South Boston, Boston

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Mural in South Boston saying "Welcome to South Boston" in English and "Fáilte go mBoston dheas" in Irish. Also shown is a Celtic cross, the coats of arms of the Provinces of Ireland and the words "Sinn Féin" "Irish Republican Army" and "NORAID." This Mural has been torn down along with the building to make way for high end condominiums.

South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, located south of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. It was formerly known as Dorchester Neck and today is referred to as "Southie" by its residents. South Boston is well-known for being a working class Irish-American neighborhood. The neighborhood is also home to the Boston area's small but vibrant Polish and Lithuanian communities. Portions of the neighborhood were also known in the early 1990s as being the poorest white urban neighborhood in the United States.

[edit] History

Dorchester neck can be seen on this early map of Boston in the lower right.

Geographically, Dorchester Neck was an isthmus, a narrow strip of land that connected the mainland of the colonial settlement of Dorchester with Dorchester Heights. Landfill has since greatly increased the amount of land on the eastern side of the historical neck, and widened the connection to the mainland to the point that South Boston is no longer considered separate from it. South Boston gained an identity separate from Dorchester, but the two were annexed by Boston in pieces, from 1804 to 1870.

See History of Boston

South Boston in 1888 ("Süd Boston" on this German map.)

It was here on Dorchester Heights, during the American Revolutionary War that George Washington placed his cannon and forced the evacuation of the British troops from Boston on March 17, 1776. The British evacuated Boston and Fort William and Mary for Halifax, Nova Scotia. Fort William and Mary was replaced with a brick fortification known as Fort Independence. That fort was replaced by a granite fortification (bearing the same name) prior to the American Civil War, and still stands on Castle Island as a National Historic Landmark. Edgar Allan Poe was stationed at Castle Island for five months in 1827 and was inspired to write The Cask of Amontillado based on an early Castle Island legend.

West Broadway and Dorchester Street

During the 1970s, South Boston received national attention for its opposition to court-mandated school (de facto) desegregation by busing students to different neighborhoods.

In the 1990s, South Boston became the focus for a Supreme Court case on the right of gay and lesbian groups to participate in the Saint Patrick's Day (Evacuation Day) parade. The case was decided in favor of the parade's sponsors when the United States Supreme Court supported the South Boston Allied War Veterans' right to determine who can participate in their annual St. Patrick's Day parade.^[1] In 1996, local Dorchester author Paul Walkowski and Attorney William Connolly detailed the case in their book "From Trial Court to the United States Supreme Court".^[2]

"Southie" is home to what is thought to be the first Vietnam veterans memorial in the United States. It predated the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. by 13 months. It was dedicated on September 13, 1981 and is located at Independence Square, which is more commonly called M Street Park.^[3]

The City Point area of South Boston, labeled "East Side" by realtors, has seen a major increase in property values due to its close proximity to downtown Boston and gentrification. The "West Side" of South Boston, also known as the "lower end" by life long residents, though slower to begin the gentrification process also benefits from the proximity to not only downtown but also the popular South End. Additionally, the West Side is home to the first Green Residence (Gold LEED Certified) in Boston - the Macallen Building which was featured in the movie "The Greening of Southie". The City of Boston is also investing in the West Side through developments like the ~150,000 square foot mixed use (residential and commercial) building being developed by the Boston Redevelopment Authority on West Broadway.

The section of South Boston north of First Street is targeted for massive redevelopment by the administration of Mayor Thomas Menino and the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA).^[4]

Initially referred to as the "Seaport District" by the BRA, this area was officially restyled the "South Boston Waterfront" after virulent protest from natives and local politicians, including City Council President James M. Kelly.^{[citation needed]} The Central Artery/Tunnel (CA/T) Project, also known as the Big Dig, has created a completely new transportation network for this area and quite a few new hotel and office projects have come online in the past few years.^{[citation needed]} The Boston Convention and Exhibition Center straddles D Street, the Seaport Hotel and Seaport World Trade Center is located on Commonwealth Pier, and a new home for the Institute of Contemporary Art hangs over Boston Harbor just north of Northern Avenue.

[edit] Schools

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[edit] Public

• Excel High School (9-12)
• Monument High School (9-12) Separate Division
• Odyssey High School (9-12) Separate Division
• James Condon Elementary School (K-5)
• Joseph P. Tynan School (K-5)
• Michael J. Perkins School (K-5)
• Oliver Hazard Perry School (K-8)
• Patrick F. Gavin Middle School (6-8)

[edit] Private

• South Boston Catholic Academy (K-8) (formerly St. Brigid's School and Gate of Heaven which were combined)
• St Peter Academy (K-8)
• Julie's Family Learning Center (P,K,Montessori)

[edit] Cultural and Language Schools

• Szkola Jezyka Polskiego w Bostonie (John Paul II Polish School for Children and Teens)
• Wood's School of Irish Dance

Source:^[5]

[edit] Places of Worship

[edit] Catholic Churches

• Gate of Heaven
• Our Lady of Czestochowa (Polish)
• Saint Brigid
• Saint Monica - Saint Augustine
• Saint Peter (Lithuanian)
• Saint Vincent de Paul^[6]

[edit] Community Resources

• South Boston Neighborhood House^[7]
• Boys and Girls Club of Boston ^[8]
• South Boston Branch Library ^[9]
• South Boston Community Health Center ^[10]

The Paraclete Center

[edit] Parks

• Castle Island, Pleasure Bay, M Street Beach

and Carson Beach "Fort Independence, a pentagonal five-bastioned, granite fort built between 1834 and 1851, is the dominating feature of Castle Island. This 22-acre urban park is connected to the mainland by both pedestrian and vehicular causeways. Pleasure Bay, the M Street Beach and Carson Beach form a three mile segment of parkland and beach along the South Boston shoreline of Dorchester Bay. Carson Beach offers some beautiful views and great public amenities: a rehabilitated Mothers' Rest, public restrooms, exhibit space, first aid and lifeguard functions, while the outdoor courtyards allow space for passive recreation. Carson Beach also features a walkway which allows one to walk, bike, or run along the water's edge from Castle Island to the Kennedy Library.

