City Square:

City Square: (HM14WZ)

Location: Boston, MA 02129 Suffolk County
Buy Massachusetts State flags at Flagstore.com!
Country: United States of America
Buy United States of America flags at Flagstore.com!

N 42° 22.287', W 71° 3.705'

  • 0 likes
  • 0 check ins
  • 0 favorites
  • 524 views
Inscription

Continuity and Change


Native American Settlement

Native American occupation of the Charlestown peninsula predates European settlements by approximately 10,000 years. Archaeological evidence, such as tools made of stone, bone, wood, and shells, suggests the early Natives were hunters of wild animals and gatherers of plant foods.

As early as 1000 B.C. Natives used local clay deposits to create pottery. Speakers of the Algonquin languages, local Native Americans formed alliances with tribes throughout the region. By the early -17th Century, the Native people had become agriculturalists, living in semi- permanent villages adjacent to their corn field.————-

English Settlement and Colonial Era (1629-1775)
Charlestown was settled on June 24, 1629 by Thomas Graves, an engineer dispatched from England to prepare a site for the newly-chartered Massachusetts Bay Company.

With the assistance of 100 colonists from Salem, Graves laid out the town and oversaw the construction of the Governor's residence, known as the "Great House." In June 1630, Governor John Winthrop moved into the Great House, which briefly served as the Company's meeting house and seat of government until Winthrop relocated to the Shawmut peninsula in October of 1630. This area was the heart of a thriving commercial port, and maintained its civic prominence through the colonial era s the location of the town's tavern, meeting house (1716), and court house (1735). This center of commerce, religion and government served as a marketplace for the colonists and the site of the town's stocks, whipping posts and pillory. Charlestown was destroyed by bombardment and fire on June 17, 1775 during the Battle of Bunker Hill.————-

Charlestown Square (1776-1846)
After the famous battle, the town voted to enlarge the open space and the area became known as Charlestown Square. By the close of the 18th century, new wharves, warehouses, ropewalks and shipyards bordered the square to the south and east. Transportation improvements, such as the 1786 and 1828 bridges to Boston, the 1803 Chelsea Bridge, and the arrival of the railroad in 1836, transformed the area into a busy crossroads and prosperous commercial center.———-

City Square (1847-1974)
In 1847, when Charlestown was incorporated as a city, hotels and boarding houses surrounded City Square, catering to travelers arriving by water and rail. the square was substantially transformed by post-Civil War public improvements, including a new City Hall, a grand hotel, and a ornamental park. Although its role as a civic center diminished following Charlestown's annexation to Boston in 1874, the square retained its commercial vitality. For most of the twentieth century, City Square was cast into shadow by dense tangle of elevated transportation structures, including the 1901elevated railway and the late 1950s expressway. ———-

Rebirth of City Square (1975-1996)
Following years of neighborhood advocacy to reclaim this dark, blighted area as open space,the elevated railway was removed in 1975 and the highway viaducts were replaced by tunnels in 1994. Today, the City Square Historical and Archaeological Site is honored as a designated Boston Landmark and City Square has regained its status as a major gateway to Charlestown.

Details
HM NumberHM14WZ
Tags
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Tuesday, September 30th, 2014 at 1:02pm PDT -07:00
Pictures
Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.
Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)19T E 330243 N 4693078
Decimal Degrees42.37145000, -71.06175000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 42° 22.287', W 71° 3.705'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds42° 22' 17.22" N, 71° 3' 42.30" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)617, 781, 857
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 6-22 Chelsea St, Boston MA 02129, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

Is this marker missing? Are the coordinates wrong? Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? If so, check in.

Check Ins  check in   |    all

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.

Comments 0 comments

Maintenance Issues
  1. Is this marker part of a series?
  2. What historical period does the marker represent?
  3. What historical place does the marker represent?
  4. What type of marker is it?
  5. What class is the marker?
  6. What style is the marker?
  7. Does the marker have a number?
  8. What year was the marker erected?
  9. Who or what organization placed the marker?
  10. This marker needs at least one picture.
  11. Can this marker be seen from the road?
  12. Is the marker in the median?