Charlestown Before Boston: The Neighborhood Where the City Began
Charlestown was settled before Boston itself, burned during the Battle of Bunker Hill and later built warships for the nation. A look at its long history.
Charlestown sits across the harbor from the North End, its skyline marked by the granite obelisk of the Bunker Hill Monument. Many visitors come only for the monument and the USS Constitution, but the neighborhood’s story begins even before Boston’s.
First settlement
English settlers established Charlestown in 1629, a year before John Winthrop’s fleet arrived in 1630. Winthrop’s group first landed in Charlestown, but a shortage of good fresh water pushed many of them across the river to the Shawmut Peninsula, where Boston was founded. Charlestown remained its own town for more than two centuries.
Bunker Hill and the burning of the town
On June 17, 1775, colonial militia fortified Breed’s Hill in Charlestown, and British troops attacked across the water from Boston. The battle took its name from nearby Bunker Hill, though most of the fighting happened on Breed’s Hill. The British took the hill on their third assault but suffered heavy losses.
During the battle, British forces set fire to Charlestown, and most of the town was destroyed. Residents rebuilt after the war, which is why so much of the neighborhood’s housing dates from the late 1700s and the 1800s rather than the earliest colonial years.
The Bunker Hill Monument was built between 1825 and 1843. Visitors who climb its narrow spiral staircase are rewarded with views over the harbor and city.
The Navy Yard
In 1800, the federal government established the Charlestown Navy Yard, which went on to build and repair ships for more than 170 years. At its peak during the Second World War, it employed tens of thousands of workers. The yard closed in 1974, and part of it became a unit of Boston National Historical Park.
The Navy Yard is home to the USS Constitution, launched in 1797 and nicknamed Old Ironsides during the War of 1812. It is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world and is still crewed by active-duty U.S. Navy sailors.
A town becomes a neighborhood
Charlestown was annexed to Boston in 1874. Through the late 1800s and 1900s, it was a largely Irish working-class neighborhood, and longtime residents still call themselves Townies. Its streets mix Federal and Greek Revival houses, wooden row houses and the triple-deckers common across Boston.
Places worth seeing include:
- Monument Square, with its ring of handsome 19th-century homes.
- City Square, the site of the original town center, now a small park.
- The Phipps Street Burying Ground, one of the oldest in the area.
- The Navy Yard’s piers and dry dock, open for walking along the harbor.
Visiting in winter
Charlestown is reachable on foot from the North End across the North Washington Street Bridge, which is how the Freedom Trail ends. Winter hours for the monument, the ship and museums can be limited, so check the National Park Service at nps.gov/bost and the USS Constitution Museum before you go.
