Boston Firsts You Might Not Know: Lighthouses, Gardens, Newspapers and More

Boston is fond of its firsts, and plenty of them hold up under scrutiny. Many visitors know about Boston Latin School and the Tremont Street Subway. Here are other well-documented Boston firsts, with a few notes on how to see the places involved.

First public park

Boston Common was set aside in 1634 as shared land for the town. It is widely regarded as the oldest public park in the United States. For nearly two centuries, residents grazed cows there, and it served as a militia training ground, a public meeting space and a site for public punishments. Today it is the start of the Freedom Trail and a gathering place in every season.

First public botanical garden

Next to the Common, the Public Garden was established in 1837 and is generally described as the first public botanical garden in the country. It was built on filled marshland and laid out in a more formal, Victorian style than the Common. Its lagoon, footbridge and Swan Boats, which have operated since the 1870s, make it a favorite spot from spring through fall.

First lighthouse

Boston Light, on Little Brewster Island in the outer harbor, was first lit in 1716, making it the site of the first lighthouse in what became the United States. British forces blew up the original tower during the Revolution, and the current tower was built in 1783. It is often noted as the second-oldest working lighthouse tower in the country.

First regularly published newspaper

The Boston News-Letter, first printed in 1704, is generally considered the first continuously published newspaper in the British North American colonies. A short-lived earlier paper, Publick Occurrences, appeared in Boston in 1690 but was shut down after a single issue.

Medicine and science

• Public demonstration of surgical anesthesia. On October 16, 1846, at Massachusetts General Hospital, a patient was operated on under ether before an audience. The room where it happened is now called the Ether Dome.
• The telephone. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell, working in Boston, made the first successful transmission of speech by telephone to his assistant, Thomas Watson.

Other Boston beginnings

• The Boston Marathon, first run in 1897, is the world’s oldest annual marathon.
• Faneuil Hall and Old South Meeting House hosted some of the earliest organized public protests against British policy.
• Boston was among the first American cities to create a public branch library system, starting in 1870.

A word of caution on firsts

Many cities claim firsts, and some claims depend on definitions, such as first public, first continuous or first in the colonies. The examples above are among the most widely accepted. When you hear a new Boston first, it is worth asking how it is being defined. That is part of the fun of local history.

If you want to see a few of these in one day, start at the Common and the Public Garden, visit Massachusetts General Hospital’s Ether Dome, which offers limited public access, and check the National Park Service for Boston Light tour availability.