Louisburg Square is a street in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, bisected by a small private park. The park is maintained by the Louisburg Square Proprietors. While the Proprietors pay taxes to the City of Boston, the city does not own the park or its garden. Louisburg Square was named for the 1745 Battle of Louisbourg, in which Massachusetts militiamen led by

William Pepperrell Sir William Pepperrell, 1st Baronet (27 June 1696 – 6 July 1759) was a merchant and soldier in colonial Massachusetts. He is widely remembered for organizing, financing, and leading the 1745 expedition that captured the French fort ...

, who was made the first American baronet for his role, sacked the French

Fortress of Louisbourg The Fortress of Louisbourg (french: Forteresse de Louisbourg) is a National Historic Site and the location of a one-quarter partial reconstruction of an 18th-century French fortress at Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Its two siege ...

. Louisburg Square has become one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in the United States, with townhouses listing for over $15,000,000.

Description

The parl itself is a small grassy oval surrounded by a wrought-iron fence; there is no public access. There is a statue of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

at the north end and of Aristides the Just at the south end.

History and residents

The

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

houses around the square reflect the rarefied privilege enjoyed by the 19th century upper class in Beacon Hill. The square was surveyed in the 1820s, and the houses around it were designed and built between 1834 and 1847. One of the last private residences built on Louisburg Square was 2 Louisburg Square, built in 1847 for wealthy merchant and philanthropist Thomas Handasyd Perkins Jr., known as "Short-Arm Tom", who lived at 1 Joy Street. Among the famous people who lived there in the 19th Century were '' Atlantic Monthly'' editor

William Dean Howells William Dean Howells (; March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was an American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters". He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of ''The Atlantic Monthly'', ...

, architect

Charles Bulfinch Charles Bulfinch (August 8, 1763 – April 15, 1844) was an early American architect, and has been regarded by many as the first American-born professional architect to practice.Baltzell, Edward Digby. ''Puritan Boston & Quaker Philadelphia''. Tra ...

, painter John Singleton Copley, and teacher A. Bronson Alcott and his daughter, author Louisa May Alcott (who died there). Jenny Lind was married in the parlor of a house on Louisburg Square. , it is one of the most expensive residential neighborhoods in the USA; townhouses on Louisburg Square sold for $11.5 million in 2011 and $11 million in 2012, for instance. The square is often included in walking tours and guidebooks. Former

U.S. Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

and his wife Theresa Heinz, own the townhouse at 19 Louisburg Square. Image:LouisburgSq ca1880s Boston.png, c. 1880s Image:1930 LouisburgSq Boston2590386068.jpg, c. 1930 Image:1930 LouisburgSq Boston2590384826.jpg, c. 1930 Image:Statue in Louisburg Square, Boston - IMG 3939.jpg, 2009 File:USA-Boston-Louisburg Square.JPG, 2013

References

External links

* 19th century in Boston Beacon Hill, Boston Cobbled streets Historic preservation in the United States Neighborhoods in Boston Squares in Boston {{Boston-geo-stub