Mission Hill, Boston, Massachusetts
Encyclopedia
Mission Hill is a 3/4 square mile neighborhood of Boston
, with the population of approximately 18,000 people.
The neighborhood is roughly bounded by Columbus Avenue and the Boston neighborhood of Roxbury
to the east, Longwood Avenue to the northeast and the Olmsted
designed Riverway
/Jamaicaway
and the town of Brookline
to the west. The Historic District is roughly bounded by Smith St., Worthington St., Tremont St., and Huntington Ave. It is immediately north of the Boston neighborhood of Jamaica Plain
. It is served by the MBTA Green Line E Branch and the Orange Line and is within walking distance of the Museum of Fine Arts
. "The Hill" overlaps with about half of the Longwood Medical and Academic Area
, home to 21 health care, research, education institutions and are responsible for the largest employment area in the City of Boston outside of downtown. Due to these adjacencies, the neighborhood is often struggling with institutional growth taking residential buildings and occupying storefront commercial space. But recent years have seen new retail stores, restaurants and residential development giving the neighborhood a stronger political voice and identity.
Mission Hill is an architectural landmark district with a combination of freestanding houses built by early wealthy landowners, blocks of traditional brick rowhouses, and many Triple decker
. Many are condominium
s, but there are also several two-family and some single-family homes.
The neighborhood was named in March 2008 as one of 25 "Best Zip Codes in Massachusetts" by the Boston Globe
, citing increased value in single-family homes, plentiful restaurants and shopping, a marked racial diversity and that 65% of residents walk, bike or take transit to work.
The neighborhood has two main commercial streets: Tremont Street (running north and south) and Huntington Ave
. (running east and west). Both have several small restaurants and shops. Mission Hill is at the far western end of Tremont Street, with Beacon Hill
at the far eastern end. Mission Hill has two main ZIP Codes; the southern half is designated 02120 and the northern area is 02115. Additionally, a very small portion of the southeastern edge uses the code 02130 and two streets on the far western edge use 02215.
Parker Hill, Roxbury Crossing
, the Triangle District, Back of The Hill and Calumet Square are areas within the Mission Hill, an official designated neighborhood in Boston (as attested by numerous signs prohibiting parking without a sticker which can be received only by residents).
Brigham Circle
, located at the corner of Tremont and Huntington is the neighborhood's commercial center, with a grocery store (Stop & Shop
), drug stores, bistros, banks and taverns. Additionally, two other smaller commercial areas are in the neighborhood: Roxbury Crossing and the corner of Huntington and South Huntington next to the Brookline line.
One block up the hill from Brigham Circle is Boston's newest park, Kevin W. Fitzgerald Park (formerly Puddingstone Park) created when a new $60-million mixed use building was completed in 2002.
On Tremont Street is Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica (1878, Schickel and Ditmars, 1910 towers addition by Franz Joseph Untersee
), an eponym
ous landmark building that dominates the skyline of the area. The church was chosen as the location for the funeral of Senator Edward M. Kennedy
on Saturday, August 29, 2009.
Also nearby is the newly restored Parker Hill Library, the neighborhood branch of the Boston Public Library, and designed by architect Ralph Adams Cram
in 1929. The city used eminent domain to acquire the land for both the library and the adjacent Mission Hill playground.
Atop the hill is New England Baptist Hospital
and Parker Hill Playground, which extends from the hospital grounds down Parker Hill Avenue. Parker Hill Playground, originally proposed by then Boston Mayor James Curley
in 1915, is also one of the highest points in the city where you can observe a panoramic view of downtown Boston
, Boston Harbor
, and the Blue Hills
.
Always considered a part of Roxbury until a generation ago, Mission Hill is now most often regarded as a separate section of the city. However, neighborhood boundaries in Boston are inherently ambiguous and whether or not Mission Hill is adjacent to Roxbury or remains a section thereof is sometimes a subject of debate.
to the south, Mission Hill was once a neighborhood of adjacent Roxbury
before Roxbury's annexation by Boston. According to maps from the period, it was often referenced as Parker Hill (which is the name of the geographic feature in the area). After annexation (and more rapidly in recent years) the area slowly came to be considered a separate neighborhood of its own right. The majority of government, commercial and institutional entities list "Mission Hill" in the breakdown of Boston neighborhoods and its boundaries generally agreed upon.
Until the American Revolution
, Mission Hill supported large country estates of wealthy Boston families. Much of the area was an orchard farm, originally owned by the Parker family in the 18th century. Peter Parker married Sarah Ruggles, whose family owned large areas of land including most of what became known as Parker Hill (later renamed Mission Hill). His life ended when a barrel of his own cider fell on him. (Much of this story is outlined in "The History of Peter Parker and Sarah Ruggles", a book by John William Linzee, published in 1913.)
The orchard continued for some time thereafter, but gradually pieces of the land were sold and developed. Boston’s reservoir was once located at the top of the hill. Many of the older apple trees along Fisher Avenue and in an undeveloped area of the playground are probably descendants of the Parker family’s original trees. The lower portion of the eastern hill was a puddingstone
quarry
with large swaths owned by merchants Franklin G. Dexter, Warren Fisher
and Fredrick Ames.
Maps of the area indicate Mission Hill development began before the Fenway and Longwood Medical Area. Huntington Avenue, now one the main connections to the rest of Boston, once stopped at the intersection of Parker Street, near the present-day site of the Museum of Fine Arts. Up until that time, Mission Hill was connected via Parker Street (a man-made raised passage between the Stony Brook and the Muddy River - both which formed a tidal flat into the Charles River) all the way to Boylston Street in the Back Bay. Part of what was once Parker Street is now called Hemenway Street. The once main intersection of Parker Street and Huntington Avenue has been traffic-engineered, cutting the straight-line road in two and forcing traffic to first turn onto Forsyth Way to make the connection. Many other streets leading into Mission Hill were also realigned and/or renamed at Huntington Avenue (including Longwood Avenue/McGreevey Way, Smith/Shattuck Street, Vancouver Street, and Palace Road/Worthington Street), limiting both pedestrian and vehicular access.
