Dorchester, Boston
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Dorchester () is a
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 ...
comprising more than in the city 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, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by
Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...
who emigrated in 1630 from
Dorchester, Dorset Dorchester ( ) is the county town of Dorset, England. It is situated between Poole and Bridport on the A35 trunk route. A historic market town, Dorchester is on the banks of the River Frome, Dorset, River Frome to the south of the Dorset Dow ...
, England, to the
Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...
. This dissolved municipality, Boston's largest neighborhood by far, is often divided by city planners in order to create two planning areas roughly equivalent in size and population to other Boston neighborhoods. The neighborhood is named after the town of Dorchester in
Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...
, from which
Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...
emigrated to the New World on the ship '' Mary and John'', among others. Founded in 1630, just a few months before the founding of the city of Boston, Dorchester now covers a geographic area approximately equivalent to nearby
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
.History of Dorchester, Massachusetts
When annexed to Boston in 1870, Dorchester was still a primarily rural town and had a population of 12,000. Construction of railroad and commuter streetcar lines brought rapid growth, increasing the population to 150,000 by 1920. In the 2010 United States census, the neighborhood's population was 92,115. The Dorchester neighborhood has a very diverse population, which includes a large concentration of
African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...
,
European Americans European Americans are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes both people who descend from the first European settlers in the area of the present-day United States and people who descend from more recent European arrivals. Since th ...
(particularly those of Irish, German,
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
, and Polish origin, reflecting late 19th and early 20th century immigration). More numerous immigrants and their descendants since the later 20th century have come from the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
, Central and South America, and East and Southeast
Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
. Dorchester also has a significant
LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...
population, with active political groups. It has the largest concentration of same-sex couples in Boston after the neighborhoods of South End and Jamaica Plain. Most of the people over the age of 25 have completed high school or obtained a GED.


History


Indigenous peoples

Prior to European colonization, the region around Dorchester was inhabited by the indigenous
Massachusett The Massachusett are a Native American tribe from the region in and around present-day Greater Boston in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name comes from the Massachusett language term for "At the Great Hill," referring to the Blue Hills ...
.Alden T. Vaughan, ''New England Encounters: Indians and Euroamericans Ca. 1600-1850'' (1999), pg 209 https://books.google.com/books?isbn=155553404X They lived in settlements established alongside the Neponset River estuary, which was a plentiful source of fish, including trout; they also gathered shellfish from the riverbed, and hunted beaver and deer. They established farms in nearby hills. During the initial period of colonization by Puritan settlers, the Massachusett suffered a rapid decline in population due to the introduction of foreign infectious diseases to which they had no acquired immunity and violence related to
settler colonialism Settler colonialism is a logic and structure of displacement by Settler, settlers, using colonial rule, over an environment for replacing it and its indigenous peoples with settlements and the society of the settlers. Settler colonialism is ...
. The Massachusett ''
sachem Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Alg ...
'', Chickatawbut, negotiated land treaties with the Puritan settlers before dying of
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...
in 1633. His brother, Cutshamekin, who succeeded him, deeded further land to the settlers. The remaining Massachusett in the region, including Cutshamekin, accepted some Christianity as a form of survivance. They eventually resettled in the Praying Town of Natick.


European settlement in the 17th century

In 1623 a syndicate of Dorsetshire fishermen organized an outport of fishing stages and flakes at Dorchester. In 1626 David Thompson settled his family on Thompson Island in what is now Dorchester before Boston's Puritan migration wave began in 1630. On May 30, 1630, Captain Squib of the ship '' Mary and John'' entered Boston Harbor. On June 17, 1630, he landed a boat with eight men on the Dorchester shore, at what was then a narrow
peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...
known as Mattapan or Mattaponnock. Today it is known as Columbia Point (more popularly since 1984 as Harbor Point)., Dorchester Atheneum Those aboard the ship who founded the town included William Phelps, Roger Ludlowe, John Mason, John Maverick, Nicholas Upsall, Capt. Roger Fyler, William Gaylord, Henry Wolcott, and other men who would become prominent in the founding of a new nation. The original settlement founded in 1630 was at what is now the intersection of Columbia Road and Massachusetts Avenue. (Even though Dorchester was annexed more than 100 years ago into the city of Boston, residents still annually celebrate the founding on Dorchester Day. This includes festivities and a parade down Dorchester Avenue). Most of the early Dorchester settlers came from the English
West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...
, and some from
Dorchester, Dorset Dorchester ( ) is the county town of Dorset, England. It is situated between Poole and Bridport on the A35 trunk route. A historic market town, Dorchester is on the banks of the River Frome, Dorset, River Frome to the south of the Dorset Dow ...
, where Rev. John White was chief proponent of a
Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...
settlement in the Americas. The town developed around the First Parish Church of Dorchester. The building is now operated as the
Unitarian-Universalist Unitarian Universalism (abbreviated UUism or UU) is a Religious liberalism, liberal religious tradition characterized by its commitment to theological diversity, inclusivity, and social justice. Unitarian Universalists do not adhere to a single ...
church on Meeting House Hill and is the oldest religious organization in present-day Boston. On October 8, 1633, the first
Town Meeting Town meeting, also known as an "open town meeting", is a form of local government in which eligible town residents can directly participate in an assembly which determines the governance of their town. Unlike representative town meeting where ...
in what would become the United States was held in Dorchester. Today, October 8 is annually celebrated as Town Meeting Day in Massachusetts. Dorchester is the birthplace of the first public
elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
in America, the Mather School, established in 1639. The school still stands as the oldest elementary school in the United States. In 1634
Israel Stoughton Israel Stoughton (c. 1603 – 1644) was an early English colonist in Massachusetts and a colonial commander in the Pequot War. Returning to England, he served as Roundhead, Parliamentarian officer in the First English Civil War. Life Born in Eng ...
built one of the earliest grist mills in America on the Neponset River; Richard Callicott founded a trading post nearby. In 1641, Dorcas ye blackmore, an enslaved servant to
Israel Stoughton Israel Stoughton (c. 1603 – 1644) was an early English colonist in Massachusetts and a colonial commander in the Pequot War. Returning to England, he served as Roundhead, Parliamentarian officer in the First English Civil War. Life Born in Eng ...
, was the first recorded
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
to join a church in New England. She served as an evangelist to Stoughton's Native American servants, and the First Parish Church of Dorchester attempted to help Dorcas gain her freedom. In 1649, Puritan missionaries, including John Eliot, began a campaign to convert the Indigenous people in Dorchester to Christianity with the help of Cockenoe and John Sassamon, two Indian servants in the town. Eliot was given land by the town of Dorchester for his mission, where he established a church and school. The James Blake House, oldest surviving home in the city of Boston, is located at Edward Everett Square. This is the historic intersection of Columbia Road, Boston Street, and Massachusetts Avenue, a few blocks from the Dorchester Historical Society. The Blake House was constructed in 1661, as was confirmed by
dendrochronology Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of chronological dating, dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed in a tree. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, ...
in 2007. In 1695, a party was dispatched to found the town of Dorchester, South Carolina. It lasted a half-century before being abandoned.


