Boston 

Boston is the oldest urban center in the Western Hemisphere, and is rightfully renowned for its history and heritage. The impressive list of 'firsts' seems endless, from the first public school and first college to the famous place where Alexander Graham Bell first tried his new invention. Despite its historic traditions, Boston remains a vibrant and innovative center for education, technology, architecture, culture and commerce.  

The clustering of renowned institutions of high education has shaped the culture of the area. Known as the “Athens of America,” Boston draws in some of the most amazing talents the world has to offer. The Boston Ballet, the Boston Pops and the Boston Symphony Orchestra are a few of the prestigious cultural organizations recognized here. The city is festive throughout the four seasons, from First Night to the Boston Globe Jazz Festival. The Theater District boasts a robust repertoire of acts, Off –Broadway contemporary theater, and crowd-pleasing productions. There are over 30 museums displaying the achievements of local and international artists and intellectuals.  

Each of Boston’s neighborhoods appeals to a different taste, while each maintaining an inviting, friendly atmosphere giving Boston a small town feel while being part of a large metropolitan city.  

The Allston/Brighton neighborhood lies just across the Charles River from Cambridge. The population is composed of a melting pot of young working professionals, students and academic professionals. The location of this neighborhood is central to Harvard University, MIT, Boston College, Boston University, and provides easy access to the Massachusetts Turnpike for easy access to Downtown Boston and the suburbs. Housing consists of a limited amount of single family houses to much more prevalent condominiums of various architectural styles.  

Back Bay and Beacon Hill
The Back Bay and Beacon Hill are stunning Victorian neighborhoods that attract some of Boston’s elite. Housing in these neighborhoods features soaring ceilings, bay windows and views of the Charles River. Restored mansions and ivy-clad brownstones line the charming sidewalks, and its location is convenient to the swanky shops and restaurants in the Copley area.  

Back Bay is formed by grid-like streets, named alphabetically in ascending order from the Public Garden. The orderly streets in this area provide one of the few parts of town that visitors can navigate without a map! Back Bay is also home to the famed Newbury Street and Bylston Street, both of which are home to Boston's finest and most expesive retail stores.  

Beacon Hill is one of Boston’s loftiest neighborhoods. Literally, it is an elevated hump that rises in the middle of Boston’s center. Figuratively, it is renowned as a ritzy neighborhood, home to many of Boston’s social elites and politicians. Beacon Hill is an orderly neighborhood lined with brownstone row houses, narrow cobble stone streets, and gas lit sidewalk lights.  

South End
The South End, bordered from Berkeley St. to Massachusetts Ave, and Harrison St on its south side, is the largest National Historic District in the nation. In Boston’s history, the South End was filled in 1834 like most of Boston, with excavated land from neighboring towns and from leveling projects throughout the city. It was developed in an English Georgian style, with bowfront rowhouses surrounding small parks. The South End has been considered a neighborhood in transition. Property values have risen tremendously in the past years. Some streets have been defined as the center of Boston’s gay community. Others have referred to the South End as an eclectic mix of ethnic and cultural communities.  

West Roxbury is the most suburban of all of Boston’s neighborhoods. Single family homes on tree shaded streets, and abundant parks and reservations exemplify the spacious atmosphere of this community.  

History of Boston
In 1614 Captain John Smith landed on the shores of America and formed what was to become the beginning of a great nation. Many separatists from the Church of England, calling themselves Pilgrims, followed and settled in 1620 at Plimouth Plantation. These pioneers were the first to settle this land, creating a stepping stone for the Puritans who by royal charter from King Charles I, created the Massachusetts Bay Company. Under this charter, the Puritans were given the right to govern themselves, and elected John Winthrop as their first governor.  

The Massachusetts Bay Company was independent from its outset, however it was not a democracy. Under Puritan influence, authority rested in the word of God, and therefore with the clergy. Under the charter the governor was advised by a deputy governor and a Court of Assistants which was composed of property-owning church members, or the clergy. Although based in Puritan religious belief, this charter laid the seeds for a democracy by establishing locally run, congressional churches which objected to a centralized authority, and favored local rights.  

