history

A 1922 postcard of the Central Square in Cambridge Mass. The postcard shows a busy street with many people waiting to board the streetcar in the middle of the street. On either side of the street are businesses and individuals walking on the sidewalks.

Cambridge

Central Square became Cambridge's largest commercial center in the early 20th century, serving growing immigrant communities from Ireland, Canada, Portugal, and the West Indies. After World War II, the Square and an adjoining area known as "the Port" would become…

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A postcard of Dorchester Avenue. A yellow streetcar travels down the street along with a horse-drawn wagon. On either side of the street are mixed-use buildings.

Dorchester

Postcard showing Dorchester Avenue near the corner of Savin Hill Avenue, ca 1913. Courtesy of the Dorchester Historical Society.

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A postcard of "Harvard Avenue, Allston, Mass." There is a street on the left of the postcard with lines for a streetcar. On the side of the street are numerous businesses, such as a ten cent store, candy store, and cafe, along with automobiles.

Allston-Brighton

   Postcard of Harvard Avenue in Allston Village, between Commonwealth and Brighton Avenues, 1921. Courtesy of the Brighton Allston Historical Society.

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Interactive Map, 1870-2010

Click on town shapes to see foreign-born percentages; click on buttons on right to see data for different years. Source: US Decennial Census, 1870-2010; American Community Survey, 2022 5-year estimates

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A postcard that depicts "Chelsea Square. Chelsea. Mass." A parkway with streetcars, horse drawn carriages, and pedestrians walking about. The road is in a U-shape and there are large three and four story buildings that mark the sides of the streets.

Chelsea

Chelsea Square, ca. 1905, just prior to the massive fire of 1908 that would destroy the dowtown but also bring thousands of Jewish and other immigrants to this industrial city north of Boston.

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A photograph of an intersection between two dirt roads. Horse-drawn carriages line one of the streets, in front of commercial businesses. The buildings are are all generally two or three stories and are in a colonial style.

Roxbury

Corner of Dudley and Warren Streets (Dudley Square) in 1856, as Irish and other immigrants were first moving into this emerging streetcar suburb. Courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library.

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A look down a street in the West End. The road is littered with papers. On one side of the street is a pharmacy. Pedestrians walk along the sidewalk on either side of the street.

The West End

Corner of Spring and Chambers Streets in Boston's West End, 1910. Courtesy of the Trustees of Boston Public Library.

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