Attractions
IWalked Boston’s Beacon Hill
Beacon Hill is one of the most revered neighborhoods in all of Boston. A lot of this charm comes from the area’s preservation of 19th century America. You can still walk amongst its streets and enjoy ancient architecture along with gas lit lamps, window boxes and stone-paved road ways.
Beacon Hill originally consisted of three large hills. The largest of these hills rose to the approximate height of the current Massachusetts State House. Individually these hills were known as Mount Vernon, Sentry and Cotton Hills. Collectively they were referred to as the Trimountain or Trimount. This name has since been commemorated via the nearby Tremont Street along the southern edge of the Boston Common.
In 1634 a large beacon was placed atop the tallest of these hills with a tar bucket atop it to be lit in case of pending danger. This beacon eventually rotted and blew over in 1789. While the beacon was never replaced nor used in its existence, its significance was not lost to those in the area whom named it Beacon Hill. A replica of this original beacon was erected in its honor and may be viewed via the east side of the Massachusetts State House.
As this area was being developed those three large hills were gradually flattened. The dirt was used as landfill for the creation of new land in areas such as Charles Street (within Beacon Hill) and Back Bay. The area was formally developed by a group called the Mount Vernon Proprietors who were formed in 1794. Their original vision was to develop the land solely with free-standing homes and large expansive gardens. As there currently resides only one free-standing mansion within the neighborhood now, you can likely gather how well this plan panned out.
Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beacon_Hill,_Boston
Address: Beacon Hill, Boston, MA
Cost: Free.
IWalked Audio Tours To See This Site: Boston’s Beacon Hill, Boston’s Top 10 Attractions, Boston’s Crimes & Haunts Tour. (Purchase the MP3 tour here. iPhone application tour is available here. Please note, all Boston tours are now available as in-app purchases upon download of our FREE Boston Lite application, which includes a free 1 hour tour of a portion of Downtown.)