By the end of the 17th century, the official power of the clerical leadership faded giving way to a secular authority of maritime traders. By the mid-18th century, Boston had become a hub within the colonies for meat packing, leather finishing, hat making, hardware manufacturing, and rum distillation.  

In the 18th century the 13 colonies began to revolt against English authority. It began as a protest over taxes and trade regulations, imposed on the colonies by the British Parliament. On March 5 1770 the Boston Massacre erupted when a squad of British troops at the Old State House was surrounded by a mob of hostile colonials. Intimidated by the mob, the soldiers fired on the crowd killing five civilians and wounding many more. The assault, as the patriots proclaimed, was turned into a public upheaval by the efforts of well known names such as Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Joseph Warren and Paul Revere. In 1773, the Boston Tea Party marked the colonies’ break from England when Bostonians dumped British tea into the harbor to protest the taxes on tea.  

Britain responded by closing Boston’s trade ports, and assigning a new British General, Thomas Gage, as governor of the colony. The colony responded by setting up an illegal Provincial Congress which formed a small group of soldiers known as the Minute Men.  

In April of 1775, Thomas Gage learned of a planned meeting in Lexington, organized by Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Gage ordered their arrest and the seizure of all weapons and ammunition that was stocked in Concord. After British troops marched through Lexington they were met by 400 Colonial militia at the Concord Bridge. The first major skirmish between the Colonial Militia and British Red Coats took place here, and Red Coats were pushed back to Boston. On this day, the famous ride of Paul Revere took place, as well as the first shot of the Revolutionary War known as the “shot heard around the world”. Today, this day is remembered by New Englanders as Patriots Day.  

Within days the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, and the Continental Army was established, led by General George Washington. As the Revolutionary War ensued, Boston continued to provide soldiers and leaders to the war effort.  

After the Revolutionary War, Boston lay in rubble and shambles, but many of the richest property owners and aristocracy had survived the war with their power intact. Harrison Gray Otis and James Mason formed the Mount Vernon Proprietors, and tore down the peaks of Beacon Hill, building new buildings and monuments under the leadership of architect Charles Bulfinch. Bulfinch adapted English country styles into new American elegance. The group also used the excavated land from Beacon Hill to fill up the marshy riverbanks leading, creating the land that is today Boston.  

By the early 1800’s Boston had become a home to some of the most prominent and richest Americans. Many of these aristocrats turned their attentions to philanthropy, founding the Massachusetts General Hospital, the Perkins School for the Blind and the Boston Athenaeum which was a private subscription library. Also during this time William Lloyd Garrison founded the newspaper, The Liberator, which was dedicated to the abolition of slavery. Horace Man was a philanthropist poised to improving public education, and Dorothea Dix made monumental headway in improving prison conditions.  

The 19th century was also a time of intellectual renaissance in Boston. Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, James Russell Lowell, Ermeron and Henry David Thoreau were all part of Boston’s literary world. Educational institutions began to grow. Boston University, Tufts University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the New England Conservatory of Music were all founded in the 19th century.  

As Boston was flourishing, across the Atlantic Ireland was struggling through the Potato Famine. In 1847 alone, Boston became the new home to 37,000 Irish. At first, nativist and anti-immigration sentiments dominated the political battle in response to the major influx of Irish immigrants. However with the Civil War brewing, attention was diverted to war matters. The Irish secured their stay in America as many of the immigrants fought bravely in the war. After the Cival War the Irish became an essential part of the Boston workforce, building the communities, streets, sewers and water systems. They were quickly introduced into the middle class.  

After the Great Depression and World War II, Boston like many other American cities started to lose it’s population and industry to the suburbs. In 1957 the Boston Redevelopment Authority was initiated as an agent of change. Mayors John Hynes and his successor John Collins worked on rebuilding the city. John Collins brought in Edward Logue to oversee the redevelopment. During Logue’s stay, Government Center replaced what was once Scollay Square, and the Prudential Center replaced the rail yards of Back Bay. The success of these projects also fostered many privately funded developments, such as the Christian Science Center, the Tufts Medical Center, and the much of the skyline in the financial district. The rival of Boston catapulted its presence, and became one of America’s most popular tourist centers.  

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