Indigenous era Before
European colonization, the region surrounding present-day Boston was inhabited by the
Massachusett people, who established small, seasonal communities in present-day Boston. In 1630, settlers led by
John Winthrop arrived, and found
Shawmut Peninsula nearly empty of Native people. Most had died of European diseases borne by earlier settlers and traders. Archaeological excavations have unearthed one of the oldest
fishweirs in New England, located on
Boylston Street, which Native people constructed as early as 7,000 years before European arrival in the
Western Hemisphere.
European settlement The first European to live in what would become Boston was a
University of Cambridge-educated
Anglican cleric named
William Blaxton. He was most directly responsible for the foundation of Boston by
Puritan colonists in 1630, after Blaxton invited one of their leaders,
Isaac Johnson, to cross
Back Bay from the failing colony of
Charlestown and share the peninsula with him. In September 1630 Puritans made the crossing to present-day Boston. Puritan influence on Boston began even before the settlement was founded with the 1629
Cambridge Agreement, which created the
Massachusetts Bay Colony and was signed by the colony's first governor,
John Winthrop. Puritan ethics and their focus on education also influenced the city's early history. In 1635, America's first public school,
Boston Latin School, was founded in Boston. Boston's
oceanfront location made it a lively
port, and the town engaged in
shipping and fishing during the colonial era. Boston was a primary stop on the
Caribbean trade route and imported large amounts of molasses, which led to the creation of
Boston baked beans. Boston's economy stagnated in the decades prior to the American Revolution. By the mid-18th century, New York City and Philadelphia both surpassed Boston in wealth. During this period, Boston encountered financial difficulties even as other New England cities were growing rapidly.
American Revolution and Siege of Boston into
Boston Harbor in protest of the
Tea Act in the
Boston Tea Party, a seminal event that escalated the
American Revolution. tactical evaluation of Boston in 1775 Boston played a central role in the
American Revolution. Many crucial events of the American Revolution and subsequent
American Revolutionary War occurred in or near Boston, where the city's revolutionary spirit against
Britain's
colonial governance was demonstrable and ultimately inspiring to the rest of the
Thirteen Colonies. The British responded by sending two regiments to Boston in 1768 in an attempt to quell the revolt, but the increased British military presence in Boston only ended up further inflaming the Boston colonists. In 1770, during the
Boston Massacre,
British troops fired into a Boston mob that was protesting their presence. The massacre forced the British to withdraw their troops and helped fuel revolutionary sentiment in the colonies. During the
siege of Boston from April 19, 1775, to March 17, 1776, New England-based
Patriot militia impeded movement by the
British Army.
Sir William Howe, then commander-in-chief of British forces in North America, led the British army in the siege. On June 17, the British captured Charlestown in present-day Boston during the
Battle of Bunker Hill during which the British Army outnumbered Patriot militia. But the British sustained irreplaceable casualties, turning the Battle of Bunker Hill into a
pyrrhic victory for the British. The Battle of Bunker Hill also demonstrated the skill and training of the Patriot militia, whose stubborn defense made it difficult for the British to capture Charlestown without suffering even further casualties. On June 14, 1775, in an effort to unify the Revolutionary War effort, the
Second Continental Congress, convening in the colonial-era capital of
Philadelphia, founded the
Continental Army and unanimously appointed
George Washington as its commander-in-chief. Washington then immediately departed Philadelphia for Boston, where he arrived on July 2, 1775, and led the newly-formed Continental Army in the siege. Fighting was limited to small-scale raids and skirmishes, and the Continental Army faced challenges with a deficiency of munitions and supplies.
Boston Neck, then narrow and only approximately 100 feet wide, impeded Washington's ability to invade Boston, which led to a prolonged stalemate between the Continental Army and British forces. A young officer,
Rufus Putnam, came up with a plan to make portable fortifications out of wood, which were erected on the frozen ground under cover of darkness. Putnam supervised the effort, which successfully installed the fortifications and dozens of cannons on
Dorchester Heights that
Henry Knox laboriously brought through the snow from
Fort Ticonderoga. The following morning, the astonished British Army awoke to see a large array of cannons bearing down on them. General Howe is believed to have said that the Americans had done more in one night than his British Army could have done in six months. The British Army responded by attempting to launch a cannon barrage for two hours, but their shots could not reach the Continental Army's cannons at such a height. The British then gave up, boarded their ships, and sailed away from Boston in what has come to be known as "
Evacuation Day", which is now celebrated in Boston annually on March 17. After the British retreat, Washington was so impressed with the effort of Rufus Putnam that he appointed him as his chief engineer.
