Town Hill District | |
Location | Bounded roughly by Rutherford Ave. and Main and Warren Sts., Boston, Massachusetts |
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Coordinates | 42°22′22″N71°3′45″W / 42.37278°N 71.06250°W |
Area | 11 acres (4.5 ha) |
Architect | Multiple |
Architectural style | Mid 19th Century Revival, Georgian, Federal |
NRHP reference No. | 73000850 [1] |
Added to NRHP | May 11, 1973 |
The Town Hill District is a historic district bounded roughly by Rutherford Avenue and Main and Warren Streets in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.
Town Hill was laid out by Charlestown engineer Thomas Graves in 1629 and was the site of Boston's first settlement. The unique elliptical street plan forms a tightly delineated neighborhood that survives to this day, one of the few colonial aspects to have survived. City Square (then known as Market Square) is the focus of the neighborhood, historically having been a market as well as the seat of government. [2]
During the 18th century, Market Square was paved and other important town institutions, including a courthouse and meeting-house, were built in the district. On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere, on the night of his famous ride, rowed to Charlestown from Boston. Here, he borrowed a horse and departed to sound his warning of British troops on the march all the way to Lexington and Concord.
Town Hill is composed of residential and commercial structures dating from as early as 1780, when Charlestown was burned to the ground by the British during the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. Rebuilt after the revolution, the square, then known as Charlestown Square, regained its role as the center of town life. As the 19th century progressed, the square became a crossroads as bridges and grand hotels were built and wharves crowded the waterfront. Most of the buildings are constructed of natural materials including brick, wood, and stone. [3]
The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. [1] This district is currently under study for landmark status by the Boston Landmarks Commission.
Somerville is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81,045 people. With an area of 4.12 square miles (10.7 km2), the city has a density of 19,671/sq mi (7,595/km2), making it the most densely populated municipality in New England and the 19th most densely populated incorporated municipality in the country. Somerville was established as a town in 1842, when it was separated from Charlestown. In 2006, the city was named the best-run city in Massachusetts by The Boston Globe. In 1972, 2009, and 2015, the city received the All-America City Award. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus along the Somerville and Medford border. Tufts, alongside Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, makes up one corner of the Brain Power Triangle, which thus includes the city of Somerville.
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The Bunker Hill Monument is a monument erected at the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston, Massachusetts, which was among the first major battles between the United Colonies and the British Empire in the American Revolutionary War. The 221-foot granite obelisk was erected between 1825 and 1843 in Charlestown, Massachusetts, with granite from nearby Quincy conveyed to the site via the purpose-built Granite Railway, followed by a trip by barge. There are 294 steps to the top.
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The Bunker Hill School is a historic school at 68 Baldwin Street in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. Built in 1866, it is a prominent local example of Second Empire architecture, and a surviving example of the city's school planning in the post-Civil War period. Now housing residential condominiums, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
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The Edward's Plain–Dowse's Corner Historic District is a predominantly residential historic district encompassing an area where light industrial activity took place from the late 18th century to the early 20th century. It extends along North Main Street between Eliot and Everett Streets in Sherborn, Massachusetts, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
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The Charlestown Main Street Historic District encompasses the historic heart of Charlestown, New Hampshire. It is located along Main Street, roughly between Lower Landing Road and Bridge Street, and encapsulates more than two hundred years of the town's history. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
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