Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA

Where is Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA? 

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Boston is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The city is located in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the entire region. The city, which had an estimated population of 590,763 in 2006, lies at the center of the Cambridge–Boston-Quincy metropolitan area—the 10th-largest metropolitan area (5th largest CSA) in the U.S., with a population of 4.5 million.

In 1630, Puritan colonists from England founded the city on the Shawmut Peninsula. During the late eighteenth century Boston was the location of several major events during the American Revolution, including the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party. Several early battles of the American Revolution, such as the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Siege of Boston, occurred within the city and surrounding areas. After American independence was attained Boston became a major shipping port and manufacturing center, and its rich history now attracts 16.3 million visitors annually. The city was the site of several firsts, including America's first public school, Boston Latin School (1635), and first college, Harvard College (1636), in neighboring Cambridge. Boston was also home to the first subway system in the United States.

Through land reclamation and municipal annexation, Boston has expanded beyond the peninsula. With many colleges and universities within the city and surrounding area, Boston is a center of higher education and a center for medicine. The city's economy is also based on research, finance, and technology – principally biotechnology. Boston has been experiencing gentrification and has one of the highest costs of living in the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston,_Massachusetts

Events/Places of Interest

Faneuil Hall

Mike's Pastry

The North End

Newbury Street

Inc. 1630.] BOSTON. Population, in 1845. E. 115,000   The Indian name of Boston was Shawmut, which is said to mean a spring of water. The first name given to it by the English was Tri-mountain or Tremont, which means three hills; but whether it was named from Beacon, Copps, and Fort hills, which are seen from the harbor, or from the three eminences of Beacon Hill, which were seen from Charlestown, is uncertain. All the hills, and particularly the eminences of Beacon Hill, have been partly levelled to make new land. The name of Boston was adopted as a compliment to the first minister, Mr. Cotton, who came from Boston, in Lincolnshire, England. The first permanent settlement was made July 6, 1630, by Governor Winthrop and a large company, including persons of wealth and distinction from England. The old town was a peninsula, surrounded by water, except where it was attached to Roxbury by a narrow strip of land, just wide enough for a road, and called The Neck. South Boston and East Boston were afterwards added. OLD BOSTON. Old Boston (numbered 1 on the map) is about three miles long and one mile in breadth. It is now joined to Roxbury by the Neck; to Brookline by a mill-dam, called the Western Avenue; to Cambridge by two bridges; to Charlestown by two bridges, and to South Boston by two more. The chief Railroads that centre in Boston are, The Worcester and Western, from Boston to Albany. The Providence, to Providence in Rhode Island, and Stonington in Connecticut. The Lowell, to Lowell in Massachusetts, and Concord in New Hampshire. The Eastern, and the Boston and Maine, to Portland in Maine. The Fitclhburg, to Fitchburg in Worcester County, and thence to Brattleboro' in Vermont. The Old Colony Railroad, to Plymouth. To these railroads there are numerous branches. Boston Harbor is included between Point Alderton or Nantasket,on which is the small town of Hull, and Point Shirley, the southeastern point of Chelsea, named after Governor Shirley. The chief islands are Noddle's, No. 3, now called East Boston; Long Island, No. 7; Deer Island, No. G ; Governor's Island, No. 5; Fort Independence, No. 8; George's Island, No. 9; and Lighthouse Island, No. 10. Of these, Governor's, George's, and Fort Independence are strongly fortified. Noddle's alone is, to any extent, inhabited. The Rivers that empty into Boston Harbor, are The Charles, which forms a bay called the Back Bay, west of the city, and then passes between Boston and Charlestown. The Neponset, which enters the harbor between Quincy and Dorchester. The Mystic, which separates Charlestown from Chelsea, The Maniquot, in Braintree. SOUTH BOSTON. South Boston (numbered 2) was a part of Dorchester until 1804. In form it is a peninsula, and it contains those memorable heights, the occupation of which by General Washington, in 1776, obliged the British to quit Boston. EAST BOSTON. East Boston (numbered 3) was called Noddle's Island until 1832, when it was purchased by a company of gentlemen, who laid it out in building lots, since which time its increase has been almost unexampled. __________ The first newspaper in America, called the News Letter, was published at Boston, in 1704. Among the great men of America, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, and Samuel Adams were Bostonians. Faneuil Hall, though not the largest or most magnificent structure in the city, is perhaps the most celebrated building in the United States. Its connection with the authors and deeds of the Revolution, has long given it the name of 'The Cradle of Liberty.' Source: An Elementary Geography for Massachusetts Children by William Bentley Fowle and Asa Fitz, 1845

