West Roxbury

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West Roxbury
Center Street in West Roxbury
Center Street in West Roxbury
Borough of Boston
Boston2.png
Basic data
Foundation : 1630
State : United States
State : Massachusetts
County : Suffolk County
Coordinates : 42 ° 17 ′  N , 71 ° 9 ′  W Coordinates: 42 ° 17 ′  N , 71 ° 9 ′  W
Time zone : Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 )
Residents : 30,446 (as of 2010)
Population density : 2,580.2 inhabitants per km 2
Area : 12 km 2  (about 5 mi 2 ) of
which 11.8 km 2  (about 5 mi 2 ) are land
Postal code : 02132
Area code : +1 617, 857

West Roxbury is a neighborhood ( neighborhood ) of the city of Boston in the state of Massachusetts in the United States . The neighborhood is bordered by Roslindale to the northeast, Dedham to the west and south, Brookline to the north, and Newton to the west. West Roxbury is often confused with Roxbury , but both parts of the city are separated by Jamaica Plain and Roslindale. The district is often referred to as “suburb within the city”.

The main street in West Roxbury is Center Street, which is full of restaurants and commercial establishments. Today the tree-lined streets and the many single-family houses give the impression of a suburb within the urban area. The neighborhood is home to many residents of Irish descent and a smaller number of recent Irish immigrants .

history

Religions

There are many places of worship in West Roxbury , including three Catholic parishes, several churches of various Protestant styles and a synagogue .

Population development

Historical population figures
Census Residents ± in%
1980 31,333 -
1990 29,706 -5.2%
2000 28,663 -3.5%
2010 30,446 6.2%

Analogous to the neighboring communities, the population of West Roxbury grew with the gradual establishment of the branch of the same name of the Boston and Providence Railroad . Further growth spurts followed later through the development and introduction of electrified trams .

The population has decreased slightly since the 1980s, but a renewed increase was observed in 2010. In 2010, West Roxbury was home to 86% white, 6% African-American , 3% Asian and 5% Hispanic or Latino .

Culture and sights

Buildings

Theodore Parker Church

On the corner of Center and Corey Streets, theodore Parker Church features seven stained-glass windows made by Tiffany Studios between 1894 and 1927. Designed by Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow, Jr. in 1890 and converted by Henry Seaver in 1900, the church building is now used as a community center. Theodore Parker , an advocate of progressive religious ideas, abolitionist and advocate of women's suffrage , was pastor of the Unitarian community from 1837 to 1846 .

More Attractions

graveyards

Westerly Burial Ground

The Westerly Burial Ground (also Westerly Burying Ground) cemetery is located on Center and Lagrange Street and was established in 1683 to enable the local burial of residents from Jamaica Plain and the western part of the then city of Roxbury. Previously, they were buried on today's Eliot Burying Ground near Dudley Square , which was relatively far away and required a long journey. With the annexation of West Roxbury by Boston on January 5, 1874, the cemetery was also assigned to the city of Boston and there the new district of West Roxbury. Eight veterans of the American Revolution and fifteen veterans of the Civil War are buried there, among others.

The Westerly Burying Ground contains an important collection of funerary art from three centuries. A third of the remaining tombstones date from the 18th, about half from the 19th century. Only around 20% of the tombstones have dates from the 20th century. The oldest surviving tombstone dates back to 1691 and indicates the grave of James and Merriam Draper, a well-known West Roxbury family.

The cemetery was entered on the National Register of Historic Places on November 20, 1987 under number 87001401 .

Boston United Hand in Hand Cemetery

Boston United Hand in Hand Cemetery is located on Center Street on the Dedham border . It was established in 1875, but was already fully occupied in 1896 and has been expanded several times since then. The youngest part of the cemetery is still in use today. The current owner of the site is the Mishka Tefila community from Chestnut Hill .

