Throwback Thursday: Eight Photos of Dicey Accidents in 20th-Century Boston
Accident at the corner of E. Eighth and I Streets, South Boston / Courtesy of the Leslie Jones Collection/Boston Public Library
Massachusetts, it seems, has long been a home to terrible drivers. But in the early 20th century, Boston’s streets were even dicier than today’s, as lax traffic laws and top-heavy vehicles ruled the roads.
Fender benders and car crashes were frequent—and common enough for Boston Herald-Traveler photographer Leslie Jones to make it a point to photograph scenes from accidents around town. Jones captured countless snapshots of daily life in Boston during his 39-year-long career at the newspaper. His work is preserved on digitalcommonwealth.org, a digital archive of the Boston Public Library, with categories specially reserved for auto, train, trolley, and boat accidents.
In his photos—taken before the days of caution tape—onlookers stand alarmingly close to flipped-over cars, trains, and planes. They appear to possess a still calmness in the presence of mangled metal, from Back Bay to the South End.
Below, take a look back at mishaps in the city in the ’20s, ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s through the lens of Leslie Jones.
Courtesy of the Leslie Jones Collection/Boston Public Library
A car flips at the corner of Newbury and Berkeley Streets on January 29, 1937.
Courtesy of the Leslie Jones Collection/Boston Public Library
A Bay State Dairies, Inc. truck collides with a car on a residential street.
Courtesy of the Leslie Jones Collection/Boston Public Library
An airplane crushes a home in Quincy in 1928.
Courtesy of the Leslie Jones Collection/Boston Public Library
Bystanders examine an auto accident sometime between 1950 and 1955.
Courtesy of the Leslie Jones Collection/Boston Public Library
The Cape Codder train derails.
Courtesy of the Leslie Jones Collection/Boston Public Library
A car crashes into a light pole on Albany Street opposite Randolph Street in the South End.
Courtesy of the Leslie Jones Collection/Boston Public Library
An airplane crashes in the Charles River in August 1929.