Article genealogybank.com  "SCENE: A street in Boston. - Dramais Persona: Jonathan, a youth from the country visiting the city for the first time. Susan, his intended; both in rustic garbs; both eagerly devouring all the sights with their eyes, and large quantities of gingerbread and candy with their teeth." "Jonathan (liquitor) - Didn't I tell you we'd have a good time in Boston." "Susan (sucking a stick of molasses candy) - Yes; but you havn't tok me to the Museum yet." "Jonathan - Why, that's a theatre place, Suke, and it costs twenty-five cents apiece! Theatres are bad places." "Susan - never mind that, this once. Won't you go. Say yes." "Jonathan - Waal, yes; if you won't ask me to buy any more candy for you, and if you won't go with Jim Meadows any more." "Susan promises, grins, and sucks her molasses candy with great satisfaction. Exeunt, Indian file. - Yankee Nation." Date: February 03, 1846 Location: Maryland Paper: Sun

The Great Boston Fire.   "The city of Boston, second commercial city in the United States, has, within the past thirty-six hours, been visited by one of the most extensive and destructive conflagrations which this country has ever witnessed, only inferior to the memorable Chicago fire in October, 1871, in the enormous magnitude of the loss. The Chicago fire desolated nearly the whole of that city, entailing a frightful loss of life, and every kind of public and private edifice--churches, court house, hotels, stores, factories, residences, cemeteries, theaters, railroad depots, &c., &c. The Boston fire of Saturday and Sunday last seems to have been confined mainly to the business portion of the city and the wholesale business establishments. Those familiar with the landmarks and localities of Boston will realize this fact by the enumeration of streets as reported by telegraph to have been swept by the fire, namely: Milk, Pearl, Devonshire, Federal, Franklin, Arch, Morton Place, Congress, Summer and Otis Place. The boundaries of the fire as we traced them upon the map are as follows: North by Water, west by Washington, south by Bedford, east by High. The space covered by the fire will be about seventy-five acres, or about a third larger than the area of Boston common. The buildings in this quarter of the city were mostly of Quincy granite, five stories high, and of the latest style of architectural grandeur and embellishment. Most of the business houses on these streets were occupied by wholesale dealers in dry and fancy goods, and the offices and sales and warerooms of the principal cotton and woolen works of New England. Pearl street was lined nearly the entire length with wholesale boot and shoe houses. Among the business establishments destroyed was Beebe's magnificent structure, the largest in the city, covering an entire block. Only two or three banks seem to have been destroyed. Most of these blocks were erected within the last fifteen or twenty years. The Boston Pilot office was the only newspaper establishment burned, unless it be the Boston Post. The new postoffice, not yet finished, seems to have been within the limits of the fire. The Old South Church seems to have escaped, and the only historical landmarks that are swept away are the home of Edward Everett, on Summer street, opposite Chauncy street, and the old Mercantile Library building. The site of Daniel Webster's home was also on Summer street, and the site of Ben. Franklin's birthplace was on Milk street." "The escape of the ancient landmarks of colonial and revolutionary times, so dear to the patriots pride of the Bostonians, is a matter of congratulation, as money could not replace them or the associations which belong to them. But the magnitude of the loss is enormous, and of course at present incalculable. The district swept by the devouring element was the very heart of some of the heaviest business establishments in the country. The horse epidemic which had been more severely felt in Boston than almost any other part of the country, has probably aggravated this loss and disaster. Goods have been detained and accumulated for weeks on the hands of the commission houses located in this district, for want of drayage, and on account of want of horse power, goods and valuables could not be removed beyond the reach of the conflagration." "Boston has the best water supply of any city of the United States, about thirty millions of gallons daily, and as efficient a fire department as the country can boast, twenty-five steamers, fifteen hose companies, and seven hook and ladder companies, all drawn by horses, and all a paid department; also, a fire brigade, and three wagons, with about sixteen extinguishers in each wagon, under the patronage of insurance companies, and working in concert with the fire department, most of which means and appliances could be brought into action on five minutes notice at any given point within the limits of the city, by their fire telegraph, as has been frequently tested and proved. We, therefore, are at a loss to account for the rapidity with which this fire spread from block to block and street to street. The country will sympathise with this loss in all it market and financial riches, and will wait full details of this terrible conflagration with great anxiety." Titusville Morning Herald, Titusville, PA 11 Nov 1872

