Throwback Thursday: Eight Photos of Dicey Accidents in 20th-Century Boston

Bostonians have a history of bad driving.

boston accidents old photos

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.

boston accidents old photos

Courtesy of the Leslie Jones Collection/Boston Public Library

A car flips at the corner of Newbury and Berkeley Streets on January 29, 1937.

boston accidents old photos

Courtesy of the Leslie Jones Collection/Boston Public Library

A Bay State Dairies, Inc. truck collides with a car on a residential street.

boston accidents old photos

Courtesy of the Leslie Jones Collection/Boston Public Library

An airplane crushes a home in Quincy in 1928.

boston accidents old photos

Courtesy of the Leslie Jones Collection/Boston Public Library

Bystanders examine an auto accident sometime between 1950 and 1955.

boston accidents old photos

Courtesy of the Leslie Jones Collection/Boston Public Library

The Cape Codder train derails.

boston accidents old photos

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.

boston accidents old photos

Courtesy of the Leslie Jones Collection/Boston Public Library

An airplane crashes in the Charles River in August 1929.