Beacon Hill, Boston

Beacon Hill is a historic neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is also the location of the Massachusetts State House. The term "Beacon Hill" is used locally as a metonym to refer to the state government or the legislature itself, much like Washington, D.C.'s Capitol Hill does at the federal level.

A bastion of "Old Money" Boston Brahmins, Federal-style rowhouses, narrow streets and brick sidewalks run through the neighborhood, which is generally regarded as one of the more desirable and expensive in Boston. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood was 9,023.]]

Like many similarly named areas, the neighborhood is named for the location of a former beacon atop the highest point in central Boston. The beacon was used to warn the residents of an invasion.

Geography

Beacon Hill is bounded by Storrow Drive, and Cambridge, Bowdoin, Park and Beacon Streets. It is about 1/6 of a square mile in size, and situated along the riverfront of the Charles River Esplanade to the west, just north of Boston Common and the Boston Public Garden. The block bound by Beacon, Tremont and Park Streets is included as well.

Located in the center of the Shawmut Peninsula, the area originally had three hills, Beacon Hill and two others nearby, Charles Street was one of the new roads created from the project.

Before the hill was reduced substantially, Beacon Hill was located just behind the current site of Massachusetts State House. The racial/ethnic make-up of the neighborhood's population is as follows: 86.8% of the population is white, 2% black or African American, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 0.1% American Indian or Alaska Native, 5.3% Asian, 0.4% some other race/ethnicity, and 1.3% two or more races/ethnicities. Of the 1,479 family households 81.6% were married couple families. 36.6% of married couple families were with related children under the age of 18 and 63.4% were with no related children under age 18. Other family types make up 18.4% of Beacon Hill's population, with 90.8% being female householders with no husband present and a majority of these households included children under 18 present.

Race

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="font-size: 90%;"

|+ Beacon Hill/Financial District (02108) racial breakdown of population (2017)

! Race

! Percentage of 02108 population

! Percentage of Massachusetts population

! Percentage of United States population

! ZIP code-to-state difference

! ZIP code-to-USA difference

| White || 86.8% || 81.3% || 76.6% || +5.5% || +10.2%

| White (Non-Hispanic) || 83.4% || 72.1% || 60.7% || +11.3% || +22.7%

| Black || 5.2% || 8.8% || 13.4% || –3.6% || –8.2%

| Hispanic || 4.3% || 11.9% || 18.1% || –7.6% || –13.8%

| Asian || 4.2% || 6.9% || 5.8% || –2.7% || –1.6%

| Native Americans/Hawaiians || 0.6% || 0.6% || 1.5% || +0.0% || –0.9%

| Two or more races || 2.4% || 2.4% || 2.7% || +0.0% || –0.3%

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="font-size: 90%;"

|+ Beacon Hill/West End (02114) racial breakdown of population (2017)

