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On your cell phone, use www.cBoston.us| Boston Services |
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Boston, MassachusettsFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaBoston is the capital of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. It is the unofficial capital of and largest city in New England. Founded in 1630, Boston is one of the oldest and most culturally significant cities in the United States. Its economy is based on higher education, research, health care, finance, and technology, principally biotechnology.Boston has many nicknames. The City on a Hill came from original Massachusetts Bay Colony's governor John Winthrop's goal to create the biblical "City on a Hill." It also refers to the original three hills of Boston. Beantown refers to early Bostonian tradition of making baked beans with imported molasses. The Hub is a shortened form of a phrase recorded by writer Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Hub of the Solar System. William Tudor, co-founder of the North American Review, christened the city The Athens of America for its great cultural and intellectual influence. Boston is sometimes called the Puritan City because its founders were Puritans, and also called The Cradle of Liberty for its role in instigating the American Revolution. In the nineteenth century, it was also known as the "City of Notions."[3] Citizens of Boston are called Bostonians. . The city lies at the center of Greater Boston, which also includes the cities of Cambridge, Quincy, and Newton, the town of Brookline, and many suburban communities farther from Boston. The Greater Boston area encompasses parts of the state of New Hampshire. The city also lies at the center of the Boston-Worcester-Manchester Combined Statistical Area (CSA), the fifth largest in the United States. HistoryBoston was founded on September 17, 1630, by Puritan colonists from England, on a peninsula called Shawmut by its original Native American inhabitants. The peninsula was connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus, and surrounded by the waters of Massachusetts Bay and the marshes at the mouth of the Charles River. Boston's early European settlers first called the area Trimountaine. They later renamed the town for Boston, England, in Lincolnshire, from which several prominent "pilgrim" colonists emigrated. A majority of Boston's early citizens were Puritans. Massachusetts Bay Colony's original governor, John Winthrop, gave a famous sermon entitled "a City upon a Hill," which captured the idea that Boston had a special covenant with God. (Winthrop also led the signing of the Cambridge Agreement which is regarded as a key founding document of the city.) Puritan ethics molded an extremely stable and well-structured society in Boston. For example, shortly after Boston's settlement, Puritans founded America's first public school, Boston Latin School (1635), and America's first college, Harvard College (1636). Hard work, moral uprightness, and an emphasis on education remain part of Boston's culture. Until the 1760s, Boston was America's largest, wealthiest, and most influential city. .During the early 1770s, British attempts to exert control on the thirteen colonies, primarily via taxation, prompted Bostonians to initiate the American Revolution. The Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and several early battles occurred in or near the city, including the Battle of Lexington and Concord, Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston. During this period, Paul Revere made his famous midnight ride. . After the Revolution, Boston quickly became one of the world's wealthiest international trading ports due to its proximity as the closest American port to Europe - major exports included rum, fish, salt, and tobacco. During this era, descendants of old Boston families became regarded, in the American popular mind, as the nation's social and cultural elites; they were later dubbed the Boston Brahmins. In 1822, Boston was chartered as a city. By the mid-1800s, the city's industrial manufacturing overtook international trade in economic importance. Until the early 1900s, Boston remained one of the nation's largest manufacturing centers, and was notable for its garment production, leather goods, and machinery industries. A vast network of small rivers bordering the city and running throughout the surrounding region made for easy shipment of goods and allowed for a proliferation of mills and factories. From the mid-to-late-nineteenth century, Boston flourished culturally - it became renowned for its rarefied literary culture and lavish artistic patronage. It also became a center of the abolitionist movement. . In the 1820s, Boston's ethnic composition began to change dramatically with the first wave of European immigrants. Groups like the Irish and Italians moved into the city and brought with them Roman Catholicism. (This trend of immigration continued throughout the 1800s - most famously when the Potato Famine hit Ireland.) Currently, Catholics make up Boston's largest religious community and since the early 20th century the Irish have played a major role in Boston politics - prominent figures include the Kennedys, Tip O'Neill and John F. Fitzgerald. GeographyAccording to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 89.6 square miles- 48.4 square miles of it is land and 41.2 square miles of it is water. The total area is 46.0% water. With an elevation of 19 feet (5.8 m) above sea level at Logan International Airport, Boston is bordered by the cities of Winthrop, Revere, Chelsea, Everett, Somerville, Cambridge, Watertown, Newton, Brookline, Needham, Dedham, Canton, Milton, and Quincy-often known as, and considered a part of, Greater Boston. .Much of the Back Bay and South End are built on reclaimed land-two and a half of Boston's three original hills were used as a source of material for landfill. Only Beacon Hill, the smallest of the three original hills, remains partially intact. The downtown area and immediate surroundings consist mostly of low-rise brick or stone buildings, with many older buildings in the Federal style. Several of these buildings mix in with modern high-rises, notably in the Financial District, Government Center, Back Bay, and the South Boston waterfront. To this day, the South End Historic District remains the nation's largest surviving contiguous Victorian-era neighborhood.