Charlestown is a neighborhood of
BostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
,
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and is located on a peninsula north of downtown Boston. Charlestown was originally a separate town and the first capital of the
Massachusetts Bay ColonyThe Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
; it became a city in 1847 and was annexed by Boston on January 5, 1874. While it has had a substantial
Irish AmericanIrish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
population since the migration of
Irish peopleThe Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
during the Great Irish Famine of the 1840s, since the late 1980s the neighborhood has changed dramatically because of its proximity to downtown and its colonial architecture. However, it still maintains a strong
Irish AmericanIrish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
population and identity.
History
Thomas and Jane Walford were the original English settlers of Mishawaum (later Charlestown); they settled there in 1624. They were given a grant by Sir Robert Gorges, with whom they had settled at
WessagussetWessagusset Colony was a short-lived English trading colony in New England located in present-day Weymouth, Massachusetts. It was settled in August 1622 by between fifty and sixty colonists who were ill-prepared for colonial life...
(
WeymouthThe Town of Weymouth is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, Weymouth had a total population of 53,743. Despite its city status, it is formally known as the Town of Weymouth...
) in September 1623. John Endicott, first governor of
Massachusetts Bay ColonyThe Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
, had sent William, Richard and Ralph Sprague to Mishawaum to lay out a settlement. Thomas Walford, acting as an interpreter with the Massachusetts Indians, negotiated with the local
sachemA sachem[p] or sagamore is a paramount chief among the Algonquians or other northeast American tribes. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms from different Eastern Algonquian languages...
Wonohaquaham for Endicott and his people to settle there. Although Walford had a virtual monopoly on the region's available furs, he welcomed the newcomers and helped them in any way he could, unaware that his Episcopalian religious beliefs would cause him to be banished from Massachusetts to
PortsmouthPortsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...
,
New HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
within three years.
Originally a
PuritanThe Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
English city during the Colonial era (a time to which many of the neighborhood's structures date), Charlestown was founded in 1628, and settled July 4, 1629, by Thomas Graves,
Increase NowellIncrease Nowell, , was a colonial administrator, original patentee of the Massachusetts Bay Company, founder of Charlestown, Massachusetts and first ruling elder of the First Church in Charlestown....
, Simon Hoyt, Rev. Francis Bright, Ralph, Richard and
William SpragueWilliam Sprague left England on the ship Lyon's Whelp for Plymouth/Salem Massachusetts. He was originally from Upwey, near Weymouth, Dorset, England....
and about 100 others who preceded the
Great MigrationThe Puritan migration to New England was marked in its effects in the two decades from 1620 to 1640, after which it declined sharply for a while. The term Great Migration usually refers to the migration in this period of English settlers, primarily Puritans to Massachusetts and the warm islands of...
.
John WinthropJohn Winthrop was a wealthy English Puritan lawyer, and one of the leading figures in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the first major settlement in New England after Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the first large wave of migrants from England in 1630, and served as governor for 12 of...
's company stopped here for some time in 1630, before deciding to settle across the
Charles RiverThe Charles River is an long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts, USA. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 22 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston...
at Boston.
The territory of Charlestown originally included what is now
Melrose-Government:Robert J. Dolan is the mayor. Melrose is represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives by Paul Brodeur . Katherine Clark is the state senator for wards 1 through 5 and Thomas McGee is the state senator for wards 6 and 7. Melrose is part of the seventh Congressional...
and
MaldenMalden is a suburban city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 59,450 at the 2010 census. In 2009 Malden was ranked as the "Best Place to Raise Your Kids" in Massachusetts by Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine.-History:...
(both until 1649),
StonehamStoneham is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Its population was 21,437 at the 2010 census, down from 22,219 in 2000. The town is the birthplace of Olympic figure skating medalist Nancy Kerrigan and is the home of the Stone Zoo.- History :...
(until 1725),
SomervilleSomerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located just north of Boston. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 75,754 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England. It is also the 17th most densely populated incorporated place in...
(until 1842),
MedfordMedford is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States, on the Mystic River, five miles northwest of downtown Boston. In the 2010 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 56,173...