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|- valign=bottom

! Ancestry

! Percentage of 02108 population

! Percentage of Massachusetts population

! Percentage of United States population

! ZIP code-to-state difference

! ZIP code-to-USA difference

| Irish

| 17.51%

| 21.16%

| 10.39%

| –3.65%

| +7.12%

| English

| 15.49%

| 9.77%

| 7.67%

| +5.71%

| +7.95%

| Italian

| 13.34%

| 13.19%

| 5.39%

| +0.15%

| +7.95%

| German

| 8.47%

| 6.00%

| 14.40%

| +2.47%

| –5.93%

| Polish

| 5.78%

| 4.67%

| 2.93%

| +1.11%

| +2.85%

| American

| 5.11%

| 4.26%

| 6.89%

| +0.85%

| –1.78%

| French

| 3.68%

| 6.82%

| 2.56%

| –3.14%

| +1.12%

| Norwegian

| 2.40%

| 0.51%

| 1.40%

| +1.88%

| +1.00%

| Northern European

| 2.35%

| 0.11%

| 0.09%

| +2.24%

| +2.26%

| Arab

| 2.32%

| 1.10%

| 0.59%

| +1.22%

| +1.73%

| Chinese

| 1.93%

| 2.28%

| 1.24%

| –0.35%

| +0.69%

| Korean

| 1.93%

| 0.37%

| 0.45%

| +1.56%

| +1.48%

| Lithuanian

| 1.85%

| 0.70%

| 0.20%

| +1.15%

| +1.65%

| Scottish

| 1.85%

| 2.28%

| 1.71%

| –0.43%

| +0.14%

| Dutch

| 1.58%

| 0.62%

| 1.32%

| +0.96%

| +0.26%

| Egyptian

| 1.53%

| 0.09%

| 0.08%

| +1.44%

| +1.46%

| Swedish

| 1.51%

| 1.67%

| 1.23%

| –0.16%

| +0.28%

| Ukrainian

| 1.46%

| 0.37%

| 0.31%

| +1.08%

| +1.15%

| French Canadian

| 1.38%

| 3.91%

| 0.65%

| –2.52%

| +0.73%

| British

| 1.16%

| 0.48%

| 0.43%

| +0.68%

| +0.73%

| Welsh

| 1.01%

| 0.36%

| 0.57%

| +0.66%

| +0.45%

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|- valign=bottom

! Ancestry

! Percentage of 02114 population

! Percentage of Massachusetts population

! Percentage of United States population

! ZIP code-to-state difference

! ZIP code-to-USA difference

| Irish

| 17.58%

| 21.16%

| 10.39%

| –3.58%

| +7.19%

| Italian

| 13.66%

| 13.19%

| 5.39%

| +0.47%

| +8.27%

| German

| 8.81%

| 6.00%

| 14.40%

| +2.80%

| –5.60%

| English

| 8.05%

| 9.77%

| 7.67%

| –1.73%

| +1.57%

| Chinese

| 5.27%

| 2.28%

| 1.24%

| +2.99%

| +4.03%

| Polish

| 4.50%

| 4.67%

| 2.93%

| –0.17%

| +1.57%

| Puerto Rican

| 4.11%

| 4.52%

| 1.66%

| –0.41%

| +2.86%

| French

| 4.10%

| 6.82%

| 2.56%

| –2.72%

| +1.54%

| Scottish

| 3.67%

| 2.28%

| 1.71%

| +1.39%

| +1.96%

| American

| 3.59%

| 4.26%

| 6.89%

| –0.67%

| –3.30%

| Russian

| 2.71%

| 1.65%

| 0.88%

| +1.06%

| +1.83%

| Asian Indian

| 2.48%

| 1.39%

| 1.09%

| +1.09%

| +1.39%

| French Canadian

| 2.18%

| 3.91%

| 0.65%

| –1.72%

| +1.53%

| Swedish

| 2.05%

| 1.67%

| 1.23%

| +0.39%

| +0.83%

| Norwegian

| 1.82%

| 0.51%

| 1.40%

| +1.31%

| +0.42%

| European

| 1.65%

| 1.08%

| 1.23%

| +0.56%

| +0.41%

| Arab

| 1.52%

| 1.10%

| 0.59%

| +0.42%

| +0.92%

| Turkish

| 1.07%

| 0.11%

| 0.07%

| +0.96%

| +1.00%

| Greek

| 1.06%

| 1.22%

| 0.40%

| –0.16%

| +0.66%

History

17th century

thumb|Founders Memorial, John Francis Paramino, 1930. The memorial, located in the [[Boston Common, depicts the city's first English resident, William Blackstone, greeting colonial governor John Winthrop and his company.]]

The first European settler was William Blaxton, also spelled Blackstone. In 1625 he built a house and orchard on Beacon Hill's south slope, roughly at the location of Beacon and Spruce street. The settlement was a "preformal arrangement". In 1630 Boston was settled by the Massachusetts Bay Company. The southwestern slope was used by the city for military drills and livestock grazing. In 1634 a signal beacon was established on the top of the hill.

