Boston's financial district is considered the heart of New England's banking and finance. It is a veritable overlay of sleek modern office buildings and elegant high-rise structures of the early twentieth century. In the center of this contemporary skyline is evidence of the financial district's long history. Boston's first skyscraper, the Boston Custom House tower, stands high from where it was built in 1915 on top of the original 1849 custom house building.Boston's Financial District chronicles the steady change from a romantic neighborhood to numerous banking and business houses. It was originally known as Old South End and was a residential site of elegant mansions designed by Charles Bulfinch and located on tree-lined squares and streets that emulated the aristocratic boroughs of London. The photographs in Boston's Financial District show evidence of the destruction wreaked by the Great Boston Fire of 1872 and the rebuilding of Boston's center of commerce. With its well-known banks and businesses, the financial district has witnessed some of the most monumental and influential historical changes in the city of Boston.