18th century

In 1765, Irish chocolate maker John Hannon (or alternatively spelled "Hannan" in some sources) imported beans from the
West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...
and refined them in Dorchester. He thus introduced
chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...
to the North American colonies, and was working with Dr. James Baker, an American physician and investor. They opened America's first chocolate mill and factory in the Lower Mills section of Dorchester on the Neponset River. The Walter Baker Chocolate Factory, part of Walter Baker & Company, operated until 1965. Before the
American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
, "The
Sons of Liberty The Sons of Liberty was a loosely organized, clandestine, sometimes violent, political organization active in the Thirteen American Colonies founded to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It p ...
met in August 1769 at the Lemuel Robinson Tavern, which stood on the east side of the upper road (Washington St.) near the present Fuller Street. Lemuel Robinson was a representative of the town during the Revolution and was appointed a colonel in the Revolutionary army." Dorchester (in a part of what is now South Boston) was also the site of the Battle of Dorchester Heights in 1776. As a result, the British evacuated Boston, pulling back to a base in New York's Manhattan and Long Island. Originally part of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, the town of Dorchester removed from Suffolk County to Norfolk County when it was created on March 26, 1793. Portions of Dorchester annexed in the 19th century by Hyde Park, Milton or Quincy remained within Norfolk County. Portions annexed by
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 ...
(eventually including Hyde Park) became part of Suffolk County again.


19th century


Victorian era

In Victorian times, Dorchester became a popular country retreat for Boston elite. It developed into a bedroom community, easily accessible to the city by
streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...
for commuters. The mother and grandparents of John F. Kennedy lived in the Ashmont Hill neighborhood during the period that his grandfather John F. "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald was mayor of Boston. American poet Oliver Wendell Holmes, wrote a poem called "The Dorchester Giant" in 1830. He referred to the special kind of stone, "Roxbury puddingstone", quarried in Dorchester, which was used to build churches in the Boston area. Most notable of these is the Central Congregational Church (later called the Church of the Covenant) in Boston's
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. In 1845, the Old Colony Railroad ran through the area and connected Boston and
Plymouth, Massachusetts Plymouth ( ; historically also spelled as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in and the county seat of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklor ...
. Several stations were later added within Dorchester. In the 1840s and 1850s, a new wave of development took place on a strip of waterfront overlooking Dorchester Bay (Park and Mill streets at the Harrison Square Historic District, later known as Clam Point.) Renowned architects who contributed to one of the most significant and intact collections of Clam Point's Italianate mansards include Luther Briggs, John A. Fox, and Mary E. Noyes. By the 1890s, Clam Point gained prominence as a summer resort: the Russell House hotel was its centerpiece and the Dorchester Yacht Club was established on Freeport Street. In the 1880s, the calf pasture on Columbia Point was developed for a Boston sewer line and pumping station. This large pumping station still stands. In its time it was a model for treating sewage and helping to promote cleaner and healthier urban living conditions. It pumped waste to a remote treatment facility on Moon Island in Boston Harbor, and served as a model for other systems worldwide. This system was operated as the Boston Sewer system's headworks, handling all of the city's sewage, until 1968. At that time a new treatment facility was built on Deer Island. The pumping station is architecturally significant as a
Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a architectural style, style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revivalism (architecture), revival style incorporates 11th- and 12th-century ...
designed by Boston City architect, George Clough.The only remaining 19th-century building on Columbia Point, the headworks is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.


Annexation to Boston

Dorchester was annexed by Boston in pieces beginning on March 6, 1804, and ending with complete annexation to the city 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 ...
after a
plebiscite A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or adv ...
was held in Boston and Dorchester on June 22, 1869. As a result, Dorchester officially became part of Boston on January 3, 1870. This is the historic reason that Dorchester Heights is today considered part of South Boston, not modern-day Dorchester. It was part of the earliest cession of Dorchester to Boston in 1804. Additional parts of Dorchester were ceded to Quincy (in 1792, 1814, 1819, and 1855). Portions of the original town of Dorchester developed as the separate towns of Hyde Park (1868 and later annexed to Boston in 1912), Milton (1662), and Stoughton (1726, itself later subdivided). In 1895,
Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, Social criticism, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the U ...
, architect of the Boston Public Garden/ Emerald Necklace in Boston and
Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...
in New York City, was commissioned to create Dorchester Park. It was intended as an urban forest for the residents of a growing Dorchester. In 1904, the Dorchester Historical Society incorporated "Dorchester Day", which commemorated the settlement of Dorchester in 1630. Celebrated annually, Dorchester Day is a tableau of community events, highlighted by such activities as the Landing Day Observance, the Dorchester Day Parade along Dorchester Avenue the first Sunday in June, and the Community Banquet.


Turn of the 20th century

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Dorchester was a site for community activism related to diverse issues. The first racially integrated neighborhood developed on Jones Hill. One of the residents of that neighborhood, William Monroe Trotter, with W.E.B. Du Bois, helped to found the Niagara Movement, the precursor of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
. Many leading
suffragettes A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for women's suffrage, the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in part ...
also lived in Dorchester, including
Lucy Stone Lucy Stone (August 13, 1818 – October 18, 1893) was an American orator, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist and Suffrage, suffragist who was a vocal advocate for and organizer of promoting Women's rights, rights for women. In 1847, ...
. In the early 20th century, Dorchester received numerous Catholic immigrants from a variety of nations, such as Ireland, French Canada, Italy, and Poland. In addition, it was a destination for thousands of mostly Protestant African Americans from the South who were making the Great Migration to northern industrial cities for work opportunities and to escape
Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation, " Jim Crow" being a pejorative term for an African American. The last of the ...
violence. Numerous three-decker apartment buildings were built in Dorchester to house the many industrial workers.