Post-revolution and the War of 1812 in 1801 After the Revolution, Boston's long
seafaring tradition helped make it one of the nation's busiest ports for both domestic and international trade. Boston's harbor activity was significantly curtailed by the
Embargo Act of 1807, which was adopted during the
Napoleonic Wars, and the
War of 1812. Foreign trade returned after these hostilities, but Boston's merchants had found alternatives for their capital investments in the meantime. Manufacturing became an important component of the city's economy, and the city's industrial manufacturing overtook international trade in economic importance by the mid-19th century. The 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 dense network of railroads furthered the region's industry and commerce. During this period, Boston also flourished culturally. It was admired for its
rarefied literary life and generous
artistic patronage. Members of old Boston families, later dubbed "
Boston Brahmins", came to be regarded as the nation's social and cultural elites. They are often associated with the
American upper class,
Harvard University, and the
Episcopal Church. Boston was a prominent port of the
Atlantic slave trade in the
New England Colonies, but was soon overtaken by
Salem, Massachusetts, and
Newport, Rhode Island. Boston eventually became a center of the
American abolitionist movement. The city reacted largely negatively to the
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, contributing to President
Franklin Pierce's attempt to make an example of Boston after
Anthony Burns's attempt to escape to freedom. In 1822, At the time Boston was chartered as a city, the population was about 46,226, while the area of the city was only . In the latter half of the 19th century, the city saw increasing numbers of Irish,
Germans,
Lebanese, Syrians,
French Canadians, and
Russian and
Polish Jews settling there. By the end of the 19th century, Boston's core neighborhoods had become enclaves of ethnically distinct immigrants with their residence yielding lasting cultural change.
Italians became the largest inhabitants of the
North End,
Irish dominated
South Boston and
Charlestown, and
Russian Jews lived in the
West End.
Irish and
Italian immigrants brought with them Roman Catholicism. Currently, Catholics make up Boston's largest religious community, and the Irish have played a major role in Boston politics since the early 20th century; prominent figures include the
Kennedys,
Tip O'Neill, and
John F. Fitzgerald. Between 1631 and 1890, the city tripled its area through
land reclamation by filling in marshes, mud flats, and gaps between wharves along the waterfront. Reclamation projects in the middle of the 19th century created significant parts of the
South End, the
West End, the
Financial District, and
Chinatown. After the
Great Boston Fire of 1872, workers used building rubble as landfill along the downtown waterfront. During the mid-to-late 19th century, workers filled almost of brackish Charles River marshlands west of
Boston Common with gravel brought by rail from the hills of Needham Heights. The city annexed the adjacent towns of
South Boston (1804),
East Boston (1836),
Roxbury (1868),
Dorchester (including present-day
Mattapan and a portion of
South Boston) (1870),
Brighton (including present-day
Allston) (1874),
West Roxbury (including present-day
Jamaica Plain and
Roslindale) (1874),
Charlestown (1874), and
Hyde Park (1912). Other proposals were unsuccessful for the annexation of
Brookline, Cambridge, and
Chelsea.
20th century in 1909 Many architecturally significant buildings were built during the early years of the 20th century:
Horticultural Hall, the
Tennis and Racquet Club,
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum,
Fenway Studios,
Jordan Hall, and the
Boston Opera House. The
Longfellow Bridge, built in 1906, was mentioned by
Robert McCloskey in
Make Way for Ducklings, describing its "salt and pepper shakers" feature.
Fenway Park, home of the
Boston Red Sox, opened in 1912, with the
Boston Garden opening in 1928.