After the 1880s and the re-routing of the Muddy River by Frederick Law Olmsted, Huntington Avenue was joined from Parker Street to Brigham Circle, creating the Triangle District. (Maps from the time indicate that Huntington Avenue from Brigham Circle to the Brookline line was named Tremont Street.)
Development began in earnest in the mid-19th century. In 1870, the Redemptorist Fathers
built a humble wooden mission church
that was replaced by an impressive Roxbury puddingstone structure in 1876. In 1910, dual-spires were added that now dominate the skyline. The church was elevated to basilica
in 1954 by Pope Pius XII
and is one of only 43 in the United States. Officially named Our Lady of Perpetual Help after the icon
of the same name, it is uniformly referred to as "Mission Church", even by its own parish
ioners. Due to a sloping foundation of this landmark, the west cross tops its tower at 215 feet (65.5 m); the other spire is two feet shorter. The length of the church is also 215 feet (65.5 m), presenting a perfect proportion.
At one time, the Basilica was a campus of buildings; the Queen Anne style Sister's Convent and Grammar School (1888–1889, Henry Burns) and the Romanesque Revival St. Alphonsus Hall (1898, Franz Joseph Untersee) administered by the parish. The church closed the high school in 1992, but a Parochial elementary school still remains. The sale of these buildings at 80-100 Smith Street allowed much of the church to be restored. The sold buildings are currently planned for Basilica Court, a 229-unit residential complex, developed by Weston Associates, Inc. The Hall was the club headquarters for the St. Alphonsus Association founded in 1900. It was the preeminent social and athletic Catholic men's organization for nearly 50 years and it's 1000 seat theatre held many events community, political and theatrical events.
Another example of high religious architecture is the Byzantine-style Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral at 514 Parker Street at the eastern edge of the neighborhood. Referred to as the "mother church" of the Greek Orthodox Church in New England, it is the cathedral of the Diocese of Boston and the seat of its Bishop Methodios. Built between 1892–1927, it is one of the oldest Greek churches in the United States, a Boston landmark, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. In 1927 a Greek artist was commissioned to decorate the cathedral with Byzantine iconography. The radiant stained glass windows and large crystal chandeliers also contribute to the visual majesty of the cathedral's interior.
Puddingstone plays a historic role in the area. The large puddingstone quarry that ran between Tremont Street and Allegany Street produced the stone foundations of most of the late 19th century houses in the neighborhood. This locally sourced material made quick construction of working-class housing possible. Some structures around the Tremont Street/Parker Street intersection are made entirely of the material, including 682-688 Parker Street, 2-5 Sewall Street and 1472-74 Tremont Street (1856, David Connery, mason).
Most of the houses in the neighborhood are stone foundations and wood construction. But the Triangle Historic District along Huntington Ave. is stone and brick, and one of only eight such districts in Boston given landmark status by the city. These seventy-one buildings bordered by Huntington Avenue, Tremont Street, and Worthington Street exemplify the development of the neighborhood from the 1870s through the 1910s. Construction of this area was begun in 1871. The Helvetia, a distinctive apartment hotel, was built at 706-708 Huntington Avenue in 1884-1885; a Georgian revival apartment building known as The Esther was built at 683 Huntington/142-148 Smith Street in 1912. Both buildings continue have retail on the ground floor and apartments above. Similar row houses line one side of Delle Avenue a few blocks away from the Triangle District. Taller and larger brick row houses also line Huntington Avenue, Wait Street and South Huntington.
By 1894, the electric streetcar was in operation on Huntington Avenue. Builder-developers began cutting streets through the hillside farmland and building homes for commuters on Parker Hill Avenue, Hillside Street, and Alleghany Street. An excellent example from this era is the Timothy Hoxie House at 135 Hillside Street. A freestanding Italianate villa, it was built in 1854 across from its present location. The Hoxie family left Beacon Hill for pastoral Mission Hill. Houses of this size are rare today. Demand for housing went up and builders turned to building multifamily dwellings, generally constructed on smaller lots.
The carpenter-contractor John Cantwell lived in the Gothic Revival cottage at 139 Hillside Street, and purchased the Hoxie House after Timothy’s death. He moved the house to its present site so that upper Sachem Street could be cut through. Cantwell also developed triple decker
s on adjacent lots on Darling and Sachem Streets, and in 1890 subdivided the lot on which the Hoxie House stood and built triple-deckers at 17 and 19 Sachem Street.
By the 1890s, there was a more urban feel to the neighborhood and the hill was covered in triple-deckers. Calumet, Iroquois and other streets with Native American
names were built up within ten years into a dense neighborhood of triple deckers in the Queen Anne style. The Queen Anne style is prevalent in Mission Hill because this building boom coincided with the popularity of this style. A restoration of this style of houses along Parker Street is becoming something of a Polychrome
Row.
Before 1900, the Georgian Revival New England Baptist Hospital
(at the time, the Robert Breck Brigham Hospital) at 125 Parker Hill Ave was one of the few institutions in the neighborhood. Other soon followed, moving from their downtown locations to the Mission Hill/Longwood area for more space and less expensive land (along with the completion of the Emerald Necklace). In 1906, the Harvard Medical School
moved into five buildings on Longwood Avenue. Wentworth Institute at 360 Ruggles Street began building in 1911. In 1912, the then Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (now Brigham & Women's) opened on Brigham Circle. In 1914, Children's Hospital also moved to Longwood Avenue. Beth Israel Deaconess was constructed a short time later.