1950s–present

In the early 1950s, Dorchester became a center of civil rights activism by African Americans, who were constrained by de facto segregation in Boston.
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
lived there for much of the time he attended
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
for his PhD.
"With Boston's Baptist community riveted by his preaching and Coretta cott Kingat his side, King's circle grew. The Dorchester apartment drew friends and followers like a magnet, according to riend and roommate JohnBustamante, with 'untold numbers of visitors coming from the other schools.' The roommates housed and fed the visitors, who would join in civil rights discussions."Seligson, Susan
"Martin Luther King Jr.'s Roommate Reminisces: John Bustamante recalls Coretta Scott at Myles Standish, and Dorchester digs"
, ''BU Today'', January 15, 2010
During the 1960s–1980s, the ethnic landscape of Dorchester changed dramatically. The descendants of early 20th-century Jewish, Italian, and Irish immigrants had become more established and generally moved to newer housing in the suburbs. Newer African, Asian, and Caribbean immigrants and their descendants settled here in the older housing in a succession of ethnicities. The first community health center in the United States was the Columbia Point Health Center in Dorchester. It was opened in December 1965 and served mostly the massive Columbia Point
public housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...
complex adjoining it. It was founded by two medical doctors, Jack Geiger, who had been on the faculty of
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
and later at
Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...
; and Count Gibson from Tufts University. Geiger had previously studied the first community health centers and the principles of Community Oriented Primary Care with Sidney Kark and colleagues while serving as a medical student in rural Natal,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. The Columbia Point Health Center is still operating and was rededicated in 1990 as the Geiger-Gibson Community Health Center. In 1974, the
University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public US-based research university. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Ma ...
moved from Park Square in downtown Boston to Columbia Point in Dorchester. In 1982, Boston State College was incorporated into UMass Boston. Since the 1970s, UMass Boston has expanded substantially, including building a new campus center in 2004 and a new science center in 2015. It has also hosted numerous important social and civic events. In 2000, for example, the university hosted a presidential candidates’ debate between
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
and
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...
. In 1977, after an unsuccessful bid by Cambridge to have the John F. Kennedy Library located there, close to the late president's alma mater
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, a site was chosen at the tip of Columbia Point and ground was broken. Designed by architect I. M. Pei, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum was dedicated on October 20, 1979. By the 1980s, the Blue Hill Avenue section of Dorchester had become a predominantly Black community. During the 1990s, the city administration increased police presence and invested city money into the area for more street lighting. On March 30, 2015, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate was dedicated by
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
. The Institute opened to the public on March 31, 2015.


Geography

Dorchester is located south of downtown
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 ...
and is surrounded by the neighborhoods of
South Boston South Boston (colloquially known as Southie) is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay (Boston Harbor), Dorchester Bay. It has under ...
, Roxbury,
Jamaica Plain Jamaica Plain is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Settled by Puritans seeking farmland to the south, it was originally part of Roxbury, Massachusetts, Roxbury. The community seceded from Roxbur ...
, Hyde Park and South End, the city of Quincy and the town of Milton. The Neponset River separates Dorchester from Quincy and Milton.


Neighborhood sections and squares

Dorchester is Boston's largest and most populous neighborhood. It comprises many smaller sections and squares. Due to its size of about , it is often divided for statistical purposes into North and South Dorchester. North Dorchester includes the portion north of Quincy, East and Freeport streets. The main
business district Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessar ...
in this part of Dorchester is Uphams Corner, at the intersection of Dudley Street and Columbia Road. South Dorchester is bordered to the east by Dorchester Bay and to the south by the Neponset River. The main
business district Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessar ...
s in this part of Dorchester are Fields Corner, at the intersection of Dorchester Avenue and Adams Street, and Codman Square, at the intersection of Washington Street and Talbot Avenue. Adjacent to Fields Corner is the Harrison Square Historic District, also known as Clam Point. It is notable for its collection of substantial Italianate mansard residences. Dorchester Avenue is the major neighborhood spine, running in a south–north line through all of Dorchester from Lower Mills to downtown Boston. The southern part of Dorchester is primarily a residential area, with established neighborhoods still defined by parishes, and occupied by families for generations. The northern part of Dorchester is more urban, with a greater amount of apartment housing and industrial parks. South Bay and Newmarket industrial area are major sources of employment. The Harbor Point area (formerly known as Columbia Point) is home of several large employers, including the Boston campus of the
University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the Public university, public university system of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes six campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, University of Massachusetts Lowell ...
, the Massachusetts Archives and Commonwealth Museum, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Distinct commercial districts include Bowdoin/Geneva, Fields Corner, Codman Square, Peabody Square, Adams Village and Lower Mills. Primarily residential areas include Savin Hill, Jones Hill, Four Corners, Franklin Field, Franklin Hill, Ashmont, Meeting House Hill, Neponset, Popes Hill and Port Norfolk.


Demographics

Up until the 1960s, the Blue Hill Avenue part of Dorchester from Roxbury to Mattapan was primarily composed of
Jewish Americans American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are Americans, American citizens who are Jews, Jewish, whether by Jewish culture, culture, ethnicity, or Judaism, religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of Am ...
whose ancestors had immigrated from eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Neponset neighborhood was primarily Irish-American, most of whom were Catholic. During the 1920s–1960s, many
African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...
moved from the South to the North during the Great Migration and settled on Blue Hill Avenue and nearby sections. While some Jewish-Americans were moving "up and out" to the suburbs, certain Boston banks and real estate companies developed a
blockbusting Blockbusting was a business practice in the United States in which real estate agents and building developers convinced residents in a particular area to sell their property at below-market prices. This was achieved by fearmongering the homeowne ...
plan for the area. The Blue Hill Avenue area was " redlined" so that only the newly arriving African Americans would receive mortgages for housing in that section. "White flight" was prevalent. After changes to US immigration law in 1965, Dorchester received new waves of migrants from Puerto Rico, and immigrants from the Caribbean and Central America, such as Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. Immigrants also came from Cape Verde and Vietnam, as well as other Latin American, Asian, and African nations. Dorchester also continued to receive immigrants from Northern European countries such as Ireland, Germany and Poland. Dorchester became more diverse than at any point in its long history, with many nationalities represented here. These immigrants have helped revive the economy of the neighborhood by opening ethnic stores and restaurants. The sections of Dorchester have distinct ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic compositions. The eastern areas of Dorchester (especially between Adams Street and Dorchester Bay) are primarily ethnic European and Asian, with a large population of Irish Americans and
Vietnamese Americans Vietnamese Americans () are Americans of Vietnamese people, Vietnamese ancestry. They constitute a major part of all overseas Vietnamese. As of 2023, over 2.3 million people of Vietnamese descent live in the United States, making them the fourth ...
. Residents of the western, central and parts of the southern sections of the neighborhood are predominantly African American. In Neponset, the southeast corner of the neighborhood, as well as parts of Savin Hill in the north and Cedar Grove in the south, Irish Americans maintain the most visible identity. In the northern section of Dorchester and southwestern section of South Boston is the Polish Triangle, where recent Polish immigrants are residents. Savin Hill, as well as Fields Corner, have large Vietnamese-American populations. Uphams Corner contains a
Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...
an-American community, the largest concentration of people of Cape Verdean origin within Boston city limits. Western, central and parts of southern Dorchester have a large Caribbean population (especially people from
Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...
,
Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
,
Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...
, and
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...
). They are most strongly represented in the Codman Square, Franklin Field and the Ashmont area, although there are also significant numbers in Four Corners and Fields Corner. Significant numbers of African Americans live in the Harbor Point, Uphams Corner, Fields Corner, Four Corners and Franklin Field areas. In recent years Dorchester has also seen an influx of young residents, gay men and women, and working
artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...
s (in areas such as Lower Mills, Ashmont Hill/Peabody Square, and Savin Hill)."Dorchester development to be geared toward gays"
''Bay Windows'', Thursday Aug 2, 2007
Stidman, Pete

