https://almanac.conventioncityseattle.com/tags/neighborhood-fought-to-keep/Recent content in Neighborhood-Fought-to-Keep on Convention City AlmanacHugoen-us© 2026 Ivan Schneider · <a href="https://conventioncityseattle.com/">Convention City Seattle</a> · Licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY 4.0</a>Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://almanac.conventioncityseattle.com/cities/boston/hynes/Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://almanac.conventioncityseattle.com/cities/boston/hynes/<h1 id="boston-hynes-convention-center-back-bay">Boston: Hynes Convention Center (Back Bay)<a class="anchor" href="#boston-hynes-convention-center-back-bay">#</a></h1> <p><strong>Opened:</strong> 1988 (replaced 1963 Hynes Auditorium). <strong>Exhibit space:</strong> 176,480 sq ft. <strong>Walk Score:</strong> 97.</p> <p>The convention center the neighborhood fought to keep.</p> <h2 id="what-was-here-before">What Was Here Before<a class="anchor" href="#what-was-here-before">#</a></h2> <p>The Back Bay was tidal mudflats until the 1850s–1880s landfill (gravel brought by rail from Needham, 24 hours a day at peak). The Hynes site, in the western portion near Gloucester and Dalton Streets, was filled around 1871–1880. For the next 70+ years, the site was occupied by <strong>Boston &amp; Albany Railroad rail yards</strong> — freight operations, coach storage, and maintenance facilities. The residential brownstone grid of Back Bay (Commonwealth Ave, Marlborough, Beacon) developed to the north; the rail yards were the southern boundary.</p>