1.
Boston
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Boston is the capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Boston is also the seat of Suffolk County, although the county government was disbanded on July 1,1999. The city proper covers 48 square miles with a population of 667,137 in 2015, making it the largest city in New England. Alternately, as a Combined Statistical Area, this wider commuting region is home to some 8.1 million people, One of the oldest cities in the United States, Boston was founded on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by Puritan settlers from England. It was the scene of several key events of the American Revolution, such as the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston. Upon U. S. independence from Great Britain, it continued to be an important port and manufacturing hub as well as a center for education, through land reclamation and municipal annexation, Boston has expanded beyond the original peninsula. Its rich history attracts many tourists, with Faneuil Hall alone drawing over 20 million visitors per year, Bostons many firsts include the United States first public school, Boston Latin School, first subway system, the Tremont Street Subway, and first public park, Boston Common. Bostons economic base also includes finance, professional and business services, biotechnology, information technology, the city has one of the highest costs of living in the United States as it has undergone gentrification, though it remains high on world livability rankings. Bostons early European settlers had first called the area Trimountaine but later renamed it Boston after Boston, Lincolnshire, England, the renaming on September 7,1630 was by Puritan colonists from England who had moved over from Charlestown earlier that year in quest of fresh water. Their settlement was limited to the Shawmut Peninsula, at that time surrounded by the Massachusetts Bay and Charles River. The peninsula is thought to have been inhabited as early as 5000 BC, in 1629, the Massachusetts Bay Colonys first governor John Winthrop led the signing of the Cambridge Agreement, a key founding document of the city. Puritan ethics and their focus on education influenced its early history, over the next 130 years, the city participated in four French and Indian Wars, until the British defeated the French and their Indian allies in North America. Boston was the largest town in British America until Philadelphia grew larger in the mid-18th century, Bostons harbor activity was significantly curtailed by the Embargo Act of 1807 and the War of 1812. Foreign trade returned after these hostilities, but Bostons merchants had found alternatives for their investments in the interim. Manufacturing became an important component of the economy, and the citys industrial manufacturing overtook international trade in economic importance by the mid-19th century. Boston remained one of the nations largest manufacturing centers until the early 20th century, a network of small rivers bordering the city and connecting it to the surrounding region facilitated shipment of goods and led to a proliferation of mills and factories. Later, a network of railroads furthered the regions industry. Boston was a port of the Atlantic triangular slave trade in the New England colonies
2.
Newton, Massachusetts
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Newton is a suburban city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Rather than having a city center, Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages. According to the 2010 U. S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, Newtons proximity to Boston along with its historic homes, good public schools, and safe and quiet neighborhoods make it a desirable community for those who commute to Boston. Newton is served by three modes of transit run by the MBTA, light rail, commuter rail. Newton has been ranked as one of the best cities to live in in the country. In August 2012, Money magazine named Newton fourth best small city among places to live in America and has named the safest city in the country according to Aneki. Newton was settled in 1630 as part of the newe towne, there are several historical sites of interest in the Newton area. These include Crystal Lake, the East Parish and West Parish Burying Grounds, and the Jackson Homestead, historian and local resident Diana Muir has written about the history surrounding Bulloughs Pond, a scene from the 2008 production of The Women was also filmed there. Portions of the 2016 drama film Patriots Day, about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and starring Boston native Mark Wahlberg, were filmed at Lasell College in the city, Newton was settled in 1630 as part of the newe towne, which was renamed Cambridge in 1638. Newton was incorporated as a town, known as Cambridge Village, in 1688, then renamed Newtown in 1691. It became a city in 1873, Newton is known as The Garden City. Newton, according to Muir, became one of Americas earliest commuter suburbs, the Boston and Worcester, one of Americas earliest railroads, reached West Newton in 1834. Wealthy Bostonian businessmen took advantage of the new commuting opportunity offered by the railroad, building homes on erstwhile farmland of West Newton hill. Muir points out that these early commuters needed sufficient wealth to employ a groom and keep horses, one wave began with the streetcar lines that made many parts of Newton accessible for commuters in the late nineteenth century. The next wave came in the 1920s when automobiles became affordable to a upper middle class. Even then, however, Oak Hill continued to be farmed, mostly market gardening, Newton is not a typical commuter suburb since many people who live in Newton do not work in downtown Boston. Most Newtonites work in Newton and other surrounding cities and towns, the city has two symphony orchestras, the New Philharmonia Orchestra of Massachusetts and the Newton Symphony Orchestra. Each April on Patriots Day, the Boston Marathon is run through the city and it then turns right onto Route 30 for the long haul into Boston
3.
