Excerpt from Washington Street, Old and New: A History in Narrative Form of the Changes Which This Ancient Street Has Undergone Since the Settlement of Boston At the outset the highway was but the germ of a thoroughfare; and for more than thirty years from the town's start it extended no further than to the present Boylston Street line. Beyond that line, or above Essex Street, there was during this time only a footpath or rough cartway towards Roxburie. And after further extension was efiected Boylston Street yet remained practically the thorough fare's terminus with respect to its occupation by shops, taverns, dwellings, and mansion houses, throughout the Colony period and for the greater part of the Province period. Beyond Boylston Street there were few houses upon it and fewer shops till after the Revolu tion. Above Dover Street there were before the Revolution very few inhabitants; and so late as 1800 only one or two houses were counted from the site of the present Cathedral of the Holy Cross to Roxbury. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.