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Bay Village is the smallest officially recognized
neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...
of
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, United States. , its population was approximately 1,312 residents living in 837 housing units, most of which are small brick
rowhouse A terrace, terraced house ( UK), or townhouse ( US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row ...
s.


Description

The
Massachusetts Turnpike The Massachusetts Turnpike (colloquially the "Mass Pike" or "the Pike") is a controlled-access toll road that runs concurrently with Interstate 90 (I-90) in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It the longest Interstate Highway in Massachu ...
is the southern boundary of the neighborhood, which coincides with the right-of-way of the former
Boston and Worcester Railroad The Boston and Albany Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Albany, New York, later becoming part of the New York Central Railroad system, Conrail, and CSX Transportation. The mainline is currently used by CSX for freight a ...
, laid down in the 1830s. Marginal Road and Cortes Street are the surface roads that parallel "the Pike". Across the Pike to the southwest lies the South End neighborhood; to the southeast of the Pike and Tremont Street is the southern edge of
Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...
. To the west of Berkeley Street and north of Columbus Avenue (west of Arlington Street) is the
Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on Land reclamation, reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the ...
neighborhood. To the north of Stuart Street is Park Square, and to the east of Charles Street is the Washington Street Theatre District. In 1983, the area bounded by Cortes Street, Tremont Street, Piedmont Street, and Isabella Street was designated as the "Bay Village Historic District" by the
Boston Landmarks Commission The Boston Landmarks Commission (BLC) is the historic preservation agency for the City of Boston. The commission was created by state legislation in 1975. History Urban renewal in the United States started with the Housing Act of 1949, part of Pres ...
. The exterior appearance of buildings is protected by a Historic District designation administered by the Bay Village Historic District Commission. The narrow one-way network and irregular grid arrangement of the streets make the interior urban spaces of Bay Village relatively quiet and pedestrian-friendly, due to sparse automobile traffic. Most of the sidewalks are paved with
brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...
, and are lit by gas streetlamps at night. One small street is still paved with original
cobblestone Cobblestone is a natural building material based on Cobble (geology), cobble-sized stones, and is used for Road surface, pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Sett (paving), Setts, also called ''Belgian blocks'', are often referred to as " ...
s, while the remainder have long ago been repaved with asphalt. There are a few " vest-pocket parks" located within or nearby Bay Village, including Eliot Norton Park, which although technically located in the Theatre District, is just across Charles Street from the eastern boundary of the neighborhood. The
Boston Public Garden The Public Garden, also known as Boston Public Garden, is a large park in the Downtown Boston, heart of Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent to Boston Common. It is a part of the Emerald Necklace system of parks and is bounded by Charles Street (Bos ...
and
Boston Common The Boston Common is a public park in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest city park in the United States. Boston Common consists of of land bounded by five major Boston streets: Tremont Street, Park Street, Beacon Street, Charl ...
are located just two blocks away from the northern edge of Bay Village. Traditionally middle to lower-middle class, the neighborhood has become relatively more expensive and upscale, beginning around the 1990s. The Bay Village Neighborhood Association (BVNA) is very active in controlling urban nuisances, such as traffic, litter, graffiti, and pet wastes (an approved
dog walking Dog walking is the act of a person walking with a dog, typically from the dog's residence and then returning. Leashes are commonly used for this. Both owners and pets receive many benefits, including exercise and companionship. Description Dog ...
area is located next to Eliot Norton Park). The BVNA is also known for organizing Spring and Fall Cleanup days, a book club, Christmas wreaths and decorations, a
Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
celebration, and the Bay Village Annual Neighborhood Block Party. The party includes banquet table seating in the middle of a narrow closed street, weather permitting.


History

The western part of the neighborhood was originally part of the body of water known as the
Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on Land reclamation, reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the ...
, west of the
Boston Neck The Boston Neck or Roxbury Neck was a narrow strip of land connecting the then-peninsular city of Boston to the mainland city of Roxbury (now a neighborhood of Boston). The surrounding area was gradually filled in as the city of Boston expan ...
isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...
. This area was once known as South Bay, as the original waterline was in the area of Charles Street and Broadway (formerly Carver Street and Pleasant Street). In the 1820s, the neighborhood was landfilled by developer Ephraim Marsh, in partnership with Francis Cabot Lowell Jr, before the more extensive landfills of the adjacent Back Bay and South End neighborhoods. Through its history, the neighborhood has been known at different times as the Church Street District, South Cove, and Kerry Village. Architecturally, many Bay Village homes look like smaller versions of Beacon Hill
townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of Terraced house, terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type o ...
s. This is largely because many of the craftspeople who built the Beacon Hill residences settled in this area and built the local residences for their own use. Fayette Street, named for the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
soldier
Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...
, has numerous houses dating from the
Federal Period Federal-style architecture is the name for the classical architecture built in the United States following the American Revolution between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was influenced heavily by the works of And ...
. Grander five-story townhouses in the
Greek Revival style Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...
may be found on Melrose Street. After the area west of Ferdinand Street was filled in, developers built luxury residential "hotels" in the Victorian style on Cortes and Isabella Streets.


