Philip Harry painted a series of street scenes of Boston shortly after his arrival in the town. In his view of Brimstone Corner, the Park Street Church, which still stands today, is barely discernible along the right edge. Below its steps sit two women, one with a basket. Across the street is the entrance to the Boston Common, where two women are about to enter. The view up Tremont Street seems to be an accurate rendering of the cityscape, which was dominated by red-brick, low-rise residences. Harry's use of shadow to add visual interest is particularly effective. Unlike most of Harry's other work, this painting, along with his New South Church is well known through their reproduction as part of a set of four tinted lithographs entitled Boston Street Scenes, published in 1843.

Little is known about the artist's background and training. Philip Harry, believed to have been a native of Cornwall, England, was living in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1841, and in Boston by 1843, when he worked on the "Streets of Boston" series. He noted in his diary for November 8, 1843, "Worked at finishing City Views," the four scenes which were reproduced in the popular lithographs. (Footnote 1) The first lithograph of the series, called simply "Tremont Street" is undated. It was printed by 'haver and Company and based on a Harry painting now at the Sawyer Free Library, Gloucester, Massachusetts. Harry himself was responsible for the lithography for the other three views which were all printed by the Boston firm of Bouve and Sharp in 1843. The view of Brimstone Corner, number two in the series, was titled Tremont Street, South, while the view of the New South Church, Summer Street, was number four. The other lithograph, number three, is also called Tremont Street, and was taken from the original painting by Harry, now part of the Karolik Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

During the same year that Harry worked on his "Streets of Boston" series, he showed twenty works at Harding's Gallery in Boston and the next year exhibited at the Fourth Exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association as well as the American Art Union. In 1844 the Boston Athenaeum included some of Harry's paintings in their annual exhibition of local artists. (Footnote 2)

While Harry primarily painted landscapes, he also tried his hand at portraits and history painting. His surviving diary indicates that in January 1844 he traveled to New York and visited Thomas Cole, William Sidney Mount, and Caleb Bingham, three of the most important American painters of the period. (Footnote 3) On his return from New York, Harry and his wife settled in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, until they relocated to New York in 1846. Harry's two final diary entries indicate that he moved to Washington, D.C., in 1852. He exhibited some paintings at the Washington Art Association in 1857. (Footnote 4) During the Civil War, he worked as a clerk in the war department and probably died in Washington sometime after the war. (Footnote 5)