Charlestown

Charlestown the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony is now a part of the city of Boston and has been since 1847. It was annexed by Boston January 5, 1874 and remains a part of the city of Boston to date. Charlestown is adjacent to center city Boston on a cape stretching southeastward between the Charles and Mystic Rivers. The storied battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775 took place on Breed’s Hill a part of the Charlestown Peninsula a highpoint above the harbor and the town. Bunker Hill about two killometers from the Charles River near the northwest corner of the cape of Charelstown Neck. During the battle, fire destroyed the town, wharves and dockyards. From the early 1960s through the middle of the 1990s, Charlestown was recognized for its notorious criminal presence from the Irish underworld. The McLaughlins were caught up in a gang war with adjacent criminal organizations during the Irish Mob Wars of the 1960’s. In the late 1980’s Charlestown saw a transformation from the run-down neglected neighborhood into a more successful thriving neighborhood. Many upper-middle class meticulous professionals began to move into the neighborhood. Today the neighborhood is very diversified with a mix of different working classes ranging from upper to middle residents with a large working class of Irish-American decendents. While visiting Charlestown you cannot miss The Bunker Hill Monument where Boston’s Freedom Trail ends. Another place of interest in Charlestown is the charming Saint Mary’s Church (1887-1893) a masterpiece by Patrick Keeley. The USS Constitution (old ironsides) is docked in the Charlestown Navy Yard. The Warren Tavern a local restaurant still in operation established in 1780 and professed one of Paul Revere’s favorite taverns.