,
EverettEverett is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, near Boston. The population was 41,667 at the 2010 census.Everett is the last city in the United States with a bicameral legislature, which is composed of a seven-member Board of Aldermen and an 18-member Common Council...
,
WoburnWoburn is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. The population was 38,120 at the 2010 census. Woburn is located north of Boston, Massachusetts, and just south of the intersection of I-93 and I-95.- History :...
,
BurlingtonBurlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,498 at the 2010 census.- History :It is believed that Burlington takes its name from the English town of Bridlington, however this has never been confirmed....
, and parts of
ArlingtonArlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, six miles northwest of Boston. The population was 42,844 at the 2010 census.-History:...
and
CambridgeCambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
.
On June 17, 1775 the Charlestown Peninsula was the site of the
Battle of Bunker HillThe Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775, mostly on and around Breed's Hill, during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War...
. Much of the battle took place on
Breed's HillBreed's Hill is a glacial drumlin located in the Charlestown section of Boston, Massachusetts. It is best known as the location where in 1775, early in the American Revolutionary War, most of the fighting in the Battle of Bunker Hill took place...
, which overlooked the harbor and the town and was only about 400 yards from the southern end of the peninsula; Bunker Hill is near the northwest end of the peninsula, close to Charlestown Neck and about a mile from the Charles River. The town, including its wharves and dockyards, was destroyed by fire during the battle.
Around the 1860s an influx of
IrishThe Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
immigrants arrived in Charlestown. The neighborhood remained an Irish stronghold in the cultural, economic, and Catholic traditions of neighborhoods like South Boston,
SomervilleSomerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located just north of Boston. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 75,754 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England. It is also the 17th most densely populated incorporated place in...
, and
DorchesterDorchester is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is named after the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset, from which Puritans emigrated and is today endearingly nicknamed "Dot" by its residents. Dorchester, including a large...
. The city developed a water supply from the Mystic Lakes. On October 7, 1873, a vote was held to determine whether Charlestown should leave Middlesex County and join Boston as part of Suffolk County; Boston residents approved the question, 1860–1868, and Charlestown residents also approved, 1940-1947.
During the early 1960s, the
Boston Redevelopment AuthorityThe Boston Redevelopment Authority is the municipal planning and development agency for Boston, working on both housing and commercial developments.The BRA was established by the Boston city council and the Massachusetts legislature in 1957...
(BRA) initiated plans to demolish and redevelop sixty percent of the housing in Charlestown. In 1963, the BRA held a town meeting to discuss their plans with the community. The BRA's dealings with Boston's
West EndThe West End is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, bounded generally by Cambridge Street to the south, the Charles River to the west and northwest, North Washington Street on the north and northeast, and New Sudbury Street on the east. Beacon Hill is to the south, and the North End is to the...
had created an atmosphere of distrust towards
urban renewalUrban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
in Boston, and Charlestown residents opposed the plan by an overwhelming majority. By 1965, the plan had been reduced to tearing down only eleven percent of the neighborhood, including the removal of the elevated rail tracks.
Throughout the 1960s until the middle 1990s, Charlestown was infamous for its
Irish MobThe Irish Mob is one of the oldest organized crime groups in the United States, in existence since the early 19th century. Originating in Irish American street gangs of the 19th century — depicted in Herbert Asbury's 1928 book The Gangs of New York — the Irish Mob has appeared in most...
presence. Charlestown's McLaughlin Brothers were involved in a gang war with neighboring
SomervilleSomerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located just north of Boston. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 75,754 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England. It is also the 17th most densely populated incorporated place in...
's
Winter Hill GangThe Winter Hill Gang is a structured confederation of Boston, Massachusetts-area organized crime figures, predominantly Irish-American with a small Italian-American faction. It derives its name from the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts north of Boston. Its members have...
, during the
Irish MobThe Irish Mob is one of the oldest organized crime groups in the United States, in existence since the early 19th century. Originating in Irish American street gangs of the 19th century — depicted in Herbert Asbury's 1928 book The Gangs of New York — the Irish Mob has appeared in most...
Wars of the 1960s. In the late 1980s, however, Charlestown underwent a massive gentrification process similar to that of the South End. Drawn to its proximity to downtown and its colonial, red-brick, row-house housing stock, similar to that of
Beacon HillBeacon Hill is a historic neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, that along with the neighboring Back Bay is home to about 26,000 people. It is a neighborhood of Federal-style rowhouses and is known for its narrow, gas-lit streets and brick sidewalks...
