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  • Dorchester Heights
  • https://npshistory.com/publications/bost/cli-dorchester-heights.pdf
  • ("telegraph hill" "Boston")
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Dorchester Heights National Historic Site
View of Thomas Park and the Dorchester Heights Monument
Epicgenius/sandbox/draft30 is located in Massachusetts
Epicgenius/sandbox/draft30
Epicgenius/sandbox/draft30 is located in the United States
Epicgenius/sandbox/draft30
LocationSouth Boston, Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°19′58″N 71°2′46″W / 42.33278°N 71.04611°W / 42.33278; -71.04611
Area5.4 acres (2.2 ha) (Thomas Park)
40 acres (16 ha) (neighborhood)
Built
ArchitectPeabody and Stearns (Dorchester Heights Monument)
Architectural styleColonial Revival, Georgian Colonial Revival (Dorchester Heights Monument)
Part ofBoston National Historical Park[1] (ID74002222[2])
NRHP reference No.66000050[3]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966
Designated CPOctober 26, 1974[2]

Dorchester Heights is a historic district in the South Boston neighborhood of Boston in Massachusetts, United States. The district is centered on Telegraph Hill, a drumlin that is the highest point in South Boston. along with the former Mount Washington to the east. At the peak of Telegraph Hill is Thomas Park (also known as Dorchester Heights), the site of a 1776 fortification action during the American Revolutionary War. Thomas Park, which includes the Dorchester Heights Monument, is designated as a United States national historic site and is part of Boston National Historical Park. Surrounding the park is the 40-acre (16 ha) Dorchester Heights Historic District, a primarily residential area listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP)

The area was occupied by the indigenous Algonquin until European colonization in 1630. It then became part of the town of Dorchester but was sparsely occupied for over a century, During the Revolution, American commander-in-chief George Washington built the Dorchester Heights fortification on March 4–5, 1776, which helped break the siege of British-occupied Boston. Additional fortifications were built on Telegraph Hill in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, though the district remained sparsely developed due to the hilly topography. The construction of a reservoir atop Telegraph Hill in 1849, and the adjacent Thomas Park in 1852–1855, helped spur development, initially on the hill's north slope. The Dorchester Heights Monument and South Boston High School—the latter replacing the reservoir—were both built in the early 1900s. Development on the north slope was largely complete by the 1890s, while the south slope continued to be developed through the 1920s. Most of the district's 19th- and 20th-century buildings remain intact, and the park and monument have been operated by the National Park Service since 1980.

The NRHP district is bounded roughly by Gates Street, Dorchester Street, East 4th Street, G Street, and East 8th Street. At the center of the district, an elliptical road called Thomas Park Street runs around Thomas Park and South Boston High School. The park has a largely symmetrical layout and is sparsely landscaped, except for the monument, a three-section tower designed by Peabody and Stearns. Several roads extend north of the ellipse, and Telegraph and East 6th streets run west and east, respectively. The district's buildings largely consist of detached houses, attached rowhouses, and multi-family units designed in a variety of architectural styles, including the Italianate, Federal, Georgian, Greek Revival, Colonial Revival, neoclassical, and Queen Anne styles. There are also a small number of non-residential buildings, including a church, clubhouse, and public buildings.

Geography

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Dorchester Heights is a historic district on Dorchester Neck, a peninsula coextensive with the modern-day South Boston neighborhood of Boston in Massachusetts, United States.[4][5] The district is centered on Telegraph Hill,[6][7] the highest point of Dorchester Neck.[4][8][9] Telegraph Hill, a glacial drumlin, was formed about 12,000 years before present.[6][8] Despite its name, Dorchester Heights is not within the neighborhood of Dorchester,[10] although it was part of the neighborhood's predecessor, the town of Dorchester, prior to 1804.[11]

The Boston Planning & Development Agency classifies Dorchester Heights and Telegraph Hill as part of the greater South Boston neighborhood.[12] The "Dorchester Heights" name is sometimes used to refer specifically to Telegraph Hill itself;[13] Thomas Park at the peak of Telegraph Hill;[14][15] or to the Dorchester Heights Historic District, which spans several city blocks around the park.[16] The National Park Service describes both the "Telegraph Hill" and "Dorchester Heights" names as applying specifically to the park and immediate surroundings.[17] The Dorchester Heights name is sometimes also used for the neighboring area covered by the former Mount Washington, just east of Telegraph Hill.[18]

Telegraph Hill

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Telegraph Hill is the more westerly of the two drumlins in Dorchester Heights.[6][7] The section of the hill in front of the Dorchester Heights Monument originally rose 148.5 feet (45.3 m) above mean sea level, but when the monument was built in 1900, the height was reduced by an unknown amount.[19] It was originally known as the First Hill, contrasting with Mount Washington, which was smaller and was known as the Second Hill.[7][8] Telegraph Hill has also been known as Forster's, Foster's, Strawberry, or Signal Tree Hill, while Mount Washington was also called Bird Hill.[7] The two drumlins were sometimes collectively known as the Twin Hills,[7][18][20] and individually as the West and East Hills.[9][21] These drumlins were among many in Greater Boston created at the end of the Wisconsin glaciation, when retreating glaciers wore down the Boston Basin, a field of soft bedrock underlying much of Greater Boston.[22]

Telegraph Hill is one of Boston's few drumlins that remains mostly recognizable; most of the city's other drumlins were truncated or destroyed to provide fill for land reclamation.[23][5] Telegraph Hill has an oblong shape and is oriented east–west, similar to other drumlins to the north and west.[8][24] The western slope was infilled in the late 19th century, while the eastern slope was partially excavated to make way for the South Boston Reservoir, no longer extant.[23][25] Although the top 6 feet (1.8 m) of the hill was shortened in the 1840s,[4][26] the hill remains largely intact, in contrast to other drumlins in Boston that were shortened substantially or flattened entirely.[27] Mount Washington, along with Brush Tree Hill further east on the peninsula, was flattened in the 19th and 20th centuries.[28][21] Prior to flattening, Mount Washington comprised a roughly pentagonal area between Dorchester, East 3rd, I, East 4th, and G streets.[29]

Street grid and land lots

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The streets surrounding Dorchester Heights were laid out by Mather Withington as part of South Boston's street grid in 1804. Due to Dorchester Heights' steep topography, the area between East 4th Street to the north, Old Harbor Street to the west, East 8th Street to the east, and G Street to the west did not originally have any intermediate streets.[6][30][31] Several north–south streets were later laid out north of the ellipse.[6] At the center of Dorchester Heights is the elliptical Thomas Park Street.[32][a] Telegraph Street and East Sixth Street extend west and east of the ellipse, respectively.[6]

The western section of the ellipse surrounded by Thomas Park Street is occupied by Thomas Park, while the eastern section contains South Boston High School.[34][35] Land sales and subdivisions in the mid-19th century determined the sizes of the modern-day land lots surrounding Thomas Park Street. The sites north of Thomas Park were parceled out by the James brothers and were generally 20 to 25 feet (6.1 to 7.6 m) wide.[33][36] The lots near Linden Park were larger and were occupied by rowhouses or standalone single and double houses.[36] The sites to the south were subdivided after the north lots, and in a less regular fashion.[33][37] Aside from Thomas Park, the neighborhood contains little greenery other than the yards abutting the neighborhood's houses.[38]

History

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Early history

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Before the American Revolutionary War

