This article is a timeline of the history of the city of Boston, Massachusetts, US.
17th century 1616 – Smallpox epidemic begins, ends with the death of 90% of the Neponset and Pawtucket people who lived in the region. 1625 – William Blaxton arrives. 1630 – When Boston was founded English Puritans arrive. First Church in Boston established. September 7 (old style): Boston named. 1631 – Boston Watch (police) established. 1632 – Settlement becomes capital of the English Massachusetts Bay Colony. 1634 Boston Common established. Samuel Cole opened the first tavern in Boston, Massachusetts on March 4. 1635 – Boston Latin School founded. 1636 – Town assumes the prerogatives of appointment and control of the Boston Watch. 1637 – Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts founded. 1638 Desiré slave ship arrives. Anne Hutchinson excommunicated. 1644 – "Slaving expedition" departs for Africa. 1648 – Margaret Jones hanged as a witch. 1649 – Second Church established. 1652 – John Hull and Robert Sanderson begin producing Massachusetts colonial coinage 1656 – Ann Hibbins hanged as a witch. 1657 – Scots Charitable Society of Boston founded. 1658 – Town-House built. 1660 June 1: Mary Dyer hanged as a Quaker. Copp's Hill Burying Ground and Granary Burying Ground established. 1669 – Third Church built. 1679 Province House and Baptist church built. Fire. 1680 – Paul Revere House built (approximate date). 1688 – King's Chapel built. 1689 – The Boston Revolt results in the overthrow of Sir Edmund Andros, unpopular governor of the Dominion of New England. 1690 September 25: Publick Occurrences newspaper begins publication. London Coffee-House in business. 1692 Town becomes part of the British colonial Province of Massachusetts Bay. Boston Overseers of the Poor established. 1699 – Brattle Street Church built. 1700 – North Writing School established.
18th century
1700s–1760s
1701 – Castle William (fort) rebuilt in harbour. 1704 Capen house built (approximate date). April 24: The Boston News-Letter begins publication. 1705 – Benjamin Franklin born on Milk St. 1711 October: Fire. Pierce–Hichborn House built (approximate date). 1712 – Crease's apothecary rebuilt. 1713 – May: Boston Bread Riot. 1716 – Boston Light erected in harbour. 1719 – December 21: Boston Gazette newspaper begins publication. 1721 – 1721 Boston smallpox outbreak 1722 John Bonner's map of Boston published. Population: 10,567. 1723 – Old North Church built, Salem Street. 1729 – Old South Meeting House and Granary built. 1732 – Hollis Street Church established. 1733 – September 27: Rebekah Chamblit executed. 1735 – Trinity Church built on Summer St. 1737 Charitable Irish Society of Boston founded. Saint Patrick's Day begins. 1738 – Workhouse built. 1742 – Faneuil Hall built. 1744 – Hospital active on Rainsford Island. 1745 March: Military expedition sails from Boston to Louisbourg. November 5: Unrest during Pope's Night. Bells installed in Christ Church. 1747 – Impressment triggers Knowles Riot. 1748 – Manufactory House established. 1752 Smallpox epidemic. Concert Hall built. 1754 – Boston Marine Society incorporated. 1755 – November 18: Cape Ann earthquake. 1760 March 20: Great Boston Fire of 1760. Population: 15,631. 1765 – Protest against Stamp Act. 1768 Britain's American Customs Board headquartered in Boston. June 10: Protest against customs officials. July: The Liberty Song published. September: Massachusetts Convention of Towns held in Faneuil Hall. October: British troops begin to arrive.
1770s–1790s 1770 Massachusetts Spy newspaper begins publication. March 5: Boston Massacre. 1772 Committee of correspondence formed. Boston Pamphlet (rights declaration) published. 1773 Hutchinson letters affair December 16: Boston Tea Party. 1774 January: Royal American Magazine begins publication. March 31: Boston Port Bill blocks trade. 1775 April 19: Siege of Boston begins. June 17: Battle of Bunker Hill takes place near town. 1776 – March 17: Siege of Boston ends; British depart. 1784 – Massachusetts Bank founded. 1785 – Massachusetts Humane Society headquartered in Boston. 1786 – Charles River Bridge built. 1787 April: Fire. October 18: Massachusetts General Court receives U.S. Constitution. African Masonic lodge active. 1788 January 9: Massachusetts convention to ratify U.S. Constitution begins at State House. January 17: Convention to ratify U.S. Constitution moves to Federal Street Church. February 6: Delegates ratify U.S. Constitution; Boston becomes part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. February 8: Parade in honor of ratification of U.S. Constitution. 1789 William Hill Brown's The Power of Sympathy published. Boston Directory and Massachusetts Magazine begin publication. 1790 Memorial column erected atop Beacon Hill. Population: 18,320. 1791 – Massachusetts Historical Society founded. 1792 Board Alley Theatre opens. Boston Library Society established. J. & T.H. Perkins shipping merchant in business. 1793 – West Boston Bridge opens. 1794 Julien's Restorator opens on Milk Street. February 3: Federal Street Theatre opening performance. 1795 Columbian Museum and Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association established. Mount Vernon Proprietors in business. Tontine Crescent built. 1796 Haymarket Theatre, African Society, and Boston Medical Dispensary established. Otis House built in West End. 1797 – October 21: ship launched. 1798 – Massachusetts State House built on Beacon Hill. 1799 – Board of Health created. 1800 – Population: 24,937.
