Roxbury Through the Centuries: From Colonial Town to the Heart of Black Boston

Roxbury is one of Boston’s most historic neighborhoods and one of its most misunderstood. Long before it became a city neighborhood, it was an independent town with farms, churches and a busy road into Boston. Its story spans colonial ministers, Revolutionary fortifications, Victorian mansions and the rise of Black Boston.

The colonial town

Roxbury was founded in 1630, the same year as Boston. The only land route into Boston crossed Boston Neck, which ran through Roxbury, so the town sat on the main road to the rest of New England. Its first minister, John Eliot, became known for his missionary work among the Native people of the region and for translating the Bible into the Massachusett language.

The Eliot Burying Ground, near Eustis Street, dates to the town’s early years. Nearby, the Shirley-Eustis House was built in the 1740s for royal governor William Shirley and later owned by Governor William Eustis.

Revolution and growth

During the Siege of Boston in 1775 and 1776, colonial forces fortified the high ground in Roxbury to hem in the British army. Fort Hill and Highland Park recall that era. In the 1800s, Roxbury grew into a prosperous suburb with large houses on the Highlands, along with breweries and factories in the lowlands.

In 1868, Roxbury became the first town annexed to Boston, setting a pattern that soon added Dorchester, Charlestown, West Roxbury and Brighton to the city.

A center of Black life

In the twentieth century, as Black families moved from the South End and Beacon Hill and arrived from the American South and the Caribbean, Roxbury became the heart of Black Boston. Churches, businesses, civic groups and political organizations grew there. A young Malcolm X lived in Roxbury with his sister as a teenager in the 1940s.

The neighborhood also bore the brunt of mid-century urban renewal and highway clearance, which took homes and businesses. Community organizing in Roxbury helped stop the planned Southwest Expressway, and residents have continued to lead efforts on housing, education and development.

In 2019, after a campaign led by residents who wanted the commercial center’s name to reflect its community, the city renamed Dudley Square as Nubian Square.

Places to see

• Nubian Square, Roxbury’s main commercial hub and a transit center.
• Fort Hill, with its tall water tower and Victorian streets.
• Franklin Park, Frederick Law Olmsted’s largest Boston park, shared with neighboring districts.
• The National Center of Afro-American Artists, which presents art and culture of the African diaspora.
• The Eliot Burying Ground and the Shirley-Eustis House.

Understanding Roxbury today

Roxbury is a residential neighborhood of rowhouses, triple-deckers, churches and parks, with long-rooted families and newer arrivals. Its history is a reminder that Boston’s story is not only about Puritans and patriots but also about the communities that built lives in the city in the generations that followed.