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Prior to European colonization of the Shawmut area in the 17th century, the drumlin was surrounded by a forest,[39] described in one source as an oak–hickory forest.[26] Dorchester Neck was known as Mattapanock by the indigenous Algonquin people, who met at "Pow-Wow Point", a natural spring and wooded stand about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) northeast of modern-day Thomas Park.[40][41] The forest was cut down by either the Algonquin or early settlers in the 17th and 18th centuries,[7][39] and the wood was used for kindling and construction supplies.[26] The first European colonizers of Boston were Puritans from the English town of Dorchester, Dorset, who landed at Mattapanock in 1630 and named the area for their hometown. Shortly after the colonists arrived, most of the native population died of smallpox.[40][41] The colonists founded the town of Dorchester (now part of Boston) farther inland.[42][43] Boston itself became a major trading hub.[44]

Dorchester Neck itself saw little development during the 17th and early 18th century, being used mostly for farming and as a communal pasture.[42][43][45] There were trees and small ponds across the peninsula.[28] The first development on the peninsula was a house built by James Blake in the 1670s[28] or by 1680,[9][45] and there were only about a dozen families there a century later.[28][45][46] In the early 18th century, Dorchester Heights was part of the Wiswell family's farm.[25][45] Wiswell's house, likely built c. 1710,[47] was north of Thomas Park; he owned a farm with a barn near present-day Dorchester Heights.[43][45] The site of Thomas Park may have been part of the Bird family estate,[43][48] which included a house built c. 1721 on what is now East 5th Street.[9][47] North of Thomas Park, near Dorchester Street, was the Jones–Foster House, owned by Ebenezer Jones and then the Fosters.[9][49] A small road, Nook's Lane, led to this house from what is now the intersection of Dorchester and East 7th streets.[21] These estates, and other houses on the peninsula, were accessed by two or three roads.[28][46]

At the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775, the drumlins near Boston Harbor were ideal places for fortifications.[5][50] Wiswell's house was destroyed by British troops in 1776 during the war,[43][45] as was Bird's house and a half-dozen others, though the Jones–Foster House survived the pillages.[9][51] All existing residents of the peninsula fled after the British attacks.[49][20]

American Revolutionary War and late 18th century

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During the Revolutionary War, American troops commenced a lengthy siege of British-controlled Boston,[52][53] which began on April 19, 1775, in the aftermath of the Battles of Lexington and Concord.[53][54] The British, which controlled Castle William near Dorchester Neck, found themselves encircled.[53][55] British general William Howe was aware of the importance of the hills at Dorchester Heights and Charlestown,[50] and in June 1775, he made plans to seize Dorchester Heights, which provided a better view of the harbor than Charlestown did.[56] American commander-in-chief George Washington took command of the siege that July,[55][57] but he initially did not fortify Dorchester Heights out of concern that the British could overrun his troops.[57][58] Later that year, American colonel Henry Knox brought cannons from Fort Ticonderoga to the siege.[59][60] The Americans intended to install 24 of these cannons at Dorchester Heights.[60]

Washington ordered a diversionary attack on Boston on March 2–4, 1776.[61][62] This helped conceal the construction of fortifications on Dorchester Heights starting on March 4, during which American troops built chandeliers (heavy timbers used as frames) and fascines;[61][63] the fortifications were finished the next morning.[63][64] Washington then built another fortification on Nook Hill closer to Boston, which, after delays caused by a British ambush, was completed on March 16.[65] The next day, March 17, British troops under Howe retreated from Boston, and the siege ended.[65][66] The evacuation of Boston was the first major American victory and Washington's first victory in the war.[52][67] Mount Washington, the shorter of Dorchester Heights' two hills, was named for him.[29]

Under American colonel Richard Gridley, the original haphazard fortifications were replaced with strengthened defenses in May 1776. A six-pointed fort was built on Telegraph Hill, with a moat and a parade ground;[68][69] this was located near the present intersection of Atlantic and Thomas Park streets.[49] A four-pointed fort was also built on Mount Washington,[69] between G, H, East 4th, and East 5th streets.[49] Gridley continued upgrading the Telegraph Hill fort through the late 1770s,[70] and the detachment at the fort had been drawn down to fewer than a dozen by 1780.[71] Little is known about the fort itself between 1778 and 1812,[72] and the fort did not receive any funding from two successive federal defense appropriations.[73] The peninsula itself remained sparsely developed.[74][75] A smallpox hospital was opened in 1792,[75][76] within the Bird house.[74]

Annexation, War of 1812, and aftermath

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The South Boston region, originally part of the town of Dorchester,[11][77] was annexed to the town of Boston in 1804.[47][78] Dorchester Neck then had a total population of 60.[79] Around that time, Mather Withington was hired to survey South Boston for a street grid.[6][30][31] The grid was finalized in 1805 and consisted of west–east numbered streets and north–south lettered streets; an existing road crossing the grid diagonally was renamed Dorchester Street, while a west–east main street named Broadway was built.[80] Because of topographic difficulties, the grid was interrupted at Telegraph Hill.[30][31][81] As a condition of the annexation,[11][77] the South Boston Bridge was built to connect Broadway with the rest of Boston, opening that year.[79][30] This bridge did not spur much development, since was a toll road[79][31] and because it did not provide the most convenient route to Downtown Boston.[30][31] Iron, glass, and shipbuilding industries began to proliferate in South Boston in the early 19th century,[30][82][83] but the War of 1812 delayed the area's further development.[79][84]

By 1812, the Dorchester Heights fort was described as having been "partially washed away";[72][81] the war's outbreak prompted the Boston Board of Selectmen to rebuild the Dorchester Heights defenses.[71] In late 1814, local volunteers strengthened the Dorchester Heights fortifications with the addition of a powder house, cannon platforms, and ditches.[71][85] A barracks was also built north of Broadway.[71][86] Horace C. Story, writing to Chief of Engineers Joseph Gardner Swift, regarded the fortifications as weak but conceded that Dorchester Heights was a good place for fortifications.[87] After the War of 1812 ended in 1815, the US government no longer saw the Dorchester Heights fortification as vital to Boston's defense.[27] The fort started to decay, and the hill came to attract visitors.[88][89] Little written documentation of the fort after 1814 survives; one of the few surviving accounts from 1824 described the fort as unusable, and contemporary drawings depicted the fortifications as eroded and with their artillery and equipment in disarray.[88] It continued to survive in fragments until mid-century[42][89] and was used informally as a recreational area.[89]

19th-century development

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Late 1820s to 1840s: Initial development

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Dorchester Heights at night, seen from Thomas Park

The toll-free Federal Street Bridge to the rest of Boston was built in 1828, and South Boston's first omnibus line began running over the bridge the next year, spurring South Boston's development.[31][83] The tidal flats around Dorchester Heights' base were filled as part of land reclamation initiatives.[90] Still, one resident recalled that, in 1832, there were only three houses in Dorchester Heights: one each on the western slopes of Telegraph Hill and Mount Washington, and the Bird house in the valley between the two hills.[91][92] The area's population, which numbered 2.2–2.5 thousand in 1830, grew fivefold over the next two decades, and many workers began moving to South Boston.[93][94] Newly arrived Irish immigrants also contributed to the influx of residents in South Boston, even before the Great Famine of the 1840s, and South Boston had 10,000 residents by 1845. Researchers retrospectively labeled these immigrants as "malnourished and poorly educated".[11][95]

