New England Conservatory

From the book Illustrated Boston, 1886.


St James Hotel, Franklin square, South End (taken from a stereograph, BPL Flickr group).


New England Conservatory, East Newton street, Franklin square, 1895.


The New England Conservatory of Music was founded in 1867, and began in rooms above the Music Hall in downtown Boston. In 1870, they found their own home in the former St James Hotel on Franklin square in the South End. At the time, some people imagined that the South End would match the Back Bay as a home for Boston's elite. Instead, after a short time it became home to lodging houses and immigrant populations.

As with the Back Bay, the South End was home to many institutions that later moved for more space or a more suitable neighborhood. Eban Jordan, son of Jordan Marsh and Boston Globe founder of the same name, donated land on Huntington avenue for a new building, and in 1902, the school moved to join the Boston Symphony, the Boston Opera Hall and the Museum of Fine Arts on Boston's premier arts avenue.