Logan International Airport opened on September 8, 1923. Kennedy Sr. had this to say before the Boston Chamber of Commerce on November 15, 1934: "The rogues who seek to live by deception-let me again repeat, the act is like all legal rules, subject to the limitations of effective legal action. Unfortunately, scoundrels will capitalize the registration requirements and may seek to sell you a security on the theory that mere filing indicates approval by the Commission. Beware of any such argument. Our short experience as to this legislation prompts me to sound a note of warning, particularly to you, my friends of the radio audience. Each and everyone of you is a prospective or actual member of a "sucker" list, and when the stranger calls you on the phone to interest you in the purchase of securities, beware." On November 28, 1942, Boston's Cocoanut Grove nightclub was the site of the
Cocoanut Grove fire, the deadliest
nightclub fire in United States history, killing 492 people and injuring hundreds more. By the early- to mid-20th century, Boston declined economically as factories became old and obsolete and businesses moved out of the region for cheaper labor elsewhere. Boston responded by initiating various
urban renewal projects, under the direction of the
Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) established in 1957. In 1958, BRA initiated a project to improve the historic West End neighborhood. Extensive demolition was met with strong public opposition, and thousands of families were displaced. The BRA continued implementing
eminent domain projects, including the clearance of the vibrant
Scollay Square area for construction of the modernist style
Government Center. In 1965, the Columbia Point Health Center opened in the
Dorchester neighborhood, the first
Community Health Center in the United States. It mostly served the massive
Columbia Point public housing complex adjoining it, which was built in 1953. The health center is still in operation and was rededicated in 1990 as the Geiger-Gibson Community Health Center. The Columbia Point complex itself was redeveloped and revitalized from 1984 to 1990 into a mixed-income residential development called Harbor Point Apartments. By the 1970s, the city's economy had begun to recover after 30 years of economic downturn. A large number of high-rises were constructed in the
Financial District and in Boston's
Back Bay during this period. This boom continued into the mid-1980s and resumed after a few pauses. Hospitals such as
Massachusetts General Hospital,
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and
Brigham and Women's Hospital lead the nation in medical innovation and patient care. Schools such as the
Boston Architectural College,
Boston College,
Boston University,
Harvard Medical School,
Tufts University School of Medicine,
Northeastern University,
Massachusetts College of Art and Design,
Wentworth Institute of Technology,
Berklee College of Music,
Boston Conservatory, and others attract students to the area. Nevertheless, the city experienced conflict starting in 1974 over
desegregation busing, which resulted in unrest and violence around public schools throughout the mid-1970s. Boston has also experienced
gentrification in the latter half of the 20th century, with housing prices increasing sharply since the 1990s when the city's
rent control regime was struck down by statewide
ballot proposition.
21st century in front of Boston's
Back Bay neighborhood in 2013 Boston is an intellectual, technological, and political center. However, it has lost some important regional institutions, including the loss to mergers and acquisitions of local financial institutions such as
FleetBoston Financial, which was acquired by
Charlotte-based
Bank of America in 2004. Boston-based department stores
Jordan Marsh and
Filene's have both merged into the
New York City–based
Macy's. The 1993 acquisition of
The Boston Globe by
The New York Times was reversed in 2013 when it was resold to Boston businessman
John W. Henry. In 2016, it was announced
General Electric would be moving its corporate headquarters from Connecticut to the
Seaport District in Boston, joining many other companies in this rapidly developing neighborhood. The city also saw the completion of the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, known as the
Big Dig, in 2007 after many delays and cost overruns. On April 15, 2013, two Chechen Islamist brothers
detonated a pair of bombs near the finish line of the
Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring roughly 264. The subsequent search for the bombers led to a lock-down of Boston and surrounding municipalities. The region showed solidarity during this time as symbolized by the slogan
Boston Strong. In 2016, Boston briefly
shouldered a bid as the U.S. applicant for the
2024 Summer Olympics. The bid was supported by the mayor and a coalition of business leaders and local philanthropists, but was eventually dropped due to public opposition. The
USOC then selected
Los Angeles to be the American candidate with Los Angeles ultimately securing the right to host the
2028 Summer Olympics. Nevertheless, Boston is one of eleven U.S. cities which will host matches during the
2026 FIFA World Cup, with games taking place at
Gillette Stadium. == Geography ==