Raising the Village

In 1868, the majority of what is now Bay Village was raised in order to eliminate sewage problems created by the filling of the adjacent South End and
Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on Land reclamation, reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the ...
neighborhoods. Some 457 houses and 24 other structures were raised by to a grade of above mean low water, with cellars, gardens and vacant lots raised to above mean low water.Documents of the City of Boston for the Year 1868, Document Number 41, Report and Orders in Relation to the Church Street District, April 13, 1868. The total cost of this massive engineering feat was $632,700, compared to a total estimated value of $1,668,120 for all of the structures raised. To complete the work, the City of Boston temporarily took possession of all the structures in the area, exchanging them for City bonds with the property owners. There were 3,528 displaced individuals in total, coming from 867 families, and the work took around two years to complete. Once the structures and streets were raised, and the new sewer system was functional, the structures were returned to the property owners. Many of the raised structures were modified with new entrances into what had previously been the second floor. Visitors can see evidence of this today by noting the location of the basement windows in some of the buildings on Fayette Street, as well as arches opening to horsewalks that ran under the houses to stables in the rear. In addition, some private gardens were never raised, and remain near their original elevations. The Church Street Church, for which Church street was named, was raised and "much altered by 1868 (at the time of the raising of the district)." The church, which was located between the current Winchester and Piedmont Streets, was later demolished in 1924. File:Church St District Boston Fayette St Facing West, North Side, Being Raised 1868.jpg, Houses on north side of Fayette Street, west of Church Street File:Church St District Boston Fayette St Facing West, South Side, Being Raised 1868.jpg, Houses on south side of Fayette Street, west of Church Street File:Church St District Boston Church Being Raised 1868.jpg, The Church Street Church after being raised in 1868


Edgar Allan Poe

The American writer
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...
was born at the edge of Bay Village; his parents were both actors in the Theatre District nearby. A commemorative plaque on Boylston Street is a couple of blocks away from the actual location of Poe's birth. The house which was his birthplace at 62 Carver Street no longer exists; also, the street has since been renamed "Charles Street South". A "square" at the intersection of Broadway, Fayette, and Carver Streets had once been named in his honor, but it disappeared when the streets were rearranged. In 2009, the intersection of Charles and Boylston Streets (two blocks north of his birthplace) was newly designated "Edgar Allan Poe Square". A residential condominium a few streets away within Bay Village is also named in his honor, but otherwise has no known connection to the author. In 2014, a permanent memorial bronze sculpture by Stefanie Rocknak was installed at Edgar Allan Poe Square. '' Poe Returning to Boston'' depicts a life-sized Poe striding against the wind, accompanied by a flying
raven A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...
; his suitcase lid has fallen open, leaving a "paper trail" of literary works embedded in the sidewalk behind him.


Cocoanut Grove fire

Bay Village was the site of the November 1942 fire at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub, in which 492 people died. Its terrible aftermath led to the creation and enforcement of stringent
fire code Fire safety is the set of practices intended to reduce destruction caused by fire. Fire safety measures include those that are intended to prevent wikt:ignition, the ignition of an uncontrolled fire and those that are used to limit the spread a ...
s across the US, in the hope of preventing other such tragedies. Marking the 50th anniversary of the incident, the Bay Village Neighborhood Association placed a memorial plaque in the brick sidewalk near the club's former site on Piedmont Street, now partially occupied by the Revere Hotel (formerly the Radisson Hotel). The plaque states:
The Cocoanut Grove. Erected by the Bay Village Neighborhood Association, 1993. In memory of the more than 490 people who died in the Cocoanut Grove fire on November 28, 1942. As a result of that terrible tragedy, major changes were made in the fire codes, and improvements in the treatment of burn victims, not only in Boston but across the nation. "Phoenix out of the Ashes"
A smaller inscription in the lower left corner says, "This plaque crafted by Anthony P. Marra, youngest survivor of the Cocoanut Grove fire". On November 30, 2013, a short street running through the former site of the Cocoanut Grove Club, and previously named "Shawmut Extension", was renamed "Cocoanut Grove Lane". The on-site renaming ceremony was attended by several survivors of the fire and around 250 guests and spectators. Speakers included
Marty Walsh Martin Joseph Walsh (born April 10, 1967) is an American politician and trade union official who served as the 58th mayor of Boston from 2014 to 2021 and as the 29th United States Secretary of Labor from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Democr ...
, who had recently been elected mayor of Boston, but not yet sworn into office. The plaque was removed in 2014 for the construction of new condominium residences on the site, but was reinstalled in June 2016 as previously agreed to by the developer. However a few weeks later, the plaque was relocated to the corner of Cocoanut Grove Lane nearby, at the request of some condominium owners. The relocation was objected to by the surviving daughter of Anthony P. Marra (who had designed the plaque), with support from other interested parties. According to a ''Boston Globe'' article, the condo owners stated "We now occupy these homes with our families as part of the Bay Village neighborhood and would like to enjoy our homes in peace, without tragic memories, hanging wreaths at our doors and tourists peeking into our houses". One of the condominium developers has claimed that the new placement of the plaque is closer to the original location of the infamous
revolving door A revolving door typically consists of three or four doors that hang on a central shaft and rotate around a vertical axis within a cylindrical enclosure. To use a revolving door, a person enters the enclosure between two of the doors and then m ...
at the entrance to the nightclub, which had become jammed in the panic and had trapped many victims. A more substantial monument has been commissioned for installation in Statler Park, one block north of the former nightclub site. It will consist of three arches echoing the original entrance of the nightclub, where many died trying to escape the fire. In addition, a memorial website has been set up by the Cocoanut Grove Memorial Committee, which offers historical documentation and editorial commentary related to the disaster and its consequences.