[5] Smaller commercial areas are interspersed amongst single-family homes and wooden/brick multifamily row houses. . The Charles River separates Boston proper from Cambridge, Watertown, and the neighborhood of Charlestown. To the east lies Boston Harbor and the Boston Harbor Islands, many of which are part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, operated by the National Park Service. The Neponset River forms the boundary between Boston's southern neighborhoods and the cities of Quincy and Milton. The Mystic River separates the neighborhoods of East Boston and Charlestown from Chelsea and Everett. ClimateBoston experiences a continental climate that is very common in New England. The weather in Boston, like much of New England, changes rapidly. It is not uncommon for the city to experience temperature swings of 54 Fahrenheit degrees (30 Celsius degrees) or more over the course of a couple of days. Summers are typically warm and humid, while winters are cold, windy and snowy. It has been known to snow in October -- the city received an inch of snow on October 30, 2005. .The earliest recorded 90 F temperature in a year was in late March 1998, while February in Boston has seen 70 degrees only once in recorded history, on February 24, 1985. Spring in Boston can be hot, with temperatures in the 90s, though it is just as possible for a day in late May to remain in the 40s. The hottest month is July, with an average high of 82 F (28 C) and a low of 64 F (18 C). The coldest month is January, with an average high of 36 F (2.2 C) and a low of 22 F (-5.6 C). Periods exceeding 90 F in summer and below 10 F in winter are not uncommon, but rarely prolonged. The record high temperature is 104 F (40 C), recorded July 4, 1911. The record low temperature is -18 F (-28 C), recorded on February 9, 1934. The city averages 42 in (1,080 mm) of rainfall a year. It also coincidentally averages 42 in (108 cm) of snowfall a year, although this increases dramatically as one goes inland away from the city. Massachusetts' geographic location's jutting out into the North Atlantic also make the city very prone to Nor'easter weather systems that can dump more than 20 in (50 cm) of snow on the region in one storm event. CultureBoston shares many cultural roots with greater New England, including a dialect of the Eastern New England accent known as Boston English, and a regional cuisine with a large emphasis on seafood and dairy products. Irish Americans are a major influence on Boston's politics and religious institutions. Boston has its own collection of neologisms known as Boston slang. .Many consider Boston a highly cultured city, perhaps as a result of its intellectual reputation; much of Boston's culture originates at its universities. The city also has a number of ornate theatres, including the Cutler Majestic Theatre, Boston Opera House, The Wang Center for the Performing Arts, Schubert Theater, and the Orpheum Theater. Renowned performing arts groups include the Boston Ballet, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Boston Lyric Opera Company, and the Handel and Haydn Society (the oldest choral company in the United States). There are a number of major annual events such as First Night, which occurs during New Year's Eve, and several events during the Fourth of July. These events include the weeklong Harborfest festivities and a Boston Pops concert accompanied by fireworks on the banks of the Charles River. . In contrast to what might be considered the more "refined" aspects of Boston's culture, the city is also one of the birthplaces of the hardcore punk genre of music. Boston musicians have contributed greatly to the hardcore scene over the years (see also Boston hardcore). Boston also had one of the leading local ska scenes in the ska revival of the mid-1990s with bands like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Allstonians, and Skavoovie and the Epitones. Sites of interestBecause of the city's prominent role in the American Revolution, several historic sites relating to that period are preserved as part of the Boston National Historical Park. Many are found along the Freedom Trail, which is marked by a red line or bricks embedded in the ground. Along the Freedom Trail is Boston Common, or "The Common" as it is locally referred to, is the oldest public park in the Western Hemisphere. Along with the adjacent Boston Public Garden, it is part of the Emerald Necklace, a string of parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to encircle the city. In the winter, the Frog Pond at Boston Common doubles as an ice-skating rink. Another major park is the Esplanade located along the banks of the Charles River. A major recreation site for many Bostonians, it is also the site of the Hatch Shell. Other parks are scattered throughout the city, with the major parks and beaches located near Castle Island, in Charlestown and along the Dorchester, South Boston, and East Boston shorelines. The largest parks in the city are Franklin Park and the adjacent Arnold Arboretum (both part of the Emerald Necklace), and Stony Brook State Reservation. .The Back Bay district includes many prominent landmarks such as the Christian Science Center, Boston Public Library, Copley Square, and Newbury Street. Back Bay is also the home of two of New England's tallest buildings: the John Hancock Tower and the Prudential Center. Near the John Hancock Tower is the old John Hancock Building with its prominent weather forecast beacon. Other notable districts/neighborhoods include Beacon Hill, Charlestown, Chinatown, Downtown Crossing, North End, and South Boston. . Boston is home to several world-renowned museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Museum of Science. The University of Massachusetts campus at Columbia Point houses the John F. Kennedy Library. The New England Aquarium, Franklin Park Zoo, Boston Athenaeum (one of the oldest independent libraries in the United States), and the Boston Children's Museum are located within the city. . Along with the Freedom Trail, there are two other self-guided walking tours: Harbor Walk, which is designed to follow the entire shore of Boston Harbor, and the Black Heritage Trail. A popular guided tour is the Boston Duck Tour, which uses World War II-era duck boats. The outer suburbs of Boston, which tend to be forested, have vibrantly colored foliage every autumn that attracts many tourists. . Boston is home to the Bull & Finch Pub, whose building is known from the television show Cheers. Exterior shots of the building were used in the show. |