42 Lomasney Way is a

tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, E ...

brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material. Ty ...

located in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

's West End. Built in the 1870s, the building has been called The Last Tenement, as it is the only building that was not demolished during the West End's redevelopment phase or subsequent construction periods.

History

Located on nine hundred square feet of land to the west of

TD Garden TD Garden (named the FleetCenter from opening until 2005 and TD Banknorth Garden until 2009) is a multi-purpose arena in Boston. It is located directly above the MBTA's North Station, and it replaced the original Boston Garden upon opening i ...

, the building was constructed in the 1870s at 42 Lowell Street. During the 1880 Census, four families were recorded as living there, which added up to twenty residents. When originally built, the building was constructed alongside thirty similar brownstones, none of which survive to this day. Over the years, the building was recorded as having upwards of fifty residents, including immigrants from

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. In 1892, the building survived a stove flare up on the second floor, and survived a fire on the first floor in 1905. In 1911, the Causeway Street Elevated was constructed right in front of the building. During the 1950s, the West End was considered blighted, and proposals were drawn up to redevelop the neighborhood. Already, multiple buildings along the row had been demolished, either to put in a road or a parking lot. Multiple stories exist as to why the building was not demolished, including strings being pulled with city officials, or protests by residents of the building. Following the redevelopment of the West End, the building was occupied for some time by an associate of the

Angiulo Brothers The Angiulo brothers (), were the leading Italian-American crime group from Boston's North End, from the 1960s until the mid 1980s. Also, the street crew extended into East Boston, Roxbury, Waltham, Newton, Watertown, parts of Revere, and a ...

, which was a leading gang in the North End until the

Winter Hill Gang The Winter Hill Gang was a loose confederation of American organized crime figures in the Boston, Massachusetts area. It was generally considered an Irish mob organization, with most gang members and the leadership consisting predominantly of ...

decided to run rackets in the area. Since then, the building has been purchased and redeveloped by a private owner. The City of Boston estimates the property's value at roughly $1.6 million as of 2021.

References

{{Coord, 42, 21, 55.51, N, 71, 3, 51.62, W, display=title West End, Boston 1870s establishments in Massachusetts Apartment buildings in Boston Real estate holdout