Demographics


Race and ancestry

According to the 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the largest ancestry groups in ZIP Codes 02116 are:


Transportation

,
Walk Score Walk Score, a subsidiary of Redfin, provides walkability analysis and apartment search tools. Its flagship product is a large-scale, public access walkability index that assigns a numerical walkability score to any address in the United States, U ...
rates Bay Village as the fourth most walkable neighborhood in the City of Boston, which itself is rated the third most walkable city in the US, and has a high Transit Score as well. Bay Village has been assigned a Walk Score of 98, and a Transit Score of 100; its lower Bike Score of 71 is still considered "Very Bikeable". Several
MBTA The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...
stations are located just beyond the boundaries of Bay Village, which is also served by several local bus routes.
Commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...
and
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
long-haul trains stop at
Back Bay Station Back Bay station (also signed as Back Bay · South End) is an intermodal passenger station in Boston, Massachusetts. It is located just south of Copley Square in Boston's Back Bay and South End neighborhoods. It serves MBTA Commuter Rail and ...
and
South Station South Station, officially The Governor Michael S. Dukakis Transportation Center at South Station, is the largest railroad station and intercity bus terminal in Greater Boston and New England's second-largest transportation center after Logan I ...
, within walking distance to the west and east of Bay Village, respectively. Inter-city bus services depart from the regional South Station Bus Terminal. Nearby MBTA stations include: * Arlington ( Green Line) *
Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on Land reclamation, reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the ...
( Orange Line) * Boylston station ( Green Line) * Tufts Medical Center ( Orange Line) On-street parking is very scarce within Bay Village, and is mostly reserved for holders of Residential Parking stickers. Commercial parking is available in numerous surface lots and
parking garage A multistorey car park (Commonwealth English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistorey, parking building, parking structure, parkade (Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck, or indoor parking, is a building designed fo ...
s located near or in the neighborhood. Entrance ramps to the
Massachusetts Turnpike The Massachusetts Turnpike (colloquially the "Mass Pike" or "the Pike") is a controlled-access toll road that runs concurrently with Interstate 90 (I-90) in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It the longest Interstate Highway in Massachu ...
(
I-90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...
) and the
Central Artery The Central Artery (officially the John F. Fitzgerald Expressway) is the concurrent section of Interstate 93, US 1 and Route 3 through Downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The modern-day Artery, built as part of the Big Dig from ...
(
I-93 Interstate 93 (I-93) is an Interstate Highway in the New England states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont in the United States. Spanning approximately along a north–south axis, it is one of three primary Interstate Highways ...
) are a minute's drive away.


Local media

In addition to the larger metropolitan Boston publications, several free local weekly newspapers have had coverage of Bay Village. The neighborhood is so small that it is often included in the South End or Back Bay neighborhoods. '' The Boston Courant'' covered the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Downtown, Fenway, South End, and the Waterfront neighborhoods of Boston, and included dedicated real estate listings for South End / Bay Village, and events calendar listings. However, the newspaper announced that it would permanently shut down, in its February 6, 2016 edition. Shortly after that announcement, the ''Back Bay Sun'' changed its name to the ''Boston Sun'', and expanded its coverage from the Back Bay to also include the South End and Fenway-Kenmore neighborhoods of Boston. The paper is owned by The Independent Newspaper Group (ING), which also publishes ''The Beacon Hill Times''. This latter newspaper has had some coverage of Bay Village, and is of interest because of the close proximity and historical connections to the Beacon Hill neighborhood. In 2016, the previous publisher of the defunct ''Boston Courant'' debuted a reborn publication under the new banner of the '' Boston Guardian'', serving the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Downtown, Fenway, South End, and North End/Waterfront districts of Boston. The new publication's title stirred up some controversy over the alleged appropriation of a historic journalistic name. In addition, the Bay Village Neighborhood Association occasionally has distributed its free quarterly newsletter in the area, and back issues can be downloaded from its website.


Adjacent neighborhoods and districts

*
Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on Land reclamation, reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the ...
*
Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...
* Park Square * South Bay * South End * Washington Street Theatre District


References


External links


Bay Village Neighborhood Association (BVNA)Historic Bay VillageBay Village Historic District Study Report, 1983
{{BostonMA Neighborhoods in Boston 1820s establishments in Massachusetts