North End (Boston)

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North end
Nickname : Little Italy
The North End district with the Old North Church in the middle, a ventilation system of the Big Dig in the lower area and the green Tobin Bridge over the Mystic River in the upper area.
The North End district with the Old North Church in the middle, a ventilation system of the Big Dig in the lower area and the green Tobin Bridge over the Mystic River in the upper area.
Borough of Boston
Boston2.png
Basic data
State : United States
State : Massachusetts
County : Suffolk
Coordinates : 42 ° 22 ′  N , 71 ° 3 ′  W Coordinates: 42 ° 22 ′  N , 71 ° 3 ′  W
Time zone : Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 )
Area code : +1 617, 857

The North End is a neighborhood ( neighborhood ) of Boston in the state of Massachusetts in the United States . It is the oldest residential area in Boston that has been inhabited continuously since settlement in the 1630s. Despite its small area of ​​only 1/3  mi² (0.86  km² ) there are around 100 restaurants and a variety of tourist attractions. Due to its high number of Italian immigrants, the district is also known as Little Italy .

history

17th century

The North End of Boston has existed as an independent area since 1646 . By 1649, the number of residents living there was so large that they built their own church, the Second Church , which they called the North Meeting House . The construction of this church led to the development of what is now North Square , the center of public life in the North End .

Increase Mather , the pastor of the North Meeting House , was a powerful man who persuaded other residents to move to the North End . His home, meeting house and adjacent buildings were destroyed in a fire in 1676, after which only the meeting house was rebuilt. The Paul Revere House was later built on the site of the pastor's former home .

Part of Copp's Hill was converted into a cemetery now known as Copp's Hill Burying Ground . The oldest graves found there date back to 1661.

18th century

In the 18th century, the North End had become fashionable as a popular residential area. Wealthy families shared the district with artisans, unskilled workers, servants and slaves. Two brick houses from this period are still preserved today: The Pierce-Hichborn House and the Ebenezer Clough House . The construction of today's Old North Church , which was then consecrated as Christ Church and is now the oldest church building in Boston, also fell during this period .

At the beginning of the revolution, on August 26, 1765, the home of then Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson , which stood in North Square , was attacked by insurgents, forcing him to flee through his garden.

In 1770, the 11-year-old was Christopher Seider part of an angry crowd that the residence of the tariff busy man Ebenezer Richardson at the Hanover Street attack. He shot into the crowd with a rifle and fatally wounded Christopher Seider .

During the siege of Boston , the North Meeting House was demolished by the British and used as firewood.

19th century

In the first half of the 19th century there was a significant development of commercial operations in the North End , which extended in particular to the Fulton-Commercial Streets District , which has been registered in the NRHP since 1973 . During this time, a red light district also developed, known today as the Black Sea . In the late 1840s, living conditions in the crowded North End were among the worst in the city.

Over time, more waves of immigrants followed , of whom in particular Irish , Eastern European Jews and Italians settled in the North End . As Boston flourished overall, the wealthier North End residents moved to newer, more fashionable neighborhoods such as Beacon Hill .

In 1849 a sweeping cholera - epidemic by Boston, which the North End hit hardest - most of the 700 victims were from the neighborhood. In 1859, tensions between the immigrant Catholic Irish and the existing Protestant community led to the Eliot School Rebellion . By 1880 all Protestant churches had already left the district.

In the second half of the 19th century, several charities were founded in the district to offer help to the impoverished inhabitants. These include The Home for Little Wanderers and the North End Mission . The North Bennet Street School was also founded at this time, to the residents of the district to give the opportunity to improve their skills and find work. In the 1880s, residents began demolishing the derelict wooden houses and building four or five-story brick houses, most of which are still standing today. The city council also helped revitalize the neighborhood by building North End Park and Beach , Copp's Hill Terrace, and the North End Playground .

20th century

In the early 20th century, the North End of Boston was dominated by Jewish and Italian immigrants. At that time, three Italian immigrants founded the Prince Macaroni Company , which to this day is an example of the successful start-ups in the North End . The city of Boston upgraded numerous public facilities in the district, including the Christopher Columbus School (now an apartment building), a public bath and a branch of the Boston Public Library . These investments laid the foundation for the modernization of the North End .

