Looking at the old Boston Garden

The old Boston Garden opened on November 17, 1928 as the “Boston Madison Square Garden.’’ Shortened not long after its opening to to just “Boston Garden,’’ the venue served as host to some of the greatest moments on Boston history, and it was demolished in 1998 in the shadow of its replacement: the Fleet Center.

The Boston Garden officially closed its doors in 1995, and the venue remained vacant for three years. The last official event held in the old Garden was fittingly an exhibition game between the Bruins and Montreal Canadiens.

An aerial shot shows the old Boston Garden site in July of 1998.

The Boston Garden was a revered building, but it certainly had its flaws— the largest one being its lack of air conditioning.

Here is an early-morning shot of the demolition in April of 1998.

Boston Celtics domination was the ultimate sports highlight of the Garden. The Green Machine raised 16 championship banners in the old building, they and boasted amazing players such as the original “Big Three’’: Robert Parish, Larry Bird, and Kevin McHale.

But it also hosted significant cultural events, such as Senator John F. Kennedy’s huge rally in his final day of campaigning for the Presidency of the United States on November 7, 1960.

An eleveted platform on Causeway Street is taken down in 1995 in preparation for the demolition.

Demolition crews work on a sunny April day in 1998, tearing down portions of the east wall which used to connect to 150 Causeway Street.

Former professional boxer Tommy Rawson, Jr. poses in 1998 where the boxing ring was located on the floor of the old Garden. The Boston native fought in the Boxing Carnival Extravaganza when the Boston Garden first opened in 1928. Rawson passed away in 2003 at the age of 94.

The most famous hockey moment in Boston Garden history came courtesy of a diving Bobby Orr, which became a Stanley Cup-winning goal over the St. Louis Blues in 1970.

In music history, the Boston Garden played host to The Beatles during the band’s first tour of the United States. The quartet from Liverpool played to an at-capacity crowd of 13,909 on September 12, 1964.

It was an emotional time for many when the old Boston Garden was reduced to a pile of rubble. Here, construction worker Ed Sullivan snaps a photo during his lunch break to capture a moment in history. The building will forever live on as a cultural icon in the rich history of Boston.