Samuel Gray's brickworks at Old Harbor Street, on the southern periphery of Dorchester Heights, was also developed in 1830.[96] A small number of houses on Dorchester Heights were built in the 1830s and 1840s, but most of South Boston's development was farther north, along the shorefront north of Dorchester Street.[93] The Mt. Washington Hotel was built on Mount Washington near East 4th and H streets in 1838[84][94] but was taken over by the Perkins Institute for the Blind within a year.[31][83] The poor upkeep of the streets and infrastructure, and the presence of a poorhouse and correctional and medical institutions just east of Dorchester Heights, stymied further construction on the hilltop.[84][93][97] No public structures were built in Dorchester Heights in the quarter-century preceding 1850,[92] and because of the Boston government's lack of attention to South Boston, the area's only school was operated by residents.[11][84] Among Dorchester Heights' residents at the time were Perkins Institute director Samuel Gridley Howe and his wife Julia Ward Howe.[98] The Howes lived in the Bird House, which, along with a wood-frame house on G Street, were among the area's few buildings.[92][98]

Late 1840s to 1860s: Reservoir, park, and first houses

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A survey of Dorchester Heights was commissioned in 1841 after some buildings had been constructed, in some cases protruding into the street grid.[99] The condition of the utilities was still inadequate in the 1840s,[92][99] and residents did not appreciate the presence of the institutions east of Dorchester Heights.[97] As such, 1,700 residents wrote a "memorial" petition to the mayor in 1847, advocating for improvements to the neighborhood's infrastructure, including open spaces, a proper water supply system, and other utilities.[89][99][100] The petitioners also suggested the construction of a reservoir atop Telegraph Hill, the westernmost of Dorchester Heights' hills.[101][102] At the time, South Boston residents used wells for water supply, which were unreliable and often insufficient.[103][102] Shortly after receiving the petition, the Boston City Council began making upgrades, including laying out sewers and paving the streets.[104] An elliptical area near the top of Telegraph Hill was acquired by the city of Boston for a park and reservoir.[105][106] To make way for the reservoir, the top of the hill was shortened by 6 feet (1.8 m).[4][26] The memorial's petitioners had suggested an islet in the middle of the reservoir, this was not built.[107]

The South Boston Reservoir was completed in November 1849,[b] with water provided from Lake Cochituate in the western suburbs.[89][108][109] The reservoir was roughly half-oval in plan,[102] measuring 370 by 260 feet (113 by 79 m) across, with a depth of 20 feet (6.1 m) and a capacity of 7.5 million US gallons (28,000,000 L; 6,200,000 imp gal).[105][108] It was one of several reservoirs that were developed atop drumlins in Boston.[5][23] Parts of the Dorchester Heights fort still existed at the time.[89][111] The city government purchased the rest of the ellipse in 1851 for $112,000 and provided $280,000 to develop it into a park,[103][36] work on which began in 1852.[103][112] Known as Linden (later Thomas) Park,[112][113] it was mostly finished by 1854, though it had no formal dedication.[114] Large parts of the Dorchester Heights fort were removed to make way for the park,[27][89] and a perimeter fence, trees, walkways, and grass were laid out.[105][106][115] Thomas Park Street, surrounding the park and reservoir, may have also been built in the mid-1850s.[116] During that decade, there were also calls to construct a monument commemorating the Dorchester Heights fortification.[37]

The infrastructure around the South Boston Reservoir and Linden Park was upgraded from the late 1840s onward.[117][113] The first such upgrade was the widening of East 4th Street in 1849, along with tree planting on G and East 4th streets.[117] Other streets in the area were also paved and leveled.[36] Gas lines were laid in the South Boston area in 1852,[118] at which point there were over two dozen buildings in Dorchester Heights, most of them near the intersection of G and East 4th streets.[119] Two streetcar lines were recorded as operating in the neighborhood two years later.[118] The Howe and Bird estates, in the northern section of Dorchester Heights, also began to be subdivided for development.[118] Benjamin James developed many of the first houses in Dorchester Heights' northern section.[120][121] The houses attracted solidly middle-class residents, many of whom owned rather than rented their residences.[117]

Dorchester Heights and Thomas Park seen at sunset from the top of Telegraph Hill

During the American Civil War, South Boston's population grew rapidly as immigrant Irish laborers moved into the neighborhood, particularly north of Dorchester Street.[122] In 1863, James laid out the houses on Linden Street (north of Linden Park),[123][124] and a church opened nearby at I and East 4th streets.[125] The Carney Hospital opened that year,[119][125] taking over the existing Hall Jackson Howe House.[119] The influx of Irish prompted the opening of many Roman Catholic churches around Dorchester Heights, even while Protestant congregations declined in size.[126] Residents included many individuals in the building trades—such as carpenters, material suppliers, and land speculators—in addition to sailors.[123] Protestants continued to live in Dorchester Heights.[127]

1870s to 1890s

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By the early 1870s, the park and Telegraph Hill were being referred to as Thomas Park.[112] In the late 19th century, the status of the name "Dorchester Heights" was uncertain. Two sources from 1882 and 1902 wrote that Dorchester Heights was more commonly considered part of South Boston.[128][129] In the late 1890s, the Lowell Daily Sun wrote that "Dorchester Heights as it exists today is but a small part of Dorchester Heights of a century ago",[130] and The Boston Globe used the Dorchester Heights and Telegraph Hill names solely in reference to the park and reservoir site atop the hill.[131]

South of Thomas Park, a driveway leading from Old Harbor Street had been converted into Dixfield Street, a cul-de-sac (later connected with Covington Street), by 1870.[132] The reservoir stopped supplying water in 1872 after the Sudbury Aqueduct opened.[133] The reservoir remained in use as a reserve water supply source and was used for ice skating until several people drowned in it.[c][132][133] The Mount Washington Female Institute opened on East 4th Street in 1873.[92] Development in the northern section of Dorchester Heights slowed after the mid-1870s as available land dwindled.[135] South of the park was the Suffolk Brewery at G and East 8th streets,[136] along with a livery stable at that intersection.[96] The brewery may have stunted growth in the southern section of Dorchester Heights through at least the 1880s.[119] Though Telegraph Hill remained intact because of the park and reservoir, a road had been cut through the neighborhood's other hill, Mount Washington.[137] Thomas Park received a flagpole and walkways during the 1870s,[116] and the Centennial Monument was dedicated there in 1877.[138][139] A writer for the Boston Evening Traveller wrote that, aside from the Centennial Monument, there was little trace of Dorchester Heights' history.[140]

The South Boston Inquirer wrote in 1880 that, despite the topographical advantages of Dorchester Heights, further development of South Boston had been slowed in part because of the presence of social institutions and inconvenient public transit.[132][141] Uniquely among Boston's neighborhoods, there was also no public high school.[37][132] Development in southern Dorchester Heights finally proceeded in the 1880s and 1890s, with single-family homes and rowhouses being built.[135] William J. Feeley, an Irish-born hotelier who owned the Hotel Marie just south of the park, helped pay for a stairway descending from Thomas Park to Covington streets.[142] The Thomas N. Hart School was built east of the park in 1889,[143] and an expansion to the Carney Hospital was built in Dorchester Heights around that time.[144][145] During the decade, a writer for The Boston Daily Globe wrote that Dorchester Heights was "among the most interesting places to visit", not only for its history but also for its expansive views,[146]

The neighborhood, and Thomas Park in particular, was a popular location for sightseers during the 1890s.[147] The park was used for active recreation, causing the ground to degrade;[148] despite subsequent repairs, by 1896 The Boston Daily Globe wrote that the park was neglected.[149] The existing seats had degraded, and a lack of fence encouraged people to walk haphazardly across the grounds.[147] Local residents formed an organization in 1894 to care for Thomas Park and other historical sites in South Boston.[150] Meanwhile, funding for a high school in the neighborhood was allocated in 1894,[37][132] and the city government took over the South Boston Reservoir site for South Boston High School three years later.[133][151] Work on the school started in 1899; the reservoir was demolished to make way for the school.[133][134] Concurrently with the school plans, local residents advocated for a monument in Thomas Park marking the fortification of Dorchester Heights,[152] and the Massachusetts General Court—the state legislature—allocated funding in 1898 for such a monument.[37][153] The old fort, while not intact, still remained partly intact except for its parapets.[154]

