Boston History
Search Tips
What we call it and how we spell it now may not be what people called it or how they spelled it three centuries or even three generations ago.
If a digitized document keyword search returns no hits, check for an index, usually at the back of the document, for your terms.
Always search for alternative words or phrases. It may be there after all.
Location, Location, Location
Boston started as a small peninsula attached to the mainland by a thin "neck" of land. As both trade and population grew, Boston needed to grow physically. To add space, Boston filled in the Back Bay and Mill Dam, annexed surrounding towns, and expanded into the Harbor. The story of Boston's growth can be traced through social, political, and topographical histories, government documents and maps.
Boston's neighborhoods have both independent and intertwined histories. Those neighborhoods that started out as separate towns that were annexed to Boston over time, have a rich early history. Other neighborhoods are better chronicled during later time periods. Some neighborhoods were created from the ground up, e.g. Back Bay. Other neighborhoods were renamed or disappeared, e.g. the West End as a residential neighborhood. Then there are neighborhoods within neighborhoods. Always start with the most specific and then broaden your search as necessary. Local historians and governments will drill down to the neighborhood level.
Researching may require climbing a subject tree like this:
Codman Square (Boston, Mass.)
to
Dorchester (Boston, Mass.) -- History
to
Boston (Mass.) -- History
To place what happened on the local level in context, go up a level to check city, state and/or federal events. In addition to the catalog selections below, you may find it helpful to search in the catalog for:
Neighborhoods -- Massachusetts -- Boston
Urban Renewal -- Massachusetts -- Boston -- History
Primary source materials also may be found in special collections and databases. A small sample is listed below:
- Boston Public Library flickr photostreamThis collection of photographs, lithographs, stereographs, posters, postcards, book bindings, and more are still a small selection of what the library owns. If you don't find what you want here, contact the Print Department.
- Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the BPLThe Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library is dedicated to the creative educational use of its cartographic holdings, which extend from the 15th century to the present.
- Gale In Context: U.S. History This link opens in a new window
Provides integrated access to historical (primary) documents, reference articles, full-text journals covering themes, events, individuals and periods in U.S. history from pre-Colonial times to the present. Also includes citations for over 180 additional history journals from the Institute for Scientific Information's Arts and Humanities Citation Index.
Like all cities, Boston has streets that have been renamed, lengthened, shortened and/or built over. Boston also has annexed long-established neighboring towns, so has a number of duplicate street names. You want to be sure when researching a location that you have the right name in the right neighborhood. Mount Vernon Street in Boston proper is a long way from Mount Vernon Street in West Roxbury which in turn is a long way from Mount Vernon Street in Charlestown or Dorchester.
A good starting point in researching Boston streets is A record of the streets, alleys, places, etc. in the city of Boston with an appendix containing a description of the boundary line of the city, and also a description of the changes which have been made in it by annexations, etc., from the date of the settlement of the town to 1910. This handy guide tells when a street was laid out, any name changes or changes in length. It also indicates in which neighborhood(s) the street name can be found. Sometimes, but not always, it tells why a street got its name.
If the reason for the name is not given, there are other, multiple options. A standard source for the streets of Boston proper is Annie Thwing's The crooked & narrow streets of the town of Boston,1630-1822. Additional sources are listed below.
If you need to know which ward and precinct a street was located in over time - and it did change as the city was re-districted - check the Boston Street Lists (1880-1976). Knowing ward and precinct is essential to searching the early 20th century Boston List of Residents, which does not have an alphabetical name index.
A great place to get more information on historical Boston street atlases is the Historical Urban Atlases of Boston @ the BPL research guide.
In addition to the above titles, you may find it helpful to search in the catalog for:
Land Use -- Massachusetts -- Boston -- History
Streets -- Massachusetts -- Boston
Primary source materials also may be found in special collections and databases. A small sample is listed below:
- Boston Public Library flickr photostreamThis collection of photographs, lithographs, stereographs, posters, postcards, book bindings, and more are still a small selection of what the library owns. If you don't find what you want here, contact the Print Department.
- Boston Street Department, 1891-1910In 1911, the Engineering, Street, and Water Departments merged to create the Public Works Department.
- Boston Streets Lists, 1880-1976The following items provide ward and usually precinct numbers for street address for Boston. These were not annual documents, but were reissued when boundary lines were changed. They also provide the locations of institutions, buildings, and veterans' squares.
