Raising the Village
Posted by: 
Shorelander
N 42° 20.956 W 071° 04.102
19T E 329639 N 4690628
An interesting solution to an unfortunate problem.
Waymark Code: WM17CM
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 02/11/2007
Views: 35
This marker is on a building on Church Street in Bay Village. On it is a picture captioned "a photograph of houses raised onto pilings at Church Street, 1868."
The marker reads:
"Bay Village houses stood as if on stilts high above the street in 1868. When the nearby Back Bay marsh was filled with earth in the 1850s and '60s, displaced water seeped into this lower, older area. What to do? Simple. Lift the streets, 457 houses and 24 stores onto wooden pilings (later filled in) 18 ft. above the mean low water level. Back yards were raised only 12 ft. higher than that level, so many gardens came to be 6 ft. below the streets.
"If you peer in the alleys below these houses, you may spot a secret 'sunken' garden."
Agency Responsible for Placement: Boston 200
Year Placed: 1976
County: Suffolk
City/Town Name: Boston
Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]
Agency Responsible for Placement (if not in list above): Not listed
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