, ''Dorchester Reporter'', January 31, 2008
Diaz, Johnny
"Under a rainbow flag, linking the Dots"
''Boston Globe'', October 30, 2005
Income – Massachusetts sales tax rate is 6.25%, income tax is 5.20%. Income per capita is $18,226 which includes adults and children. Median household income $30,419. Based on the 2010 Census Dorchester has 114,235 for a total population. Just about 15,530 are under the age of eighteen.


American Community Survey – Estimates – 2013

The
American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...
(ACS) for Dorchester, from 2007 to 2011, estimates the total population is 113,975 people. Slightly more than half are female, 52.6% or 59,914 and 47.4% or 54,061 are male. In Dorchester, 68.4% or 77,980 of the residents are native born and 31.6% or 35,995 people are foreign born, of which 50.1% or 18,024 are not U.S. citizens. The largest
racial group Race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 16th century, when it was used to refer to groups of va ...
in the
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 ...
is
Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or
African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
, with 49,612 people or 43.05% of the population. People who self-identify as white represent 26,102 or 26.99% of the community.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
/ Latinos account for 19.09% of the population with 19,295 residents. The Asian enclave represents 9.6% of the population with 10,990 of the citizenry. The smallest racial group identifies as bi/ multi-racial and they make up 1.9% (2,174) of the population. According to the ACS survey, Dorchester has a large under 25 population, with 38.1% or 43,472 people and 33,162 (29.1% of the total population) of them under the age of 19 years old. Between the ages of 25 and 64 years old, there are 59,788 or 52.6% people, and 10,715 people or 9.3% are more than 65 years old. In Dorchester, approximately 61.9% or 70,503 people are over the age of 25, 23.5% or 16,582 people do not have a high school
diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offi ...
or GED, 30.5% or 21,479 have a diploma or GED, 18.5% or 13,045 people have completed some college, and 27.5% or 19,397 people have a
college degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to a student upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions often offer degrees at various levels, usually divided into und ...
. The ACS Survey estimates there are 40,443
household A household consists of one or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...
s in the neighborhood of Dorchester, the
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
of $22,120 and a
median income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of unde ...
of $44,136. A total of 13.1% or 5,286 households have reported income of less than $10,000. 27.3% or 11,020 households earn less than $19,999. A total of 19.1% or 7,720 households earn between $20,000 and 39,999.16.5% or 6,651 households in the earn between $40,000 and 59,999. A total of 19.7% or 7,977 households earn between $60,000 and 99,999. A total of 15.3% or 6,174 of household report annual incomes of $100,000 to 199,999. Only 2.2% or 901 households in Dorchester earn $200,000 or more per year. The ACS reports as of 2011,
Poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...
affects 23.5% or 9,511 households and 24.3% or 9,820 of households are receiving SNAP Benefits.


Race


Ancestry

According to the 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the largest ancestry groups in ZIP Codes 02121, 02122, 02124, and 02125 are:


Crime

Dorchester, with a population of approximately 130,000, is home to nearly one-fifth of all Boston residents. In the early 1990s, Dorchester, along with Roxbury and Mattapan, had the highest percentage of victims with violence-related injuries. Since the early 2000s, crime rates across Boston have declined. In the first three months of 2013, Boston crime rates reportedly dropped 15% compared to the same time period in 2012. According to the '' Dorchester Reporter'' crime maps, the more dangerous areas in Dorchester are west of Columbia Road, with criminal activity centered on the Blue Hill Avenue area. Safer parts of the neighborhood include Savin Hill; the historic neighborhood of Clam Point; Columbia Point, which is populated by mostly UMass Boston students; Ashmont Hill; Saint Mark's; Pope's Hill; Cedar Grove; Lower Mills, around the Neponset, Gallivan, and Morrissey Boulevard areas; and the Jones Hill neighborhood (with the third-largest percentage of same-sex households in Boston after the South End and Jamaica Plain). According to
AreaVibes AreaVibes is a data analytics and real estate company based in Toronto, which provides clients with demographic data and analysis focused on real estate in American and Canadian cities. Background The online data collector Datanyze states that ...
, Dorchester's overall crime rate is 30% higher than the national average. For every 100,000 people there are 10.55 daily crimes in the neighborhood. Property crime is much more common than violent crime. Out of 100,000 people, 831 are involved in violent crime, and 3,021 out of 100,000 are involved in property crime. The chance of being a victim of: * Property crime = 1 in 34 * Violent crime = 1 in 121 * Crime = 1 in 26