, many upper-middle class professionals moved to the neighborhood. In the late 1990s, additional gentrification took place, similar to that in neighboring Somerville. Today the neighborhood is a mix of upper-middle and middle-class residences, housing projects, and a large working class Irish-American demographic and culture that is still predominant..
Charlestown was the setting for the 2010 action thriller
The TownThe Town is a 2010 crime film starring, co-written, and directed by Ben Affleck adapted from Chuck Hogan's novel Prince of Thieves. The film opened in theaters in the United States on September 17, 2010 at number one with more than $23 million and positive reviews...
, directed by and starring
Ben AffleckBenjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
, which follows the lives of a group of Boston bank robbers and the law enforcement personnel attempting to stop them.
Geography
Charlestown is located north of downtown Boston on a peninsula extending southeastward between the
Charles RiverThe Charles River is an long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts, USA. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 22 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston...
and the
Mystic RiverThe Mystic River is a river in Massachusetts, in the United States. Its name derives from the Wampanoag word "muhs-uhtuq", which translates to "big river." In an Algonquian language, "Missi-Tuk" means "a great river whose waters are driven by waves", alluding to the natural tidal nature of the...
. The geographic extent of the neighborhood has changed dramatically from its colonial ancestor.
LandfillA landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
operations have expanded much of Boston, lowering hills, and have expanded Charlestown, eliminating the narrow
Charlestown Neck that connected the northwest end of the
Charlestown Peninsula to the mainland. The original territory also included present-day
SomervilleSomerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located just north of Boston. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 75,754 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England. It is also the 17th most densely populated incorporated place in...
, which was incorporated as a separate town in 1842, and the northern part of Arlington. At the time, the Charlestown Peninsula was urbanizing, while Somerville was still largely rural.
City Square in the southern part of Charlestown is the location of the historic city hall. It is also the terminus of the
Charlestown BridgeThe Charlestown Bridge is the easternmost bridge on the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts. The bridge formerly carried the southernmost stretch of Massachusetts Route 99, which now ends at Chelsea Street in Charlestown. It connects to Joe Tecce Way to the south and to Rutherford Avenue to the...
and the former
Warren BridgeThe Warren Bridge connected downtown Boston, Massachusetts with Charlestown from its construction in the 1820s until its demolition in 1962. It was replaced by the Charles River Dam in 1978....
, and was formerly a stop on the
Charlestown ElevatedThe Charlestown Elevated was a former link of Boston's Orange Line rapid transit line that ran from a portal at North Station, near the old Boston Garden, to the city of Everett, Massachusetts...
. The
Central ArteryThe John F. Fitzgerald Expressway, known locally as the Central Artery, is a section of freeway in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, designated as Interstate 93, U.S. Route 1 and Route 3. It was initially constructed in the 1950s as a partly elevated and partly tunneled divided highway...
was built between 1951 and 1954, routing elevated ramps through City Square. The Central Artery North Area (CANA) project moved these underground, into the City Square Tunnel, making way for a revitalized surface park.
Thompson Square is located at the confluence of Main Street, Dexter Row, Green Street, and Austin Street. It was also formerly a stop on the
Charlestown ElevatedThe Charlestown Elevated was a former link of Boston's Orange Line rapid transit line that ran from a portal at North Station, near the old Boston Garden, to the city of Everett, Massachusetts...
.
Government and infrastructure
The
Massachusetts Department of CorrectionThe Massachusetts Department of Correction is responsible for operating the prison system of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, US Massachusetts houses over 11,500 inmates throughout 18 correctional facilities and employs over 5,000 employees...
operated the
Charlestown State PrisonCharlestown State Prison was a correctional facility in Charlestown, Boston, Massachusetts operated by the Massachusetts Department of Correction. The facility was located between Austin and Washington Streets and in proximity to the Boston and Maine Railroad tracks that intersected with the...
until its closure in 1955. The former prison site is occupied by
Bunker Hill Community CollegeBunker Hill Community College is a two-year community college located in Charlestown, Boston, Massachusetts. It is an urban campus with over 10,000 students. Six in ten students are people of color and more than half of all students are women. There are 650 international students attending BHCC;...