In the late 19th century through the 1970s, the neighborhood was once home to large numbers of families of recent Immigrant
descent, mostly Irish
, but also Germans
, Italians and others. After the 1950s, the combined effects of urban renewal
, white flight
and institutional growth caused many to flee the neighborhood. In the early 1960s the Boston Redevelopment Authority
razed several homes in the Triangle District section of the neighborhood to make way for the Whitney Redevelopment Project, which are three high-rise towers along St. Alphonsus Street. The include Charlesbank Apartments (272 unit co-op), Back Bay Manor (270 units) and Franklin Square Apartments (formerly Back Bay Towers - 146 units). This project was one of Boston's earliest redevelopment projects not funded by federal renewal monies. Across the street is Mission Main, one of the nation's oldest public housing developments. The original thirty-eight 3-story brick structures built between 1938 and 1940 were demolished in the mid-1990s and replaced with 535 new apartments with a mix of subsidized and market-rate units.
Industry began in the area as early as the 17th century. The first brewery
was established at the foot of Parker Hill in the 1820s. By the 1870s beer production was the main industry in Mission Hill, and many breweries lined the Stony Brook (now a culvert running along the Southwest Corridor). Most of Boston's breweries were once located in Mission Hill, but three periods of Prohibition
(1852–1868, 1869–1875 and 1918–1933) and the nation's transition from local breweries to national mass-produced brands took their toll on business. Many of the remaining buildings are now being converted into loft condominiums.
Breweries included A.J. Houghton (1870–1918) at 37 Station Street, American Brewing Co. at 251 Heath Street(1891–1934)—now American Brewery Lofts, Union Brewing Co. on Terrace Street (1893–1911), Roxbury Brewing Co. at 31 Heath Street (1896–1899)—the building is now home to the Family Service of Greater Boston, Croft Brewing Co. (1933–1953), Burkhardt Brewing Co. (1850–1918), Alley Brewing Co. at 117 Heath Street (1886–1918) and the Highland Springs Brewery/Reuter & Co. (1867–1918) on Terrace Street—the building is often referred to as The Pickle Factory and is in planning for conversion to housing.
In the late 1960s, Harvard University
bought the wood frame and brick houses along Francis, Fenwood, St. Alban's, Kempton Streets, and part of Huntington Avenue, and announced plans to demolish the buildings. Most were replaced with the Mission Park residential complex of towers and townhomes in 1978 after neighborhood residents organized the Roxbury Tenants of Harvard Association convince Harvard to rebuild. The tower sits on the site of the House of the Good Shepard, once a large and prominent orphanage. The gates to the complex and the brick wall along Huntington survive from this era.
Also in the 1960s the federal government proposed to extend Interstate 95
into the center of Boston and began buying property and demolishing houses in the Roxbury Crossing
section of the neighborhood along the Boston and Providence Rail Road
. Roxbury Crossing, once known as Pierpoint Village after the Pierpoint family and their mills (the earliest of which in the 1650s), and has been a stop along the Boston & Providence Railroad since the 1840s, was once a vibrant commercial area with the 749-seat Criterion Theatre, a Woolworths
and restaurants.
Though the Interstate project was shelved by the governor in 1971 after freeway revolts, Roxbury Crossing had been leveled. Ten years later saw the creation of the Southwest Corridor, a park system with bike and pedestrian trails that lead into the center of Boston. In November 2007, the MBTA awarded Mission Hill Housing Services rights to develop a new 10-story mixed-use building on what is known to the Boston Redevelopment Authority as "Parcel 25", across from the Roxbury Crossing station.
By the early 1970s, the area was deemed dangerous and most White people
and affluent Black people
had moved away. The 1989 incident involving Charles Stuart
further intensified this view. With property values low, many of the homes were bought by slum lords
and converted into rental housing. The inexpensive rents brought many students from nearby colleges and universities, especially MassArt
, Northeastern University, Wentworth Institute of Technology
and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts
, which has a large studio building in the neighborhood. The Mission Hill Artists Collective now hosts Open Studios in the fall of each year.
As past fears faded by the mid-1990s, the area began to change as homeowners moved into newly converted condominiums to take advantage of the fantastic views of the city and proximity to the Longwood Area, the MBTA and downtown Boston.
Today, the neighborhood is briskly gentrifying
and diversifying in favor of a mix of new luxury condominiums and lofts, triple-deckers converted to condominiums, surviving student rental units, newly rebuilt public housing, and strong remnants of long-time residents. Racially, Mission Hill is one of the most diverse in the city, with a balance of white, Asian
, Hispanic
and African-Americans having little conflict along race lines.
Much of the early history of Mission Hill is covered in a 65 minute documentary film, Mission Hill and the Miracle of Boston, which was directed by Richard Broadman and released in 1978. The film recounts the events that led to the Urban Renewal Program in Boston and its aftermath by showing how these events unfolded in Mission Hill.
Current events include the transformation of Terrace Street into an artist boulevard, with new artists' residences in the planning and approval stages. They will take their place along Diablo glass studio and the Building Materials Co-Op.
The neighborhood is also served by MBTA Bus Route 39 running from Forest Hills
in Jamaica Plain to Copley Square
and Route 66 running from Dudley Square
in Roxbury
, through Brookline
to Harvard Square
in Cambridge
. The Urban Ring
crosstown route passes through the far eastern corner of the neighborhood along Longwood Avenue and Huntington Avenue.
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, with the population of approximately 18,000 people.
The neighborhood is roughly bounded by Columbus Avenue and the Boston neighborhood of Roxbury
Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was one of the first towns founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, and became a city in 1846 until annexed to Boston on January 5, 1868...
to the east, Longwood Avenue to the northeast and the Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...
designed Riverway
The Riverway
Riverway is a parkway in Boston, Massachusetts. The parkway is a link in the Emerald Necklace system of parks and parkways designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the 1890s. Starting at the Landmark Center end of the Back Bay Fens, the parkway follows the path of the Muddy River south to Olmsted Park...