Economy

Throughout its history, Dorchester has had periods of economic revival and recession. In the 1960s and 1970s, Dorchester was particularly hard hit by economic recession, high unemployment, and
white flight The white flight, also known as white exodus, is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the Racism ...
. In 1953, Carney Hospital moved from
South Boston South Boston (colloquially known as Southie) is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay (Boston Harbor), Dorchester Bay. It has under ...
to its current location in Dorchester, serving the local communities of Dorchester, Mattapan, Milton and Quincy. It closed in 2025. In 1953, a major public housing project was completed on the Columbia Point
peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...
of Dorchester. There were 1,502 units in the development on of land. It later became known for high rates of crime and poor living conditions, and it went through particularly bad times in the 1970s and 1980s. By 1988, there were only 350 families living there. In 1984, the City of Boston gave control of it to a private developer, Corcoran-Mullins-Jennison, who redeveloped the property into a residential mixed-income community called Harbor Point Apartments which was opened in 1988 and completed by 1990. It was the first federal housing project to be converted to private,
mixed-income housing The definition of mixed-income housing is broad and encompasses many types of dwellings and neighborhoods. Following Brophy and Smith, the following will discuss “non-organic” examples of mixed-income housing, meaning “a deliberate effort to ...
in the United States. Harbor Point has won much acclaim for this transformation, including awards from the
Urban Land Institute The Urban Land Institute, or ULI, is a global nonprofit research and education organization with regional offices in Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, and London. ULI aims to help its members and their partners build more equitable, sustainable, heal ...
, the FIABCI Award for International Excellence, and the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence. During the housing crisis of 2008 in the United States, Dorchester's Hendry Street became the epicenter in the media In reaction, the city of Boston negotiated to buy several of the houses for as little as $30,000. It is moving to seize other foreclosed properties on which the owners have not paid taxes. The houses were renovated and added to the inventory of subsidized rental housing. In 2008, plans and proposals were unveiled and presented to public community hearings by the Corcoran-Jennison Company to redevelop the Bayside Exposition Center site on the Columbia Point peninsula into a mixed use village of storefronts and residences, called "Bayside on the Point". However, in 2009, the Bayside Expo Center property was lost in a foreclosure on Corcoran-Jennison to a Florida-based real estate firm, LNR/CMAT, who bought it. Soon after, the
University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public US-based research university. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Ma ...
bought the property from them to build future campus facilities. The corporate headquarters of ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'' was also located in Dorchester, having moved there in 1958 from downtown Boston. In 2009, then-owner
The New York Times Company The New York Times Company is an American mass media corporation that publishes ''The New York Times'' and its associated publications such as ''The New York Times International Edition'' and other media properties. The New York Times Company's ...
put the paper up for bid, leading to concern from local community members, who had seen other major employers close their doors. After negotiations with their union and cost reduction measures, the owner's plans to sell the ''Globe'' were abandoned in October 2009. In 2013, the paper was bought by John W. Henry, owner of the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
, and in 2017 the ''Globe'' headquarters returned to downtown Boston. In the 20th century, many of the
labor unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
in Boston relocated their headquarters to Dorchester. This includes the Boston Teachers Union,
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) is a trade union, labor union that represents approximately 820,000 workers and retirees in the electricity, electrical industry in the United States, Canada, Guam, Panama, Puerto Rico, an ...
Local 103, New England Regional Council of Carpenters, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 718, among others.


Arts and culture


Public libraries

Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also Massachusetts' Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse''), meaning all adult re ...
operates six neighborhood branches in Dorchester. * Adams Street Branch * Codman Square Branch – Originally opened at 6 Norfolk Street in 1905. The branch moved into its current facility, which was designed by Eco-Texture, Inc., in 1978. * Fields Corner Branch * Grove Hall Branch * Lower Mills Branch * Uphams Corner Branch


Sites of interest

Additional sites of interest include: * Bayside Expo Center (also known as the Bayside Expo and Conference Center), originally opened as a shopping mall in the 1960s and in 2010 sold to
University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public US-based research university. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Ma ...
for future redevelopment * ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'' building * Captain Lemuel Clap House * Commonwealth Museum * Dorchester Park * Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate * First Parish Church of Dorchester *
Franklin Park Zoo The Franklin Park Zoo is a zoo located in Boston, Massachusetts, and is currently operated by Zoo New England, which also operates the Stone Zoo in Stoneham, Massachusetts. The zoo is located in the northeast portion of Franklin Park, Boston ...
* James Blake House * John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum * Neponset River State Reservation *
University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public US-based research university. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Ma ...
Harbor Campus * William Clapp House * William Monroe Trotter House * Eire Pub, visited by presidents and prime ministers and political candidates


Entertainment

Dorchester has various attractions, including the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, Boston Winery, Boston Harbor Distillery, Strand Theatre, Commonwealth Museum, Greater Boston House Concert,
Franklin Park Zoo The Franklin Park Zoo is a zoo located in Boston, Massachusetts, and is currently operated by Zoo New England, which also operates the Stone Zoo in Stoneham, Massachusetts. The zoo is located in the northeast portion of Franklin Park, Boston ...
, the Neponset Rivery Greenway and Lower Neponset River Trail. Fields Corner is a commercial center that is one of Dorchester's largest business districts. It has numerous restaurants and pubs, and independent clothing stores. Fields Corner is known both for its ethnic Irish residents, who support a variety of Irish pubs, and for Vietnamese restaurants operated by more recent immigrants. Adjacent to Fields Corner is an 11-acre park known as Hilltop Park, which offers a view of Dorchester Bay and plenty of green space.


Parks and recreation

Parks include: * Pope John Paul II Park Reservation: The Pope John Park Reservation is approximately 66 acres in size, and is open year-round for the residents of Dorchester. In its earlier times it was used as a landfill and also a drive-in theatre. It also serves as a buffer between the Town of Dorchester,
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 ...
and Neponset River waterfront. This park now offers picnic facilities, soccer fields, play areas, paths for walking, and also spacious land to plant trees and shrubs. * Dorchester Park: Dorchester park was established in 1861 and is located in the southern part of Dorchester, specifically in the Cedar Grove and Lower Mills. It is across from the Neponset River. Dorchester Park is 30 acres. Events held at the park include the ''Annual Classic Car Show and Family Fun Day''. Dorchester Park is listed in the ''
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
''. * Franklin Park: Established in 1885, this park has 485 acres. It includes walking and running paths, tennis courts, baseball fields, golf courses, and basketball courts. New England's Franklin Park Zoo has nine main exhibits that contain more than 220 species of animals. The ''Kite and Bike festival'' traditionally takes place in Franklin park. This event, hosted since 2010 by the Franklin Park Coalition, is usually held the Saturday after Mother's Day. It includes bike riding and kite flying.