20th century

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1900s to 1940s

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Work on the monument had commenced by February 1900.[155] The South Boston High School opened in September 1901,[156] followed by the dedication of the Dorchester Heights Monument on March 17, 1902.[157][158] The monument, initially closed to the public because of a lack of safety railings,[159] was transferred to the city government and opened in 1904.[160] Local residents formed the South Boston Citizens’ Association, which hosted Evacuation Day and Saint Patrick's Day celebrations every March 17.[161] A fence was added around the monument in 1905;[162][163] there were plans to smoothen the steep slope separating the monument and high school,[19][164] but this never occurred.[165] The Boston Department of Common and Public Grounds took over Thomas Park in 1906 and transferred operations to the city's Parks Department in 1912.[161] During World War I, one of the houses, the Alice Stone Blackwell estate, was converted into a temporary hospital.[166]

By the end of World War I, the Dorchester Heights neighborhood was mostly developed and was populated by Irish, German, Polish, and Lithuanian families, along with a few remaining English Protestants. Although the district had become largely middle-class, there were still some working-class residents.[167] Development of the southern part of Dorchester Heights continued into the 1920s,[113][168] and the remaining vacant sites were developed with multi-story and multi-family housing.[167] South Boston High School was also expanded in 1926,[161] and religious institutions such as a Jewish community center and the Philips Evangelical Church Society moved to Dorchester Heights.[144] In Thomas Park, an open-air market operated during the 1920s,[169] and a memorial to Henry Knox was added in the park in 1926.[170] Other modifications were made to the park in the 1920s and 1930s, including new fencing, stairways, and paths and a relocation of of the Centennial Monument.[171] A Boston businessman also proposed a four-way bridge connecting Telegraph Hill to three other neighborhoods in Boston, which was never built.[172]

In 1930, Park Commissioner William P. Long proposed that an 800-foot-wide (240 m) mall be constructed south of Thomas Park, extending to the Strandway at the Old Harbor shoreline.[173] Had the mall been built, it would have replaced Covington Street.[173][174] The Dorchester Heights Monument was restored in 1935.[175] The next year, local group South Boston Citizens' Association began advocating for the Thomas Park area to be designated as a United States national historic site.[176] Mayor Frederick Mansfield endorsed the transfer, asking the Boston City Council to consider the matter,[177] and his successor Maurice J. Tobin signed legislation in 1938, allowing a federal takeover of the site.[178] U.S. representative John W. McCormack introduced legislation in the United States House of Representatives to carry out the federal designation,[179] and in 1939 the General Court authorized the transfer.[19][161][180] The next year, the federal government determined Dorchester Heights eligible for national designation.[181]

1950s to 1990s

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In 1951, Interior Secretary Oscar L. Chapman designated Thomas Park as the Dorchester Heights National Historic Site to commemorate the fortification of Dorchester Heights.[176][182] The designation was formalized with a parade on March 17, 1951, the 175th anniversary of the fortification;[183][184] Dorchester Heights thus became Boston's first national historic site.[185] Despite the national designation, the city government still owned the park and monument.[186][161] In 1953, the city government designated Dorchester Heights and other parts of South Boston as a "pilot area" for the city's neighborhood beautification initiative.[187] By that May, the city was planting trees, repairing streets and sidewalks, and upgrading streetlights as part of a pilot program to restore Dorchester Heights. The Boston building commissioner had surveyed the neighborhood and concluded that about four buildings might need to be demolished, while others were salvageable.[188]

When the Boston National Historic Sites Commission began evaluating historic sites in Boston in the late 1950s, there were calls for Dorchester Heights to be formally protected,[189] and the commission considered taking over the Dorchester Heights National Historic Site.[190] By the early 1960s, Thomas Park was neglected and vandalized,[191] and there were concerns that the Dorchester Heights site was not being well publicized.[192] A congressional bill to have the federal government take over the site and several others in Boston was pending,[193][194] but there were no plans to restore Thomas Park, except for the monument.[193] Within the surrounding neighborhood, Marian Manor, which occupied part of the Carney Hospital complex, expanded its campus during the 1960s.[195]

21st century

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The South Boston St. Patrick's Day and Evacuation Day Parade, which typically passed through Dorchester Heights every March 17, was suspended during 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Massachusetts; it resumed in 2022.[196] By early that decade, Thomas Park's stairs and sidewalks were reportedly in disrepair.[197] The monument was closed, and the park was used only for strolling.[197][198] The National Park Service announced plans in 2022 to renovate the Dorchester Heights Monument;[199][200] after a temporary closure, the monument and Thomas Park reopened in 2025.[201]

Thomas Park

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Dorchester Heights Monument, the primary structure of Thomas Park

The 5.43-acre (2.20 ha) Thomas Park (sometimes also called Dorchester Heights[14][15]) occupies the western section of the ellipse created by Thomas Park Street.[32][34] It is named for Colonel John Thomas, who led his division during the fortification of Dorchester Heights.[106][186] It is unknown who designed the park,[115] and no plans of the park exist from before the 1870s.[103] A National Park Service report indicates that the park was likely not intended as a formal or ornamental green space,[103] and another source from 1901 wrote that the park only existed because the adjacent land had to be reserved for the reservoir.[106]

Thomas Park is an example of a small park that was built during the mid-19th century sanitary movement[89][99] and before the American large-park movement of the late 19th century.[115][202] It may also be Boston's only drumlin-top park that predates the large-park movement.[7][203] At the time of Thomas Park's development in the 1850s, it was one of the few small parks in outlying areas of Boston, excluding adjacent neighborhoods that were annexed to Boston later.[204] Unusually for the time, the site was intended to be shared with the reservoir from the outset,[115][202] and the park was built from scratch rather than being a renovation of an existing park.[205]

Layout and landscaping

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Thomas Park was built with a largely symmetrical layout and sparse decorations, which originally consisted entirely of a perimeter fence, flagpole, trees, and grass.[205] The park's primary structure, the Dorchester Heights Monument (1902),[157] is at its eastern end, abutting South Boston High School.[4] Within Thomas Park, a hill slopes upward about 30 feet (9.1 m) to the base of the Dorchester Heights Monument.[33]

The perimeter of the park has an iron fence with gaps at the park's west, north, and south ends, which accommodate entrances. Stairs ascend from each entrance to the main footpath, which curves around the park's perimeter. A concrete retaining wall separates the main footpath from the street.[206] A series of paths connect from the curved footpath, converging at the monument.[206][207] These interior paths have decorative iron lampposts, and there are grassy fields between the paths.[206] A carriage road originally surrounded the monument itself at the top of the hill.[207]

Monument

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The Dorchester Heights Monument was designed by Boston architects Peabody and Stearns.[35][67][154] It is one of several American Revolutionary War monuments built atop drumlins, along with others such as the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown, Boston.[7][203] The lowest part of the tower is a square structure rising about 60 feet (18 m), topped by a platform surrounded by a balustrade. The eastern elevation of the monument has an inscription, and there are exterior staircases.[208][206] Atop this platform is a belfry and a third section, each rising another 17 feet (5.2 m).[209] The third section is topped by an octagonal lantern.[208][210] The top of the monument features a cupola and a spire,[67] topped by a weather vane.[210][208] The total height of the monument is 115 feet (35 m),[208][4] including the 10-foot-high (3.0 m) plinth on which the monument sits.[211]

