A Hill By Any Other Name
Detail of "A plan of the town of Boston with the intrenchments &ca. of His Majesty's forces in 1775, from the observations of Lieut. Page of His Majesty's Corps of Engineers, and from those of other gentlemen" by Sir Thomas Hyde Page (Image from the Library of Congress American Memory Collection)
A big welcome to all the folks coming from nerve.com and fark.com! If you like funny place names, you may also wish to visit "Big Bone Lick State Park" in Kentucky.
John Keith over at Boston Real Estate Blog has a post about the "Ladder District" in downtown Boston and a couple of his commenters asked about the origin of the "Ladder District" name so he sent me an email and asked if I had any idea where the name came from. I don't have a clue, but that won't stop me from writing a post about the importance of a good name in selling real estate in Boston.
The map above was created in 1775 by a British officer stationed in Boston. A number of points are immediately familiar: Cambridge Street, Boston Common, Beacon Street, Beacon Hill, West Street, and Winter Street have all survived as place and street names to the present day.
But what's that to the left of Beacon Hill? Mount Whoredom, that's what, the approximate location of which (at least as far as I can tell) is better known today as Louisburg Square. Can you imagine trying to sell a house on Mount Whoredom? Mount Whoredom used to be taller, but was cut down and dumped into the Charles to make some of the land west of Charles Street. Mount Whoredom wasn't used to create the Back Bay (a much later endeavor) but it did become the flats of Beacon Hill.
On a related note, a book about "inflammatory toponyms" has recently been published and you can read an essay by its author here.
J.L. Bell over at Boston 1775 writes about British officers and their habit of referring to the area as "Mount Whoredom" and a certain future president's delicate sensibilities, which leads me to believe that Ray Charles really knew what he was talking about when he sang "Greenback Dollar Bill": "Whenever you're in town and looking for a thrill/if Lincoln can't get it, Jackson sure will."
Update: I'd like to thank the emailers and commenters. I didn't make myself clear. I know that the "ladder district " (sometimes known as the "ladder blocks", which appears on this BRA map of the area) suddenly appeared around 2000 as a way of designating the streets running between Tremont Street and Washington Street from Stuart to Winter Streets. What I'm unclear about is whether or not there is a historical precedent for the name, which was the claim in 2000. I'm skeptical that it is simply the reappearance of historic name. There was a brief period of time when the area was known as the "Midtown Cultural District" in city planning documents, but this name seems to be used primarily by planners.
Click on the image below for a closer look for those who may not be able to read the map above:
________________
Wow! That's a hilarious bit of information. Do you know the source of the name, Charles? Were brothels concentrated there?
(I'm resisting the urge to make snarky comments about the politicians who live in Louisburg Square.)
Posted by: Mister Goat | 12 June 2006 at 21:11
So that's why it's called Joy Street?
Posted by: Ron Newman | 12 June 2006 at 22:08
In response to "A Hill By Any Other Name", the Ladder District was so named by marketing mavens due to the narrow, parallel streets that run from the Downtown Crossing area to the Boston Common. See the article in the Real Estate Section of this past Sunday's Boston Globe (6/11/06).
Posted by: Allan Galper | 13 June 2006 at 10:53
If you look at an aerial photo of the Ladder District, you'll see Washington and Tremont running parallel, with all the side streets, from say West Street to Bromfield St. running between them like rungs on a ladder. I think that's where the name comes from.
Posted by: PerfectHandle | 13 June 2006 at 10:59
Mt. Whoredom looks like a nipple ;)
Posted by: Desiree | 23 June 2006 at 15:11
I hate to say it, but that looks more like an 'a' than an 'o', at least from here- so Mt. Wharedom.
Posted by: Arafelis | 23 June 2006 at 15:33
Arafelis: Using a rather large widescreen monitor, I can tell you for certian that what you are seeing isn't an A, but an O and one of those "hill lines" very close. One would wish that the orig. drawer would have left those pesky lines absent around the wording, but alas...
Posted by: Tavor | 23 June 2006 at 16:22
Nice of you to say hello to the farkers visiting your blog. :)
As a Bostonian, I find this hilarious.
You'll probably have garnered quite a few new readers! Take care.
Posted by: Gwen-o | 23 June 2006 at 16:36
The marketing fools renamed it the ladder district because it sounds better than the combat district.
Posted by: yomama | 23 June 2006 at 16:36
It's actually Mt. Wharedom. But don't let that spoil the fun!
+++++
Editor's note: For those doubting that the map reads "Mount Whoredom", follow the link above to J.L. Bell's post on the same subject. He quotes several British officers, to wit:
Lt Frederick Mackenzie, diary, 25 Apr 1775: "Our Regiment Encamped his morning on Fort Hill; The 4th Regiment on Mount Whoredom, and the Marines on the Common."
Lt John Barker, diary, 26 Apr 1775: “the 1st upon Whoredom Hill.”
Gen. Percy, letter to his clergyman uncle: "Camp on Mount Whoredom, Augt. 12. 1775. . . . A strange Place Dear Dr. to write from to a Clergyman—Yet so it is, My Tent is upon the highest Summit of it.”
Posted by: Senor Sparky | 23 June 2006 at 16:50
I love old maps...really neat...glad you got farked and while I don't live in Boston, I had a beer at Logan Airport once so thats nearly as good. Neat site.
Posted by: Tempus Fugit | 23 June 2006 at 21:57
[Editor's Note: Comment removed for being factually incorrect and defamatory]
Posted by: Ted Kennedy | 24 June 2006 at 07:22