Bike trails

* Lower Neponset River Trail: This 2.4-mile path stretches from the historic Port Norfolk neighborhood in Dorchester, through Pope John Paul II Park, across Granite Avenue through Neponset Marshes, and through the Lower Mills area to Central Avenue in Milton. This trail is used for running, biking, and walking. The Neponset River Trail can be reached from the Butler, Milton Village, and Central Avenue Red Line (Mattapan trolley) stations. * Neponset River Green way: The Neponset River Green way totals 5 miles in length. Scenery includes a salt marsh in Pope John Paul Park II and Tenan Beach at the mouth of Neponset River. Conveniently the trail is also adjacent to MBTA Red Line stations: Butler, Milton, and Central Avenue. * DotGreenway: a greenway for pedestrians and cyclists has been proposed to connect Talbot Avenue and Park Street along the MBTA Red Line tunnel cap (between Ashmont and Fields Corner stations).


Government

Mayor Marty Walsh proposed a budget for 2017 which included a five-year capital plan intended to make improvements to the infrastructure of Dorchester. The new projects involve building new libraries and also modernizing the Boston Public Libraries branches in Dorchester. Improvement of City parks is also included. The plans are to add more lights to Doherty-Gibson park in Fields Corner and another $3.7 million to make improvements in Harambee park next to the Franklin Field. The rest of the budget is intended to be used to complete already started projects in Savin Hill, King Street, Hemenway, Dower Avenue, and Ronan Park.


Education


Primary and secondary schools


Public schools

Students in Dorchester are served by
Boston Public Schools Boston Public Schools (BPS) is a school district serving the city of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest public school district in the state of Massachusetts. Leadership The district is led by a superintendent, hired by t ...
(BPS). BPS assigns students based on preferences of the applicants and priorities of students in various zones. Dorchester High School predated the annexation of Dorchester to Boston. At its founding, it was an all-male school, first opened on December 10, 1852. In 1870 Dorchester was annexed to Boston and its schools became managed by the City of Boston. A replacement facility opened in Codman Square on Talbot Avenue 1901. The current Dorchester facility opened in 1925 on Peacevale Road to males, while the Talbot Avenue building was for females. In 1953 Dorchester High School consolidated as a coeducational school. BPS schools located in Dorchester include * Boston Arts Academy, 9–12 * Boston Community Leadership Academy/McCormack, 7–9 * Boston International Newcomers Academy, 9–12 * Boston Latin Academy, 7–12 * Jeremiah E. Burke High School, 9–12 * Clap Elementary, K1–5 * Community Academy of Science & Health, 9–12 * Paul A. Dever Elementary, K1–6 * Edward Everett Elementary, K1–5 * Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School, 6–8 * Sarah Greenwood, K0–8 * Dr. William W. Henderson Inclusion School (formerly Patrick O'Hearn Elementary School), K0–12 * Oliver Wendell Holmes Innovation School, K1–5 * Thomas J. Kenny Elementary, K1–6 * Martin Luther King Jr., K1–8 * Lee Academy Pilot School, K0–3 * Joseph Lee, K1–8 * Mather Elementary, K1–5 * Richard J. Murphy, K1–8 * William E. Russell Elementary, K1–5 * Pauline A. Shaw Elementary, K0–3 * TechBoston Academy, 6–12 * Charles H. Taylor, K1-5 * William Monroe Trotter, K1–8 * UP Academy Dorchester, K1–8 (in-district charter) * UP Academy Holland, K1–5 (in-district charter) * John Winthrop Elementary, K1–5 Charter schools include *Boston Collegiate Charter School, 5–12 *Brooke High School, 9–12 * Codman Academy Charter Public School, K1–12 * Conservatory Lab Charter School, K1–8 * Helen Y. Davis Leadership Academy Charter Public School, 6–8 * Neighborhood House Charter School, K1–12 * Roxbury Prep Lucy Stone Campus, 5–8 * Roxbury Prep Dorchester Campus, 5–8


Catholic schools

Many Catholic schools closed in the 2000s as the demographics of the area changed.Dorchester Parish Faces ‘Hard Decisions’ About Future
/ref> The remaining schools as of summer 2018 are: * Boston College High School, 7–12 * Cristo Rey Boston High School, 9–12, leasing the old St. William Elementary building * St. Brendan School, K-6 * Three locations of the Pope John Paul II Catholic Academy part of the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its mother church is the Cathedral of the Holy Cross (Boston), Cathedral o ...
remain after the 2008 consolidation of seven parish elementary schools into five locations. ** Columbia Campus (former St. Margaret's Elementary School building) ** Lower Mills Campus (former St. Gregory Elementary School building) ** Neponset Campus (former St. Ann Elementary School building)


Colleges and universities

* The
University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public US-based research university. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Ma ...
is an accredited urban public research university and the second largest campus in the
University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the Public university, public university system of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes six campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, University of Massachusetts Lowell ...
system. It is located on Columbia Point in Dorchester. The school offers associates, bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees. In regards to race and gender, the school has a diverse student population of about 13 thousand students at a time. Excluding financial aid, the average cost of tuition is $12,000 for in-state students, and $28,000 for out-of-state. The university is rated as a good value, with a 15:1 student faculty ratio and a variety of majors to study. The economy of the school has been consistently productive since its establishment. Within the past twenty years, the school campuses have been improving and expanding. Some 95% of the students are in-state and attending classes full-time. * Labouré College is a Roman Catholic co-educational college offering associate degrees in nursing and the health sciences. It is located on the Carney Hospital campus near the Lower Mills section of Dorchester.


Infrastructure


Transportation

The neighborhood is served by five stations on the
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority 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 ...
Red Line (MBTA) The Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) as part of the MBTA subway system. The line runs south and east underground from Alewife station in North Cambridge, Massachusetts, North Cambr ...
rapid transit service, five stations on the
Mattapan Line The Mattapan Line (alternatively the Mattapan Trolley and historically the Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed Line) is a partially grade separation, grade-separated light rail line which forms part of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, ...
, five stations on the Fairmount Commuter Rail Line, and various bus routes. Interstate 93 (concurrent with Route 3 and U.S. 1) runs north–south through Dorchester between
Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county. Quincy is part of the Greater Boston area as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in ...
, and downtown Boston, providing access to the eastern edge of Dorchester at Columbia Road,
Morrissey Boulevard Morrissey Boulevard is a six-lane divided coastal road in the Dorchester, Boston, Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned and maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). ...
(northbound only), Neponset Circle (southbound only), and Granite Avenue (with additional southbound on-ramps at Freeport Street and from Morrissey Blvd at Neponset). Several other state routes traverse the neighborhood, e.g., Route 203, Gallivan Boulevard and Morton Street, and Route 28, Blue Hill Avenue (so named because it leads out of the city to the Blue Hills Reservation). The Neponset River separates Dorchester from Quincy and Milton. The Dorchester Turnpike (now Dorchester Avenue) stretches from Fort Point Channel (now in
South Boston South Boston (colloquially known as Southie) is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay (Boston Harbor), Dorchester Bay. It has under ...
) to Lower Mills, and once boasted a horse-drawn streetcar. A number of the earliest streets in Dorchester have changed names several times through the centuries, meaning that some names have come and gone. Leavitt Place, for instance, named for one of Dorchester's earliest settlers, eventually became Brook Court and then Brook Avenue Place. Gallivan Boulevard was once Codman Street and Brookvale Street was once Brook Street.
Morrissey Boulevard Morrissey Boulevard is a six-lane divided coastal road in the Dorchester, Boston, Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned and maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). ...
was once Old Colony Parkway.