The monument overlooks Columbia Point in the south and central Boston in the north;[4] its highest platform provides views of the city, Boston Harbor, and the surrounding area.[212] There is a smaller monument on either side.[209] The Henry Knox Monument, a granite memorial, is to the south;[170][210] it memorializes the cannon that Knox brought to Dorchester Heights.[210] Installed in 1927, it includes a 3-foot-high (0.91 m) granite slab designed by Henry L. Norton, with inscriptions commemorating Henry Knox's efforts on two of its sides.[170] To the north is the 1876 Centennial Monument.[210][116] The Centennial Monument, designed by George Albert Clough of the Boston government, was dedicated in 1877 and is similar to another monument built in Roxbury around the same time.[139][213] Accessed by a concrete platform, the Centennial Monument is a rectangular granite slab with cannonballs and cannon sculptures,[210][214] along with inscriptions on two sides.[139][214]

Historic district

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Dorchester Heights Historic District
LocationRoughly a one block area surrounding Telegraph Hill, South Boston, Massachusetts
Area40 acres (16 ha)
Built1850s–1920s
Architectural styleMultiple
NRHP reference No.01001198[3]
Added to NRHPNovember 1, 2001

The neighborhood surrounding Thomas Park and the monument is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the 40-acre (16 ha) Dorchester Heights Historic District.[215] This US historic district is roughly bounded by Gates Street to the west, Dorchester Street to the northwest, East 4th Street to the north, G Street to the east, and East 8th Street to the south.[16] Dorchester Street separated the more upscale families of Dorchester Heights to the southeast and the working class to the northwest.[120] In the 21st century, more than 90% of Dorchester Heights' original architecture remained intact.[37]

Houses

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Houses, designed in a variety of common mid-19th-century New England architectural styles, make up most of the buildings in the neighborhood.[216] Much of the housing stock is detached single or double houses, often designed in the Italianate style, though some of these houses are designed in the Federal, Georgian, and Greek Revival styles.[217] In general, most of the older houses are in the neighborhood's northern section and are designed in the Greek Revival and Italianate styles.[36][38] Colonial Revival, neoclassical, and Queen Anne style buildings were constructed in the district later in the 19th century,[36] along with Italianate, Gothic Revival, and Stick style villas.[218][219] There are also Carpenter Gothic-style villas,[220] and Craftsman- and Colonial-style two-family houses (which are distinct from the double houses).[221]

The northern section of the district, largely completed in the 1890s,[37][168] generally has a mixture of single or double houses along with rowhouses.[220] Some rowhouses are made of wood and are built as triple houses.[168] Dorchester Street has a variety of masonry and wood-framed houses constructed for builders and manufacturers.[120] The area immediately surrounding Thomas Park includes a mixture of villas, rowhouses, and detached single or double homes.[220] The southern section was mostly built from 1870 to the 1920s and contains multi-family housing,[37][168] along with masonry and wood-framed rowhouses.[135] The few two-family and three-decker houses in the district are concentrated in southern Dorchester Heights.[222][223] There are also a small number of apartment buildings,[224] with four or more apartments each.[168] Houses from the mid-20th century or later are few and far between.[224]

Characteristics

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The most common style of house in Dorchester Heights is the detached single-family end house, where the front elevation of the facade is narrower than the side elevations. The front entrances are arranged asymmetrically, since they lead to interior hallways and stairs that are placed along one side of the house.[224][225] Dorchester Heights' end houses are designed in multiple styles and are generally between 1+1⁄2 and 3 stories high; some end houses have gable roofs (where the triangular gable is on the front elevation), but the majority of end houses have mansard roofs.[225] The district's two single-family side-gable houses—the Fernald and Bird houses—have wider front elevations, with the gables on their narrow side elevations.[226] Dorchester Heights also contains six villas on Dorchester Street and Thomas Park.[219] The villas generally occupy large land lots, with elaborate detailing and large yards on all sides.[218][219] Near Thomas Park are some mansions with custom floor plans, along with decorations such as cupolas.[222]

Detached double houses are the second-most-common style of residence in Dorchester Heights; they are concentrated in northern Dorchester Heights and are generally made of wood, with 1+1⁄2 or 2+1⁄2 stories.[227] The two residences in each double house occupy adjacent sites, separated by vertical party walls, and are topped by mansard or side-gable roofs.[227][228] Dorchester Heights' rowhouses, like the double houses, are placed on adjacent sites separated by party walls. They are designed in multiple styles and are made of either masonry or wood; the rowhouses on Thomas Park have polygonal bay windows.[228][229] Most of the rowhouses occupy narrow lots, with a stair hall and two parlors.[228]

The double houses contrast with two-family houses, where the residences are on different stories of the same site.[222][221] Four two-family houses, all clustered in a single group on Thomas Park, are within the historic district's boundaries.[221] The neighborhood's three-decker houses are three stories high, with a separate residence on each story.[222][221] The three-deckers are characterized by wooden frames, flat roofs,[222] and triple-deck front porches.[223] Three stables from the 19th century are visible from the street, and the district also has five detached brick or concrete garages.[230]

Other buildings

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There are few non-residential buildings in Dorchester Heights, except at the northern periphery, where the intersection of Dorchester Street and Broadway has some commercial buildings.[231] When the historic district was designated in 2001, it included only three stores, two of them within the ground floors of existing houses.[231] The most prominent non-residential building in Dorchester Heights is South Boston High School,[232] a neoclassical building designed by Herbert D. Hale at the eastern end of the Thomas Park Street ellipse.[133][233] Measuring three stories high with a basement, the structure has a brick facade and a portico entrance,[233][234] while inside is a grand mosaic-clad stair hall and a 1,000-seat auditorium.[161][234] The actual high school was closed in 2003; another school occupies the building.[235]

Another institutional building was Arion Hall, a wood-frame clubhouse on East 8th Street with a gable roof.[126] The block bounded by Thomas Park, Old Harbor, Dorchester, and National streets was once occupied by the Carney Hospital.[144] Carney's Georgian Revival outpatient clinic and neo-Renaissance nurses' home remain extant, while part of the rest of the block is occupied by Marian Manor, a nursing home.[195]

Legacy

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The Dorchester Heights National Historic Site (consisting of Thomas Park) was created in 1951[183][184] and listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1966.[215] The NRHP listing honors both the archeological and historical significance of the fortifications, and the park's urban planning influence as part of the small-park movement.[8] Dorchester Heights is one of eight sites in the 43-acre (17 ha) Boston National Historical Park,[236] which was designated in 1974.[237] Dorchester Heights is the only site in the Boston National Historical Park that is not part of the Freedom Trail, a path connecting some of the city's historic sites,[238] despite efforts to add Dorchester Heights to the trail in the 1960s.[192] The neighborhood was added to the NRHP in 2001, encompassing the period of residential development of the area beginning in the later decades of the 19th century.[215]

Remnants of the old fortifications have been found over the years. Cannonballs from the Dorchester Heights fort were excavated in 1876 when a nearby creek on Dorchester Neck was being developed.[239] In 1940, during the construction of a nearby housing project, a cannonball was found in the line of fire of the old fort.[240] A ditch from the May 1776 fortifications was discovered in a 1994 archeological dig, and further features (bridge abutments, gatepost bases, and a drain) were discovered the next year.[241] Additional objects and the fort's former magazine were found in 1996.[242]

