Boston was founded on 17 of November of 1630 by Puritan colonists from England, called the patriarchs pilgrims on the Shawmut Peninsula, named for the Amerindians who inhabited the region. The first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, John Winthrop, who gave a famous speech entitled “A Model of Christian Charity”, but popularly known as “The City on a Hill” that gave the feeling that Boston had a special covenant with God (Winthrop also promoted and signed the Cambridge Agreement that was instrumental in the creation of the city). The stability and structure of the city was mainly due to the Puritan ethic.

Between 1636 and 1698, six major smallpox epidemics caused significant deaths in Boston.

During the early 1770s, Britain’s intention to exert control over the Thirteen coloniesthrough taxation began the American War of Independence. Battles like the slaughter of Boston, the Mutiny of tea in Boston and many others, occurred on the outskirts of town or in your neighborhood, as the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Siege of Boston. It was during this period that Paul Revere he made his famous “night tours”. After the Revolution, Boston became one of the most prosperous international ports due to its seafaring tradition. The most common exports included rum, fish, salt, and tobacco. During this time, the descendants of the Boston families were considered the social and cultural elites of the nation, later called Boston Brahmins.

In 1822, Boston was elevated to the category of city and its citizens agreed, in that same year, to change the official name from “Town of Boston” (Town of Boston) to “City of Boston” (City of Boston). At that time, the city of Boston had 46,226 residents, while the area of ​​the city was only 12 km².

Between 1631 and 1890 the city tripled its physical size by land reclaimed from the sea by filling in swamps, marshes, and lagoons between the piers along the shoreline – a process that Walter Muir Whitehill called “shrinking the hills to fill in the hills. coves “. The largest land reclamation effort took place during the 1800s. After the Great Boston Fire of 1872, workers used building debris to fill in the downtown shoreline.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the city had become an intellectual, political and technological center. Despite this, it has experienced a loss of regional institutions, including the acquisitions of the Boston Globe by The New York Times, and the mergers and acquisitions of local financial institutions such as FleetBoston Financial, which was bought by Bank of America in 2004. Jordan Marsh and Filene’s department stores merged with New York’s Macy’s. Boston also experienced gentrification in the late 20th century, and house prices have risen significantly since the 1990s. The cost of living has risen and Boston is one of the most expensive cities in the United States, ranking as the 99th most expensive city in the world in a survey carried out in 2008 among 143 cities. Despite this, Boston is one of the cities with the best standard of living and is ranked 35th in the world after a survey carried out in 2009 with 215 participating cities.

Geography

The city of Boston is very compact. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of ​​232.1 km², being 125.4 km² of land (54.0%) and 106.7 km² (46.0%) of water. Boston is the fourth most densely populated city in the country among those that are the head of any major metropolitan area. Of the US cities with more than 600,000 residents, only San Francisco is smaller in land area.

Boston is surrounded by the region of “Greater Boston” (Greater Boston) and by the cities of Winthrop, Revere, Chelsea, Everett, Somerville, Cambridge, Watertown, Newton, Brookline, Needham, Dedham, Canton, Milton and Quincy.

The Charles River separates the city proper of Boston from the cities of Cambridge and Watertown, and the neighborhood of Charlestown, which does belong to Boston. To the east is Boston Harbor and the Boston WEINER Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. The Neponset River forms the boundary between the southern neighborhoods of Boston and the cities of Quincy and Milton. The Mystic River separates Charlestown from Chelsea and Everett; Chelsea Creek and Boston Harbor do the same between the east of the city and its center. Boston’s official height, measured at Logan International Airport, is 5.8 meters above sea level. The highest point is Bellevue Hill, 101 meters above sea level; while the lowest is at sea level.

Boston basically has a climate between the humid continental and humid subtropical, very common on the southern coast of New England. Summers are generally hot and humid, while winters are cold, windy and snowy. Offshore winds that affect Boston predominate, minimizing the influence of the Atlantic Ocean.

Spring in Boston can be warm, with temperatures surpassing 30 ° C with the coastal winds, although it may be possible that a day in late May will not exceed 5 ° C due to the cold winds from the ocean. The hottest month is July, with an average maximum temperature of 28 ° C and a minimum of 19 ° C, with humid conditions. The coldest month, meanwhile, is January, with average maximum temperatures of 2 ° C and minimum temperatures of -6 ° C. Periods of temperatures that in summer exceed 32 ° C and in winter -12 ° C are not common and are rarely prolonged seasons. The highest recorded temperature in Boston was 40 ° C on July 4, 1911. The lowest temperature was -18 ° C and was recorded on February 9, 1934. The month of February in Boston has seen 21 ° C only once in history since temperatures are recorded and it took place on February 24 from 1985. The highest temperature in March occurred on March 31, 1998.

Boston’s location on the North Atlantic coast, while moderating temperatures, also makes the city very prone to northeastern weather systems, which can produce a lot of snow and rain. The city receives an average of 108 cm of rainfall and 104 cm of snow per year. Most of the snow occurs from December to March. There is usually little or no snowfall in April and November, and snow is very rare between May and October. Fog is frequent, especially in spring and early summer, and occasional tropical storms or hurricanes can threaten the region, especially in early fall. Due to its location along the North Atlantic, the city is often subjected to the sea breeze, especially in the final stretch of spring.