/Jamaicaway
The Jamaicaway
Jamaicaway is a four-lane, undivided parkway in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts near the border of Brookline.The Jamaicaway was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted as part of Emerald Necklace of green spaces extending from Boston Common on Beacon Hill to Franklin Park in Roxbury...
and the town of Brookline
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...
to the west. The Historic District is roughly bounded by Smith St., Worthington St., Tremont St., and Huntington Ave. It is immediately north of the Boston neighborhood of Jamaica Plain
Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
Jamaica Plain is a historic neighborhood of in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded by Boston Puritans seeking farm land to the south, it was originally part of the city of Roxbury...
. It is served by the MBTA Green Line E Branch and the Orange Line and is within walking distance of the Museum of Fine Arts
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
. "The Hill" overlaps with about half of the Longwood Medical and Academic Area
Longwood Medical and Academic Area
The Longwood Medical and Academic Area is a medical campus in Boston....
, home to 21 health care, research, education institutions and are responsible for the largest employment area in the City of Boston outside of downtown. Due to these adjacencies, the neighborhood is often struggling with institutional growth taking residential buildings and occupying storefront commercial space. But recent years have seen new retail stores, restaurants and residential development giving the neighborhood a stronger political voice and identity.
Mission Hill is an architectural landmark district with a combination of freestanding houses built by early wealthy landowners, blocks of traditional brick rowhouses, and many Triple decker
Triple decker
A triple-decker is a three-story apartment building, typically of light-framed, wood construction, where each floor usually consists of a single apartment; although two apartments per floor is not uncommon....
. Many are condominium
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
s, but there are also several two-family and some single-family homes.
The neighborhood was named in March 2008 as one of 25 "Best Zip Codes in Massachusetts" by the Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
, citing increased value in single-family homes, plentiful restaurants and shopping, a marked racial diversity and that 65% of residents walk, bike or take transit to work.
Geography
Huntington Avenue (Boston)
Huntington Avenue is a secondary thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts beginning at Copley Square, and continuing west through the Back Bay, Fenway, Longwood, and Mission Hill neighborhoods...
. (running east and west). Both have several small restaurants and shops. Mission Hill is at the far western end of Tremont Street, with Beacon Hill
Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts
Beacon Hill is a historic neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, that along with the neighboring Back Bay is home to about 26,000 people. It is a neighborhood of Federal-style rowhouses and is known for its narrow, gas-lit streets and brick sidewalks...
at the far eastern end. Mission Hill has two main ZIP Codes; the southern half is designated 02120 and the northern area is 02115. Additionally, a very small portion of the southeastern edge uses the code 02130 and two streets on the far western edge use 02215.
Parker Hill, Roxbury Crossing
Roxbury Crossing (MBTA station)
Roxbury Crossing is an MBTA subway station on the Orange Line, located at 1400 Tremont Street in the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston. The station opened in 1987 as part of the renovation and relocation of the southern Orange Line.-Bus connections:...
, the Triangle District, Back of The Hill and Calumet Square are areas within the Mission Hill, an official designated neighborhood in Boston (as attested by numerous signs prohibiting parking without a sticker which can be received only by residents).
Brigham Circle
Brigham Circle (MBTA station)
Brigham Circle is a trolley-train stop on the "E" branch of the MBTA's Green Line in Boston, MA. Along with the Longwood Station, it is the closest stop to Harvard Medical School, the Harvard School of Public Health and the rest of the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, all of which are within a...
, located at the corner of Tremont and Huntington is the neighborhood's commercial center, with a grocery store (Stop & Shop
Stop & Shop
The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company is a chain of supermarkets located mostly in the northeastern United States. Its main rivals are Shaw's Star Market and Hannaford in New England, while ShopRite and the A&P family of supermarkets are its main competition in New York and New Jersey.- History :Stop...
), drug stores, bistros, banks and taverns. Additionally, two other smaller commercial areas are in the neighborhood: Roxbury Crossing and the corner of Huntington and South Huntington next to the Brookline line.
One block up the hill from Brigham Circle is Boston's newest park, Kevin W. Fitzgerald Park (formerly Puddingstone Park) created when a new $60-million mixed use building was completed in 2002.
On Tremont Street is Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica (1878, Schickel and Ditmars, 1910 towers addition by Franz Joseph Untersee
Franz Joseph Untrsee
Franz Joseph Untersee was a Swiss-American architect who designed many Roman Catholic churches throughout the eastern part of United States....
), an eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
ous landmark building that dominates the skyline of the area. The church was chosen as the location for the funeral of Senator Edward M. Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
on Saturday, August 29, 2009.
Also nearby is the newly restored Parker Hill Library, the neighborhood branch of the Boston Public Library, and designed by architect Ralph Adams Cram
Ralph Adams Cram
Ralph Adams Cram FAIA, , was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic style. Cram & Ferguson and Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson are partnerships in which he worked.-Early life:Cram was born on December 16, 1863 at Hampton Falls, New...
in 1929. The city used eminent domain to acquire the land for both the library and the adjacent Mission Hill playground.
Atop the hill is New England Baptist Hospital
New England Baptist Hospital
New England Baptist Hospital is a 141-bed adult medical/surgical hospital in Boston, Massachusetts specializing in orthopedic care and complex orthopedic procedures...
and Parker Hill Playground, which extends from the hospital grounds down Parker Hill Avenue. Parker Hill Playground, originally proposed by then Boston Mayor James Curley
James Michael Curley
James Michael Curley was an American politician famous for his four terms as mayor of Boston, Massachusetts. He also served twice in the United States House of Representatives and one term as 53rd Governor of Massachusetts.-Early life:Curley's father, Michael Curley, left Oughterard, County...
in 1915, is also one of the highest points in the city where you can observe a panoramic view of downtown Boston
Financial District, Boston, Massachusetts
The Financial District of Boston, Massachusetts, United States is located in the downtown area near Government Center and Chinatown.Like many areas within Boston, the Financial District has no official definition. It is roughly bounded by Atlantic Avenue, State Street, and Devonshire Street...