18th century

Beacon Street was established in 1708 from a cow path to the Boston Common. replacing the Old State House in the center of Boston.</blockquote>|group="nb"

File:1st Harrison Gray Otis House.JPG|Harrison Gray Otis House, mansion, on Cambridge Street

File:Headquarters House 55 Beacon Street Boston.jpg|Pair of houses, 54–55 Beacon Street. House on left is known as William H. Prescott House and as Headquarters House.

File:2010 ChestnutSt CharlesSt Boston.jpg|Chestnut Street, row houses, 2010

</gallery>

In the 1830s, residential homes were built for wealthy people on Chestnut and Mt. Vernon Streets. Some affluent people moved, beginning in the 1870s, to Back Bay with its "French-inspired boulevards and mansard-roofed houses that were larger, lighter, and airier than the denser Beacon Hill."

In the early 19th century, there were "fringe activities" along the Back Bay waterfront, with ropewalks along Beacon and Charles Streets. It was carefully planned for people who left densely populated areas, like the North End.

Literary salons and publishing houses were founded in the 19th century. "Great thinkers" lived in the neighborhood, including Daniel Webster, Henry Thoreau and Wendell Phillips.

Flat of the Hill

Development began in the early 19th century. Single family homes often had stores on the first floor for retailers, carpenters and shoemakers.

Many blacks in the neighborhood attended church with the whites but did not have a vote in church affairs and sat in segregated seating. A Baptist congregation, built the African Meeting House in 1806 and by 1840 there were five black churches. The African Meeting House on Joy Street was a community center for members of the black elite. Frederick Douglass spoke there about abolition, and William Lloyd Garrison formed the New England Anti-Slavery Society at the Meeting House.

One of the earliest black Republican legislators in the United States was Julius Caesar Chappelle (1852–1904), who served as a legislator in Boston from 1883 to 1886 and whose district included the Beacon Hill area. Chappelle was a popular, well-liked politician and was covered by many of the black newspapers in the United States.

Blacks migrated to Roxbury and Boston's South End after the Civil War.

Many homes built of brick and wood in the early 19th century were dilapidated by the end of the Civil War and were razed for new housing. Yellow brick townhouses were constructed, generally with arched windows on the first floor and a low ceiling on the top, fourth floor. Residential homes were also converted to boarding houses. To prevent urban renewal projects of historically significant buildings in Beacon Hill, its residents ensured that the community obtained historic district status: south slope in 1955, Flat of the Hill in 1958, and north slope in 1963. The Beacon Hill Architectural Commission was established in 1955 to monitor renovation and development projects.

Beacon Hill was designated a National Historic Landmark on December 19, 1962.

21st century

Wealthy Boston families continue to live at the Flat of the Hill and south slope. Inhabitants of the north slope include Suffolk University students and professionals. The historic buildings along today's Black Heritage Trail were the homes, businesses, schools and churches of the black community. Charles Street Meeting House was built in 1807, the church had seating that segregated white and black people.

File:Mass statehouse eb1.jpg|Massachusetts State House

Image:The Beacon Monument, Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts.JPG|Beacon Hill Monument in back of the State House marking the site of the original beacon pole

</gallery>

Organizations

Community

The Beacon Hill Civic Association has a long history as a community resource for the Beacon Hill neighborhood. Founded in 1922 by neighbors with the goal of preventing home building and other construction, today it continues as a volunteer advocacy organization focused on improving quality of life in the neighborhood. It was first founded to fight city plans to replace the neighborhood's brick sidewalks. Since then its efforts have been instrumental in preserving Beacon Hill as a historic district, and have expanded to include such initiatives as: working to become the first neighborhood to receive resident parking permits, streamlining trash service, and creating a virtual retirement community serving the neighborhood's elderly. The country's oldest legal organization, the Boston Bar Association, is on Beacon Street. Beacon Hill Village was the first formal Elder Village in the United States.

File:77 MtVernonSt Boston 2010 f2 .jpg|The Club of Odd Volumes, 77 Mt. Vernon Street

Image:Boston Bar Association facade.jpg|The Chester Harding House, a National Historic Landmark occupied by portrait painter Chester Harding from 1826 to 1830, now houses the Boston Bar Association.

