THE HISTORY OF BOSTON This essay is divided into two parts; historical Boston and present-day Boston. The historical portion explains important events that have helped make Boston the city it is today while the present-day portion explains about the areas of Boston; what they are like now, the attractions that they currently have and a little history. HISTORICAL BOSTON: Boston is known for its Harvard University, the Red Socks and of course baked beans but there is so much more to Boston than that. Boston is also home to many well known people like Paul Revere, Benjamin Franklin, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg just to name a few. Shawmut, as Boston was first called by the Algonquin Indians, is most commonly believed to mean “Living Waters.” On September 7, 1630, it was renamed Boston after a port city in England where many of the first settlers where from. The city’s first resident was Rev. William Blaxton who came to America with Robert George’s expedition to Weymouth in 1623. When George’s colony failed, all went back to England except for Blaxton who had a desire to be alone. Blaxton, who was an Anglican clergyman and skilled agriculturist, lived alone on Beacon Hill close to where Beacon Street is now. He felt as if any neighbor closer than Mishawum, which is now referred to as Charlestown, was to close. But when he heard that John Winthrop’s newly established colony in Charlestown was going through problems due to lack of water supply, he invited them to join him on Beacon Hill. Shortly after the colony went across the Charles River and soon began building housing. Anne Pollard, who was ten years old at the time, was the first of the colonist to step off of the boat on to Boston
soil. Eventually, William Blaxton sold his land to the colony and moved to Rhode Island. In 1636, the first college in America was founded. It was named after John Harvard of Charlestown who was its first benefactor. When he died two years later, he left half of his estate and his library collection to the new school. Other highlights in the history of Boston include when Quakers were persecuted in the 1650’s and 1660’s. In 1691, Massachusetts officially became a Great Britain colony. The first successful newspaper in America called The Boston News-Letter was published in 1704. In 1733, the Molasses Act or Sugar and Molasses Act which taxed colonists on non-British sugar, rum and molasses was passed. Thirty years later, colonists refuse to pay their taxes because they had no representatives in Parliament. The Parliament claimed that they were “virtually” represented but the colonist said that the “virtual representatives” knew nothing about America. Thus the famous phrase “no taxation without representation” was created, though there is contradicting information about who originally said the phrase, but some believe it was James Otis, the governor of Boston at the time. In 1768, John Hancock organized a boycott of teas from China sold by the East India Trading Company. Their sales went from 320,000 pounds to 520 pounds which caused them to have a large amount of debt and many crates of unsold tea sitting in their warehouse. No one would buy from them because colonist could get the tea cheaper through smugglers and colonial merchants. Smugglers could sell the tea cheaper because they didn’t pay import taxes on them and the colonist did not have to pay for taxes on the smuggled teas. Because of this, the British government passed the Tea Act in May 1773, which was strictly enforced unlike the Molasses Act. The Tea Act caused the
East India Company to sell tea to the colonies cheaper than the smugglers by not having to pay colonial taxes. Almost all of the American ports turned the tea away and prevented the ships from docking but British-appointed governor Thomas Hutchinson and the East India Trading Company worked to bring tea in by force protected by British ships. On November 29, 1773, Edward Garrick who was a wigmaker’s assistant told a British officer named Captain John Goldfinch that he was late paying his barber’s bill. Since Goldfinch had already paid his overdue bill that day, he remained silent. Garrick had been complaining to him for an hour until Private Hugh White, a British sentry, knocked him over the head. The people who were with Garrick yelled at White but another officer chased them away only to have them return with more angry people who were yelling and throwing snowballs. White had reinforcements sent in to control what was now a mob. Some sailors with firewood directly confronted the solders as steeple bells rang. Private Hugh Montgomery was hit by a large piece of ice which caused him to fall to the ground. He shot his rifle into the air and yelled fire as all but one man fired at the crowd killing five men and wounding six. The men who died were Samuel Gray who was a rope maker, mariner James Caldwell, sailor Crispus Attucks, seventeen-year-old Samuel Maverick who died the next day and Patrick Carr who was an Irish immigrant died two weeks later. The next day, all troops were removed from the center of the town and went to a fort on Castle Island in Boston Harbor as authorities decided. Bostonians and local news papers were the first to label this event a massacre. On Thursday, December 16, 1773, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and the Sons of Liberty, a radical group who opposed the Stamp Act, gathered in the Old South Meeting House to organize an event that would forever change the way we look at the early history of our country. That night they raided three East India Trading Company
ships, the Dartmouth, the Eleanor and the Beaver in the Boston Harbor. They disguised themselves as Indians to avoid charges as they dumped 342 crates of tea into the sea which would be a loss of three-million dollars in today’s money. This was done in rebellion against the Parliament for enforcing taxes on tea and other items without any representation. During the time of the Revolutionary War, the Declaration of Independence was signed. It was first read in Boston on July 18, 1776. The next milestone for Boston and for America was in 1783 when the Treaty of Paris was signed which states that America has it’s independence. Towards the late 1700’s, Boston’s economy rapidly grows and by 1800 the population reaches 25,000. As the city grows, so does its transportation methods when the first railroad connects Boston to Quincy in 1816. On January 7, 1822 the townspeople decided to officially declare Boston as a city. In 1847, Boston became home to 37,000 Irishmen out of the million who came to America to escape the potato famine in Ireland. Boston by far had the largest amount of Irish immigrants but it was the least welcoming city as many Bostonians criticized the Irish for their outdated fashion. The poor areas of the North End were where the immigrants immediately found a place to stay. Many Boston landlords charged each Irish family as much as $1.50 a week to live in a small usually rodent infested house with no water or windows of any kind. Other immigrants found shelter in yards, gardens, alleys, warehouses and cellars that flooded often. Because of the many diseases, most Irish would die after about six years of living in America and children didn’t live much longer after being born. The Boston Committee of Internal Health didn’t care about their living conditions, only their manners as implied by an employee studying the situation.
