Thus we have seen what were the features and topographical characteristics
of the original peninsula which forms the groundwork, as it were, of the
city proper of to-day. In the steady march of progress and improvements
which have marked its growth for two hundred and fifty years, such changes
and enlargements have been made, that neither its early outlines or its
original shape are any where to be observed. The great coves on either
side of the town have disappeared; and the renowned Tri-mountain, around
which so much of history gathered, and so much of puritanism and
patriotism were enshrined, is shorn of its ancient prestige, although
still, as it were, the summit of State authority; and of "Corne Hill,"
whereon the settlers of Boston, Charlestown, Roxbury, and Dorchester, in
1632, built the first fort for the defence of the settlement, not a
vestige now remains.
Yet, broad and extensive as these improvements and enlargements of the
original peninsula have been, they are at least equalled, if not exceeded,
by what has been accomplished in other parts of the town; so that Boston
proper--at first two islands, or nearly so, and afterwards a
peninsula--has long ceased to be either the one or the other, and must now
be regarded as a portion of the mainland. And this, too, while Charles
River, by encroachments upon its bed on both sides, the numerous wharves
projecting into it, and the bridges, railroads, and other structures
resting upon its bottom, has been reduced in its proportions to one-third
of its original size, and, in fact, has almost ceased to be a river in the
proper sense of that term. So also on the south side of the town: Four
Point Channel, which reached to Dover-street bridge, is now a narrow
stream; and the South Bay, which lay between Roxbury and South Boston, has
been greatly reduced in its proportions, and is crossed by the New England
Railroad. So that it may be said, the city proper to-day stands
consolidated on one side of the ancient neck with Roxbury and Dorchester,
and on the other with Roxbury and Brookline. There still remain, however,
a section of Charles River, forming a bay of itself, between Boston,
Cambridge, and Brookline, and a considerable portion of the South Bay
between Roxbury and South Boston. Brookline--originally Muddy Brook--was
formerly considered as belonging to Boston, and its lands were apportioned
among the early settlers of the town for agricultural purposes and the
keeping of cattle. It is now nearly surrounded by the enlarged city,
Brighton and Roxbury both belonging to Boston.
There is, however, one feature of Boston which may be said to remain
intact, and that is BOSTON COMMON. When the settlers bought the peninsula
of William Blackstone, or all his interest in it, excepting six acres,
which he reserved for his own occupation, "the town laid out a place for a
training-field, which ever since and now is used for that purpose, and for
the feeding of cattle." This was undoubtedly the origin of Boston Common;
and the date of the transaction, as appears from the town records, was on
"the 10th daye of the 9th month, 1634," which, as the year commenced with
March, would be November, 1634. It has undergone many changes, some
enlargement by filling up the marsh on the river side, and numerous
improvements in its general appearance by laying out its malls and walks,
setting out trees, excluding cattle, walling around Crescent Pond
(formerly Frog Pond), introduction of the Cochituate water and fountains,
and, last, by the erection of the Army and Navy Monument on its highest
elevation, once occupied as a fortification against its rightful owners by
Gen. Gage and Gen. Howe.
Thus we have seen Boston as it was in 1630 and subsequent
years,--originally one of three prominent peninsulas on the coast of New
England, known by the Indians as Shawmut, Mishawam, and Mattapan, and
afterwards, by the settlers, as Boston, Charlestown, and Dorchester (now
South Boston). Each of these was connected with the mainland by a narrow
neck of its own, and now all three, with the addition of Roxbury, West
Roxbury, Brighton, and Noddle's Island (East Boston), are included in the
present metropolis, while Muddy Brook (Brookline) and Winnisimmet
(Chelsea), which were originally attached to Boston, are not included
within her present limits. The growth and expansion of the town, we judge,
are unparalleled, in some respects, by any other city in the world, with a
character of her own and a position in the history of the country of which
she may well be proud.