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Boston's Annexed Towns and Some Neighborhood Resources: Home

Boston is a city of neighborhoods, owing mostly to the fact the Boston as we know it today is an amalgamation of towns that were annexed in the nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Map of the Annexations

Introduction

Boston is known as a city of neighborhoods. Some were formerly cities and towns on their own, and were later annexed to Boston. This guide exists to gather together resources to help in the study of the former towns that make up Boston. Material on the neighborhoods as they exist today is also presented.

Here are the former towns:

  • Brighton (including Allston)- 1807-1874
  • Charlestown- 1628-1874
  • Dorchester (including Mattapan)- 1630-1870
  • Hyde Park (including Readville)- 1868-1912
  • Roxbury- 1630-1868
  • West Roxbury (including Jamaica Plain and Roslindale)- 1851-1874

In addition, some materials on the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Chinatown, East Boston, the North End, South Boston, and the South End are presented in a tab for "Other Parts of Boston."