Boston, Massachusetts 1970s

This aerial photograph, taken in the 1970s, overlooks Boston’s Back Bay district and highlights the impressive complex of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, located along Massachusetts Avenue. Dominating the center of the image is the grand Romanesque-and-Byzantine style Mother Church, completed in 1894, with its later domed extension—finished in 1906—rising prominently above the surrounding cityscape.

Around the church, construction and open pavement areas hint at the ongoing development of the Christian Science Plaza, a major mid-century urban project that transformed the district. Much of the reflective pool and landscaped space that define the plaza today were still being developed during this era, part of a larger modernization effort led by architect I. M. Pei beginning in the 1960s.

Surrounding the church complex, brick apartment blocks, rowhouses, and commercial structures show the dense fabric of the Back Bay and South End neighborhoods at a time before Boston’s skyline dramatically expanded. Visible streets, including Massachusetts Avenue and Huntington Avenue, form part of what would become the Avenue of the Arts, now lined with major cultural institutions.

This image captures Boston at a pivotal moment—balancing historic preservation with ambitious modern redevelopment. The First Church of Christ, Scientist remains a prominent architectural and cultural landmark, anchoring a district whose history, faith, and city planning are woven together in the landscape visible below.