Allston-Brighton: From Cattle Market to Student Neighborhood
Brighton was once home to one of New England’s biggest livestock markets, and Allston was named for a painter. A short history of the neighborhood.
Today Allston-Brighton is known for students, music venues, apartment buildings and busy stretches of Commonwealth Avenue and Brighton Avenue. Two hundred years ago, it was cattle country. The neighborhood’s past explains a lot about how it looks now.
Little Cambridge
For much of the colonial era, the area was part of Cambridge and was sometimes called Little Cambridge. Residents had to cross the Charles River to attend church and town meetings, which was inconvenient, and in 1807 they formed their own town, Brighton.
During the Revolutionary War, a livestock market grew up in Brighton to supply the Continental Army. After the war, it kept growing. For much of the 1800s, Brighton was one of the most important cattle markets in New England. Drovers brought animals from across the region, and slaughterhouses, hotels and taverns served the trade.
The market’s influence is still visible in the neighborhood’s street layout and in its history of meatpacking. Over time, the industry consolidated elsewhere, and Brighton turned residential.
Annexation and Allston
Brighton was annexed to Boston in 1874. Around that time, the railroad gave the name Allston to a new station in the eastern part of town. It honored Washington Allston, a well-known painter and poet who had lived in Cambridgeport. The name spread to the surrounding area, and today Allston and Brighton are often treated as one neighborhood with two distinct personalities.
Reservoirs, colleges and campuses
- The Chestnut Hill Reservoir, completed in 1870, was part of Boston’s water supply system. Its path is a popular loop for walkers and runners.
- Boston College sits right on the border, with part of its campus in Brighton.
- Boston University stretches along Commonwealth Avenue into Allston.
- Harvard’s Allston campus, south of the Charles, includes Harvard Stadium and the Harvard Business School.
The presence of so many universities means a large student population and a constant turnover of residents, along with longtime families who have lived in the neighborhood for generations.
A neighborhood of many communities
Allston-Brighton has been home to Irish, Jewish, Russian, Brazilian, Chinese, Korean and many other communities. Harvard Avenue and Brighton Avenue are known for their mix of international restaurants and small shops. Brighton Center and Oak Square have a quieter, village feel with older houses and churches.
Exploring in winter
Allston and Brighton are easy to reach on the Green Line’s B branch or by bus. A winter visit could start with a walk around the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, followed by lunch on Harvard Avenue. Keep in mind that September 1 is the traditional moving day for many apartments in the neighborhood, so the rhythm of life follows the academic calendar more than most of Boston.
For deeper research, the Brighton-Allston Historical Society has collected stories and photographs of the neighborhood’s past.