In 1918, the hit pandemic of Spanish flu , the North End very hard. So many children lost their parents that the city built the Home for Italian Children to care for them. The following year, 1919, the 2.3 million exploded gallons comprehensive molasses -Tank the Purity Distilling Company , leading to the Great Molasses Flood led. A 15  ft (4.57  m ) high wave of molasses poured down Commercial Street to the bank, sweeping away everything in its path. In this event, 21 people died and 150 were injured. The property damage, converted to today's cash, amounted to 100 million US dollars .

In 1927, the wake for Sacco and Vanzetti was held at the undertaker Joseph A. Langone's on Hanover Street . The funeral march to Forest Hills Cemetery began in the North End .

In 1934, a tunnel was a connection between the districts of North End and East Boston built where the new at this time, Airport Logan International Airport is located. In the 1950s, the John F. Fitzgerald Expressway was built to alleviate the increasing traffic problems in Boston. To do this, hundreds of buildings in the North End below Cross Street were demolished, and the course of the new street isolated the area from the rest of the city.

The steadily growing traffic made the construction of a second tunnel between the North End and East Boston necessary, which was opened in 1961. In the 1960s and 1970s, there was a sharp decline in the population of the North End . Many businesses have had to close, as have some schools and industrial companies. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Boston Redevelopment Authority approved the construction of high-rise buildings in the neighborhood, while residents built affordable homes and apartments for the elderly. One of these houses, the Casa Maria Apartments , stands on the site of the former St. Mary's Catholic Church .

In 1976, then US President Gerald Ford and British Queen Elizabeth II visited the North End as part of the celebrations for the US 200th anniversary.

In the late 20th century to the early 21st century, the John F. Fitzgerald Expressway was demolished and replaced by the Big Dig . During the construction phase, access to the North End was restricted for both residents and visitors, which meant that many shops in the district had to close.

Population development

African American

A few free Afro-Americans had lived at the foot of Copp's Hill since the 17th and into the 19th century . Members of this community were buried at Copp's Hill Burying Ground , where some of their headstones can still be found today. Their church was the First Baptist Church . In the late 19th century the area where the community lived was known as New Guinea . In fact, by then, most had already moved to Beacon Hill .

Irish

Between 1845 and 1853 there was a large wave of Irish immigrants who settled in the North End and thereby dominated the district. This also had an impact on the population composition of the city of Boston as a whole, which in a few years from an almost exclusive to Yankee - Protestant in a more mixed society by having a proportion of Catholic converted Irish from a third. Between 1865 and 1880 the North End was almost entirely in the hands of Irish and Irish Americans .

Jews

In the late 19th century, a stable Jewish community began to develop in the North End , particularly along Salem Street . The community established religious sites, a Hebrew school, and social programs. In 1903, the first and only synagogue in the North End was built. The Carroll Place was named in honor of the new building in Jerusalem Place renamed. By 1922, however, most Jews had already moved to other parts of the city, such as Roxbury .

Italian

By 1890, the area around North Square was already known as Little Italy . By 1930, the number of Italians in the North End rose steadily to its all-time high of 44,000, representing 99.9% of the entire district's population.

In 1923, the Michael Angelo School was built in the North End , later renamed the Michelangelo School . The street on which the building stood was renamed Michelangelo Street and is now the only remaining street in the district that has an Italian name. The school closed in 1989 and was converted into a residential building.

A variety of Italian bakeries, restaurants, small shops, and grocery stores opened in the North End in the first half of the 20th century . While the first immigrants were still selling fruit, vegetables, wine, cheese and olive oil, later immigrants found more and more job opportunities, so that by 1920 many Italian doctors, dentists, undertakers and hairdressers were already working in the district. A large number of companies were founded during this period, such as Prince Pasta .

The Italian American community was increasingly exposed to anti-Italian sentiments, prejudice and marginalization. After the end of World War II , they began to gain political power and use it to improve their public image. Today the special atmosphere of the Italian Old World in the North End is a major tourist draw, and many of the small shops in the neighborhood have been replaced with restaurants. Religious festivals and processions are still celebrated in the North End today and regularly draw large crowds.