A LARGE FIRE IN BOSTON. RUBBER-WORKS DESTROYED ENTAILING A LOSS OF $500,000.   "BOSTON, Mass., July 3 - The night watchman employed at the factory of the Revere Rubber Company, on Eastern-avenue, Chelsea, discovered flames, at 3 o'clock this morning, issuing from one of the dye-houses in the rear of the factory. Owing to a scarcity of water the firemen's efforts were of little avail, and the entire factory and connected buildings were speedily in flames, except the three store-houses. The buildings destroyed included the main factory, a four-story brick building 300 feet long, which covered between two and three acres, and was used for the manufacture of rubber goods and weaving of elastic fabrics. Between 400 and 500 hands were employed, and the factory was being run to its fullest capacity. It is thought the fire was caused by spontaneous combustion." The New York Times, New York, NY 4 Jul 1884

DOZEN KILLED, 50 HURT, AS TANK OF MOLASSES BURST   Wreckage Covered with Sticky Stream of 2,000,000 Gallons. 3 FIREMEN BURIED. Building Sucked Into Street by Receding Tide - Car Blown from Tracks. "BOSTON, Jan. 15. -- Probably a dozen persons were killed and 50 injured by the explosion of a huge tank of molasses on the waterfront off Commercial street, today. Tonight the only bodies identified were those of a fireman, GEORGE LEAHY, and two residents of tenements in the vicinity, MRS. BRIDGET CLOUGHERTY and WILLIAM A. DURFEE. A large number of the injured were taken to the Relief hospital." "The tank was owned by the Purity Distilling company a subsidiary of the U. S. Industrial Alcohol company of Cambridge. Two million gallons of molasses rushed in a mighty stream over the streets and converted into a sticky mass the wreckage of several small buildings which had been smashed by the force of the explosion." "The greatest mortality apparently occurred in a city building where a score om[sic] municipal employees were eating their lunch. The structure was demolished. Another city building also was torn from its foundations and two women occupants were severely injured. A section of the tank wall fell on a fire house crushing it. Three firemen including LEAHY who was killed, were buried in the ruins. The rest of the tank wall crashed against the elevated structure of the Boston elevated railway in Commercial street damaging three spans, suspending all traffic on the line which connects the north and south stations." Sucked by Tide. "A small dwelling on Copps Hills terrace slid into the street, apparently sucked down by the receding tide of molasses. MRS. CLOUGHERTY was thrown through a window and killed. A trolley freight car on the street was blown from the tracks. Several persons passing were knocked down. It was thought tonight that DURFEE was one of these." "Wagons, carts and motor trucks were overturned. A number of horses were killed." Sailors' Rescue Party. "The first rescue party was a squad detailed from the State Nautical school ship Nantucket. Scores of ambulances army, navy, police, hospital and Red Cross, were quickly on the scene. The bodies recovered were taken to the Northern Mortuary and the injured were hurried to Relief hospital. Many firemen and city employes began the task of removing the wreckage." Flood Hampers Work. "The work of all the men was greatly hampered by the oozing flood of molasses. It covered the street and the surrounding district to a depth of several inches and very slowly drained down into the harbor. To hasten this process the firemen turned on several streams of water. By nightfall all of the injured had been cared for, and nine bodies had been taken to the mortuary. Throughout the night the search for additional bodies in the wreckage was kept up." "The district was closely patrolled tonight." "During the night two other bodies were identified as those of JAMES LENNON, a motorman, and JOHN M. SEIBERLICH, a blacksmith, both of the Roxbury district. LENNON was a brother-in-law of the late JOHN L. SULLIVAN, the prize fighter." "The men killed were teamsters and employes of the city who were at work in the city street department yard adjoining the electric freight yard where the explosion occurred." "The molasses spread over the street to a depth of two or three inches. Many of those killed or injured were covered with molasses and could not be readily identified." Buildings Crumble. "Fragments of the great tank were thrown into the air, buildings in the neighborhood crumbled up as though the underpinnings had been pulled away from them, and scores of people in the various buildings were buried in the ruins." Firemen Blown into Harbor. "The explosion knocked over the fireboat house of Engine 47. One of the firemen was blown into the harbor. Two others were pinned in the ruins and a fourth was not accounted for." "A nearby tenement house fell in. Two women and a man were taken from the ruins, all injured." "Thirty-five persons were removed to hospitals and many others received medical attention and were sent to their homes. Eighteen city employes, eating their noon luncheon in an office building in the public service yard were caught in the building when it collapsed. Virtually every man in the structure was either killed or hurt." "Among the identified dead was JAMES LENNON, a brother-in-law of the late JOHN L. SULLIVAN, and OWEN GORMAN. Both were employees in the painting department." "The police tonight still were searching the district for possible additional victims." Bridgeport Standard Telegram Connecticut 1919-01-16