See also

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References

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Notes

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  1. ↑ Some sources refer to the street as just "Thomas Park".[33]
  2. ↑ Sources disagree on whether the reservoir was dedicated on November 20,[108] 23,[89] or 28.[109][110]
  3. ↑ A contemporary source writes that the pond was closed after a single drowning.[134]

Citations

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  1. ↑ "MACRIS Maps". MACRIS Maps. Archived from the original on February 6, 2026. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  2. 1 2 "Federal Register: 44 Fed. Reg. 7107 (Feb. 6, 1979)" (PDF). Library of Congress. February 6, 1979. pp. 7502–7503 (PDF pp. 302–303). Archived (PDF) from the original on December 30, 2016. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  3. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 National Park Service 2001, p. 7.1.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 26.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 National Park Service 2001, p. 7.3.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 27.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Mueller, Pendrey & Griswold 1998, p. 3.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Boston Landmarks Commission 2001, p. 7.
  10. ↑ "Historic Boston: Hints for the Pilgrims to Our Modern Athens". The Boston Daily Globe. June 17, 1875. p. 15. ISSN 0743-1791. ProQuest 491980254. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Child Associates et al. 1993, p. 28.
  12. ↑ "Map Viewer: Boston Neighborhood Boundaries - BPDA Neighborhoods". arcgis.com. Retrieved June 1, 2026.
  13. ↑ "The 23 Hills of Boston". The Boston Globe. April 25, 1915. p. 82. Retrieved June 9, 2026.
  14. 1 2 "Flagpole Contract Rift Leaves Key Poles Bare: Contract Stalled Council Assailed Two-Man Job". The Christian Science Monitor. February 24, 1953. p. 2. ISSN 0882-7729. ProQuest 508723788.
  15. 1 2 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 93.
  16. 1 2 Boston Landmarks Commission 2001, p. 37.
  17. ↑ "Dorchester Heights". U.S. National Park Service. March 17, 1902. Archived from the original on June 8, 2026. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
  18. 1 2 Toomey & Rankin 1901, p. 285.
  19. 1 2 3 Mueller, Pendrey & Griswold 1998, p. 27.
  20. 1 2 Gillespie 1900, p. 12.
  21. 1 2 3 Gillespie 1900, p. 23.
  22. ↑ Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 24.
  23. 1 2 3 Child Associates et al. 1993, p. 5.
  24. ↑ Child Associates et al. 1993, p. 6.
  25. 1 2 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 28.
  26. 1 2 3 4 Mueller, Pendrey & Griswold 1998, p. 5.
  27. 1 2 3 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 52.
  28. 1 2 3 4 5 National Park Service 2001, p. 8.4.
  29. 1 2 Toomey & Rankin 1901, p. 186.
  30. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 61.
  31. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Boston Landmarks Commission 2001, p. 9.
  32. 1 2 National Park Service 2015, pp. 7.37, 7.38.
  33. 1 2 3 4 National Park Service 2001, p. 7.4.
  34. 1 2 "Dorchester Heights". TCLF. September 12, 2020. Archived from the original on February 18, 2026. Retrieved June 1, 2026.
  35. 1 2 Millman 1980, p. 2.
  36. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Boston Landmarks Commission 2001, p. 10.
  37. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Boston Landmarks Commission 2001, p. 12.
  38. 1 2 National Park Service 2001, p. 7.5.
  39. 1 2 Child Associates et al. 1993, pp. 4–5.
  40. 1 2 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 30.
  41. 1 2 Mueller, Pendrey & Griswold 1998, p. 6.
  42. 1 2 3 "History of Dorchester Heights". U.S. National Park Service. March 18, 1937. Archived from the original on June 5, 2026. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  43. 1 2 3 4 5 Child Associates et al. 1993, p. 9.
  44. ↑ Mueller, Pendrey & Griswold 1998, pp. 10–11.
  45. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 31.
  46. 1 2 Mueller, Pendrey & Griswold 1998, p. 17.
  47. 1 2 3 National Park Service 2001, p. 8.5.
  48. ↑ Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 32.
  49. 1 2 3 4 National Park Service 2001, p. 8.6.
  50. 1 2 Frothingham 1903, p. 292.
  51. ↑ National Park Service 2001, pp. 8.5, 8.6.
  52. 1 2 Happ, John E. (September 6, 2018). "The Dorchester Heights Memorial, South Boston, and the Celebration of Evacuation Day". Journal of the American Revolution. Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  53. 1 2 3 Mueller, Pendrey & Griswold 1998, p. 11.
  54. ↑ Frothingham 1903, pp. 91–93.
  55. 1 2 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 33.
  56. ↑ McCullough, David G. (2006). "Dorchester Heights". 1776. New York : Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-7432-2672-1.
  57. 1 2 Frothingham 1903, p. 218.
  58. ↑ Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 38.
  59. ↑ Ware, Susan (2000). Forgotten Heroes: Inspiring American Portraits from Our Leading Historians. Portland, OR: Simon and Schuster. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-684-86872-1. OCLC 45179918.
  60. 1 2 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 39.
  61. 1 2 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 40; Mueller, Pendrey & Griswold 1998, p. 18; Toomey & Rankin 1901, pp. 77–78.
  62. ↑ French, Allen (1911). The Siege of Boston. New York: Macmillan. p. 406. OCLC 3927532.
  63. 1 2 Hubbard, Robert Ernest. Major General Israel Putnam: Hero of the American Revolution, pp. 158, McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, North Carolina, 2017. ISBN 978-1-4766-6453-8.
  64. ↑ Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 41; Mueller, Pendrey & Griswold 1998, p. 18; Toomey & Rankin 1901, p. 78.
  65. 1 2 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 42; Mueller, Pendrey & Griswold 1998, p. 20; Toomey & Rankin 1901, pp. 85–86.
  66. ↑ A Record of the Dedication 1903, p. 5.
  67. 1 2 3 Morgan, Keith N. (July 17, 2018). "Dorchester Heights Monument". SAH Archipedia. Society of Architectural Historians. Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  68. ↑ Mueller, Pendrey & Griswold 1998, pp. 20–21.
  69. 1 2 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 44.
  70. ↑ Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 45.
  71. 1 2 3 4 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 49.
  72. 1 2 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 48.
  73. ↑ Mueller, Pendrey & Griswold 1998, p. 23.
  74. 1 2 National Park Service 2001, p. 8.7.
  75. 1 2 Gillespie 1900, p. 17.
  76. ↑ O'Connor, Thomas H. (2019). "1: From Colony to Community". South Boston, My Home Town: The History of an Ethnic Neighborhood. Northeastern University Press. pp. 7–32. ISBN 978-1-55553-880-4.
  77. 1 2 Child Associates et al. 1993, p. 60.
  78. ↑ Collins, Edwin (February 9, 1930). "Boston's Three Bites of Dorchester Town: Ever Since East Boston Was Annexed in 1637, the Hub Has Been Adding Spokes of Territory". The Boston Daily Globe. p. A40. ISSN 0743-1791. ProQuest 849672913.
  79. 1 2 3 4 National Park Service 2001, p. 8.8.
  80. ↑ Toomey & Rankin 1901, pp. 120–122.
  81. 1 2 National Park Service 2001, p. 8.9.
  82. ↑ Toomey & Rankin 1901, pp. 122–123.
  83. 1 2 3 National Park Service 2001, p. 8.10.
  84. 1 2 3 4 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 62.
