Scollay Square

Images of America: Massachusetts

by David Kruh

Scollay Square is a pictorial history of the infamous Boston entertainment district that was wiped away by urban renewal in the 1960s. Now Government Center, this twenty-two-acre area was once an entertainment hub where entrepreneurs, scientists, politicians, performers, and even con artists worked side by side. Inside are dozens of never-before-published photographs of the Old Howard and Ann Corio, the Crawford House and Sally Keith, Joe and Nemo, and the Casino Theater, along with the many characters and landmarks that made this area a favorite of high-school truants, businessmen, and sailors on leave.

128 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2004

About the author

David is the published author of several books, notably the only two written exclusively about Boston's erstwhile entertainment district, Scollay Square.

This year saw the publication of Little Mister Victory, the story of co-author Tina Drzal's decades-long search for the woman who abandoned her father on VJ Day. Using cutting-edge DNA analysis and good-old-fashioned detective work (burrowing into newspaper archives, ecclesiastic and government documents) we found the mother, along with a surprise; abandoning her newborn baby was not the most shocking act of her life.

David's 2022 novel is based on the audacious 1962 escape by three inmates from Alcatraz. INSEPARABLE tells the story of a thirteen year-old Sausalito boy who discovers two of the escapees near death on a Sausalito beach. The adventure begins when he decides to help them to freedom. His writing has also appeared in the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, History Magazine, Yankee Magazine, Boston Magazine and elsewhere. A published and produced playwright, his musical about the Boston Red Sox (The Curse of the Bambino) premiered at Boston's Lyric Stage in 2001 and still ranks among the most successful productions in this equity theater's history.

Reviews

[Katherine]

Interesting look at a Boston neighborhood that was nearly completely wiped out in the 1950-60s to build City Hall. Great photos of signs, storefronts, buildings, but I enjoyed the old variety show announcements most of all.