Raffles 1887

CAPTURING ESSENCE THROUGH IMAGERY

Christmas in Boston

Winter in Boston is a magical time, the stuff of romantic movies, where quaint streets and majestic squares are often illuminated by glistening snow as much as glittering lights.

Historically, it has not always been so. In the 17th century the Puritans believed that festive merry-making was sacrilegious and in 1659 they banned Christmas altogether, imposing a heavy fine on anyone caught celebrating it. The ban was eventually revoked and, as local photographer JACK COHEN’s beautiful images of Boston here demonstrate, it’s hard to think of a city that conjures up the Christmas spirit better.

Most of these picturesque scenes were shot in 2024, when the city experienced significant snowfall just before Christmas. They are all within walking distance of Raffles Boston. 

OLD CORNER CHRISTMAS

Old Corner Christmas opened on Washington Street in 2023.

Among the building’s former occupants were the 19th-century publishers Ticknor and Fields, who were first to publish A Christmas Carol in the US; they also invited Charles Dickens to give a public reading of his novel here in 1867.

Famously set in Victorian London over the festive period, A Christmas Carol proved such a hit that it influenced the way in which Bostonians celebrated Christmas.

STATUE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON

William Rimmer’s statue of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton stands on Commonwealth Avenue, between Arlington and Berkeley Streets.

Erected in 1865, the granite statue was commissioned by Thomas Lee as a gift to the city of Boston and though it garnered mixed reviews at the time – one art critic complained that Hamilton seemed to be “swathed like an infant or a mummy” –  it has become a much cherished landmark.

BEACON HILL

Picturesque Beacon Hill is one of Boston’s oldest neighbourhoods. It’s also a neighbourhood that takes Christmas very seriously. Legend has it that on Christmas Eve 1893, a young boy named Alfred lit a candle and put it in his bedroom window.

The following Christmas, several of his neighbours did the same. Gradually the whole community followed suit. Beacon Hill has other long-established festive traditions, including hand bell-ringing and carolling. 

TRINITY CHURCH BOSTON

The American Institute of Architects has recognised Trinity Church, founded in Copley Square in 1733, as one of the 10 most architecturally significant buildings in the US.

The popular church hosts many festive events, while its choirs have recorded dozens of Christmas albums: last year’s offering, The Great Glad Tidings Tell, reached number one on the Billboard Classical Chart.

STATUE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON

This splendid 40ft bronze statue of George Washington on horseback, photographed at sunrise on a snowy morning, is by local sculptor Thomas Ball and when it was unveiled in Boston Public Garden in 1869 it received a 13-gun salute.

Paid for by public subscription at the time, the statue requires regular upkeep: the sword has had to be replaced many times over the years, though these days it is made from fibreglass rather than more costly bronze.

CHARLES RIVER

Decked out for the festive season, this boat belongs to Community Boating (CBI), based between Hatch Memorial Shell and Longfellow Bridge.

The oldest public sailing club in the US, CBI was set up in the 1930s by Joe Lee to enrich the lives of the city’s less well-off children. Originally – and much to the chagrin of smarter boat clubs nearby – ‘Lee Boys’ took to the water on plywood crafts with makeshift canvas sails. Today the club offers dozens of classes and programmes on its large fleet of purpose-built crafts. 

PARKMAN BANDSTAND, BOSTON COMMON

Boston Common is the oldest city park in the US and has been used for a variety of purposes over the centuries, including a spell as a public execution ground.

Parkman Bandstand, built in 1912 at a cost of $1 million, was renovated in 1996, and is used for musical and theatrical productions as well as protests and political speeches.

You know Christmas is on its way when the Parkman Bandstand lights up. 