, Boston Harbor
Boston Harbor
Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, and is located adjacent to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the northeast.-History:...
, and the Blue Hills
Blue Hills Reservation
Blue Hills Reservation is a state park in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. Managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, it extends into Milton, Quincy, Braintree, Canton, Randolph, and Dedham south of Boston.-Description:...
.
Always considered a part of Roxbury until a generation ago, Mission Hill is now most often regarded as a separate section of the city. However, neighborhood boundaries in Boston are inherently ambiguous and whether or not Mission Hill is adjacent to Roxbury or remains a section thereof is sometimes a subject of debate.
History
Like the adjacent neighborhood of Jamaica PlainJamaica Plain, Massachusetts
Jamaica Plain is a historic neighborhood of in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded by Boston Puritans seeking farm land to the south, it was originally part of the city of Roxbury...
to the south, Mission Hill was once a neighborhood of adjacent Roxbury
Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was one of the first towns founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, and became a city in 1846 until annexed to Boston on January 5, 1868...
before Roxbury's annexation by Boston. According to maps from the period, it was often referenced as Parker Hill (which is the name of the geographic feature in the area). After annexation (and more rapidly in recent years) the area slowly came to be considered a separate neighborhood of its own right. The majority of government, commercial and institutional entities list "Mission Hill" in the breakdown of Boston neighborhoods and its boundaries generally agreed upon.
Until the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, Mission Hill supported large country estates of wealthy Boston families. Much of the area was an orchard farm, originally owned by the Parker family in the 18th century. Peter Parker married Sarah Ruggles, whose family owned large areas of land including most of what became known as Parker Hill (later renamed Mission Hill). His life ended when a barrel of his own cider fell on him. (Much of this story is outlined in "The History of Peter Parker and Sarah Ruggles", a book by John William Linzee, published in 1913.)
The orchard continued for some time thereafter, but gradually pieces of the land were sold and developed. Boston’s reservoir was once located at the top of the hill. Many of the older apple trees along Fisher Avenue and in an undeveloped area of the playground are probably descendants of the Parker family’s original trees. The lower portion of the eastern hill was a puddingstone
Puddingstone (rock)
Puddingstone, also known as either Pudding stone or Plum-pudding stone, is a popular name applied to a conglomerate that consists of distinctly rounded pebbles whose colors contrast sharply with the color of the finer-grained, often sandy, matrix or cement surrounding them...
quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
with large swaths owned by merchants Franklin G. Dexter, Warren Fisher
Warren Fisher
Sir Warren Fisher was a British civil servant.Fisher was born in Croydon, London on 22 September 1879. He was educated at the Dragon School , Winchester College and Hertford College, Oxford University...
and Fredrick Ames.
Maps of the area indicate Mission Hill development began before the Fenway and Longwood Medical Area. Huntington Avenue, now one the main connections to the rest of Boston, once stopped at the intersection of Parker Street, near the present-day site of the Museum of Fine Arts. Up until that time, Mission Hill was connected via Parker Street (a man-made raised passage between the Stony Brook and the Muddy River - both which formed a tidal flat into the Charles River) all the way to Boylston Street in the Back Bay. Part of what was once Parker Street is now called Hemenway Street. The once main intersection of Parker Street and Huntington Avenue has been traffic-engineered, cutting the straight-line road in two and forcing traffic to first turn onto Forsyth Way to make the connection. Many other streets leading into Mission Hill were also realigned and/or renamed at Huntington Avenue (including Longwood Avenue/McGreevey Way, Smith/Shattuck Street, Vancouver Street, and Palace Road/Worthington Street), limiting both pedestrian and vehicular access.
After the 1880s and the re-routing of the Muddy River by Frederick Law Olmsted, Huntington Avenue was joined from Parker Street to Brigham Circle, creating the Triangle District. (Maps from the time indicate that Huntington Avenue from Brigham Circle to the Brookline line was named Tremont Street.)
Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer
The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer is a Roman Catholic missionary Congregation founded by Saint Alphonsus Liguori at Scala, near Amalfi, Italy for the purpose of labouring among the neglected country people in the neighbourhood of Naples.Members of the Congregation, priests and brothers,...
built a humble wooden mission church
Mission (Christian)
Christian missionary activities often involve sending individuals and groups , to foreign countries and to places in their own homeland. This has frequently involved not only evangelization , but also humanitarian work, especially among the poor and disadvantaged...
that was replaced by an impressive Roxbury puddingstone structure in 1876. In 1910, dual-spires were added that now dominate the skyline. The church was elevated to basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
in 1954 by Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
and is one of only 43 in the United States. Officially named Our Lady of Perpetual Help after the icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
of the same name, it is uniformly referred to as "Mission Church", even by its own parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
ioners. Due to a sloping foundation of this landmark, the west cross tops its tower at 215 feet (65.5 m); the other spire is two feet shorter. The length of the church is also 215 feet (65.5 m), presenting a perfect proportion.
At one time, the Basilica was a campus of buildings; the Queen Anne style Sister's Convent and Grammar School (1888–1889, Henry Burns) and the Romanesque Revival St. Alphonsus Hall (1898, Franz Joseph Untersee) administered by the parish. The church closed the high school in 1992, but a Parochial elementary school still remains. The sale of these buildings at 80-100 Smith Street allowed much of the church to be restored. The sold buildings are currently planned for Basilica Court, a 229-unit residential complex, developed by Weston Associates, Inc. The Hall was the club headquarters for the St. Alphonsus Association founded in 1900. It was the preeminent social and athletic Catholic men's organization for nearly 50 years and it's 1000 seat theatre held many events community, political and theatrical events.
Another example of high religious architecture is the Byzantine-style Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral at 514 Parker Street at the eastern edge of the neighborhood. Referred to as the "mother church" of the Greek Orthodox Church in New England, it is the cathedral of the Diocese of Boston and the seat of its Bishop Methodios. Built between 1892–1927, it is one of the oldest Greek churches in the United States, a Boston landmark, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. In 1927 a Greek artist was commissioned to decorate the cathedral with Byzantine iconography. The radiant stained glass windows and large crystal chandeliers also contribute to the visual majesty of the cathedral's interior.