Massachusetts
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It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island to the south, New Hampshire and Vermont to the north, and New York to the west. The state is named for the Massachusett tribe, which inhabited the area. The capital of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England is Boston, over 80% of Massachusetts population lives in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, a region influential upon American history, academia, and industry. Originally dependent on agriculture, fishing and trade, Massachusetts was transformed into a manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution, during the 20th century, Massachusetts economy shifted from manufacturing to services. Modern Massachusetts is a leader in biotechnology, engineering, higher education, finance. Plymouth was the site of the first colony in New England, founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims, in 1692, the town of Salem and surrounding areas experienced one of Americas most infamous cases of mass hysteria, the Salem witch trials. In 1777, General Henry Knox founded the Springfield Armory, which during the Industrial Revolution catalyzed numerous important technological advances, in 1786, Shays Rebellion, a populist revolt led by disaffected American Revolutionary War veterans, influenced the United States Constitutional Convention. In the 18th century, the Protestant First Great Awakening, which swept the Atlantic World, in the late 18th century, Boston became known as the Cradle of Liberty for the agitation there that led to the American Revolution. The entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts has played a commercial and cultural role in the history of the United States. Before the American Civil War, Massachusetts was a center for the abolitionist, temperance, in the late 19th century, the sports of basketball and volleyball were invented in the western Massachusetts cities of Springfield and Holyoke, respectively. Many prominent American political dynasties have hailed from the state, including the Adams, both Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also in Cambridge, have been ranked among the most highly regarded academic institutions in the world. Massachusetts public school students place among the top nations in the world in academic performance, the official name of the state is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. While this designation is part of the official name, it has no practical implications. Massachusetts has the position and powers within the United States as other states. Massachusetts was originally inhabited by tribes of the Algonquian language family such as the Wampanoag, Narragansett, Nipmuc, Pocomtuc, Mahican, and Massachusett. While cultivation of crops like squash and corn supplemented their diets, villages consisted of lodges called wigwams as well as longhouses, and tribes were led by male or female elders known as sachems. Between 1617 and 1619, smallpox killed approximately 90% of the Massachusetts Bay Native Americans, the first English settlers in Massachusetts, the Pilgrims, arrived via the Mayflower at Plymouth in 1620, and developed friendly relations with the native Wampanoag people. This was the second successful permanent English colony in the part of North America that later became the United States, the event known as the First Thanksgiving was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World which lasted for three days
4.
Public Garden (Boston)
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The Public Garden, also known as Boston Public Garden, is a large park in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent to Boston Common. Bostons Back Bay, including the land the garden sits on, was mudflats until filling began in the early 1800s, the land of the Public Garden was the earliest filled, as the area that is now Charles Street had been used as a ropewalk since 1796. The town of Boston granted ropemakers use of the land on July 30,1794, as a condition of its use, the ropewalks proprietors were required to build a seawall and fill in the land which is now Charles Street and the land immediately bordering it. Much of the material came from Mount Vernon, formerly a hill in the Beacon Hill area of Boston. Initially, gravel and dirt were brought from the hill to the area by handcart. In February 1824, the city of Boston purchased back the granted to the ropemakers. The next year, a proposal to turn the land into a graveyard was defeated by a vote of 1632 to 176, the Public Garden was established in 1837, when philanthropist Horace Gray petitioned for the use of land as the first public botanical garden in the United States. By 1839, a corporation was formed, called Horace Gray and Associates, the corporation was chartered with creating what is now the Boston Public Garden. Nonetheless, there was constant pressure for the land to be sold to private interests for the construction of new housing, while most of the land of the present-day garden had been filled in by the mid-1800s, the area of the Back Bay remained an undeveloped tidal basin. The City of Boston petitioned the state to grant control over the basin, in hopes of generating significant revenue from any developments that would be built after filling it in. In the agreement, Boston gave up its rights to build upon the Public Garden, in return, it received a strip of land which is now a part of the garden, abutting Arlington Street. In October 1859, Alderman Crane submitted the plan for the Garden to the Committee on the Common and Public Squares. Construction began quickly on the property, with the pond being finished that year, today the north side of the pond has a small island, but it originally was a peninsula, connected to the land. The site became so popular with lovers that John Galvin, the city forester, the 24 acres landscape was designed by George F. Meacham. The paths and flower beds were laid out by the city engineer, James Slade, the plan for the garden included a number of fountains and statues, many of which were erected in the late 1860s. The most notable statue is perhaps that of George Washington, done in 1869 by Thomas Ball, the signature suspension bridge over the middle of the pond was erected in 1869. Gas lamps were used to light the garden at night. A flagpole stands today on the side of the garden, close to Charles Street
5.