The situation today

Today, about a third of the North End's residents are of Italian descent and pursue a wide variety of professions. However, the neighborhood's political business continues to be dominated by Italian Americans , and the North End is still viewed as the “Little Italy” of Boston.

Culture and sights

Buildings

The Skinny House , described by the Boston Globe as "undisputedly the narrowest house in Boston", is located near the highest point on Copp's Hill within sight of the Old North Church and the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge .

Although the North End is one of the parts of Boston that was inhabited from the start, most of the structures found there today date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In particular tenements dominate the cityscape. There is a mixture of different architectural styles from all periods of American history, including very old buildings such as the Old North Church (1723), the Paul Revere House (1680), the Pierce-Hichborn House (1711) and the Clough House ( 1712).

On the historic Copp's Hill is located to the Copp's Hill Burial Ground one of the oldest cemeteries in the US. The graves there date from the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries. Cotton Mather , Increase Mather and Prince Hall, among others, were buried there. The Skinny House , the narrowest house in Boston, is directly across the street.

The current North Terminal Garage building in the North End was previously used by The Brink's Company , which was subject to armed robberies in 1950 and 1981. When infamous Great Brink's Robbery 1.2 million were in 1950 about US dollars in cash and a further 1.5 million dollars in checks , money orders u. What made the raid the largest in US history to date.

The Freedom Trail also runs through the North End .

Other buildings and places in the district that are worth seeing are:

Economy and Infrastructure

traffic

The North End is about the public transport to the Orange and Green Line of the MBTA at the stations Haymarket and Boston North Station are achieved. The Blue Line stops at Aquarium and access to the ferry is at Rowes Wharf . There are also many bus routes going into the district.

education

The Boston Public Schools run the John Eliot Elementary School in the North End . The St. Johns School is a private, Catholic school.

There is also North Bennet Street School, a trade and craft school in the district that was founded in 1885.

The Boston Public Library has had its own branch in the North End since 1913 , which has been located at 25 Parmenter Street since 1963 . In addition to the usual offers, there is a larger collection of books in Italian as well as a collection on local history.

Personalities


literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Alex R. Goldfeld: The North End . a brief history of Boston's oldest neighborhood. History Press, Charleston, SC 2009, ISBN 1-59629-518-X .
  2. ↑ a b c North End. (PDF; 1.2 MB) Exploring Boston's Neighborhoods. Boston Landmarks Commission, 1995, accessed May 21, 2012 .
  3. ^ A b c d e f g h i William P. Marchione: Boston miscellany . an episodic history of the Hub. History Press, Charleston, SC 2008, ISBN 1-59629-587-2 .
  4. ^ A b Robert J. Allison: A short history of Boston . Commonwealth Editions, Beverly, Mass. 2004, ISBN 1-889833-47-9 .
  5. ^ A b c d Anthony Mitchell Sammarco, Charlie Rosenberg: Boston's North End . Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC 2007, ISBN 0-7385-5503-7 .
  6. ^ The Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia: Cholera in Boston, 1849. In: The Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Medical pamphlet collection. April 11, 2001, accessed May 21, 2012 .
  7. ↑ a b Prince Story. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on May 3, 2012 ; accessed on May 21, 2012 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / prince.newworldpasta.com
  8. ↑ Penthouse of plenty in Boston's North End . trulia.com. 2011. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
  9. ^ A sticky tragedy: the rupture of a giant molasses tank in Boston just after the First World War caused devastation and led to the longest legal case in the city's history. . History Today. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
  10. ^ Commonwealth of Massachusetts: The Big Dig Facts and Figures . Massachusetts Department of Transportation. 2011. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
  11. ^ A b c Guild Nichols: North End History - The Italians. (No longer available online.) Northendboston.com, archived from the original on November 18, 2011 ; accessed on May 22, 2012 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.northendboston.com
  12. ^ Eliot K-8 School . bostonpublicschools.org. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
  13. ^ North Bennet Street School: History . nbss.edu. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
  14. ^ BPL North End Branch Library . bpl.org. Retrieved September 4, 2011.

Web links

Commons : North End, Boston  - collection of images, videos, and audio files