Piano Row District - Boston, MA
Posted by: 
silverquill
N 42° 21.146 W 071° 03.967
19T E 329833 N 4690975
Once the center of the leading piano makers, these beaux arts buildings also include what is better known as the theater district, and now the presence of Emerson College. It is located south of the Boston Common in the heart of the city.
Waymark Code: WM79J2
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 09/23/2009
Views: 12
In the late nineteenth century, the headquarters of leading piano makers Steinert, Vose, Starck, Mason and Hamlin, and Wurlitzer were located on the section of Boylston Street facing Boston Common, giving rise to the name Piano Row. The district also includes several blocks of Tremont Street, commonly known as the Theatre District, not to be confused with the Washington Street Theatre District.
The grand Colonial Theatre, which opened on Dec. 20, 1900, was the first to be built here, followed by the Cutler Majestic Theatre, originally a 1,200-seat opera house now owned by Emerson College. The Wilbur Theater, the Wang Theatre, and the Shubert Theatre are also Boston landmarks.
There are other commercial buildings including the Little Building, a large apartment complex from the early twentieth century, now a residence for Emerson College which also owns the adjacent Cutler Majestic Theatre - truly majestic.
One the corner opposite the Boston Common is the Masonic Temple, and the old Union Bank Building. The only reminders of piano row on Boylston St. are the Steinert Hall and Steinert Piano Company, still selling Steinway and other pianos.
The following is from the Midtown Cultural District Building Survey
(
visit link)
Piano Row
Historically, the blocks extending north and west from the corner of Tremont and Boylston Streets have been called "Piano Row" because of the concentration of piano showrooms and music-related industries. The Piano Row district, composed of 29 buildings, achieved its greatest significance between 1890 and 1930 when the area was completing its transition from a residential neighborhood to a commercial center. Visually, the two blocks of "Piano Row" frame the corner of the Boston Common and create a city focal point dominated by important early 125' "skyscrapers." The area is notable for the high quality of its turn-of-the-century commercial buildings and the Colonial and Saxon (Majestic) theaters, as well as the early 19th century townhouses along Boylston Place.