Fort Independence and Castle Island are on the State and National Registers of Historic Places, and the fort is a National Historic Landmark. Fort Independence is open from Memorial Day to Columbus Day, hours vary. Fort tours are conducted by the Castle Island Association in the summer months and there is interpretive signage for self-guided tours. The principal program theme, the History of Castle Island, stresses the role of the fort in harbor defense." ^[11]

[edit] Public housing

South Boston is home to some of the oldest public housing projects in the United States.^{[12][dead link]} In the last 30 years they have changed from having a mostly white population to a more ethnically mixed population.^{[citation needed]} The housing facilities are under the control of the Boston Housing Authority (BHA)^[13] and include West Broadway which was built in 1949 and occupies 20 acres,^[14] West Ninth Street^[15] (these three facilities are next to each other and commonly called D street), Old Colony which was built in 1941,^[16] and Mary Ellen McCormack, which is the BHA's oldest development, being constructed in the 1930s. It was originally called Old Harbor Village.^[17] The West Broadway Ninth Street Projects were knocked down in 2005 and are now a retirement housing building.^{[citation needed]}

Other developments are Harbor Point, Foley^[18] and Monsignor Powers.^[19]

[edit] Transportation

South Boston is served by three Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Red Line rapid transit stations: Broadway, Andrew and JFK/UMass (formerly Columbia).

MBTA bus service connects these stations with the residential areas of South Boston, downtown Boston and the Back Bay. The MBTA Silver Line, a Bus rapid transit service running partly in a tunnel from South Station, also serves the north side of South Boston and City Point. South Boston is also served by five bus routes including the numbers 5, 7, 9, 10, 11.

[edit] Notable residents

South Boston has been the birthplace and home to a number of notable people, including:

• Joseph Cangemi, inventor of the SkyBar and Bolster Bar.

[edit] References in popular culture

[edit] Film

South Boston is the home of the fictional Irish American character Will Hunting, a troubled young prodigy played by Matt Damon, who works as a janitor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Good Will Hunting, a 1997 drama film directed by Gus Van Sant.

Mystic River directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, and Sean Penn was partially filmed in South Boston. A local corner store, Miller's Market of 366 K Street, was used as one of the character's businesses.

The movie The Boondock Saints, about fraternal twins, Connor and Murphy MacManus, who become vigilantes after killing two members of the Russian Mafia in self-defense, also takes place in South Boston.

The Verdict, a 1982 feature film which tells the story of a down-on-his-luck alcoholic lawyer who pushes a medical malpractice case in order to improve his own situation, but discovers along the way that he is doing the right thing, takes place in, and was filmed in, South Boston. It starred Paul Newman.

The 1999 movie Southie centers around Danny Quinn, played by Donnie Wahlberg, who returns back home to South Boston from New York City and gets stuck between his friends, who are supported by one Irish gang, and his family, who are members of another. Wahlberg is a native of nearby Dorchester.

In the 1987 romantic comedy film, Broadcast News, about a virtuoso television news producer (Holly Hunter), who has daily emotional breakdowns, a brilliant yet prickly reporter (Albert Brooks) and his charismatic but far less seasoned rival (William Hurt), a young Aaron Altman (played by Dwayne Markee) states, "You're never gonna leave South Boston and I'm gonna see the whole damn world."

Both The Departed, starring Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio, as well as Gone Baby Gone, the directorial debut of Ben Affleck, were shot in South Boston.

[edit] Television

In the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer the character of Faith Lehane (Eliza Dushku) is a Slayer who originally hails from South Boston. Dushku grew up in nearby Watertown.

The Leverage character of Nathan Ford is possibly from South Boston, as the episode "The Beantown Bailout Job" indicated he had grown up with a ranking member of the Irish Mob.

[edit] Books

There have been a number of books written about the South Boston culture ranging from the political, in The Boston Irish, the personal in All Souls, the gang-related Black Mass, and the historical, political, social, and personal in That Old Gang of Mine.

[edit] Music

The Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys frequently reference South Boston's Irish heritage and sports loyalties in their songs, although they were formed in nearby Quincy.

[edit] Video Games

The Scout from online game Team Fortress 2 hails from South Boston.

[edit] Comedy

The Chicago improvised comedy show Dirty Water takes place in a fictional bar by the same name in "Southie." The bar is loosely based on Kiley's Tavern, a popular bar and restaurant during World War II.

[edit] Further reading

• Alcorn, Frank (7 October 2005). Southie Boy. Cork Hill Press. ISBN 1594080542. 
• Malloy, Ione (1 October 1986). Southie Won't Go: A Teacher's Diary of the Desegregation of South Boston High School. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252012763. 
• MacDonald, Michael Patrick (4 October 2007). All Souls: A Family Story from Southie. Beacon Press. ISBN 0807072133. 
• O'Connor, Thomas (24 February 1994). South Boston, My Home Town: The History of an Ethnic Neighborhood. Northeastern niversity Press. ISBN 1555531881. 
• Weeks, Kevin; Karas, Phyllis (10 March 2006). Brutal: The Untold Story of My Life Inside Whitey Bulger's Irish Mob. William Morrow. ISBN 0061122696. 

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• South Boston Online
• South Boston Tribune
• South Boston Information at southie.info
• South Boston Neighborhood at City of Boston.gov
• Topographic Map of South Boston
• Southies St Patrick's Day Parade
• South Boston Little League

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