facing South Station this time.The sunset view from Harbor Towers.July 4, 1986 (?) from the 20th floor of One Devonshire Place.More time-lapse experimentation, taken from Haymarket Square.Downtown Crossing was BUSTLING back in the day! Must have been a sale at Filene’s Basement that day. (Related: My blog about cryptic 80s graffiti in the city.)They buried the Central Artery in the late 90s, but this traffic from 1982 was probably still struggling to make its way south when they finished the Big Dig.You’re looking at the old Broad Street area.Quincy Market before they built that half-moon building across the street. Parking!Pre-Seaport: The Northern Avenue Bridge before it went out of commission. You’re looking at the site of the Moakley Courthouse, the Barking Crab, the Envoy Hotel and the entrance to the Boston Seaport, 1981-ish. (Yes, this is where I learned how to drive a car.)That empty lot on the left became the Boston Harbor Hotel a few years later. The view from Northern Avenue as construction began on the Boston Harbor Hotel.Near Santoro’s sub shop.$1 for one hour on the meters.The future: Under construction.Goodnight, moon.A snowy day at Quincy Market. The view from 85 East India Row, 24th floor, pre-Big Dig.
That time they blew up “the Traveler’s Building” near South Station and built what’s now 125 High Street.
Peeking in the windows of Exchange Place (53 State Street) from One Devonshire, 1986-ish.
David Grady: Words and Pictures 
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