Puddingstone plays a historic role in the area. The large puddingstone quarry that ran between Tremont Street and Allegany Street produced the stone foundations of most of the late 19th century houses in the neighborhood. This locally sourced material made quick construction of working-class housing possible. Some structures around the Tremont Street/Parker Street intersection are made entirely of the material, including 682-688 Parker Street, 2-5 Sewall Street and 1472-74 Tremont Street (1856, David Connery, mason).
Most of the houses in the neighborhood are stone foundations and wood construction. But the Triangle Historic District along Huntington Ave. is stone and brick, and one of only eight such districts in Boston given landmark status by the city. These seventy-one buildings bordered by Huntington Avenue, Tremont Street, and Worthington Street exemplify the development of the neighborhood from the 1870s through the 1910s. Construction of this area was begun in 1871. The Helvetia, a distinctive apartment hotel, was built at 706-708 Huntington Avenue in 1884-1885; a Georgian revival apartment building known as The Esther was built at 683 Huntington/142-148 Smith Street in 1912. Both buildings continue have retail on the ground floor and apartments above. Similar row houses line one side of Delle Avenue a few blocks away from the Triangle District. Taller and larger brick row houses also line Huntington Avenue, Wait Street and South Huntington.
By 1894, the electric streetcar was in operation on Huntington Avenue. Builder-developers began cutting streets through the hillside farmland and building homes for commuters on Parker Hill Avenue, Hillside Street, and Alleghany Street. An excellent example from this era is the Timothy Hoxie House at 135 Hillside Street. A freestanding Italianate villa, it was built in 1854 across from its present location. The Hoxie family left Beacon Hill for pastoral Mission Hill. Houses of this size are rare today. Demand for housing went up and builders turned to building multifamily dwellings, generally constructed on smaller lots.
The carpenter-contractor John Cantwell lived in the Gothic Revival cottage at 139 Hillside Street, and purchased the Hoxie House after Timothy’s death. He moved the house to its present site so that upper Sachem Street could be cut through. Cantwell also developed triple decker
Triple decker
A triple-decker is a three-story apartment building, typically of light-framed, wood construction, where each floor usually consists of a single apartment; although two apartments per floor is not uncommon....
s on adjacent lots on Darling and Sachem Streets, and in 1890 subdivided the lot on which the Hoxie House stood and built triple-deckers at 17 and 19 Sachem Street.
By the 1890s, there was a more urban feel to the neighborhood and the hill was covered in triple-deckers. Calumet, Iroquois and other streets with Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
names were built up within ten years into a dense neighborhood of triple deckers in the Queen Anne style. The Queen Anne style is prevalent in Mission Hill because this building boom coincided with the popularity of this style. A restoration of this style of houses along Parker Street is becoming something of a Polychrome
Polychrome
Polychrome is one of the terms used to describe the use of multiple colors in one entity. It has also been defined as "The practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." Polychromatic light is composed of a number of different wavelengths...
Row.
Before 1900, the Georgian Revival New England Baptist Hospital
New England Baptist Hospital
New England Baptist Hospital is a 141-bed adult medical/surgical hospital in Boston, Massachusetts specializing in orthopedic care and complex orthopedic procedures...
(at the time, the Robert Breck Brigham Hospital) at 125 Parker Hill Ave was one of the few institutions in the neighborhood. Other soon followed, moving from their downtown locations to the Mission Hill/Longwood area for more space and less expensive land (along with the completion of the Emerald Necklace). In 1906, the Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
moved into five buildings on Longwood Avenue. Wentworth Institute at 360 Ruggles Street began building in 1911. In 1912, the then Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (now Brigham & Women's) opened on Brigham Circle. In 1914, Children's Hospital also moved to Longwood Avenue. Beth Israel Deaconess was constructed a short time later.
In the late 19th century through the 1970s, the neighborhood was once home to large numbers of families of recent Immigrant
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
descent, mostly Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
, but also Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
, Italians and others. After the 1950s, the combined effects of urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
, white flight
White flight
White flight has been a term that originated in the United States, starting in the mid-20th century, and applied to the large-scale migration of whites of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions. It was first seen as...
and institutional growth caused many to flee the neighborhood. In the early 1960s the Boston Redevelopment Authority
Boston Redevelopment Authority
The Boston Redevelopment Authority is the municipal planning and development agency for Boston, working on both housing and commercial developments.The BRA was established by the Boston city council and the Massachusetts legislature in 1957...
razed several homes in the Triangle District section of the neighborhood to make way for the Whitney Redevelopment Project, which are three high-rise towers along St. Alphonsus Street. The include Charlesbank Apartments (272 unit co-op), Back Bay Manor (270 units) and Franklin Square Apartments (formerly Back Bay Towers - 146 units). This project was one of Boston's earliest redevelopment projects not funded by federal renewal monies. Across the street is Mission Main, one of the nation's oldest public housing developments. The original thirty-eight 3-story brick structures built between 1938 and 1940 were demolished in the mid-1990s and replaced with 535 new apartments with a mix of subsidized and market-rate units.
Industry began in the area as early as the 17th century. The first brewery
Brewery
A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
was established at the foot of Parker Hill in the 1820s. By the 1870s beer production was the main industry in Mission Hill, and many breweries lined the Stony Brook (now a culvert running along the Southwest Corridor). Most of Boston's breweries were once located in Mission Hill, but three periods of Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
(1852–1868, 1869–1875 and 1918–1933) and the nation's transition from local breweries to national mass-produced brands took their toll on business. Many of the remaining buildings are now being converted into loft condominiums.