- Engineers and Public Works Department Reports (1867-1965)In 1910, The Public Works Department was created as an amalgamation of the Engineering, Water, and Street Departments.
- Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the BPLThe Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library is dedicated to the creative educational use of its cartographic holdings, which extend from the 15th century to the present.
The best place to research individual buildings in architectural terms is the Arts Department. Please see their guides on Art & Architecture: Research Buildings and Researching Your Home.
If you are researching a building for its public use or in the context of its neighborhood, you may want to use neighborhood histories, government reports, maps, photographs and news media. Census materials and city directories also may offer details about the surrounding community that will flesh out the history of a building.
In addition to the catalog selections below, you may find it helpful to search in the catalog for:
Architecture -- Massachusetts -- Boston
[To be neighborhood specific, add your neighborhood after Boston, e.g. Architecture -- Massachusetts -- Boston -- Back Bay]
Boston (Mass.) -- Buildings, Structures, Etc.
Historic Buildings -- Massachusetts -- Boston
Primary source materials also may be found in special collections and databases. A small sample is listed below:
- Boston Public Library flickr photostreamThis collection of photographs, lithographs, stereographs, posters, postcards, book bindings, and more are still a small selection of what the library owns. If you don't find what you want here, contact the Print Department.
- Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the BPLThe Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library is dedicated to the creative educational use of its cartographic holdings, which extend from the 15th century to the present.
Boston soon outgrew its original boundaries. The technology of the day did not allow Boston to build up, so it had to build out. It chose to do so by two means: annexation and "creating" land.
Although Boston, like most of colonial Massachusetts annexed various sections during colonial times, the only independent municipalities it annexed were:
Roxbury, 1868
Dorchester, 1870
Charlestown, 1874
Brighton, 1874
West Roxbury, 1874
Hyde Park, 1912
Brookline rejected an annexation proposal in 1873, remaining forever the one that got away.
Creating land proved to be another successful option for Boston. Basically, land from excavations of two of Boston's original three hills, suburban lands and tunnel building would be used to create the Back Bay, South Bay and South End neighborhoods in the 19th century and parkland in West Roxbury and on Spectacle Island in the 20th.
The filling in of Boston's Back Bay, South Bay and South End began in 1857 and continued beyond this original project to the filling in of the Fens, which was completed in 1900. Garbage dumps in West Roxbury and on Spectacle Island were transformed into recreational land in 2000 with materials excavated from the Big Dig in downtown Boston.
In addition to the catalog selections below, you may find it helpful to search in the catalog for:
Boston (Mass.) -- Buildings, Structures, Etc
Land Use -- Massachusetts -- Boston -- History
Urban Renewal -- Massachusetts -- Boston -- History -- 20th Century
Primary source materials also may be found in special collections and databases. A small sample is listed below:
- Boston Public Library flickr photostreamThis collection of photographs, lithographs, stereographs, posters, postcards, book bindings, and more are still a small selection of what the library owns. If you don't find what you want here, contact the Print Department.
- Boston Street Department, 1891-1910In 1911, the Engineering, Street, and Water Departments merged to create the Public Works Department.
- Boston Streets Lists, 1880-1976The following items provide ward and usually precinct numbers for street address for Boston. These were not annual documents, but were reissued when boundary lines were changed. They also provide the locations of institutions, buildings, and veterans' squares.
- Engineers and Public Works Department Reports (1867-1965)In 1910, The Public Works Department was created as an amalgamation of the Engineering, Water, and Street Departments.
- Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the BPLThe Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library is dedicated to the creative educational use of its cartographic holdings, which extend from the 15th century to the present.
- Gale In Context: U.S. History This link opens in a new window
Provides integrated access to historical (primary) documents, reference articles, full-text journals covering themes, events, individuals and periods in U.S. history from pre-Colonial times to the present. Also includes citations for over 180 additional history journals from the Institute for Scientific Information's Arts and Humanities Citation Index.