</gallery>

Religious

Religious organizations include the Vilna Shul, an Orthodox Jewish synagogue. The headquarters for the Unitarian Universalist Association was formerly in the neighborhood at 25 Beacon Street, but moved to the Seaport District in 2013. Church of the Advent is a Victorian Gothic Church, faced in brick with 8 massive change ringing bells and a 172-foot spire. While home to a Paulist chapel, Beacon Hill is currently one of only two neighborhoods in Boston that does not contain a Catholic parish church.

Neighborhoods

Beacon Hill is predominantly residential, known for old colonial brick row houses with "beautiful doors, decorative iron work, brick sidewalks, narrow streets, and gas lamps". Restaurants and antique shops are located on Charles Street.

File:Louisburg Square Beacon Hill Boston Massachusetts.jpg|Houses on Louisburg Square

File:2nd Harrison Gray Otis House.jpg|Second Harrison Gray Otis House, 85 Mount Vernon Street

File:Acorn Street, Beacon Hill, Boston.jpg|Acorn Street

</gallery>

The Harrison Gray Otis House on Cambridge Street was built in 1796. Charles Bulfinch designed this house, and two additional houses, for the businessman and politician who was instrumental in Beacon Hill's development and Boston becoming the state capital. The Nichols House "offers a rare glimpse inside [the] Brahmin life" of Rose Standish Nichols, a landscape artists.

File:Sargent Hall, Suffolk University.jpg|Sargent Hall, Suffolk University

File:Suffolk Law Library.JPG|Law Library reading room, Suffolk University Law School

</gallery>

Transportation

thumb|right|250px|MBTA subway map; Beacon Hill is in the center.

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) subway stations in Beacon Hill are:

William Kane, one of the protagonists in the Jeffrey Archer novel Kane and Abel, lives in Beacon Hill.
On Beacon Street, the Bull and Finch Bar was the inspiration and source of exterior shots for the Cheers television show.
Make Way for Ducklings (Viking, 1941) is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey. Most of the story is set at the foot of Beacon Hill, especially the route taken by the fictional Mrs. Mallard and her children on foot across Beacon Street. It is commemorated every year in May by a parade through Beacon Hill to the Boston Public Garden, where the mallards nested.
Nine Lives; or, the celebrated cat of Beacon Hill (Pantheon, 1951) is a 62-page children's book by the novelist Edward Fenton (1917–1995) and illustrator Paul Galdone. "A wealthy, elderly Boston matron adopts a scruffy tomcat and while she is away on a trip her jealous butler tries very hard to destroy all nine of the cat's lives."
The 1968 Norman Jewison film The Thomas Crown Affair is set and was largely filmed in and around Beacon Hill.
Dr. Charles Emerson Winchester was born and raised there, and in an episode of MASH [9/13 "No Laughing Matter"] swears "By Beacon Hill" to get revenge on the commanding officer who sent him to MASH 4077.
Robert Lowell's prose sketch 91 Revere Street was inspired by his childhood home on Beacon Hill.
Dr. Michaela Quinn of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman was raised on Beacon Hill.
Dr. Maura Isles of TNT's Rizzoli & Isles lives on Beacon Hill.
Asclepia, a small private hospital, is mentioned in Patrick O'Brian's sixth Aubrey-Maturin novel, The Fortune of War, as being "in a dry, healthy location near Beacon Hill."
The NBC TV series Banacek (1972–1974) was set and partially filmed on Beacon Hill. Its main character "Thomas Banacek" played by George Peppard grew up in nearby "Scollay Square" and lived in the "Second Harrison Grey Otis House."

Beacon Hill, Boston

Geography

Race

History

17th century

18th century

Flat of the Hill

21st century

Organizations

Community

Religious

Neighborhoods

Transportation

See also

Notes and references

Notes

References

Sources

Further reading

External links