Ancestors Who Were Born in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA

 Audley
Hannah Audley (27 July 1643, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA - aft. 1709,  )


 Bassett
Elizabeth Bassett (15 Jul 1694, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA - , )


 Brackett
Hannah Brackett (bef. 4 Jun 1634, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA - 3 Jul 1706, Dunstable, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA)


 Brown
Richard H. Brown (16 Feb 1911, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA - Dec 1975, )


 Dunn
Marie Catherine Dunn (abt. 1696, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA - ,  )


 Freeborn
Gideon Freeborn (1639, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA - 27 Feb 1719, Portsmouth, Newport, Rhode Island, USA )


 Gosse
Wendell Morrison Gosse (19 Mar 1905, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA - 10 Apr 1974, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, USA)


 McDonough
William Vincent McDonough (3 Jun 1904, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA - 16 Nov 1985, Weymouth, Norfolk, Massachusetts)


 Popple
David Ignatius Popple (16 Feb 1911, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA - 4 Aug 1988, Gardner, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA)


 Pratt
Marie Shirley Pratt (3 May 1939, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA - , )


 Rickers
Dorothy M Rickers (05 Aug 1903, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA - 02 Oct 2002, Great Neck, Nassau, New York )


 Stanton
Lola J. Stanton (8 Sept 1898, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA - ,  )


 Zurawka
John F Zurawka (17 Mar 1924, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA - 25 Sep 2005, Webster, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA)

Ancestors Who Died in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA

 Atwood
John Atwood (abt. 1647,  - 26 Aug 1714, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA)


 Bean
Wesley Harry Bean (25 Jan 1940, Massachusetts - 22 Jul 2001, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA)


 Breau (Brault)
Pierre Breau (Brault) (abt. 1670, Grand Pré, Nova Scotia, Canada (Acadia) - 1760, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA)


 Bushnell
John Bushnell (23 Apr 1615, Horsham, West Sussex, England - 5 Aug 1667, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA)


 Chilton
Mary Chilton (30 May 1607, Sandwich, Kent, England - bef. 1 May 1679, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA)


 Dasset
Mary Dasset (,  - 19 Jun-11 July, 1666, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA)


 Gabel
William Frank Gabel (, Cincinnati, Ohio - 24 May 2001, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA)


 Gosse
Wendell Morrison Gosse (19 May 1940, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, USA - 7 Aug 1960, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA)


 Orcutt
Alice Mildred Orcutt (5 Apr 1879, Rockland, Massachusetts - Aug 1923, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA)


 Smith
Ralph Smith (,   - abt. 1 Mar 1660, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA)


 St Cyr
Jane St Cyr (26 May 1922, Meriden, New Haven, Connecticut, USA - 21 Feb 1986, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA)


 UNKNOWN
Damaris UNKNOWN (abt. 1630,   - 1716, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA)


 Washburn
Hazel May Washburn (25 Jul 1900, South Attleboro, Bristol, Massachusetts - 15 Sep 1983, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA)

Cemeteries

Reference Sources

 

 Newspapers

 Boston Daily Globe, Boston, MA

 Boston Post Boy, Boston, MA

 Boston Globe, Boston, Massachusetts

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