.
The
United States Postal ServiceThe United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
operates the Charlestown Post Office.
Places of interest
Charlestown contains several places of historical interest, many of which are marked by the northern end of Boston's
Freedom TrailThe Freedom Trail is a red path through downtown Boston, Massachusetts, that leads to 16 significant historic sites. It is a 2.5-mile walk from Boston Common to Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. Simple ground markers explaining events, graveyards, notable churches and other buildings, and a...
. The Freedom Trail ends at the
Bunker Hill Monument-External links:****: cultural context**...
commemorating the famous Battle of Bunker Hill. The
USS ConstitutionUSS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. Named by President George Washington after the Constitution of the United States of America, she is the world's oldest floating commissioned naval vessel...
, the oldest commissioned vessel in the US Navy, is docked in the Charlestown Navy Yard. Charlestown was also the location from which
Paul ReverePaul Revere was an American silversmith and a patriot in the American Revolution. He is most famous for alerting Colonial militia of approaching British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, Paul Revere's Ride...
began his famous "midnight ride" before the
Battles of Lexington and ConcordThe Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy , and Cambridge, near Boston...
. A restaurant opened in 1780 and still in operation,
Warren TavernThe Warren Tavern is the oldest tavern in Massachusetts and one of the most historic watering holes in America. The Warren Tavern was founded in 1780 in Charlestown, MA and still stands in that block of land today...
, claims to have been one of Revere's favorite taverns. Of Charlestown's churches,
St. Mary'sSt. Mary - St. Catherine of Siena is an historic Roman Catholic parish in Charlestown, Massachusetts. It resulted from the 2006 merger of two older parishes, St. Catherine of Siena on Vine St. and St. Mary's on Warren and Winthrop. The parish occupies the latter's building, which was one of the...
(1887–1893) is considered one of the masterpieces of
Patrick KeelyPatrick Charles Keely was an Irish-American architect based in Brooklyn, New York and Providence, Rhode Island...
.
Primary and secondary schools
Boston Public SchoolsBoston Public Schools is a school district serving the city of Boston, Massachusetts, United States.-Leadership:The district is led by a Superintendent, hired by the Boston School Committee, a seven-member school board appointed by the Mayor after approval by a nominating committee of specified...
operates public schools. Harvard/Kent Elementary School, Clarence R. Edwards Middle School, Warren/Prescott K-8 School, and
Charlestown High SchoolCharlestown High School is a public school located at 240 Medford Street in Charlestown, Boston, Massachusetts with a zip code of 02129. Charlestown High School is the only high school in Charlestown. Charlestown is part of Boston which means the school is part of the Boston Public School System...
are located in Charlestown.
The Holden School, a private school, was formerly located in Charlestown. COMPASS, Inc. and the Holden School merged on July 1, 2007, and the combined system operated at two sites, including the Charlestown site, beginning in September 2007. The COMPASS board of directors decided to close the Charlestown site, beginning on June 26, 2009.
Colleges and universities
Bunker Hill Community CollegeBunker Hill Community College is a two-year community college located in Charlestown, Boston, Massachusetts. It is an urban campus with over 10,000 students. Six in ten students are people of color and more than half of all students are women. There are 650 international students attending BHCC;...
's main campus is located in Charlestown.
Public libraries
Boston Public LibraryThe Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was the first publicly supported municipal library in the United States, the first large library open to the public in the United States, and the first public library to allow people to...
operates the Charlestown Branch. The library first opened in the Warren Institution for Savings building on January 7, 1862. The library moved to a larger space in the new Charlestown City Hall in 1869. In 1913 the branch moved to the intersection of Monument Avenue and Monument Square, in proximity to the
Bunker Hill Monument-External links:****: cultural context**...
. The branch moved to its current location in 1970.
Notable residents
Charlestown was the burying place of
John HarvardJohn Harvard was an English minister in America whose deathbed bequest to the Massachusetts Bay Colony's fledgling New College was so gratefully received that the school was renamed Harvard College in his honor.-Biography:Harvard was born and raised in Southwark, England, the fourth of nine...
