South End, Boston

"South End" redirects here. For other uses, see South End (disambiguation).

The South End is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts.

Architecturally, it is composed mostly of mid-nineteenth century bowfronts — aesthetically uniform rows of five-story, predominantly red-brick structures, of mixed residential and commercial uses. The neighborhood was constructed atop landfill, reclaimed during the filling of Boston's marshy Back Bay (north and west of Washington Street) and South Bay (south and east of Washington Street), from the 1830s to the 1870s. Today, the South End is listed on the United States' National Registry of Historic Places. It is the nation's largest Victorian architectural district.

The South End was bordered to the north and west by the Boston & Providence Railroad, which terminated at the B&P RR Station bordering the Public Garden. The railroad line is now covered by the Southwest Corridor Park and terminates at Back Bay Station. Most of the cross streets in the neighborhood are named after cities and towns served by the railroad: Greenwich (Conn.), Newton, Canton, Dedham, Brookline, Rutland (Vt.), Concord, Worcester, Springfield, Camden (Me.), Northampton, Sharon, Randolph, Plympton, Stoughton, Waltham, Dover, Chatham, Bristol (Conn.), and Wareham.

Although originally intended to attract the upper middle class, the South End was less attractive than the nearby Back Bay. It became the premier neighborhood for Boston's middle class black population, especially the Pullman Porters on the railroad lines. As the decades progressed, more buildings became tenements and by the 1970s absentee landlordism was rampant and the neighborhood was one of the poorest of the city. The first settlement houses in Boston were in the South End: the South End House, Hale House, Lincoln House, the Harriet Tubman House, and the Children's Art Centre. In 1960 these settlement houses merged to form United South End Settlements.

Until the 1950s the South End and bordering Roxbury was a jazz mecca, with clubs such as the Royal Palms, Eddie Levine's, the Pioneer Club, Handy's Grille, Tic-Toc, Connolly's, Estelle's, the Hi-Hat, The Savoy, The Cave, Basin Street, Louie's Lounge, Cocoanut Grove, and Wally's Paradise. Wally's is the only venue to have survived to the present day. From 1915 to 1970 the American Federation of Musicians Local 535 was the top black musicians' union in the country, with local and national musicians such as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Chick Webb, Earl Hines, and Jimmie Lunceford. Its offices were originally above Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe (whose walls are lined with photographs of the jazz stars who would eat there), but moved to 409 Massachusetts Avenue around 1930. In 1970 it and the white union (Local 9) were ordered to merge by the courts (Boston Musicians Association Local 9-535) and most of the black musicians left.

Some of Boston's most venerable institutions trace their roots to the South End. Boston College first opened in the South End in 1927. A few of the original college buildings on Harrison Avenue still stand, though BC moved from the South End to then-rural Chestnut Hill as a result of rapid growth and urbanization in the late nineteenth century. Today, the South End is home to the Boston Ballet, the Boston Center for the Arts (BCA), Boston University Medical Center, and many art galleries and artists studios.

The South End is known for being Boston's upper middle class Gay/Bohemian/Cultural neighborhood. Housing in the South End is very expensive by US and Greater Boston standards — it is difficult to find a one bedroom apartment for less than $400,000. This still makes it relatively inexpensive compared to other central Boston neighborhoods like the Back Bay and Beacon Hill. Large numbers of gays, blacks, and young urban professionals, especially those with bohemian leanings, live in the South End, though many have left the neighborhood due to gentrification. Interestingly, the neighborhood has maintained its socio-economic diversity due to a large number of subsidized, publicly owned or otherwise low-income housing units. Affordable housing developments such as Methunion, Cathedral Housing, Villa Victoria and Tent City vary considerably and represent evolving attitudes in public housing design and governance.

The South End is noted for its extensive collection of restaurants, and is one of the city's main dining districts. Tremont Street is sometimes called "Restaurant Row." It also has a number of clothing boutiques, performance spaces, hair salons, convenience stores, and other amenities.

The primary business thoroughfare of the South End is Tremont Street, from West Newton Street to Berkeley Street. Washington Street, the original causeway that connected Roxbury to Boston, is experiencing considerable reinvestment. The street was once defined by the Orange Line, an elevated train that was moved to below Southwest Corridor Park in the 1980s. Today Washington is the route of the Silver Line, Boston's first bus rapid transit line. Columbus Avenue, the third main street of the South End, also has numerous restaurants and provides a remarkable straight-line view to the steeple of Park Street Church.

The South End lies south of the Back Bay, and northwest of South Boston, northeast of Roxbury, north of Dorchester, and southwest of Bay Village. It is served by the Orange Line of the MBTA at Back Bay Station and the Mass Ave. stop. The Silver Line (rapid Bus Transit) runs down Washington Street.

File:Https://wfs.bc.edu/cotede/Tremont and Dartmouth.jpg File:Https://wfs.bc.edu/cotede/Union1.jpg File:Https://wfs.bc.edu/cotede/Union Park2.jpg File:Https://wfs.bc.edu/cotede/Tremont and Union2.jpg File:Https://wfs.bc.edu/cotede/Columbus and Dartmouth.jpg?uniq=so0uon

External links

• South End web site
• Boston Family History site on the South End
• St. John the Baptist, Hellenic/Greek Orthodox Church of the South End

Columbus and Dartmouth leading into the South End