Housing

Most of Dorchester's population, about 63.3% or 72,239 people, lives in rental housing. The gross median monthly rent is $1,450, which totals $17,400 per year and exceeds the income of almost 30% of the population. An estimated 40,180 people (35.3%) live in owner-occupied homes and 1.4% or 1556 residents live in
group home A group home, congregate living facility, care home (the latter especially in British English and Australian English), adult family home, etc., is a structured and supervised residence model that provides assisted living as well as medical car ...
s/shelters. Excluding government-owned housing, Dorchester has 15,918 residential buildings including 4,344 or 27.3% single-family homes, 3,674 or 23.1% two-family homes, 3,919 or 24.6% three-family homes, and 3,981 or 25.0% condo units. The median sales price for all residential property types is 244,450. In 2013, there were 52
foreclosure Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has Default (finance), stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the Collateral (finance), coll ...
s petitions reported in Dorchester, representing 22.41% of the 232 foreclosures reported for the entire City
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 ...
. Subsequently, 37 out 147 distressed buildings documented in Boston are located in Dorchester.


Notable people

* Charles Baker Adams – born in Dorchester; academic and naturalist * William Taylor Adams – wrote fiction under pseudonym "Oliver Optic," served on Dorchester school board *
Sheldon Adelson Sheldon Gary Adelson (August 4, 1933 – January 11, 2021) was an American businessman, investor, and political donor. He was the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which founded the Marina Bay Sa ...
– born and raised in Dorchester; chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corporation and conservative political financier * Samuel Turell Armstrong – born in Dorchester; 6th
Mayor of Boston The mayor of Boston is the head of the municipal government in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Boston has a mayor–council government. Boston's mayoral elections are nonpartisan (as are all municipal elections in Boston), and elect a m ...
and
Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
of
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 ...
* Major General Humphrey Atherton (born c. 1608–1661), an early settler of Dorchester, who held the highest military rank in colonial New England * Brigadier General Stephen Badlam, cabinetmaker and artillery officer in the Revolutionary War * Robert Bergenheim – raised in Dorchester; founder of '' Boston Business Journal'' * Ray Bolger – vaudevillian and film actor, best known as Scarecrow in classic movie '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939) * Jean Buckley – born in Dorchester;
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was a professional women's baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley, which existed from 1943 to 1954. The AAGPBL is the forerunner of women's professional league sports in the Uni ...
player * Whitey Bulger – crime boss, head of Winter Hill Gang, subject of film '' Black Mass'' * William M. Bulger – politician, former President of the Massachusetts Senate and president of
University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the Public university, public university system of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes six campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, University of Massachusetts Lowell ...
* Herb Chambers – owner and CEO of Herb Chambers Companies, car dealerships * Buddy Clark - easy-listening-jazz singer * Terrence Clarke - college basketball player * Arthur Colgan - Roman Catholic bishop * James B. Conant - born in Dorchester; chemist and president of Harvard University (1933-1953) * Joe Conforte – owner of Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada * Clarence Cook – born in Dorchester; 19th Century art critic and writer * Michael L. Coyne – trial attorney and professor, co-founder and associate dean of Massachusetts School of Law * Norm Crosby – entertainer * Brian J. Donnelly — born and raised in Dorchester, Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, Congressman, and Massachusetts State Representative * Julia Knowlton Dyer — philanthropist * Ayo Edebiri - raised in Dorchester, actress and comedian * Thomas M. Finneran – former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives; in 2007, pleaded guilty to felony obstruction of justice * Tom Fitzgerald, ice hockey and golf journalist * Roswell Gleason – 19th century manufacturer of pewter and silver-plate * Mike Gorman – TV play-by-play announcer for
Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...
* Harry G. Hamlet – Commandant of U.S. Coast Guard 1932–36, attended high school in Dorchester * Kay Hanley – alternative rock musician, vocalist for band Letters to Cleo *
Childe Hassam Frederick Childe Hassam (; October 17, 1859 – August 27, 1935) was an American Impressionist painter, noted for his urban and coastal scenes. Along with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman, Hassam was instrumental in promulgating Impressionis ...
born and raised in Dorchester, painter and member of the Ten American Painters * Kevin Hayes – born in Dorchester, professional ice hockey player for the St. Louis Blues * Chrystal Herne – Broadway actress * Richard M. Karp – raised in Dorchester;
Turing Award The ACM A. M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. It is generally recognized as the highest distinction in the fi ...
-laureate computer scientist * Joseph P. Kennedy – businessman, political figure, father of President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy * Rose Kennedy – mother of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy * John King – broadcast journalist, host of '' Inside Politics'' on
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
* Jonathan Knight – singer, musical group
New Kids on the Block New Kids on the Block (also initialized as NKOTB) is an American boy band from Dorchester, Massachusetts. The band consists of brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood. New Kids on the Block had ...
* Jordan Knight – singer, New Kids on the Block *
Calixa Lavallée Calixa Lavallée (; December 28, 1842 – January 21, 1891) was a Canadians, Canadian musician and Union Army band musician during the American Civil War. He was born in the Province of Canada. He is best known for composing the music for "O Can ...
– Canadian national anthem composer, wrote offertorium for dedication of St. Peter's of Dorchester (1883) * Dennis Lehane – raised in Dorchester; author of ''
Gone Baby Gone ''Gone Baby Gone'' is a 2007 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Ben Affleck in his directorial debut. Affleck co-wrote the screenplay with Aaron Stockard based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. The film star ...
'', '' Mystic River'', '' Shutter Island''; screenwriter, producer * Lisa-Jayne Lewis - lived in Dorchester 2000–2006; British broadcaster and
Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
commentator * Alexandra Lydon – born in Dorchester; actress and writer * Bill Marshall – professional baseball player of the 1930s * John Mason – Colonial military officer, civil engineer *
Increase Mather Increase Mather (; June 21, 1639 Old Style – August 23, 1723 Old Style) was a History of New England, New England Puritan clergyman in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the sixth President of Harvard University, President of Harvard College (la ...
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minister; public figure in early history of
Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...
* Aaron Maund – professional soccer player *
Albert and David Maysles Albert Maysles (November 26, 1926 – March 5, 2015) and his brother David Maysles (January 10, 1931 – January 3, 1987; ) were an American documentary filmmaking team known for their work in the Direct Cinema style. Their best-known films in ...
– documentary filmmakers * Bill McColgan – sports announcer * Marilyn Mosby – raised in Dorchester; former state's attorney of
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
*
John Lothrop Motley John Lothrop Motley (April 15, 1814 – May 29, 1877) was an American author and diplomat. As a popular historian, he is best known for his works on the Netherlands, the three volume work ''The Rise of the Dutch Republic'' and four volume ''His ...
– historian and diplomat * Mark Mulvoy – journalist and writer for ''The Boston Globe'' and ''Sports Illustrated'' * Adam Myerson – professional cyclist *
Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy ( ; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor and director, famous for playing Spock in the ''Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes Development of Spock, originating Spock in Star Trek: T ...
– born in Dorchester; actor, director, poet, musician, and photographer; best known as
Spock Spock is a fictional Character (arts), character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He first appeared in the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star Trek'' series serving aboard the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), USS ''Enterpri ...
on ''
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'' * Bill O'Brien – born in Dorchester; head coach of NFL's
Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...
* Lawrence O'Donnell – raised in Dorchester; former aide to Senator
Daniel Patrick Moynihan Daniel Patrick Moynihan (; March 16, 1927 – March 26, 2003) was an American politician, diplomat and social scientist. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he represented New York (state), New York in the ...
, producer of ''
The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where t ...
'' and host of
MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...
's '' The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell'' * Rose Pitonof (1895–1984) – marathon swimmer * Martin Richard – raised in Dorchester; one of three people killed in
Boston Marathon bombing The Boston Marathon bombing, sometimes referred to as simply the Boston bombing, was an Islamist domestic terrorist attack that took place during the 117th annual Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarna ...
* Richard Scarry – raised in Dorchester; children's books author and illustrator, known for his " Busytown" universe * Elliot Silverstein – raised in Dorchester; directed '' Cat Ballou'' and four episodes of ''
The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...
'' * Slaine – hip-hop MC, rapper and actor, ''
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'' and '' The Town'' *
Lucy Stone Lucy Stone (August 13, 1818 – October 18, 1893) was an American orator, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist and Suffrage, suffragist who was a vocal advocate for and organizer of promoting Women's rights, rights for women. In 1847, ...
abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...
and
suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...
*
Donna Summer Donna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music ...
– pop and disco singer, member of
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* Amelia Peabody Tileston (1872-1920), American Red Cross worker in Serbia during World War I *
Donnie Wahlberg Donald Edmond Wahlberg Jr. (born August 17, 1969) is an American singer, actor and producer. He is a founding member of the boy band New Kids on the Block. Outside music, he has starred in the TV drama series ''Blue Bloods (TV series), Blue Bloo ...
– singer, actor and film producer, member of musical group
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, star of TV series '' Blue Bloods'' *
Mark Wahlberg Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971), formerly known by his stage name Marky Mark, is an American actor, producer, and former rapper. Mark Wahlberg filmography, His work as a leading actor, leading man spans the Comedy film, come ...
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-nominated actor, producer, model and rapper, star of films including ''
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'', '' The Perfect Storm'', '' Ted'', ''
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'' and '' The Fighter'' * Marty Walsh
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* Elizabeth Foster Wesselhoeft - born in Dorchester; children's literature writer * Carolina White – born in Dorchester; soprano and actress * John Willis – gangster * Danny Wood – singer, musical group
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* Marie Wright – better known by stage name "Free", media personality *
Neal McDonough Neal McDonough (born February 13, 1966) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Lieutenant Lynn Compton, Lynn "Buck" Compton in the HBO miniseries ''Band of Brothers (miniseries), Band of Brothers'' (2001), Deputy District Attorney ...
Actor