Back Bay, Boston
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Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is also a shopping destination and home to some of Bostons tallest office buildings, the Hynes Convention Center. Prior to a colossal 19th-century filling project, Back Bay was a literal bay, today, along with neighboring Beacon Hill, it is one of Bostons two most expensive residential neighborhoods. This bay was tidal, the rose and fell several feet over the course of each day. As early as 5,200 years before present, Native Americans built fish weirs here, in 1814, the Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation was chartered to construct a milldam, which would also serve as a toll road connecting Boston to Watertown, bypassing Boston Neck. However, the project was a failure, and in 1857 a massive project was begun to make land by filling the area enclosed by the dam. The firm of Goss and Munson built additional railroad trackage extending to quarries in Needham, twenty-five 35-car trains arrived every 24 hours carrying gravel and other fill, at a rate in the daytime of one every 45 minutes. Present-day Back Bay itself was filled by 1882, the project reached existing land at what is now Kenmore Square in 1890, much of the old mill dam remains buried under present-day Beacon Street. The project was the largest of a number of reclamation projects which, beginning in 1820. The Esplanade has since undergone changes, including the construction of Storrow Drive. The Back Bay is traversed by five east-west corridors, Beacon Street, Marlborough Street, Commonwealth Avenue, Newbury Street and Boylston Street. These are interrupted at intervals by running from north to south streets, Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester. All of the west-east streets, except Commonwealth Avenue, are one-way streets, west of Hereford are Massachusetts Avenue and Charlesgate, which forms the Back Bays western boundary. Setback requirements and other restrictions, written into the lot deeds of the newly filled Back Bay, produced harmonious rows of dignified three- and four-story residential brownstones. The Back Bay is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Copley Square features Trinity Church, the Boston Public Library, the John Hancock Tower, and numerous other notable buildings. Trinity Church, deservedly regarded as one of the finest buildings in America, the first monumental structure in Copley Square was the original Museum of Fine Arts, begun 1870 and opened 1876. After museum moved to the Fenway neighborhood in 1909 its red Gothic Revival building was demolished to make way for the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel, the Boston Public Library, designed by McKim, Mead, and White, is a leading example of Beaux-Arts architecture in the US. Sited across Copley Square from Trinity Church, it was intended to be a palace for the people, baedekers 1893 guide terms it dignified and imposing, simple and scholarly, and a worthy mate. to Trinity Church
6.
