History of Charlestown

By Ziyu Weng

Charlestown is the oldest neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The history of Charlestown can be traced back to 1624, when the first English settlers arrived at the southerly end of Breed’s Hill. Charlestown was laid out in 1629 by engineer Thomas Graves, one of its earliest settlers, during the reign of Charles I of England. Charlestown was named for Prince Charles, son of the reigning King of England, James I.

Charlestown proper was founded in 1628 and settled on July 4.

Charlestown was a much larger neighborhood than what it is now. Malden, Medford, Melrose, Everett, Woburn, Burlington, Winchester, Wilmington, Stoneham, Somerville, parts of Cambridge, Reading, and Wakefield were included in the Charlestown before they set off from it.

Charlestown was a principal port of the Bay Colony in 1765. There were the First Charlestown Tea Party and the Second Charlestown Tea Party before the famous Boston Tea Party, in which protestors dumped the tea imported by British East India Company in against of the Tea Act. For the First Tea Party on December 16th, 1773, protestors did not dump the tea: they ended up locked in the storage and no taxes were paid; for the Second Charlestown Tea Party on November 1st, 1774, protestors dumped the chests of tea into the Cooper River.

On June 17th, 1775, the Battle of Bunker Hill, fought on Breed’s Hill in Charlestown, one of the bloodiest the most important battles during the first stage of the American Revolutionary war, took place in the Charlestown Peninsula. The British Army won with a significant number of casualties which greatly exceeds the number of casualties of the Continental Army. However, Charlestown was nearly destroyed, and its reconstruction process could only begin after the battle. The Bunker Hill Monument, which marks the end of the Freedom Trail, was erected between 1827 and 1843 to commemorate this battle.

In 1847, Charlestown was chartered as a city. In 1873, Charlestown became a part of Boston.

The Charlestown Navy Yard was established in 1800, along with five other navy yards. During the American Civil War, over 26000 men joined the Union Army at the Charlestown Navy Yard. As one of the most productive Yards during the war, the Charlestown Navy Yard was responsible for building up at a number of famous vessels which engaged in the American Civil War, including the USS Merrimack. The Charlestown Navy Yard was also responsible for fixing warships of British Navy which were damaged in the War of 1812. Later, the Charlestown Navy Yard expanded as a result of WWI. In 1917, The Army-Navy YMCA is built in City Square (Charlestown before renamed) to accommodate WWI servicemen from the Navy Yard. The Navy Yard was decommissioned on July 1st, 1974, after 175 years of service.

Charlestown used to have a large portion of Irish population in the latter half of the 20th century. It was one of the city’s largest Irish Catholic neighborhoods.

Charlestown underwent a major gentrification process in the late 1980s.