References

* Committee of the Dorchester Antiquarian and Historical Society
"History of the Town of Dorchester, Massachusetts"
Boston : Ebenezer Clapp Jr., 1859. * Dutton, E.P
Chart of Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay with Map of Adjacent Country.
Published 1867. A good map of roads and rail lines around Dorchester. Note the Horse RailRoad on Dorchester Ave. * Glover, Anna
Glover Memorials and Genealogies: An Account of John Glover Of Dorchester and Some of his Descendants.
Published 1867. * Orcutt, William Dana
Good Old Dorchester: A Narrative History of the Town, 1630–1893.
Published 1893. * Sammarco, Anthony Mitchell. ** **
''Dorchester: Volume II''"
Images of America series, Arcadia Publishing, 2000 **
''Dorchester: Then & Now''
, Arcadia Publishing, 2005. * * The Vital Records of Dorchester (Births, Marriages, and Deaths) to 1825 were published in 1890 as th
21st Report of the Records Commissioners of Boston.


See the 1903 southeaster corner map.


Further reading


"Railroad Transportation in Dorchester"
– History by the Dorchester Atheneum * Dorchester, Massachusetts

, Dorchester, Massachusetts, US Census data

, (not in Dorchester town records), From the back of the book of Dorchester Vital Records to 1850

Mercantile Publishing Company, Boston, 1888 * Orcutt, William Dana
''Good Old Dorchester: A Narrative history of the Town 1630–1893''
Cambridge : John Wilson & Son, University Press, 1893 *


External links

* From the
Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also Massachusetts' Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse''), meaning all adult re ...
br>Map Collection
*
1831 Map of Dorchester
by Edmund J. Baker *
1850 Map of Dorchester
by E. Whiting *
1868 Map of Dorchester and Quincy
by Dudley and Greenough *
1880 Plan of Dorchester
by the Boston Engineering Dept.
Archival collections about Dorchester
University Archives and Special Collections, Joseph P. Healey Library,
University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public US-based research university. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Ma ...
{{Authority control Populated places established in 1630 Neighborhoods in Boston Irish-American neighborhoods Streetcar suburbs History of Boston 1630 establishments in the Massachusetts Bay Colony Little Saigons Populated coastal places in Massachusetts