, namesake of
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
- Charles R. Adams
Charles R. Adams was an American opera singer and singing instructor. An excellent tenor and fine actor, he had a commanding stage presence and was particularly admired for his interpretations of the works of Richard Wagner....
, (1834–1900), Charlestown native, opera singer
- Charles B. Atwood
Charles B. Atwood was an architect who designed several buildings and a large number of secondary structures for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He also designed a number of notable buildings in the city of Chicago....
, (1849–1895), born in Charlestown, architect who designed the Reliance BuildingThe Reliance Building is a skyscraper located at 32 North State Street in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. The first floor and basement were designed by John Root of the Burnham and Root architectural firm in 1890, with the rest of the building completed by Charles B. Atwood in 1895...
, among others
- William Austin
William Austin was an American author and lawyer, most notable as the creator of the Peter Rugg stories published in the New England Galaxy in 1824–1827...
, (1778–1841), born in Charlestown, state legislator and author
- Albert Gallatin Blanchard, (1810–1891), born in Charlestown, Confederate general in the American Civil War
- James Frothingham
James Frothingham was an American portrait painter in Massachusetts and New York.-Life and work:James Frothingham was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He began as a chaise painter in his father's chaise manufactory. In the Boston area, he was a student of Gilbert Stuart...
, (1786–1864), portrait artist
- Robert Haswell
Robert Haswell was an early American maritime fur trader to the Pacific Northwest of North America. His journals of these voyages are the main records of Captain Robert Gray's circumnavigation of the globe...
, (1768-c1801), maritime trader and officer in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France
- Howie Long
Howard "Howie" Matthew Moses Long is an American former National Football League defensive end and actor. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000...
, NFL-decorated Hall of Fame lineman for the Oakland Raiders
- Samuel F. B. Morse
Samuel Finley Breese Morse was an American contributor to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system based on European telegraphs, co-inventor of the Morse code, and an accomplished painter.-Birth and education:...
, (1791–1872), artist and inventor
- Woolson Morse
Henry Woolson Morse , usually credited as Woolson Morse, was an American composer of musical theatre. Often working with librettist J. Cheever Goodwin, he produced several scores for Broadway productions in the 1890s....
, (1858–1897) relative of Samuel F. B. Morse, born in Charlestown and became a noted Broadway composer in the 1890s
- Jack O'Callahan
John J. "Jack" O'Callahan is a retired professional ice hockey player who played 390 NHL regular season games between 1982 and 1989 for the Chicago Blackhawks and New Jersey Devils...
, member of 1980 "Miracle on IceThe "Miracle on Ice" is the name in American popular culture for a medal-round men's ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York, on Friday, February 22...
" hockey team that upset the Soviet Union at Lake Placid, and beat Finland for the gold
- Robert Sedgwick
Major General Robert Sedgwick was an English colonist, born 1611 in Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, and baptised on May 6, 1613.-Biography:...
, (c.1611–1656), merchant, first major general of the Massachusetts Bay ColonyThe Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
and first governor General of JamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
- Daniel C. Stillson http://www.bochynski.com/stillson, (1830–1899), inventor of the Stillson pipe wrench
The pipe wrench is an adjustable wrench used for turning soft iron pipes and fittings with a rounded surface. The design of the adjustable jaw allows it to rock in the frame, such that any forward pressure on the handle tends to pull the jaws tighter together. Teeth angled in the direction of turn...
- Jim Vesey
James Edward Vesey is a retired American ice hockey player.Drafted 155th overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, he went to play eleven games for the Blues, scoring a goal and two assists. He signed with the Boston Bruins in 1991 and played four games for them, scoring no...
, (b. 1965) in Charlestown, retired ice hockey player
See also
- Charlestown Navy Yard
- Mayors of Charlestown
- The Town
The Town is a 2010 crime film starring, co-written, and directed by Ben Affleck adapted from Chuck Hogan's novel Prince of Thieves. The film opened in theaters in the United States on September 17, 2010 at number one with more than $23 million and positive reviews...
Further reading
- Sammarco, Anthony Mitchell, Charlestown, Arcadia Publishing, Images of America series, 2004
External links