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In 1765, when Joseph Rotch sailed across the bay from Nantucket, he brought with him the skills and knowledge to start New Bedford's whaling industry. By 1830, the town was a larger whaling port than Nantucket, with an immense fleet employing more than 10,000 people.

Settled as New Towne in 1631, Cambridge was referred to by Wood, a seventeenth-century chronicler, as "one of the neatest and best compacted towns in New England." The founding of Harvard College in 1636 was to ensure the town's notoriety, as it was the first college in the New World. Harvard gave Cambridge a cosmopolitan flavor, but the town retained its open farmland and its well-known fisheries along the Charles and Alewife Rivers for nearly two...

Once a part of Charlestown that could only be reached via "The Neck" (present-day Sullivan Square), Somerville became accessible from Boston with the construction of the Middlesex Canal and the extension of various rail lines in the mid- to late nineteenth century. By 1842, Somerville's population had increased to the point that the town officially separated itself from Charlestown. Over the years, the population continued to grow. With the increase...

Originally called Noodle's Island, East Boston was once comprised of five islands connected by marshland. Today, many people identify East Boston as the location of Logan International Airport, but it is really much more than that. From colonial times through the late twentieth century, the neighborhood of East Boston has experienced significant developments in the fields of city planning, transportation, and urban development. Until the nineteenth...

The Back Bay was one of Boston's premier residential neighborhoods between 1837 and 1901. From its quagmire beginnings and with the creation of the Boston Public Garden in the 1830s, the Back Bay was envisioned as an urbane and sophisticated streetscape of stone and brick row houses. The major center of the neighborhood became Art Square, now known as Copley Square, which was surrounded by Trinity Church, New Old South Church, Second Church of Boston,...

West Roxbury, located along the scenic Charles River, is a community of tree-lined streets and panoramic views, which has undergone tremendous changes since its incorporation as a town in 1851. Formerly known as "Westerly" or "South Street," West Roxbury has grown from a largely rural area, accessible only by train, into a charming neighborhood of Victorian homes that still offers many of the same advantages that attracted people a century ago--the...

Originally settled in 1629, Charlestown became well-known as the scene of the pivotal Revolutionary Battle of Bunker Hill, actually fought on Breed's Hill. Recovering from a devastating fire at the hands of the British soon after the battle, Charlestown went on to become a prosperous neighbor to Boston, eventually being annexed to the larger city in 1874. Today the city is enjoying a tremendous rebirth and the restoration of many of its important...

Nestled between the Neponset River and the Blue Hills Reservation is the postcard-perfect New England town of Milton, Massachusetts. Founded in 1640, its gentle riverbanks were soon transformed by some of the first mills in the colonies, and later an industrial boom drew tides of immigrants from across the seas. Local author and noted historian Anthony Sammarco brings together a fascinating collection of his best columns from the Milton Times to chronicle...

On March 4, 1822, the townsfolk of Boston voted to incorporate their town as the City of Boston. A great change had just taken place, but even greater changes were to come during the ensuing century, as Boston's population grew from 50,000 to 750,000 by 1922 and as it developed from a colonial town into the "Hub of the Universe." Boston: A Century of Progress brings to life one hundred amazing years, from 1822 to 1922. More than two hundred fascinating...

The streets of Boston's North End, some laid out in the seventeenth century, exude a rich history built by every generation of Boston immigrants since 1630. Home to the Paul Revere House and the famous Old North Church, the North End appeals to locals as well as visitors with its bustling Haymarket and restaurant row.