Author: WalkMassachusetts

Boston: Disasters, Dirty Deeds, and Debauchery-Walking Map

Boston: Disasters, Dirty Deeds, and Debauchery-Walking Map

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If you’ve been led to believe that Boston is steeped only in patriotism, Brahmin sensibilities, Ivory Towers, and the Kennedys–think again. All is not sugar and spice in one of America’s oldest cities; the dark side is never more than a few steps away! Boston’s less-than-illustrious past extends from the arrival of the Puritans to the present day, with a ghastly deed lurking around every corer. As you stroll down the quaint streets of Boston, discovering its sometimes sordid past, you may look at this old city in an entirely new light.

This walk traces the legendary happenings of the Great Molasses Flood, the Brinks Robbery, the former Combat Zone, the Common’s 17th century Hanging Tree, and the era of Mayor James Michael Curley. The book recalls the notoriety that resulted when thousands of windows crashed one by one to the streets below from the John Hancock Tower, then under construction.


Click for “WalkBoston’s Disasters, Dirty Deeds, and Debauchery Walking Map” on Google Maps

Boston: South Bay and the Shirley-Eustis House Walking Map

Boston: South Bay and the Shirley-Eustis House Walking Map

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If you look past the South Bay’s energy of modern commerce with some imagination, you can still visualize three-masted sailing ships, muscular steam locomotives, aristocratic estates, horse-drawn streetcars, and personalities of an earlier age who shaped and were shaped by the evolution of this area.

When the Puritans arrived in Boston, they found two large bays separated by a narrow isthmus roughly following today’s Washington Street. The southern bay—unsurprisingly named South Bay—was a large tidal marsh.

The bluffs overlooking South Bay, graced by the stately mansion of British royal governor William Shirley, were gradually lined with homes by the local gentry of the young republic. Influenced by the Industrial Revolution, over the 19th century these forces transformed the bay into a place devoted to industry and commerce.
Today only the Fort Point Channel remains as a remainder of South Bay’s watery history. Explore today’s South “Bay,” the neighborhood that landfill built.


Click for “WalkBoston’s South Bay and the Shirley-Eustis House Walking Map” on Google Maps

Boston: South Boston and Dorchester Bay Walking Map

Boston: South Boston and Dorchester Bay Walking Map

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South Boston has the longest continuously accessible ocean waterfront of any Boston neighborhood; it also has one of the city’s highest hill, complete with panoramic views of Boston Harbor and Dorchester Bay. In comparison with the downtown side of South Boston, where port activities dominate, the south side of the peninsula is highly accessible, with many public beaches and walkways. Here active waterfront uses predominate–large public bathhouses and beaches, shaded pavilions to take in the views, yacht clubs, and fishing spots.


Click for “WalkBoston’s South Boston and Dorchester Bay Walking Map” on Google Maps

Boston: Beacon Hill North Slope

Boston: Beacon Hill North Slope

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Explore the section of Beacon Hill bounded by Cambridge, Bowdoin, Myrtle, and Charles streets. Learn about the architectural history of the Hill’s 19th-century African-American community, the town houses of Yankee gentry dating from the early 1800s to the Civil War, and the tenements that housed European Jews during the period of 1880 to 1920. Meander along the alleyways and cul-de-sacs that for decades were considered part of the old West End neighborhood. The tour route will include the residences of abolitionist senator Charles Sumner, meat packer J.P. Squires, African-American civil rights advocates Louis and Harriet Hayden, and bohemian poet and editor Louise Bogan.


Click for “WalkBoston’s Beacon Hill North Slope Walking Map” on Google Maps

Boston: South Bay Harbor Trail Map

Boston: South Bay Harbor Trail Map

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The South Bay Harbor Trail is being developed by the South Bay Harbor Trail Coalition in partnership with the city of Boston and the environmental advocacy group Save the Harbor Save the Bay. The plan for the completed Harbor Trail is to connect many of Boston’s inland neighborhoods to the expanding amenities of Boston Harbor such as the New England Aquarium, the Children’s Museum, and the new Harbor Islands National Park. This major connection is planned to be an attractive route for walking, while functioning as access through a relatively unexplored area on the fringes of downtown Boston.

The South Bay Harbor Trail is also closely linked to walks along Boston Harbor and the Charles River. By connecting this walk to the downtown Harborwalk and Charles River stroll, you can completely encircle the outer edges of downtown Boston, including the South End, Chinatown, the shopping and financial districts, Government Center, the North End, Beacon Hill, and the Back Bay.


Click for “WalkBoston’s South Bay Harbor Trail Walking Map” on Google Maps