  85. ↑ Mueller, Pendrey & Griswold 1998, pp. 23–24.
  86. ↑ Gillespie 1900, p. 20.
  87. ↑ Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, pp. 49–50; Mueller, Pendrey & Griswold 1998, p. 24.
  88. 1 2 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, pp. 52–53.
  89. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Mueller, Pendrey & Griswold 1998, p. 25.
  90. ↑ Labbe, Isabella (January 28, 2025). "Tiny Story: Moakley House". Boston Preservation Alliance. Archived from the original on June 9, 2026. Retrieved June 9, 2026.
  91. ↑ "Old South Boston". The South Boston Bulletin. February 20, 1892. p. 2. Retrieved June 5, 2026 – via Digital Commonwealth.
  92. 1 2 3 4 5 National Park Service 2001, p. 8.12.
  93. 1 2 3 National Park Service 2001, pp. 8.10, 8.11.
  94. 1 2 Toomey & Rankin 1901, p. 147.
  95. ↑ Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, pp. 62–63.
  96. 1 2 National Park Service 2001, p. 8.18.
  97. 1 2 Toomey & Rankin 1901, p. 152.
  98. 1 2 Boston Landmarks Commission 2001, pp. 9–10.
  99. 1 2 3 4 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 63.
  100. ↑ National Park Service 2001, pp. 8.12, 8.13.
  101. ↑ Toomey & Rankin 1901, p. 157.
  102. 1 2 3 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 64.
  103. 1 2 3 4 5 National Park Service 2001, p. 8.13.
  104. ↑ Toomey & Rankin 1901, pp. 158–159.
  105. 1 2 3 Millman 1980, p. 4.
  106. 1 2 3 4 Toomey & Rankin 1901, p. 296.
  107. ↑ Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 75.
  108. 1 2 3 Toomey & Rankin 1901, p. 159.
  109. 1 2 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 66.
  110. ↑ "Introduction of Cochituate into the Reservoir on Telegraph Hill, South Boston". The Boston Herald. November 29, 1849. p. 2. ProQuest 506614512.
  111. ↑ Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 57.
  112. 1 2 3 Mueller, Pendrey & Griswold 1998, pp. 25–26.
  113. 1 2 3 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 68.
  114. ↑ Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 82.
  115. 1 2 3 4 Child Associates et al. 1993, p. 4.
  116. 1 2 3 Mueller, Pendrey & Griswold 1998, p. 26.
  117. 1 2 3 National Park Service 2001, p. 8.14.
  118. 1 2 3 Boston Landmarks Commission 2001, p. 10; Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 68; National Park Service 2001, p. 8.14.
  119. 1 2 3 4 National Park Service 2001, p. 8.15.
  120. 1 2 3 National Park Service 2001, p. 8.16.
  121. ↑ Boston Landmarks Commission 2001, pp. 10–11.
  122. ↑ National Park Service 2001, pp. 8.14, 8.15.
  123. 1 2 National Park Service 2001, pp. 8.16, 8.17.
  124. ↑ Boston Landmarks Commission 2001, p. 11.
  125. 1 2 Toomey & Rankin 1901, p. 185.
  126. 1 2 National Park Service 2001, p. 8.19.
  127. ↑ National Park Service 2001, p. 8.19.
  128. ↑ "Dorchester Localities". The Boston Beacon and Dorchester News Gatherer. June 10, 1882. p. 3. Retrieved June 5, 2026 – via Digital Commonwealth.
  129. ↑ "Boston in Fiction: Described and Pictured by Frances Weston Carruth Part Iv--Suburban Boston I. Cambridge and Harvard. Ii. Lexington. Iii. Westward. Iv. Toward the Blue Hills. v. Nahant". The Bookman; a Review of Books and Life. Vol. 14, no. 6. February 1902. p. 590. ProQuest 124750783.
  130. ↑ "Historic Day". The Lowell Daily Sun. March 4, 1897. p. 10. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
  131. ↑ "Success of the Movement Seems Assured". The Boston Globe. March 7, 1898. p. 12. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
  132. 1 2 3 4 5 National Park Service 2001, p. 8.20.
  133. 1 2 3 4 5 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 67.
  134. 1 2 "High Schools Ground Broken". The South Boston Bulletin. March 18, 1899. p. 7. Retrieved June 8, 2026 – via Digital Commonwealth.
  135. 1 2 3 National Park Service 2001, p. 8.17.
  136. ↑ "Suffolk Brewing Company". Boston Post. July 2, 1875. p. 3. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  137. ↑ Ewell, Rey J L (March 16, 1876). "Revolutionary Papers for the Young--III: St. Patrick's Day in Boston One Hundred Years Ago". The Advance. Vol. 9, no. 445. p. 521. ProQuest 750539422.
  138. ↑ "Historic Dorchester Heights: Dedication of the City's Monument in Honor of Revolutionary Patriots on Reservoir Hill". The Boston Daily Globe. May 18, 1877. p. 3. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
  139. 1 2 3 "The Dorchester Heights and Roxbury Redoubts". Boston Evening Transcript. April 18, 1877. p. 1. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
  140. ↑ "Historic Boston". Boston Evening Traveller. September 22, 1888. p. 6. Retrieved June 8, 2026 – via Digital Commonwealth.
  141. ↑ "The Neglected Paradise". South Boston Inquirer. September 18, 1880. p. 2. Retrieved June 8, 2026 – via Digital Commonwealth.
  142. ↑ National Park Service 2001, pp. 8.19, 8.20.
  143. ↑ Toomey & Rankin 1901, p. 349.
  144. 1 2 3 National Park Service 2001, p. 8.23.
  145. ↑ "They Heal the Sick; The New Carney Hospital Building". The Boston Globe. April 7, 1890. p. 3. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
  146. ↑ "The Peninsula". The Boston Daily Globe. July 29, 1885. p. 1. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
  147. 1 2 "Park in Ruins: South Boston People Are Much Disturbed". The Boston Daily Globe. September 10, 1895. p. 6. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  148. ↑ Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 89.
  149. ↑ "Park Gone to Waste". The Boston Daily Globe. August 23, 1896. p. 9. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
  150. ↑ "Their Historical Locations: South Boston Citizens Organize a New Society to Care for Them, Especially Thomas and Marine Parks". The Boston Daily Globe. June 28, 1895. p. 8. ISSN 0743-1791. ProQuest 498144566.
  151. ↑ "Will Have the School: South Boston's Hopes Are Near Realization". The Boston Daily Globe. March 10, 1897. p. 2. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  152. ↑ "To Mark Dorchester Heights". Boston Evening Transcript. February 28, 1898. p. 8. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
  153. ↑ "Historic Dorchester Heights". The Boston Globe. March 15, 1899. p. 6. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  154. 1 2 Mueller, Pendrey & Griswold 1998, pp. 26–27.
  155. ↑ "One of the Handsomest in the Land". The Boston Daily Globe. February 1, 1900. p. 6. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
  156. ↑ "South Boston's New High School". The Boston Daily Globe. September 10, 1901. p. 7. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
  157. 1 2 A Record of the Dedication 1903, p. 7.
  158. ↑ "South Boston in Gala Garb". The Boston Daily Globe. March 17, 1902. pp. 1, 4. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
  159. ↑ "Dorchester Monument: Some of Governor's Council Made an Official Visit Today to Investigate the Causes of the Delay". The Boston Daily Globe. December 8, 1902. p. 8. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
  160. ↑ "Will Open Early in Summer". The Boston Daily Globe. February 19, 1904. p. 7. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  161. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 107.
  162. ↑ "Dorchester Heights Fence". Boston Evening Transcript. August 29, 1905. p. 1. Retrieved June 9, 2026.
  163. ↑ Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 92.
  164. ↑ "Improvements to Be Made: South Boston Citizens Gratified at Action on Treating Unsightly Spot Near Thomas Park". The Boston Daily Globe. June 14, 1905. p. 6. ISSN 0743-1791. ProQuest 500400997.