Selections from the Catalog
A Decent Place to Live by ISBN: 1555534368Publication Date: 2000-06-22Chronicles Columbia Point's transformation from decaying slum to celebrated racially and economically integrated, privately-owned community. The author includes residents' testimonies as well as those of the project's creators. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).- The Last Tenement: confronting community and urban renewal in Boston's West End byISBN: 0934865000Publication Date: 1992-07-01
- Streets of Hope byISBN: 0896084825Publication Date: 1999-07-01Using the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative in Boston's most impoverished neighborhood as a case study, the authors show how effective organizing reinforces neighborhood leadership, encourages grassroots power and leads to successful public-private partnerships and comprehensive community development.--Prof. Norman Krumholz
- Boston Ways: high, by, and folk byISBN: 0807051802Publication Date: 1974-01-01
- Crooked & narrow streets of the town of Boston, 1630-1822 byCall Number: F73.3 .T54Publication Date: 1920
Gaining Ground by ISBN: 0262194945Publication Date: 2003-08-29Fully one-sixth of Boston is built on made land. Although other waterfront cities also have substantial areas that are built on fill, Boston probably has more than any city in North America. In Gaining Ground historian Nancy Seasholes has given us the first complete account of when, why, and how this land was created. The story of landmaking in Boston is presented geographically; each chapter traces landmaking in a different part of the city from its first permanent settlement to the present.
Mapping Boston by ISBN: 0262112442Publication Date: 1999-08-31To the attentive user even the simplest map can reveal not only where things are but how people perceive and imagine the spaces they occupy. Mapping Boston is an exemplar of such creative attentiveness--bringing the history of one of America's oldest and most beautiful cities alive through the maps that have depicted it over the centuries.- A record of the streets, alleys, places, etc. in the city of Boston byCall Number: F73.67B6 1910Publication Date: 1910
Built in Boston by ISBN: 1558492011Publication Date: 2000-12-01A study of the architectural history of Boston and its suburbs. For this edition, Douglass Shand-Tucci has written three new chapters, carrying the story of Boston's built environment forward from 1950 to the present, and including a discussion of Frank Lloyd Wright's Boston work.
Lost Boston by ISBN: 1558495274Publication Date: 2006-04-01At once a fascinating narrative and a visual delight, Lost Boston brings the city's past to life. This updated edition includes a new section, illustrating the latest gains and losses in the struggle to preserve Boston's architectural heritage. With an engaging text and more than350 seldom-seen photographs and prints, Lost Boston offers a chance to see the city as it once was, revealing architectural gems lost long ago. An eminently readable history of the city's physical development, the book also makes an eloquent appeal for its preservation.- Old landmarks and historic personages of Boston byCall Number: F73.37 .D78 1901Publication Date: 1901
Boston by ISBN: 0674002687Publication Date: 1968-01-01This urbane and delightful book covering more than 300 years of the course of Boston's history has now been enlarged with an account of the city's new urban design, architecture, and historic preservation and is richly illustrated with 32 additional photographs and drawings. In the last three decades momentous changes have visited this colonial city made modern.- Gaining Ground by ISBN: 0262194945Publication Date: 2003-08-29Fully one-sixth of Boston is built on made land. Although other waterfront cities also have substantial areas that are built on fill, Boston probably has more than any city in North America. In Gaining Ground historian Nancy Seasholes has given us the first complete account of when, why, and how this land was created. The story of landmaking in Boston is presented geographically; each chapter traces landmaking in a different part of the city from its first permanent settlement to the present.
Building a new Boston: politics and urban renewal, 1950-1970 by ISBN: 1555532462Publication Date: 1995-08-10"Here is one of the great stories in American urban history told by a great historian. In 1949, Boston was 'a hopeless backwater,' its skyline stunted, and its municipal government a national disgrace; by 1970 a 'New Boston' had been created, with new office buildings, new developments, and new economic dynamism. Thomas H. O'Connor, the dean of Boston historians, brings to this tale of transformation rich learning, intimate familiarity with his subject, and a lucid sometimes witty pen." Jack Beatty, author of The Rascal King: The Life and Times of James Michael Curley 1874-1958 and Senior Editor, Atlantic Monthly
Boston's Back Bay by ISBN: 9781555536510Publication Date: 2006-03-24The Back Bay today contributes heavily to Boston's image as a prosperous, modern city with a rich historical legacy. Before 1820, however, this region was a tidal marsh that appeared to early settlers as a large bay behind the town when it filled with high-tide water twice each day. In the early nineteenth century, Boston expanded by filling in some shallow areas around the edge of the Back Bay. This book focuses on filling the Back Bay's largest section, the Receiving Basin. By the 1850s, pollution of the former tidal marsh and severe overcrowding in Boston inspired plans to fill the Receiving Basin. Work on the landfill began in earnest in 1858 and was completed around 1890--and remains the largest residential and commercial landfill project ever carried out in the United States.