Breweries included A.J. Houghton (1870–1918) at 37 Station Street, American Brewing Co. at 251 Heath Street(1891–1934)—now American Brewery Lofts, Union Brewing Co. on Terrace Street (1893–1911), Roxbury Brewing Co. at 31 Heath Street (1896–1899)—the building is now home to the Family Service of Greater Boston, Croft Brewing Co. (1933–1953), Burkhardt Brewing Co. (1850–1918), Alley Brewing Co. at 117 Heath Street (1886–1918) and the Highland Springs Brewery/Reuter & Co. (1867–1918) on Terrace Street—the building is often referred to as The Pickle Factory and is in planning for conversion to housing.
In the late 1960s, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
bought the wood frame and brick houses along Francis, Fenwood, St. Alban's, Kempton Streets, and part of Huntington Avenue, and announced plans to demolish the buildings. Most were replaced with the Mission Park residential complex of towers and townhomes in 1978 after neighborhood residents organized the Roxbury Tenants of Harvard Association convince Harvard to rebuild. The tower sits on the site of the House of the Good Shepard, once a large and prominent orphanage. The gates to the complex and the brick wall along Huntington survive from this era.
Interstate 95 in Massachusetts
Interstate 95 is the main highway on the East Coast of the United States, paralleling the Atlantic Ocean from Florida to Maine. The Massachusetts portion of the highway enters from the state of Rhode Island in Attleboro and travels in a northeasterly direction to the junction with Route 128 in...
into the center of Boston and began buying property and demolishing houses in the Roxbury Crossing
Roxbury Crossing (MBTA station)
Roxbury Crossing is an MBTA subway station on the Orange Line, located at 1400 Tremont Street in the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston. The station opened in 1987 as part of the renovation and relocation of the southern Orange Line.-Bus connections:...
section of the neighborhood along the Boston and Providence Rail Road
Boston and Providence Rail Road
The Boston and Providence Railroad was an early US Railroad in New England, connecting Boston and Providence and is part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.-History:...
. Roxbury Crossing, once known as Pierpoint Village after the Pierpoint family and their mills (the earliest of which in the 1650s), and has been a stop along the Boston & Providence Railroad since the 1840s, was once a vibrant commercial area with the 749-seat Criterion Theatre, a Woolworths
F. W. Woolworth Company
The F. W. Woolworth Company was a retail company that was one of the original American five-and-dime stores. The first successful Woolworth store was opened on July 18, 1879 by Frank Winfield Woolworth in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, as "Woolworth's Great Five Cent Store"...
and restaurants.
Though the Interstate project was shelved by the governor in 1971 after freeway revolts, Roxbury Crossing had been leveled. Ten years later saw the creation of the Southwest Corridor, a park system with bike and pedestrian trails that lead into the center of Boston. In November 2007, the MBTA awarded Mission Hill Housing Services rights to develop a new 10-story mixed-use building on what is known to the Boston Redevelopment Authority as "Parcel 25", across from the Roxbury Crossing station.
By the early 1970s, the area was deemed dangerous and most White people
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
and affluent Black people
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
had moved away. The 1989 incident involving Charles Stuart
Charles Stuart (murderer)
Charles "Chuck" Stuart was a man from Reading, Massachusetts who murdered his pregnant wife and inflamed racial tensions in the Boston area by concocting a fictitious African-American assailant.-Murders:...
further intensified this view. With property values low, many of the homes were bought by slum lords
Slumlord
A slumlord is a derogatory term for landlords, generally absentee landlords, who attempt to maximize profit by minimizing spending on property maintenance, often in deteriorating neighborhoods. They may need to charge lower than market rent to tenants...
and converted into rental housing. The inexpensive rents brought many students from nearby colleges and universities, especially MassArt
Massart
Massart is a Belgian family name. Massart is the surname of several notable people:*Lambert Massart , Belgian violinist.*Dave Massart , English professional footballer*Lucien Massart , Belgian scientist...
, Northeastern University, Wentworth Institute of Technology
Wentworth Institute of Technology
The Wentworth Institute of Technology is an independent, co-educational, technical design and engineering college located in Boston, Massachusetts...
and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is an undergraduate and graduate college located in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to the visual arts. It is affiliated with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in partnership with Tufts University...
, which has a large studio building in the neighborhood. The Mission Hill Artists Collective now hosts Open Studios in the fall of each year.
As past fears faded by the mid-1990s, the area began to change as homeowners moved into newly converted condominiums to take advantage of the fantastic views of the city and proximity to the Longwood Area, the MBTA and downtown Boston.
Today, the neighborhood is briskly gentrifying
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
and diversifying in favor of a mix of new luxury condominiums and lofts, triple-deckers converted to condominiums, surviving student rental units, newly rebuilt public housing, and strong remnants of long-time residents. Racially, Mission Hill is one of the most diverse in the city, with a balance of white, Asian
Asian people
Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
, Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
and African-Americans having little conflict along race lines.
Much of the early history of Mission Hill is covered in a 65 minute documentary film, Mission Hill and the Miracle of Boston, which was directed by Richard Broadman and released in 1978. The film recounts the events that led to the Urban Renewal Program in Boston and its aftermath by showing how these events unfolded in Mission Hill.
Current events include the transformation of Terrace Street into an artist boulevard, with new artists' residences in the planning and approval stages. They will take their place along Diablo glass studio and the Building Materials Co-Op.
Notable residents
- Maurice Tobin, MayorMayorIn many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of BostonBostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, governorGovernorA governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of MassachusettsMassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, and U.S. Secretary of Labor. - Donna SummerDonna SummerLaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...
, R&B singer - "A Global ThreatA Global ThreatA Global Threat was an American street punk band, formed in Bangor, ME in 1997. They released four full-length LPs as well as many 7" EPs and have toured extensively throughout the United States.- History 1997–2000 :...
