Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and the area was fully built by around 1900. It is most famous for its rows of Victorian brownstone homes—considered one of the best-preserved examples of 19th-century urban design in the United States—as well as numerous architecturally significant individual buildings, and cultural institutions such as the Boston Public Library, and Boston Architectural College. Initially conceived as a residential-only area, commercial buildings were permitted from around 1890, and Back Bay now features many office buildings, including the John Hancock Tower, Boston’s tallest skyscraper. It is also considered a fashionable shopping destination (especially Newbury and Boylston Streets, and the adjacent Prudential Center and Copley Place malls) and home to several major hotels. The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay considers the neighborhood’s bounds to be “Charles River on the North; Arlington Street to Park Square on the East; Columbus Avenue to the New York New Haven and Hartford right-of-way (South of Stuart Street and Copley Place), Huntington Avenue, Dalton Street, and the Massachusetts Turnpike on the South; Charlesgate East on the West.” LadyB’s Bed Bug Pros Boston
It’s hard to imagine that one of Boston’s most iconic neighborhoods used to be a swamp. But before 1820, Back Bay was basically an expansive tidal marsh. By the mid-19th century, the city was in dire need of more space, in part because of the extreme overcrowding of the poor. The rapid influx of immigrants, namely from Ireland, was concerning to moneyed Protestant families, so they resolved to create their own neighborhood. Some 450 acres of swampy marshland was filled in with sand and gravel, and the Back Bay neighborhood was born.
Before its transformation into buildable land by a 19th-century filling project, the Back Bay was a bay, west of the Shawmut Peninsula (on the far side from Boston Harbor) between Boston and Cambridge, the Charles River entering from the west. This bay was tidal: the water rose and fell several feet over the course of each day, and at low tide, much of the bay’s bed was exposed as a marshy flat.
Restaurants and Pubs
- Dig is located at 557 Boylston St, Boston, MA
- Earls Kitchen + Bar is located at 800 Boylston St Unit 107, Boston, MA
- City Bar Back Bay is located at 65 Exeter St, Boston, MA
- Cheers is located at 84 Beacon St, Boston, MA
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