Boston Neck
Encyclopedia
Isthmus
An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas usually with waterforms on either side.Canals are often built through isthmuses where they may be particularly advantageous to create a shortcut for marine transportation...
, a narrow strip of land connecting the then-peninsular city of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
to the mainland city of Roxbury (now a neighborhood of Boston). The surrounding area was gradually filled in as the city of Boston expanded in population. (See History of Boston.)
History
City gate
A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. Other terms include port.-Uses:City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods and animals...
and earthen wall on the neck in about 1631 to prevent attacks from Indians and to keep out unwanted animals and people. The gate was constantly guarded and usually locked during certain times during the evening. No residents could enter or leave during that period. There was a wooden gallows
Gallows
A gallows is a frame, typically wooden, used for execution by hanging, or by means to torture before execution, as was used when being hanged, drawn and quartered...
just outside the town gate. Burglars and pickpockets were commonly executed in those days, as well as murderers.
In colonial times, the Charles River
Charles River
The Charles River is an long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts, USA. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 22 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston...
marshes were north of the neck, and Gallows Bay was on the south side. It was so named because of the nearby executions at the neck. It later became known as South Bay. The main road through the neck was called Orange Street on Capt. John Bonner’s map of 1722.
In 1710, additional fortification
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
s were constructed. There were supposedly two wooden gates, one for carriage
Carriage
A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...
s and one for foot travelers. In September 1774, General Thomas Gage
Thomas Gage
Thomas Gage was a British general, best known for his many years of service in North America, including his role as military commander in the early days of the American War of Independence....
strengthened the old fortifications of brick, stone and earth with timber and additional earth. Gage ordered a ditch to be dug in front of the fortifications, that would fill with salt water during high tides, effectively cutting Boston off from the mainland. The neck had soft mud on both sides at low tide, making it very difficult to enter Boston on foot except through the town gate.
On the night of April 18, 1775, Patriot leader Doctor Joseph Warren
Joseph Warren
Dr. Joseph Warren was an American doctor who played a leading role in American Patriot organizations in Boston in early days of the American Revolution, eventually serving as president of the revolutionary Massachusetts Provincial Congress...
sent Paul Revere
Paul Revere
Paul Revere was an American silversmith and a patriot in the American Revolution. He is most famous for alerting Colonial militia of approaching British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, Paul Revere's Ride...
and William Dawes
William Dawes
William Dawes, Jr. was one of several men and a woman who alerted colonial minutemen of the approach of British army troops prior to the Battle of Lexington and Concord at the outset of the American Revolution....
on horseback with identical written messages to warn John Hancock
John Hancock
John Hancock was a merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts...
and Samuel Adams
Samuel Adams
Samuel Adams was an American statesman, political philosopher, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. As a politician in colonial Massachusetts, Adams was a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, and was one of the architects of the principles of American...
of the British expedition to capture them and to seize the powder in Concord
Concord, Massachusetts
Concord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 17,668. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.-History:...
. Dawes, a 30 year-old Boston tanner, was well known to the British sentries at the town gate on Boston Neck and was able to pass through the checkpoint that evening despite a lockdown
Lockdown
There are several definitions for the term lockdown, the most common of which pertains to a state of containment or a restriction of progression....
. Dawes traveled a southern route by land while Revere took the northern route. Dr. Warren sent both men, to be certain one of them would be able to evade the British patrols. Dawes left about 10 P.M. and rode 17 miles (27.4 km) in three hours. He met with Revere shortly before 1 A.M. at the Hancock-Clarke House
Hancock-Clarke House
The Hancock-Clarke House is a historic American Revolutionary War site on Hancock Street in Lexington, Massachusetts. It played a prominent role in the Battle of Lexington and Concord as both John Hancock and Samuel Adams, leaders of the colonials, were staying in the house before the battle. The...
in Lexington
Lexington, Massachusetts
Lexington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,399 at the 2010 census. This town is famous for being the site of the first shot of the American Revolution, in the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775.- History :...
, in the early morning of April 19, 1775, hours before the Battles of Lexington and Concord
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy , and Cambridge, near Boston...
initiated the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
.
The residents started adding fill along the neck in the late 18th century because the low-lying area was prone to erosion. Beginning in the 1830s, the Charles River tidal flats were filled in with train loads of gravel from the Needham area. This created the present Back Bay section of Boston. The remains of the fortifications at the town gate were still visible in 1822. In about 1824, this section of Orange Street where the town gate once stood was renamed Washington Street.
The Washington Street Elevated
Washington Street Elevated
The Washington Street Elevated was an elevated segment of Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway system, comprising the southern stretch of the Orange Line . It ran from Chinatown through the South End and Roxbury, ending in Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain...
(the “El”) ran subway trains above Washington Street from 1901 until 1987 when the Orange Line
Orange Line (MBTA)
The Orange Line is one of the four subway lines of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. It extends from Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain, Boston in the south to Oak Grove in Malden, Massachusetts in the north. It meets the Red Line at Downtown Crossing, the Blue Line at State, and the Green...
(which inherited the old name of the street) was relocated and the elevated tracks and stations were torn down.
The Dover Street station was located at the site of the old town gate at the intersection of Dover and Washington Street. Dover Street was renamed East Berkeley Street sometime after the subway station was demolished. Today, at the intersection of East Berkeley and Washington Streets, nothing of the town gate or the fortifications is left.