Many Irishmen earned their money by unloading ships or taking care of houses and farms. They were willing to work for much less than the average $1.00 a day Americans earned because they were used to only earning about $0.08 a day in Ireland. Bostonians felt competitive for jobs since the Irish would work for a lower pay so many “No Irish Need Apply” signs were put up in business windows. Many Irish who couldn’t find work started drinking which lead to violence as the crime rate went up with as much as 400% for aggravated assault. As the population grows to 137,000 by 1850, the city’s economy begins to flourish in the shipping business, railroading, manufacturing and financial jobs. In 1865, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology opens. On November 9, 1872 at 7:20 p.m. a fire started in a warehouse at the intersection of Summer Street and Kingston Street. The fire became so large that it was visible from ships off the coast of Maine. Concerned citizens used gunpowder to blowup buildings in the path of the rapidly spreading fire to attempt to stop it but just caused more problems. After 12 hours, the fire was put out. It caused $75.2 million of damage, destroyed 776 buildings, 65 acres, most of the financial district, left thousands homeless and killed about 20 people. The burned district of the city was quickly built back in a little over two years. In the years 1630 through 1890, Boston became three times larger in land size after filling in tidewater flats and marshes in the Charles River with dirt and gravel. Much of the dirt used was taken from the top of Beacon Hill and after the Great Fire of Boston, rubble was used as landfill to make what is now Boston’s Back Bay. The filling in of the Back Bay began in 1857 and was completed in 1882. During this time, gravel was brought in by nine train cars that arrived ever 45 minutes,
24/7. This reclamation would not be possible nowadays due to modern environmental regulations. In the late 1800’s, Boston saw many technical advancements. In 1882, The Hotel Vendrom was the first public place to use electric lights. In 1889, electric trolleys replaced horse drawn carriages and the first streetcar subway was in Boston. During the 1950’s, there was a rapid increase in Boston’s electronic industry and by 1980, the city already had become a hub for many commercial and industrial enterprises and the home of fifty-six colleges and universities. PRESENT-DAY BOSTON: BACK BAY: The tallest building in Boston is the John Hancock Tower which ranks 131st in the worlds tallest buildings. This building designed by Henry Cobb is quite well known for its architectural flaws. The first of many problems began when the temporary foundation failed to hold out mud and clay as it was being built. This caused damage to underground pipes and nearby buildings, including the historic Trinity Church, which is right next to it. Shortly after the building was finished, the 500 pound, 4’ x 11’ glass windows started to come off of the building and shatter unto the streets below. This led police to close the surrounding area whenever there were 45 mph winds. What caused this was not released to the public but most people believe it was because of the difference in interior and exterior temperature combined with the type of windows used. In October 1973, plywood was used to patch up where the windows once were until heat-treated windows could be installed. Thus the John Hancock Tower was called “the worlds tallest plywood building” and nicknamed “Plywood Palace.” The cost of the repairs were between $5 million and $7 million, much more than the cost of the $3 million damper that was installed on the 58th floor to fix the buildings’
swaying. The observation tower at the top was a popular tourist attraction until September 11 when it was closed. The Berkeley Building which is commonly referred to as “the old John Hancock building,” is a 26 story weather beacon completed in 1947. Its spire has red and blue lights to warn people of upcoming weather. This rhyme is commonly used in reference to it; “Steady blue, clear view. Flashing blue, clouds due. Steady red, rain ahead. Flashing red, snow instead.” Although, flashing red also means a Red Socks game has been canceled due to weather conditions. The first of the three John Hancock buildings is the Stephen L. Brown building which was built in 1922. It is the least popular of the three and was once considered to be destroyed but it still stands today. The Trinity Church which was official declared a National Historic Landmark on December 30, 1970. The original building was destroyed in the Great Fire of Boston but it was immediately rebuild and completed in 1877. The style of this building was the first of its kind and was voted the United States’ most important building in 1885 by architects. Not only is Trinity Church the only building that was from the original American Institute of Architects top ten list of the most significant buildings in the United States but it is the only church and the only building in Boston on the list. Another popular landmark in the Back Bay area is the Boston Public Library which is the world’s third largest library. It houses a large a