" bassistBassistA bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
John Curran - Mike RossMichael P. RossMichael P. Ross, also known as Mike Ross, is president of the Boston City Council in Boston, Massachusetts. Since 1999 he has represented Beacon Hill, Back Bay and the Fenway.-External links:* , official Boston City Councillors website...
, Boston City Council President (2009-), whose district covers Beacon Hill, Back Bay, West EndWest End, Boston, MassachusettsThe West End is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, bounded generally by Cambridge Street to the south, the Charles River to the west and northwest, North Washington Street on the north and northeast, and New Sudbury Street on the east. Beacon Hill is to the south, and the North End is to the...
, and Mission HillMission HillMission Hill is an American animated television series that first aired on The WB in 1999. Although 18 episodes were planned, only 13 episodes were produced. The show was put on hiatus by the WB Network after two episodes due to poor ratings. It returned to the WB in the summer of 2000 but was... - Therese MurrayTherese MurrayTherese Murray is an American state legislator who has served as President of the Massachusetts Senate since March 2007. Murray, a Democrat, is the first woman to lead a house of the Massachusetts General Court...
, current and first woman president of the Massachusetts State Legislature - Arthur V. CurleyArthur CurleyArthur Curley was an American librarian. He was listed as one of the 100 most important library leaders of the 20th century by the journal American Libraries.- Early life and education :...
, director of the Boston Public Library from 1985–1996 - Will BlalockWill BlalockWilliam Anthony "Will" Blalock is an American professional basketball player currently playing for the Saint John Mill Rats of the National Basketball League of Canada....
, Professional NBA Player for the Detroit Pistons. - Aafia SiddiquiAafia SiddiquiAafia Siddiqui is an American-educated Pakistani cognitive neuroscientist who was convicted of assault with intent to murder her U.S. interrogators in Afghanistan. The charges carried a maximum sentence of life in prison; in September 2010, she was sentenced by a United States district court to 86...
Neuroscientist (alleged Al-QaedaAl-QaedaAl-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
operative), convicted of assaulting with a deadly weapon and attempting to kill U.S. soldiers and FBI agents.
Neighborhood groups
- Mission Hill Artists Collective
- Community Alliance of Mission Hill
- Mission Hill Main Streets
- Sociedad Latina
- Roxbury Tenants of Harvard
- Mission Hill Neighborhood Housing Services
- Boston Redevelopment Authority neighborhood site
- Mission Main Tenant Task Force
MBTA subway stops
- On the Green Line "E" Branch:
- Longwood Medical AreaLongwood Medical Area (MBTA station)Longwood Medical Area is a stop on the E branch of the MBTA's Green Line in the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, MA. It is the named for the adjacent Longwood Medical Area, which is the home of Harvard Medical School, Children's Hospital Boston, and Brigham and Women's Hospital...
, Brigham CircleBrigham Circle (MBTA station)Brigham Circle is a trolley-train stop on the "E" branch of the MBTA's Green Line in Boston, MA. Along with the Longwood Station, it is the closest stop to Harvard Medical School, the Harvard School of Public Health and the rest of the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, all of which are within a...
, Fenwood Road, Mission ParkMission Park (MBTA station)Mission Park is a stop on the E branch of the MBTA's Green Line in the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is directly in front of the Mission Park apartment building.-MBTA Bus Connections:...
, RiverwayRiverway (MBTA station)Riverway is a station on the MBTA Green Line "E" Branch in Boston, Massachusetts. The station is located on a streetcar line that runs down Huntington Avenue. Riverway is 33 minutes from Lechmere and 2 minutes from Heath Street...
, Back of the HillBack of the Hill (MBTA station)Back of the Hill is a stop on the E branch of the MBTA's Green Line in the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, MA, so named because it is immediately adjacent to the Back of the Hill apartments.-Bus connections:39 - Forest Hills Station-Back Bay Station...
.
- Longwood Medical Area
- On the Orange LineOrange Line (MBTA)The Orange Line is one of the four subway lines of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. It extends from Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain, Boston in the south to Oak Grove in Malden, Massachusetts in the north. It meets the Red Line at Downtown Crossing, the Blue Line at State, and the Green...
:- Roxbury CrossingRoxbury Crossing (MBTA station)Roxbury Crossing is an MBTA subway station on the Orange Line, located at 1400 Tremont Street in the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston. The station opened in 1987 as part of the renovation and relocation of the southern Orange Line.-Bus connections:...
- Roxbury Crossing
The neighborhood is also served by MBTA Bus Route 39 running from Forest Hills
Forest Hills (MBTA station)
Forest Hills Station is a station on the MBTA Orange Line, located in Forest Hills in the southern part of the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts at the intersections of Washington Street, Hyde Park Avenue, South Street, The Arborway and Morton Street.Forest Hills is the southern...
in Jamaica Plain to Copley Square
Copley Square
Copley Square is a public square located in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, named for the donor of the land on which it was developed. The square is named for John Singleton Copley, a famous portrait painter of the late 18th century and native of Boston. A bronze statue of...
and Route 66 running from Dudley Square
Dudley Square
Dudley Square is the primary commercial center of the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located at the intersection of Dudley Street and Washington Street...
in Roxbury
Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was one of the first towns founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, and became a city in 1846 until annexed to Boston on January 5, 1868...
, through Brookline
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...
to Harvard Square
Harvard Square
Harvard Square is a large triangular area in the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street, and John F. Kennedy Street. It is the historic center of Cambridge...
in Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. The Urban Ring
Urban Ring Project (MBTA)
The Urban Ring is a project of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, to develop new public transportation line that would provide improved circumferential connections among many existing transit lines that project radially from downtown...
crosstown route passes through the far eastern corner of the neighborhood along Longwood Avenue and Huntington Avenue.
External links
- The Sociedad Latina, Inc. records, 1968-2007 (bulk 1985-1999) are located in the Northeastern University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department, Boston, MA.
- The Carmen A. Pola papers, 1970–2006 (bulk 1975–2000) are located in the Northeastern University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department, Boston, MA.