building, one of the largest and finest parish churches in the kingdom. A Decorated chapel in it, formerly desecrated, was restored to sacred use by citizens of Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., in 1857, in memory of the connexion of that city with the English town. The western tower, commonly known as Boston Stump, forms a landmark for 40 m. Its foundations were the first to be laid of the present church (which is on the site of an earlier one), but the construction was arrested until the Perpendicular period, of the work of which it is a magnificent example. It somewhat resembles the completed tower of Antwerp cathedral, and is crowned by a graceful octagonal lantern, the whole being nearly 290 ft. in height. The church of Skirbeck, 1 m. south-east, though extensively restored, retains good Early English details. Other buildings of interest are the guildhall, a 15th-century structure of brick; Shodfriars Hall, a half-timbered house adjacent to slight remains of a Dominican priory; the free grammar school, founded in 1554, with a fine gateway of wrought iron of the 17th century brought from St Botolph’s church; and the Hussey Tower of brick, part of a mansion of the 16th century. Public institutions include a people’s park and large municipal buildings (1904).
As a port Boston was of ancient importance, but in the 18th century the river had silted up so far as to exclude vessels exceeding about 50 tons. In 1882–1884 a dock some 7 acres in extent was constructed, with an entrance lock giving access to the quay sides for vessels of 3000 tons. The bed of the river was deepened to 27 ft. for 3 m. below the town, and a new cut of 3 m. was made from the mouth into deep water. An iron swing-bridge connects the dock with the Great Northern railway. There is a repairing slipway accommodating vessels of 800 tons. Imports, principally timber, grain, cotton and linseed, increased owing to these improvements from £116,179 in 1881 to £816,698 in 1899; and exports (coal, machinery and manufactured goods) from £83,000 in 1883 to £261,873 in 1899. The deep-sea and coastal fisheries are important. Engineering, oil-cake, tobacco, sail and rope works are the principal industries in the town. Boston returns one member to parliament. The parliamentary borough falls within the Holland or Spalding division of the county. The municipal borough is under a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. Area, 2727 acres.
Boston (Icanhoe, St Botolph or Botolph’s Town) derives its name from St Botolph, who in 654 founded a monastery here, which was destroyed by the Danes, 870. Although not mentioned in Domesday, Boston was probably granted as part of Skirbeck to Alan, earl of Brittany. The excellent commercial position of the town at the mouth of the Witham explains its speedy rise into importance. King John by charter of 1204 granted the bailiff of Boston sole jurisdiction in the town. By the 13th century it was a great commercial centre second only to London in paying £780 for two years to the fifteenth levied in 1205, and Edward III. made it a staple port for wool in 1369. The Hanseatic and Flemish merchants largely increased its prosperity, but on the withdrawal of the Hanseatic League about 1470 and the break-up of the gild system Boston’s prosperity began to wane, and for some centuries it remained almost without trade. Nevertheless it was raised to the rank of a free borough by Henry VIII.’s charter of 1546, confirmed by Edward VI. in 1547, by Mary in 1553, by Elizabeth (who granted a court of admiralty) in 1558 and 1573, and by James I. in 1608. Boston sent members to the great councils in 1337, 1352 and 1353; and from 1552 to 1885 two members were returned to each parliament. The Redistribution Act 1885 reduced the representation to one member. In 1257 a market was granted to the abbot of Crowland and in 1308 to John, earl of Brittany. The great annual mart was held before 1218 and attended by many German and other merchants. Two annual fairs and two weekly markets were granted by Henry VIII.’s charter, and are still held. The Great Mart survives only in the Beast Mart held on the 11th of December.
See Pishey Thompson, History and Antiquities of Boston and the Hundred of Skirbeck (Boston, 1856); George Jebb, Guide to the Church of St Botolph, with Notes on the History of Boston; Victoria County History: Lincolnshire.
BOSTON, the capital of the state of Massachusetts, U.S.A.,
in Suffolk county; lat. 42° 21′ 27.6″ N., long. 71° 3′ 30″ W. Pop.
