1984 Roman / White Mountain Graphics Promotional Pictorial View of Boston

Boston Before the Big Dig

This is a scarce large-format 1984 pictorial view of Boston, Massachusetts, prepared by illustrator John Roman for White Mountain Graphics. Although highlighting the area's historic landmarks, it also serves as a promotional map for contemporary businesses and captures this part of the city on the cusp of a major transformation brought about by the 'Big Dig' and other infrastructure projects.

A Closer Look

This view is oriented towards the southwest, looking at Boston from the direction of East Boston. Despite its title, it is as much a promotional map for contemporary businesses as it is a historical map, though local historical sites are noted throughout. These include Faneuil Hall, the Old North Church, the Paul Revere House, and post-Revolutionary Sites such as Quincy Market, the Custom House Tower, and the Massachusetts State House at top towards right. Small blocks of text explain the significance of various buildings, squares, and other sites. Modern structures such as the tall, Modernist Federal Reserve Bank Building and the much-reviled 'ziggurat' City Hall, done in the Brutalist style, are labelled as well. Some locations, such as South Station, are historic structures that continue to serve a critical modern-day use. Contemporary businesses, mostly hotels and restaurants, are indicated throughout. Many of these are no longer extant, but several are, especially long-established restaurants like Caffe Vittoria's, Caffè Paradiso, and Lucia in the North End, which became an Italian enclave in the early 20th century.

Transforming One of America's Oldest Cities

At the time this view was produced, this part of Boston maintained an odd juxtaposition - holding many sites key to the nation's history and especially the Revolutionary War, but also being bisected by a crowded, noisy, polluting highway. In the 1950s, an elevated six-lane highway known as the Central Artery was constructed through the heart of Boston, physically severing the historic North End and the waterfront from the rest of the city. By the 1980s, this 'Green Monster' (a riff on the famous outfield wall at Fenway Park) was handling nearly three times its intended traffic capacity, resulting in 10-hour daily jams and accident rates four times the national average. With federal funding secured after a high-profile congressional battle, the 'Big Dig' project aimed to bury the highway and extend Interstate 90 to Logan International Airport. It was also associated with the construction of the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge, which became the world's widest cable-stayed bridge when completed in 2003.

Planned in earnest since 1982, construction finally began in 1991 and quickly became a saga of unprecedented engineering complexity and escalating costs. Engineers had to excavate while also relocating ancient utility lines and keeping the city and its existing highway fully operational above the dig site, utilizing cutting-edge techniques to do so. However, the project was plagued by administrative scandals, structural leaks, and massive financial overruns, ultimately becoming the most expensive highway project in U.S. history. Despite the controversy surrounding its price tag, the completion of the Big Dig in 2007 fundamentally transformed Boston's urban landscape. The demolition of the old, elevated highway removed the physical barrier that had stifled the city for decades, replacing it with the 1.5-mile-long Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, a lovely series of parks and public plazas. Traffic congestion in the city's core was significantly reduced, and the improved air quality and landscape helped spark a multi-billion dollar real estate boom.

Publication History and Census

This view was drawn by John Roman for White Mountain Graphics in 1984. The only example of this view in institutional collections is held by the Boston Public Library as part of the John Roman Paper in their Archives and Special Collections.

Cartographers

John Roman (1950 - present) is an artist and illustrator best known for his illustrated maps of various American cities and landscapes. Roman has produced illustrations for clients including the National Park Service, the Massachusetts Audubon Society, Marriott Hotels, and publications like the Wall Street Journal and Time. His most famous map is likely 'Cowboy America,' done in the style of earlier 'Brags Maps' like Daniel Wallingford's 'A New Yorker's Idea of The United States of America.' Roman has also taught at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design since 1993. In 2015, Roman published the book The Art of Illustrated Maps: A Complete Guide to Creative Mapmaking's History, Process and Inspiration, which combines extensive historical research with his own experience as a cartographic artist.   Further Details...

White Mountain Graphics (1978 - present), now known as White Mountain Puzzles, is a Jackson, New Hampshire based company best known for producing jigsaw puzzle pictorial views of cities throughout the United States. For a time in the 1980s, the company also produced non-puzzle pictorial views (i.e. posters). The company has developed a devoted fan base over the decades and attracted a much wider group of customers during the COVID-19 pandemic as their puzzles became a popular lockdown pastime.   Further Details...

Condition

Excellent.

References

Boston Public Library Archives and Special Collections MS.LMEC.0003.