  165. ↑ Mueller, Pendrey & Griswold 1998, pp. 27–28.
  166. ↑ "Boston Suffragists to Open War Hospital". The Boston Daily Globe. March 14, 1918. p. 11. Retrieved June 9, 2026.
  167. 1 2 National Park Service 2001, p. 8.22.
  168. 1 2 3 4 5 National Park Service 2001, p. 7.8.
  169. ↑ "Open-Air Market at Five City Points". The Boston Globe. August 24, 1923. p. 3. Retrieved June 9, 2026.
  170. 1 2 3 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 99.
  171. ↑ Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 101.
  172. ↑ "Charlestown-South Boston Bridge Project Will Soon Be Considered". The Boston Daily Globe. November 27, 1929. p. 9. Retrieved June 10, 2026.
  173. 1 2 "Approach to Dorchester Memorial Tower Proposed". The Boston Daily Globe. January 21, 1930. p. 19. Retrieved June 1, 2026.
  174. ↑ "South Boston District". Boston Evening Globe. March 29, 1930. p. 6. Retrieved June 1, 2026.
  175. ↑ "Work of Restoring Monument Finished". Boston Evening Globe. October 14, 1935. p. 11. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  176. 1 2 "Dorchester Heights Will Be Designated a National Shrine". The Boston Daily Globe. March 8, 1951. pp. 1, 9. Retrieved June 1, 2026.
  177. ↑ "Urges Dorchester Heights as Shrine". The Boston Globe. July 10, 1937. p. 4. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
  178. ↑ "Tobin Backing Heights Plan". Boston Evening Globe. January 26, 1938. p. 3. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  179. ↑ "Dorchester Heights May Become Shrine". Springfield Evening Union. AP. March 17, 1938. p. 2. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  180. ↑ "Hope Dorchester Heights to Be National Shrine". Boston Evening Globe. March 29, 1939. p. 22. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  181. ↑ "Heights Eligible to Become National Shrine". The Boston Daily Globe. April 8, 1940. p. 2. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  182. ↑ "Historic Site Approved: Dorchester Heights, South Boston, to Note British Evacuation". New York Herald Tribune. AP. March 12, 1951. p. 20. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1322199183.
  183. 1 2 "Historic Site in Boston Made National Park: 11,000 Participate in Parade". Chicago Daily Tribune. March 18, 1951. p. 35. ISSN 1085-6706. ProQuest 178112603.
  184. 1 2 "Dorchester Heights to Gain Historic-Site Classification". The Christian Science Monitor. March 16, 1951. p. 4. ISSN 0882-7729. ProQuest 508339911.
  185. ↑ "Heights Become Boston's First National Shrine". The Boston Globe. March 18, 1951. p. 15. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  186. 1 2 Unrau, H.D. (1976). Here was the Revolution: Historic Sites of the War for American Independence. NPS publication. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. p. 94. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
  187. ↑ "Face Lifting Project Set for South Boston". The Boston Globe. April 8, 1953. pp. 1, 9. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  188. ↑ "Dorchester Heights Improvement Already Begun, Committees Report". The Boston Daily Globe. May 14, 1953. p. 2. Retrieved June 1, 2026.
  189. ↑ Tavel, Emilie (February 7, 1956). "Bay Staters Plead for Historic Sites: Authorized by Congress". The Christian Science Monitor. p. 2. ISSN 0882-7729. ProQuest 509368990.
  190. ↑ Keblinsky, Joseph A. (December 19, 1957). "Big Patriot Plaza Planned for Hub". The Boston Globe. pp. 1, 23. ISSN 0743-1791. Retrieved May 22, 2026.
  191. ↑ "Shaft Gets Short Shrift: Dorchester Heights Monument Neglected". The Boston Globe. September 2, 1964. p. 13. Retrieved June 10, 2026.
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  193. 1 2 Yudis, Anthony J. (December 1, 1963). "Dorchester Heights at Mercy of Vandals". The Boston Globe. p. 109. Retrieved June 10, 2026.
  194. ↑ "Plan Submitted To Save Boston Historic Sites". Hartford Courant. AP. October 28, 1964. p. 5. Retrieved June 10, 2026.
  195. 1 2 National Park Service 2001, pp. 8.23, 8.24.
  196. ↑ Damiano, Mike (March 18, 2022). "Return of South Boston's St. Patrick's Day Parade kindles hope for brighter times". BostonGlobe.com. Archived from the original on July 20, 2025. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  197. 1 2 Bailey, Michael J. (August 6, 2020). "Biking to Telegraph Hill: Lots of views, some history, and, oh yeah, not a bad workout". BostonGlobe.com. Archived from the original on August 16, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  198. ↑ Pillsbury, Michael (February 14, 2020). "George Washington's Birthday and the Battle for History". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on May 26, 2023. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  199. ↑ Sweeney, Emily (March 15, 2022). "Dorchester Heights monument in South Boston to undergo multi-million-dollar restoration". BostonGlobe.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2025. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  200. ↑ "Historic makeover: Dorchester Heights Monument getting multi-million dollar restoration". Boston 25 News. March 11, 2022. Archived from the original on March 13, 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  201. ↑ "Dorchester Heights Monument in Boston National Historical Park to be Restored through GAOA Funding". U.S. National Park Service. November 21, 2023. Archived from the original on June 1, 2026. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  202. 1 2 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 19.
  203. 1 2 Child Associates et al. 1993, p. 8.
  204. ↑ Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 72.
  205. 1 2 Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 74.
  206. 1 2 3 4 National Park Service 2015, p. 7.38.
  207. 1 2 Millman 1980, p. 3.
  208. 1 2 3 4 A Record of the Dedication 1903, p. 6.
  209. 1 2 National Park Service 2015, pp. 7.38, 7.39.
  210. 1 2 3 4 5 6 National Park Service 2015, p. 7.39.
  211. ↑ Toomey & Rankin 1901, p. 323.
  212. ↑ Lacock, John Kennedy (1923). Boston and Vicinity. Boston: Chapple Publishing Company. p. 44.
  213. ↑ Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, p. 86.
  214. 1 2 Toomey & Rankin 1901, pp. 316–317.
  215. 1 2 3 "NRHP nomination for Dorchester Heights Historic District". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  216. ↑ National Park Service 2001, p. 7.2.
  217. ↑ National Park Service 2001, p. 7.6.
  218. 1 2 Boston Landmarks Commission 2001, pp. 11–12.
  219. 1 2 3 National Park Service 2001, p. 7.20.
  220. 1 2 3 National Park Service 2001, p. 7.7.
  221. 1 2 3 4 National Park Service 2001, p. 7.24.
  222. 1 2 3 4 5 Boston Landmarks Commission 2001, p. 16.
  223. 1 2 National Park Service 2001, pp. 7.24, 7.25.
  224. 1 2 3 Boston Landmarks Commission 2001, p. 14.
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  226. ↑ National Park Service 2001, pp. 7.19, 7.20.
  227. 1 2 National Park Service 2001, pp. 7.22, 7.23.
  228. 1 2 3 Boston Landmarks Commission 2001, p. 15.
  229. ↑ National Park Service 2001, pp. 7.25, 7.26.
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  239. ↑ "Brieflets". Boston Evening Transcript. March 15, 1876. p. 1. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
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  242. ↑ Desilets & Zaitzevsky 2020, pp. 118, 121.

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