Suffolk County, Boston Massachusetts

Massachusetts AHGP Information
Suffolk County

Suffolk, County, Massachusetts. Situated in the east part of the state, and consists of Boston and Chelsea, with several islands. Organized in 1643, when it contained the present counties of Suffolk and Norfolk, with the towns of Hingham and Hull, in Plymouth County. It now contains 110 square miles, being the smallest county in extent in the state, but the city of Boston renders it the most important. Capital, Boston. There were in 1840, neat cattle 702, sheep 67, swine 738; wheat 130 bushels produced, rye 1,239, Indian corn 2,988, barley 1,124, oats 279, potatoes 21,310; 232 houses in foreign trade, capitol. $11,696,000; 553 stores, capitol $4,213,220; 34 lumber yards, capitol $334,010; invested in fisheries, $35,100; 6 furnaces, 1 cotton factory 1,100 sp., 3 tanneries, 17 distilleries, 2 breweries, 3 glass factories, 1 pottery, 4 grist mills, 25 printing offices, 28 binderies, 7 periodicals, 7 daily, 11 weekly, 7 semi-weekly newspapers. Capitol in manufacturing $2,825,600. 16 academies 2,649 students, 146 schools 14,577 scholars. Population 95,773.

Boston, City, the capital of Massachusetts, in Suffolk County, is principally situated on a peninsula, 3 miles long and 1 broad, at the western extremity of Massachusetts Bay. It lies in 42° 21' 23" north lat. and 71° 4' 9 " west lon. from Greenwich, and 5° 58' east lon. from Washington. It is 115 south south west from Portland, Maine; 63 south south east Concord New Hampshire; 158 east by south Albany; 40 north north east Providence, Rhode Island; 97 east north east Hartford, Connecticut; 207 north east by east New York; 440 north east from W. Population in 1790 was 18,038; in 1800 24,933; in 1810, 33,250; in 1820, 43,298; in 1830 61,391; in 1840, 93,383. Employed in commerce 2,040; in manufactures and trades, 5,333 in navigating the ocean, 10,813; do. canals and rivers, 19; learned professions and engineers, 586. Boston consists of three parts, Old Boston, on the peninsula; South Boston, formerly a part of Dorchester, but united to Boston in 1804; and East Boston, formerly Noddle's Island. The only original communication of the peninsula with the main land was denominated the "Neck," a little over a mile in length, which connected it with Roxbury. By the fortification of this neck, at the commencement of the Revolutionary War, the British were able to control the intercourse between Boston and the surrounding country. But by a number of bridges a communication is now opened in various directions. Charles River bridge, 1 ,503 feet long, connects Boston to Charlestown; West Boston bridge, 2,753 feet, with a causeway 3,432 feet, leads to Cambridge; South Boston bridge, 1,550 feet, leads from the "Neck" to S. Boston; Canal Bridge, 2,796 feet, leads to East Cambridge, from the middle of which an arm extends to States Prison Point, in Charlestown; Boston Free Bridge, 1,828 feet, connects Boston with South Boston; Warren Bridge, 1,390 feet, leads to Charlestown. Besides these, the Western Avenue, a mile and a half long, leads to Brooklyn, and constitutes a tide-dam, enclosing a pond of 600 acres, which, by a partition, makes an avenue from the main dam to Roxbury, and forms a full and receiving basin; so that the flowing of the tide creates a great water power, at all times available. The peninsula of Boston had originally an uneven surface; and the necessity of the case, and the good taste of the inhabitants, have extensively prevented the attempt to level these inequalities of surface; and from various points of view, the city presents a picturesque appearance. The streets, however, were originally laid out upon no systematic plan; and accommodated to the convenience of the ground, they are often crooked and narrow; though modern improvements have greatly remedied these inconveniences. The Common, originally a town cow-pasture, has escaped a private appropriation, and is one of the finest public grounds in any city of the United States. Read more...

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