July 22, 2008
A Few Words on Upper Beacon Hill
I have an acquaintance who is very into a place called Upper Beacon Hill. Upon arriving in Boston a few years back, I just sort of assumed that this meant the top of the hill, but as I learned a short time later, it’s something else entirely.
A more geographically accurate name would be the East Slope, since the North and South slopes already use that style of appellation. But no—Upper Beacon Hill is what it’s called, though I think a pretty fair argument can be made that it might very well be a neighborhood unto itself.
Up until 1900 or so, Upper Beacon Hill was very much a part of the rest of the the Hill. But as successive waves of Irish and Italian immigrants crowded into Boston, the Beacon Hill Brahmins, who once lived right up to the edges of Scollay Square, crept back over the hillside, eventually landing in palatial homes on the South Slope and Louisburg Square.
Cambridge and Somerset Streets, on the other hand, became ever more a part of the vibrant, loud and just a little bit shady Scollay Square area, and we all know what happened to that. While some stately high rises from before the turn of the century remain, much of the neighborhood was raised and rebuilt, right along with Government Center and the West End.
The photo in the upper right is of Pemberton Square in 1885, care of the Boston Atheneum’s collection; here’s a view of Pemberton Square today. I wouldn’t say Upper Beacon Hill is any better or worse than the rest of the neighborhood, but you’d be hard pressed to argue that it’s not different.
Some properties, in and nearby:
21 Beacon St #8D
Upper Beacon Hill, MA 02108
0 Bed, 1 Bath
290 sq. ft.
$220,000
20 Beacon St #3
Upper Beacon Hill, MA 02108
3 Bed, 3 Bath
2,310 sq. ft.
$1,895,000
21 Bowdoin St #2C
Beacon Hill, MA 02114
1 Bed, 1 Bath
619 sq. ft.
$379,000
Poetry Friday for Wine and Open Houses
