Phillip Ryan: 8 books

A photographic exposition of Boston Common, Boston's central public park, and of the 'horror stories' behind its famous landmarks!

At what hotel did John Wilkes Booth stay a week before he shot Lincoln? What is the first public school in the United States and who is its most famous dropout? What cryptic message is inscribed on a bronze statue inside the courtyard of Old City Hall? All these questions and more are answered in this photographic exposition of Boston’s historic School Street

What is Boston's oldest pen store? Where is Boston's largest retailer of new and used photographic equipment? Where can you find a touch of Egyptian architecture in the heart of Boston? These questions and more are answered in this photographic exposition of Boston’s historic Bromfield Street.

Where does Spring Lane get its name from? What is the first steel frame skyscraper in all of Boston and why is it gently curved? Who was Mary Chilton? Who is ‘Dusty’ the cat? These and more questions are answered in ‘Boston Vignettes – Spring Lane’, a photographic exposition of one of Boston’s oldest streets.

Where is the site of Samuel Adams’ home? Where was the third-oldest restaurant in Boston? Where is the entrance to a famous concert hall where Oscar Wilde once lectured? These questions and more are answered in this photographic exposition of Boston’s historic Winter Street!

Which famous American painter spent his childhood on Long Wharf? What is the wharf's oldest surviving structure and what is its connection to John Hancock? These questions and more are answered in this photographic exposition of Boston’s historic Long Wharf!

Is Belle Isle an actual island? What unique distinction does it have? These and more questions are answered in this photographic introduction to Boston’s last remaining salt marsh.

Disappearing salt mounds? A salt marsh in the middle of a residential neighborhood? A vertical-lift bridge? Mysterious white tanks? Yes, all these appear in this photographic exposition of Condor Street Urban Wild, as we virtually ascend the walking path along its wave-like landforms.