Colonial Block in Boston

Colonial Block in Boston

There have been many changes in downtown Boston from my high school days when I worked at Filene's Basement and knew the streets so well. Buildings have gotten taller and tourism has blossomed, but certain blocks remain relatively intact.  This scene depicts the corner of Union and Marshall Streets where the sidewalks are brick and the street is colonial-style cobblestone.   Several of the buildings have historic markers, and there are some well known restaurants here as the street is a half block from Fanueil Hall Market.   The Freedom Trail runs down the street and there is typically a constant stream of visitors following the sidewalk markers.

We were weaving in and out of pedestrian and vehicular traffic on our way to Haymarket when this dazzling sun and shadow scene stopped me.   Bell in Hand Tavern was on the corner on the left and the Union Oyster House Restaurant was on the right.    The five story buildings were casting interesting shadows and so were the figures.   The light was stunning and made for a good painting composition, but it's the people that make you stop and think.    Settlers walked the same paths in the eighteen hundreds and even earlier, going about their daily lives.    A few vestiges of the past are apparent, but its more different than the same.

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