Scollay Square

Boston’s crowds of thrill-seekers got their kicks in Scollay Square, the city’s iconic entertainment district. Wedged between the Boston Port, Beacon Hill, and downtown, Scollay Square was also a major local and regional transportation hub. Here bankers and businessmen rubbed shoulders with store clerks, stevedores, sailors on shore leave, shoppers, stage performers, Harvard boys, daytrippers and travelers. Boston’s first tattooed performers joined the curiosities on display in Scollay Square’s many live theater venues, including Walker’s Nickelodeon and Austin & Stone’s Dime Museum.