Kenmore Square
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Kenmore Square is close to or abuts Boston University and Fenway Park, and it features Lansdowne Street, a center of Boston nightlife, and the iconic Citgo sign. It is also the terminus of U. S. Route 20. The land that is now Kenmore Square was originally the swampy, uninhabited corner of the mainland and it was part of the colonial settlement of Boston until 1705, when the hamlet of Muddy River incorporated as the independent town of Brookline. The land ended up in Brookline because the Muddy River - several blocks to the east - formed the border of the new city. The Boston and Worcester Rail Road and the Charles River Branch Railroad combined here to cross the Back Bay on a railroad bridge. The railroad lines still exist on more or less their original alignments, minor adjustments have been made for the construction of South Station, what is now the MBTA Green Line, and the Massachusetts Turnpike. The city of Brighton was merged with Boston in 1874, even as late as 1880, Kenmore Square was only sparsely developed. By 1890, the Back Bay landfill project had reached Kenmore Square, streetcar tracks were laid on Beacon Street in 1888, passing through Kenmore Square on the surface, from Coolidge Corner to Massachusetts Avenue. These would eventually become the Green Line C Branch, tracks were laid on what by then was called Commonwealth Avenue in 1896, from Union Square in Brighton. These would later serve the Green Line A Branch and Green Line B Branch, the Boylston Street Subway was extended to Kenmore Square in 1914, where it rose above ground. In 1932, the Kenmore Square portion of the Green Line was put underground, in 1915, the Kenmore Apartments were built on the corner of Kenmore and Commonwealth Avenue. Later, the became the Hotel Kenmore with 400 guest rooms. The Kenmore was owned by Bertram Druker, a prominent Boston developer and was known as the baseball hotel and it housed every one of the 14 teams after World War II. From the 1960s to 1979 it was used by Grahm Junior College as a hall, cafeteria, library. Later, after Grahm Junior College closed and larger hotels like the Sheraton were built and it is now called Kenmore Abbey. Gary Cherone reminisces about the Kenmore Square music scene in the 1980s on disc one of Extreme’s 2010 live album Take Us Alive. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones reminisce about the closing of The Rathskeller on Kenmore Square in I Want My City Back, a track on A Jacknife to a Swan
7.
Allston
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Allston is a neighborhood of Boston, located in the western part of the city. It was named after the American painter and poet Washington Allston and it comprises the land covered by the zip code 02134. For the most part, Allston is administered collectively with the adjacent neighborhood of Brighton, the two are often referred to together as Allston–Brighton. Boston Police Department District D-14 covers the Allston-Brighton area and a Boston Fire Department Allston station is located in Union Square which houses Engine 41, Engine 41 is nicknamed The Bull to commemorate the historic stockyards of Allston. Lower Allston, across the Massachusetts Turnpike from the rest of Allston, the estimated population of Allston is 29,196, according to the 2010 Census. The median home cost is $317,000, a decline of 0. 97% in the last year, the cost of living is 9. 81% higher than the national average. The population density is 18, 505/mi2, about 50% higher than the average of 12,166. 76. 45% of residents list status as single, Allston is home to many immigrant populations, the largest groups being from Russia, East Asia, South Asia, and South America. Young adults make up 78. 3% of the neighborhoods population, in addition to nightly dancing and live music at area bars, house parties abound on surrounding streets, particularly during the school year. This has long been a point among other Allston residents. The largest religious affiliation is Catholic, followed by Protestant, unspecified Christian, Jewish, Baptist, the neighborhood of Allston is almost completely cut off from the main body of the city of Boston by the town of Brookline, which borders Allston on the south and southeast. It is connected to the rest of Boston only by a portion of its eastern border that is shared with the Fenway/Kenmore neighborhood. Allston is bordered on the east and north by the Charles River, separating it from the city of Cambridge, the area north of the turnpike near the Charles river is North Allston. It consists of north of Cambridge Street and the Turnpike. It extends westward to Everett Street and eastward to the Charles River, in its center is Allston Square at the crossroads of Western Avenue and North Harvard Street. Allston is named for the painter and 1800 Harvard graduate, Washington Allston. Allston Square is appropriately located halfway between Harvard Square in the North and Allston Village, Bostons Greenwich Village in the South, Allston is the only community in America named for an artist. North Allston is a neighborhood that consists of a mix of young professionals, blue-collar tradesmen, members of the educational community, homeowners
8.