Regular events

The Corrib Classic 5K Road Race takes place annually on the first Sunday in June at Billings Field on LaGrange Street. The event started in 1994 with 250 runners and is now one of the largest street races in the city with around 2,000 participants. Center Street will be temporarily closed during the race. It is a charity event organized by the local Corrib Pub and Restaurant , which has already raised more than half a million US dollars for a variety of local projects.

The Parkway Little League Parade is a much smaller event to Baseball the Little League in West Roxbury and Roslindale to establish. Young baseball players in their uniforms march from Fallon Field in Roslindale to the Guy Cammarata Complex in West Roxbury.

Economy and Infrastructure

traffic

The Needham branch of MBTA Commuter Rail stops in West Roxbury at the three stations Bellevue, Highland and West Roxbury, where various bus routes also stop or end.

Public facilities

On the other side of the Charles River is located at the VFW Parkway , a hospital of the Department of Veterans Affairs .

education

schools

The Boston Public Schools run the public schools in the neighborhood. These are:

  • Ludwig van Beethoven Elementary School
  • William Ohrberger School
  • Joyce Kilmer K-8 School
  • Patrick Lyndon K-8 School

The Urban Science Academy is located in the West Roxbury Education Complex , which was merged with the previously independent school Parkway Academy of Technology and Health in 2011. The West Roxbury Academy (previously Media Communications Technology High School ) is also located in the same complex .

The Roxbury Latin School is a district-based private school founded in 1645. The school building has been on Saint Theresa Avenue since 1927. The Archdiocese of Boston also maintains the Holy Name Parish School and the St. Theresa of Avila School.

Public libraries

The West Roxbury Branch Library building

The Boston Public Library (BPL) has its own branch in West Roxbury. In 1876, the City Library took over the West Roxbury Free Library, opening a collection point in the district. In 1896 the facility was upgraded to a branch of the BPL. The current building was erected at its current location in 1921 and 1922. In 1977 a fire destroyed the adjacent West Roxbury Congregational Church, whereupon the property of the church was donated to the BPL so that an extension could be built at the branch. The extension opened on September 24, 1989.

Personalities

Others

In the 19th century, West Roxbury hosted the transcendentalists' utopian experiment Brook Farm , which attracted many personalities such as Margaret Fuller and Nathaniel Hawthorne . Hawthorne's 1852 novel The Blithedale Romance is based on his stay there.

literature

  • Anthony Mitchell Sammarco: West Roxbury (=  Then & now ). Arcadia, Portsmouth, NH 2003, ISBN 0-7385-1247-8 ( online in Google Book Search).
  • Alexander von Hoffman: Local attachments . the making of an American urban neighborhood, 1850 to 1920 (=  Creating the North American landscape ). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1994, ISBN 0-8018-5393-1 .

Web links

Commons : West Roxbury, Boston  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ West Roxbury. ( PDF ; 9 kB) Demographic and Housing Profile. City of Boston, accessed August 3, 2012 .
  2. ↑ WEST ROXBURY DATA PROFILE. ( PDF ; 220 kB) Department of Neighborhood Development, May 1, 2006, accessed on August 3, 2012 .
  3. ^ National Register Information System . In: National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service . Retrieved April 15, 2008.
  4. ^ Beethoven Elementary School. Boston Public Schools, accessed August 5, 2012 .
  5. ^ Earsberger School. Boston Public Schools, accessed August 5, 2012 .
  6. ↑ Kilmer K-8 School. Boston Public Schools, accessed August 5, 2012 .
  7. ^ Lyndon K-8 School. Boston Public Schools, accessed August 5, 2012 .
  8. ^ Urban Science Academy. Boston Public Schools, accessed August 5, 2012 .
  9. ^ Urban Science Academy. West Roxbury Academy, accessed August 5, 2012 .
  10. ^ The Roxbury Latin School. Retrieved August 5, 2012 .
  11. ^ West Roxbury Branch. Boston Public Library, accessed August 5, 2012 .
  12. ↑ John Van Der Zee Sears: My Friends at Brook Farm . D. FitzGerald, Inc., New York 1912, OCLC 1632086 ( online [accessed August 5, 2012]).