19th century
1800s–1840s
1801 – Almshouse built on Leverett Street. 1803 Boston Female Asylum incorporated. Holy Cross Church built. 1804 Anthology Club, Social Law Library, and Market Museum established. Nichols house built. Union Circulating Library in business. 1805 Ice merchant F. Tudor in business. Boston Medical Library established. 1806 – African Meeting House and Old West Church built. 1807 Boston Athenæum founded. Charles Street Meeting House built. 1808 – Roman Catholic diocese of Boston established; John Cheverus becomes bishop. 1809 – Craigie Bridge opens. 1810 American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions headquartered in Boston. Boylston Market and Park Street Church built. Philharmonic Society established (approximate date). Bryant & Sturgis shipping merchants in business. 1811 – Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston Lyceum for the Education of Young Ladies established. 1812 – Fragment Society founded. 1813 – Boston Daily Advertiser begins publication. 1814 – Linnaean Society of New England established. 1815 Handel and Haydn Society founded. May: North American Review begins publication. 1816 – Provident Institution for Savings established. 1818 New-England Museum opens. November 3: Exchange Coffee House burns down. Methodist Episcopal Church established. Annin & Smith in business (approximate date). 1819 – Cathedral Church of St. Paul built. 1820 – Mercantile Library Association established. 1821 English Classical School established. Doggett's Repository of Arts opens (approximate date). 1822 Boston incorporated as a city. Leverett Street Jail opens; old jail closes. May 1: John Phillips becomes mayor. 1823 Chickering and Sons piano manufacturer in business. Josiah Quincy III becomes mayor. City seal design adopted. 1824 City auditor established. Area of city: 783 acres. The first Orange parade in the United States takes place. 1825 Pendleton's Lithography in business. American Unitarian Association organized and headquartered in city. 1826 Massachusetts General Colored Association and House of Juvenile Reformation established. Quincy Market built. Atwood & Bacon Oyster House in business. 1827 September 24: Tremont Theatre opens. Boston Seaman's Friend Society organized. dancing school in business. 1829 Boston Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge and Boston Lyceum established. Harrison Gray Otis becomes mayor. Tremont House built. Walker's An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World published.
1830 Boston Society of Natural History established. July 24: Boston Evening Transcript begins publication. Population: 61,392. 1831 The Liberator and The Boston Post begin publication. New England Anti-Slavery Society established. S.S. Pierce in business. 1832 Boston Lying-In Hospital and Afric-American Female Intelligence Society established. Charles Wells becomes mayor. 1833 The Boston Journal newspaper begins publication. Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society, Boston Seaman's Aid Society, and East Boston Company founded. Harding's Gallery active (approximate date). 1834 Parker & Ditson and Boston Sugar Refinery (East Boston) in business. Temple School opens. Theodore Lyman becomes mayor. Thompson Island becomes part of Boston. 1835 – Abiel Smith School and American House (hotel) founded. William Lloyd Garrison attacked by anti-abolitionist mob. 1836 East Boston annexed to Boston. Boston Pilot Catholic newspaper in publication. National Theatre and Lion Theatre open. Chamber of Commerce established. Samuel Turell Armstrong becomes mayor. Abolition Riot of 1836 1837 June 11: Broad Street Riot. September 12: Montgomery Guards Riot. Sylvester Graham Riot. Samuel Atkins Eliot becomes mayor. Harvard Musical Association organized. 1838 – African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church established. 1839 Lowell Institute lectures begin. Melodeon opens. City lunatic asylum established. 1840 Friends of Ireland society founded. Durgin-Park restaurant and Peabody's West Street Bookstore in business. Cunard's steamship Britannia sails from Liverpool to Boston. Population: 93,383. Jonathan Chapman becomes mayor. 1841 Boston and Albany Railroad in operation. Boston Museum, Boston Artists' Association, and Plumbe's photo gallery established. Probation for prisoners introduced. 1842 – Merchants Exchange built. 1843 Tremont Temple established. Martin Brimmer becomes mayor. 1844 Liverpool-Boston "White Diamond Line" begins operating. Phillips School established. 1845 Chinese Museum, Howard Athenaeum, and New England Historic Genealogical Society established. Horticultural Hall built. William Parker becomes mayor, succeeded by Thomas Aspinwall Davis, Benson Leavitt, and Josiah Quincy Jr. McKay shipbuilder in business in East Boston. 1846 October 16: First public demonstration of the use of inhaled ether as a surgical anesthetic, Ether Dome. J.B. Fitzpatrick becomes Catholic bishop of Boston. John P. Jewett bookseller in business. 1847 City Point Iron Works, Bay State Iron Company, and Little, Brown and Company publisher in business. Irish Immigrant Society and Needle Woman's Friend Society established. 1848 October 25: Water celebration. C.F. Hovey and Co. in business. Ladies Physiological Institute founded. 1849 Custom House built. November 23: Beacon Hill Reservoir opens. Mendelssohn Quintette Club founded. John P. Bigelow becomes mayor.
1850s–1890s
1850 Parkman–Webster murder case. Fetridge and Company in business. Roberts v. City of Boston racial segregation lawsuit decided. 1851 Charles Street Jail built. Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion begins publication. September 17–19: Railroad Jubilee 1852 February 9: Ordway Hall opens. October 24: Daniel Webster dies. Sovereign of the Seas (clipper ship) launched. Mount Hope Cemetery consecrated. Orpheum Theatre built. Sailors' Snug Harbor of Boston incorporated. Somerset Club established. Benjamin Seaver becomes mayor. 1853 Cambridge-Boston horsecar line established. Henry Hastings & Company in business. 1854 Jerome V. C. Smith becomes mayor. Boston Watch and Police ceased, and Boston Police Department came into being. Boston Public Library, Adath Israel synagogue, and Boston Theatre open.