Beacon Hill
You begin among the Federal-style rowhouses of Beacon Hill, where narrow streets and brick sidewalks set the tone for the morning. This was the stronghold of Boston's old-money Brahmin families, and it is still counted among the city's most desirable and expensive neighborhoods. Take your time with the doorways, the even brick fronts and the modest scale of the houses: the whole quarter was laid out in the early 1800s.
The name comes from a beacon that once stood on the highest point in central Boston, ready to warn residents of an invasion. There used to be three hills here, Beacon Hill, Pemberton Hill and Mount Vernon, and that trio gave the town its early nickname, Trimount, which survives as Tremont Street. Between 1807 and 1832 Beacon Hill itself was cut down from 138 feet to 80 feet, and the other two were leveled entirely.
All that earth went into the water. The shoreline and the old Mill Pond were filled on a massive scale, increasing Boston's land by 150 percent, and Charles Street was one of the new roads created in the process. Today the neighborhood has three parts: the south slope, the north slope and the Flat of the Hill, a level patch built on that landfill west of Charles Street.
Locals also use 'Beacon Hill' to mean the state government, much as Washington's Capitol Hill stands for Congress, because the Massachusetts State House sits up here. You will come back to it at the very end. For now, head 440 m, about six minutes, to Boston Common.




