(1900) 560,892, (197,129 being foreign born); (1905, state census)
595,580; (1910), 670,585. Boston is the terminus of the Boston &
Albany (New York Central), the Old Colony system of the New
York, New Haven & Hartford, and the Boston & Maine railway
systems, each of which controls several minor roads once independent.
The city lies on Massachusetts bay, on what was
once a pear-shaped peninsula attached to the mainland by a
narrow, marshy neck, often swept by the spray and water.
On the north is the Charles river, which widens here into a broad,
originally much broader, inner harbour or back-bay. The surface
of the peninsula was very hilly and irregular, the shore-line was
deeply indented with coves, and there were salt marshes that
fringed the neck and the river-channel and were left oozy by
the ebbing tides. Until after the War of Independence the
primitive topography remained unchanged, but it was afterwards
subjected to changes greater than those effected on the site of
any other American city. The area of the original Boston was
only 783 acres, but by the filling in of tidal flats (since 1804)
this was increased to 1829 acres; while the larger corporate
Boston of the present day—including the annexed territories of
South Boston (1804), Roxbury (1868), Charlestown, Dorchester,
Brighton and West Roxbury (1874)—comprehends almost
43 sq. m. The beautiful Public Garden and the finest residential
quarter of the city—the Back Bay, so called from that inner
harbour from whose waters it was reclaimed (1856–1886)—stand
on what was once the narrowest, but to-day is the widest and
fairest portion of the original site. Whole forests, vast quarries
of granite, and hills of gravel were used in fringing the water
margins, constructing wharves, piers and causeways, redeeming
flats, and furnishing piling and solid foundations for buildings.
At the edge of the Common, which is now well within the city,
the British troops in 1775 took their boats on the eve of the
battle of Lexington; and the post-office, now in the very heart
of the business section of the city, stands on the original
shore-line. The reclaimed territory is level and excellently drained. The
original territory still preserves to a large degree its irregularity
of surface, but its hills have been much degraded or wholly razed.
Beacon Hill, so called from its ancient use as a signal warning
station, is still the most conspicuous topographical feature of
the city, but it has been changed from a bold and picturesque
eminence into a gentle slope. After the great fire of 1872 it
became possible, in the reconstruction of the business district,
to widen and straighten its streets and create squares, and so
provide for the traffic that had long outgrown the narrow,
crooked ways of the older city. Atlantic Avenue, along the
harbour front, was created, and Washington Street, the chief
business artery, was largely remade after 1866. It is probable
that up to 1875, at least, there had been a larger outlay of labour,
material and money, in reducing, levelling and reclaiming
territory, and in straightening and widening thoroughfares[1] in
Boston, than had been expended for the same purposes in all
the other chief cities of the United States together. Washington
Street, still narrow, is perhaps the most crowded and congested
thoroughfare in America. The finest residence streets are in the
Back Bay, which is laid out, in sharp contrast with the older
quarters, in a regular, rectangular arrangement. The North
End, the original city and afterwards the fashionable quarter,
is now given over to the Jews and foreign colonies.
The harbour islands, three of which have been ceded to the United States for the purpose of fortification, are numerous, and render the navigation of the shipping channels difficult and easily guarded. Though tortuous of access, the channels afford a clear passage of 27–35 ft. since great improvements were undertaken by the national government in 1892, 1899, 1902 and 1907, and the harbour, when reached, is secure. It affords nearly 60 sq. m. of anchorage, but the wharf line, for lack of early reservation, is not so large as it might and should have been. The islands in the harbour, now bare, were for the most part heavily wooded when first occupied. It has been found impossible to afforest them on account of the roughness of the sea-air, and the wash from their bluffs into the harbour has involved large expense in the erection of sea-walls. Castle Island has been fortified since the earliest days; Fort Independence, on this island, and Forts Winthrop and Warren on neighbouring islands, constitute permanent harbour defences. The broad watercourses
- ↑ On the alteration of streets alone $26,691,496 were expended from 1822 to 1880.
