St. James Hotel opens.

Architect: John Hall. Designed in the French Second Empire style, it is located at 11 East Newton Street. One of the most luxurious hotels in Boston, it is owned by Maturin Ballou. Guests include Diamond Jim Brady, President Ulysses Grant, and Johann Straus. The building becomes home of the New England Conservatory of Music in 1882, the Franklin Square House in 1902,* and housing for the elderly in 1978.*