Boston Athenæum

Boston Athenæum

We were watching Absentia, a medium grade thriller, last night and someone mentions Boston Athenæum which we have never heard of. What the heck is an anthenaeum anyway? It's a library, and the Boston Athenæum is a private library. So I go look it up and find the above picture on Wikipedia. But I'm not satisfied, so I go to Google Maps to see if I can find a better view of the place. I can't, because Beacon Street is so narrow and the buildings are so tall. This is what I got:

Boston Athenæum Front

Slightly distorted, but you can see there is more to it rising out of the back half of the building.

Boston Athenæum Back

There is a nice little park / ancient graveyard in back.

Merry Christmas

Trinity Church and the John Hancock Tower in Boston, Massachusetts

My wife and I went to a Christmas service last night at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Beaverton, Oregon. Haven't been to church in a while but we went last night.

The sermon was mostly about Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), pastor extraordinaire of Trinity Church in Boston. He is also the author of O Little Town of Bethlehem. He was inspired to write this tune when he visited Bethlehem in 1865, which is when the American Civil War came to an end.  

While the pastor is talking about Phillips Brooks and peace, he throws in that Pax Romana (Peace of Rome), the ruling order in Bethlehem back in the day, wasn't really about peace, it was about order, which is one of fundamental precepts of any kind of civilization. Well, now he's got my attention, which means I'm going to need to write a blog post, and here we are.

Trinity Church, Boston, Massachusetts

From Wikipedia:

[Trinity Church] is the birthplace and archetype of the Richardsonian Romanesque style, characterized by a clay roof, polychromy, rough stone, heavy arches, and a massive tower. This style was soon adopted for a number of public buildings across the United States.

Man, that is one ugly building. Reminds me of the Licking County Jail in Newark, Ohio.

Licking County Jail, Newark, Ohio

The Ether Dome

The Ether Dome at Massachussets General Hospital in 360 degrees
STAT

Because we know a person studying in Boston, we occasionally hear bits of historical trivia about the place, like The Ether Dome. It doesn't matter if the video above is playing or paused, you can grab a point (left click your mouse and hold) on the screen and drag it around to look all around the room.

Dr. John Collins Warren performs the first surgery without pain as William Morton administers ether - 1846