collection of original art, old manuscripts, out-of-print books, maps and photographs. The building was finished in 1848. The Old South Meeting House is the second oldest building in the United States. When it has been used for political meetings, it is referred to as the Old South Meeting House but when it is used for religious services, it is called The Old South Church. Many historic figures have been in the congregation, some of which including Samuel Adams, William Dawes, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Sewall, and Phillis Wheatley. The church is well known for its architecture. It was completed in 1727 and it was where the Boston Tea Party was organized in 1773. It was almost destroyed in the Great Fire of Boston but was saved by townspeople with wet blankets. Its tower, which contains a 2020 pound bell, can be seen from several parts of Boston. The original 1875 tower began to fall apart due to bad footings and the fact that it was build in over what was once a swampland. It was dismantled and rebuilt in the 1930’s. The height and pitch of the tower are currently yearly checked to make sure it is stable. The rope that held the tower’s original bell recently began to degenerate but the bell was restored in September 2006 by reconstructing the original 1931 bell wheel. The Old North Church was built in 1723 and inspired by the works of the man who rebuilt areas of London after the Great Fire. This church is well known for a historic event that occurred on April 18, 1775. Paul Revere ordered two lanterns to be put in the steeple to send a warning to Patriots that the British were coming. Although Paul Revere and William Dawes would travel to Lexington in person to deliver the news, they still wanted the lanterns to be used incase they were captured before they could get there. The steeple was rebuilt because the original was destroyed in the Storm of October 1804 which was a category three hurricane.
One of the most historic buildings in Boston is the Old State House. It was built in 1713 and used as the first state house until 1798 when the current one was built on Beacon Hill. In 1773, the Boston Massacre took place in front of the Old State House and it is also where the Declaration of Independence was first read in Boston. In 1830-1841, the building was renovated to its original condition after it was threatened to be moved to Chicago, Illinois BEACON HILL: Beacon Hill is a rich district with narrow roads and steep sidewalks. It got its name from a bucket of tar that was placed atop the hill to be lit incase of arriving enemies. The hill is much shorter than it was at the time because much of the dirt was used to fill in the area surrounding Boston. The Massachusetts State House which is the capitol of Massachusetts was designed by Charles Bulfinch and completed January 11, 1798. In the basement you can find John Hancock’s original farm house foundation. His family sold his land to the state to play off his debt. Many expansions and renovations have been made to the State House over the years. The first expansion was in the back of the building in 1831. The exterior was painted a gold color over its previous white in 1855 but in 1928, the paint was removed and has stayed that way. The dome was originally coved with wooden shingles but began to leak so Paul Revere’s company covered it with a thick layer of copper and was soon after painted gold. It was later painted gray during World War II to prevent enemy ships in the harbor from aiming at it but is now back to its original color of gold. The top of the dome has a pine cone to remind people that the first buildings were build out of pine trees. Near Beacon Hill is the popular Boston Common and Boston Public Garden. The Public Garden was created in 1837 and was the first
botanical public garden in the United States. The Boston common was the first park in the United States. Until 1820, it was used as a public area to punish or kill people. There was a large elm in the middle of the Common that Quakers, Indians, witches, pirates, thieves ext. were hung from. This land was also used for public cattle grazing but that ceased in 1830. There is a law that enforces cows to graze the Common once a year. So there is a yearly Boston Common Dairy Festival. Through out the years the Common has been used for various events like horse racing, solider training, fireworks and speeches. WORKS CITIED: Kidding Around Boston by Helen Byers www.aurora.wellesley.edu/horsford/horsford-text.html www.hno.harvard.edu/guide/intro/index.html www.bostonmassacre.net www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Massacre www.boston-tea-party.org www.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_taxation_without_representation www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party Untied States History: Heritage of Freedom by Pensacola Christian College www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/america.htm www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Boston_Fire_of_1872 www.bostonhistory.org www.winthropsociety.org History of the Great Fire in Boston by Col. Russell H. Conwell Eyewitness Travel Guides: Boston by Tom Bross, Patricia Harris and David Lyon www.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hancock_Tower www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_Church%2C_Boston www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Public_Library www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_South_Meeting_House www.iboston.org/
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_South_Church www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_North_Church www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_State_House_(Boston) www.mass.gov/statehouse/dome.htm www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_State_House