Shawmut Peninsula is the promontory of land on which Boston, Massachusetts was built. The peninsula, originally a mere 789 acres (3.19 km) in area, more than doubled in size due to land reclamation efforts that were a feature of the history of Boston throughout the 19th century.
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👉 Shawmut Peninsula in the context of Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. Boston has an area of 48.4 sq mi (125 km) and a population of 675,647 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in the Northeastern United States after New York City and Philadelphia. The larger Greater Boston metropolitan statistical area had a population of 4.9 million in 2023, making it the largest metropolitan area in New England and the eleventh-largest in the United States.
Boston was founded on Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by English Puritan settlers, who named the city after the market town of Boston, Lincolnshire in England. During the American Revolution and Revolutionary War, Boston was home to several seminal events, including the Boston Massacre (1770), the Boston Tea Party (1773), Paul Revere's midnight ride (1775), the Battle of Bunker Hill (1775), and the Siege of Boston (1775–1776).
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Shawmut Peninsula in the context of Emerald Necklace
The Emerald Necklace consists of a 1,100-acre (4.5 km; 450 ha) chain of parks linked by parkways and waterways in Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts. It was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, and gets its name from the way the planned chain appears to hang from the "neck" of the Boston peninsula. In 1989, the Emerald Necklace was designated as a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission.
Shawmut Peninsula in the context of History of Boston
The written history of Boston begins with a letter drafted by the first European inhabitant of the Shawmut Peninsula, William Blaxton. This letter is dated September 7, 1630, and was addressed to the leader of the Puritan settlement of Charlestown, Isaac Johnson. The letter acknowledged the difficulty in finding potable water on that side of Back Bay. As a remedy, Blaxton advertised an excellent spring at the foot of what is now Beacon Hill and invited the Puritans to settle with him on Shawmut.
Boston was named and officially incorporated on September 30, 1630 (Old Style). The city quickly became the political, commercial, financial, religious and educational center of Puritan New England and grew to play a central role in the history of the United States.