Charles River
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The Charles River is an 80 mi long river in eastern Massachusetts. From its source in Hopkinton the river flows in a direction, traveling through 23 cities. Thirty-three lakes and ponds and 35 municipalities are entirely or partially part of the Charles River drainage basin, despite the rivers length and relatively large drainage area, its source is only 26 miles from its mouth, and the river drops only 350 feet from source to sea. The Charles River watershed contains more than 8,000 acres of protected wetlands and these areas are important in preventing downstream flooding and providing natural habitats to native species. Brandeis University, Harvard University, Boston University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are located along the Charles River, near its mouth, it forms the border between downtown Boston and Cambridge and Charlestown. The river opens into a basin and is lined by the parks of the Charles River Reservation. On the Charles River Esplanade stands the Hatch Shell, where concerts are given in summer evenings, the basin is especially known for its Independence Day celebration. The river is known for its rowing, sculling, dragonboating. The river may also be kayaked, depending on the season, however, kayakers can only navigate the Charles by getting out, the Lower Basin between the Longfellow and Harvard bridges is home to Community Boating, the Harvard University Sailing Center, and the MIT Sailing Pavilion. The Head of the Charles Regatta is held here every October, in early June, the annual Hong Kong Boston Dragon boat Festival is held in Cambridge, near the Weeks Footbridge. The Charles River Bike Path runs 23 miles along the banks of the Charles, starting at the Museum of Science and passing the campuses of MIT, Harvard, the path is popular with runners and bikers. Many runners gauge their distance and speed by keeping track of the mileage between the bridges along the route, for several years, the Charles River Speedway operated along part of the river. On July 13,2013, swimming for the public was permitted for the first time in more than 50 years. The rivers name, preceding the English version, was thought to be Quinobequin, though that attribution has been discredited by, among others. The river was used by Native Americans for local transportation and fishing, when Smith presented his map to Charles I he suggested that the king should feel free to change any of the barbarous names for English ones. The king made such changes, but only four survive today. In portions of its length, the Charles drops slowly in elevation and has relatively little current, despite this, early settlers in Dedham, Massachusetts, found a way to use the Charles to power mills. In 1639, the town dug a canal from the Charles to a brook that drained to the Neponset River
9.
Parkway
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A parkway is a broad, landscaped highway thoroughfare. The term is used for a roadway in a park or connecting to a park from which trucks. Many parkways originally intended for scenic, recreational driving have evolved into major urban, the term parkway is sometimes applied more generally to a variety of limited-access roads. Over the years, many different types of roads have been labeled parkways, the terminology parkway to define this type of road was coined by Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted in their proposal to link city and suburban parks with pleasure roads. Newer roads such as Bidwell in Buffalo, New York and Park Presidio Boulevard in San Francisco, California were designed for automobiles and are broad and divided by large landscaped central medians. During the early 20th century, the meaning of the word was expanded to include limited-access highways designed for recreational driving of automobiles and their success led to more development however, expanding a citys boundaries, eventually limiting their recreational driving use. The Arroyo Seco Parkway between Downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena, California is an example of lost pastoral aesthetics and it and others have become major commuting routes, while retaining the name parkway. In New York City, construction on the Long Island Motor Parkway began in 1906, as Commissioner of New York City Parks under Mayor LaGuardia, he extended the parkways to the heart of the city, creating and linking its parks to the greater metropolitan systems. Most of the New York metropolitan parkways were designed by Gilmore Clark, another example is the Sprain Brook Parkway from The Bronx to become the Taconic State Parkway to Chatham, New York. Landscape architect George Kessler designed extensive parkway systems for Kansas City, Missouri, Memphis, Tennessee, Indianapolis, in the 1930s, as part of the New Deal the U. S. federal government constructed National Parkways designed for recreational driving and to commemorate historic trails and routes. These divided four-lane parkways have lower speed limits and are maintained by the National Park Service, an example is the Civilian Conservation Corps built Blue Ridge Parkway in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina and Virginia. Others are, Skyline Drive in Virginia, the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee, the George Washington Memorial Parkway and the Clara Barton Parkway, running along the Potomac River near Washington, D. C. were also constructed during this era. In Kentucky the term designates a controlled-access highway in the Kentucky Parkway system. They were toll roads until the bonds were repaid, now being freeways since 2006. The Arroyo Seco Parkway from Pasadena to Los Angeles, built in 1940, was the first segment of the vast Southern California freeway system and it became part of State Route 110 and was renamed the Pasadena Freeway. A2010 restoration of the freeway brought the Arroyo Seco Parkway designation back, in the New York metropolitan area, contemporary parkways are predominantly controlled-access highways restricted to non-commercial traffic, excluding trucks and tractor-trailers. Some have low overpasses that also exclude buses, the Palisades Interstate Parkway is a post-war parkway that starts at the George Washington Bridge, heads north through New Jersey, continuing through Rockland and Orange counties in New York. The Palisades Parkway was built to allow for a route from New York City to Harriman State Park
