Boston Common

Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston (the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England) and its surrounding areas. The region forms the northern arc of the Northeast megalopolis, so Greater Boston means both a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) and a combined statistical area (CSA), which is broader. The MSA consists of most of the eastern third of Massachusetts, excluding the South Coast and Cape Cod; the CSA additionally includes the municipalities of Providence (capital of Rhode Island), Manchester (the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire), Worcester (the second largest city in Massachusetts and in New England), the South Coast region, and Cape Cod. While the city of Boston covers 48.4 square miles (125 km2) and has 675,647 residents as of the 2020 census, the urbanization has extended well into surrounding areas and the CSA has a more than 8.4 million people, making it one of the most populous such regions in the U.S. The CSA is one of two in Massachusetts, the other being Greater Springfield. Greater Boston is the only CSA in New England that lies in three states (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island); some definitions extend it into a fourth (Connecticut). Some of Greater Boston's most well-known contributions involve the region's higher education and medical institutions. Greater Boston has been influential upon American history and industry. The region and the state of Massachusetts are global leaders in biotechnology, engineering, higher education, finance, and maritime trade.As of 2020, 64% of Massachusetts' population lives in the Greater Boston metropolitan region, and 88% of Massachusetts' population lives in the Boston Combined Statistical Area. Greater Boston is ranked tenth in population among US metropolitan statistical areas, home to 4,941,632 people as of the 2020 United States Census, and sixth among combined statistical areas, with a population of 8,466,186. The area has hosted many people and sites significant to American culture and history, particularly American literature, politics, and the American Revolution. Plymouth was the site of the first colony in New England, founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims, passengers of the Mayflower. In 1692, the town of Salem and surrounding areas experienced one of America's most infamous cases of mass hysteria, the Salem witch trials. In the late 18th century, Boston became known as the "Cradle of Liberty" for the agitation there that led to the American Revolution. The Greater Boston region has played a powerful scientific, commercial, and cultural role in the history of the United States. Before the American Civil War, the region was a center for the abolitionist, temperance, and transcendentalist movements. In 2004, Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legally recognize same-sex marriage as a result of the decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in Boston. Many prominent American political dynasties have hailed from the Boston region, including the Adams and Kennedy families. Harvard University in Cambridge is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, with the largest financial endowment of any university, and whose Law School has spawned a contemporaneous majority of United States Supreme Court Justices. Kendall Square in Cambridge has been called "the most innovative square mile on the planet", in reference to the high concentration of entrepreneurial start-ups and quality of innovation which have emerged in the vicinity of the square since 2010. Both Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also in Cambridge, have been ranked among the most highly regarded academic institutions in the world.

The Great Elm stood at the center of the Boston Common until February 15, 1876. The earliest maps of the area only showed three trees, one of which was the Great Elm. The other two trees, one of which was most likely the famed Liberty Tree, had been lost long before the Great Elm finally fell in the nineteenth century. Up to that point, the elm symbolized the Boston Common's landscape since—an early advocate for urban improvement asserted—the figure represented the finest example of "the favorite ornamental tree among us." The Great Elm's popularity inspired broader environmental efforts within the region. Consequently, planters believed that they "must plant [elms and oaks] for posterity," implicitly hoping that their efforts would result in a similar majestic outcome. These ancillary planting efforts elevated the popularity of the largest tree in the area, the Great Elm.

The Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Boston Common at Boston, in the U.S. Commonwealth of Massachusetts, was erected in memory of Massachusetts soldiers and sailors who died in the American Civil War. Designed by Martin Milmore, construction began in 1874 and the monument was dedicated on September 17, 1877. Union Generals George B. McClellan and Joseph Hooker were among the estimated 25,000 people attending the dedication on Boston Common.

The Embrace is a bronze sculpture by Hank Willis Thomas, installed on Boston Common in Boston, Massachusetts, in December 2022. The artwork commemorates Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, and depicts four intertwined arms, representing the hug they shared after he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. The sculpture has received largely negative responses from critics and the public.

The Boston Massacre Monument, also known as the Crispus Attucks Monument and Victory, is an outdoor bronze memorial by Adolph Robert Kraus, installed in Boston Common, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

Declaration of Independence Tablet is a 1925 sculpture by John Francis Paramino, installed at Boston Common, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

Chickering Hall (est.1883) was a concert auditorium in Boston, Massachusetts, in the late 19th century. It occupied the second floor of Chickering and Sons showrooms on Tremont Street, near the corner of West Street. "Bradlee, Winslow and Wetherell were the architects, and Mr. E.P. Treadwell, the decorator. The hall [was] lighted by the Edison electric light." By 1895: "Tremont St., towards Boylston, for some years has been called Piano Row, for a long row of piano agencies occupied a good portion of the block; but of late most of these have migrated to Boylston St. Chickering Hall, at 152 Tremont St., was for many years a favorite place for fashionable musicales, and the headquarters of the musical profession."

The Oneida Football Club Monument, sometimes called Football Tablet, is a monument by Joseph Coletti, installed in Boston Commons, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

The Nathan Appleton Residence, also known as the Appleton-Parker House, is a historic house located at 39–40 Beacon Street in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It was designated a National Historic Landmark for its association with revolutionary textile manufacturer Nathan Appleton (1779–1861), and as the site in 1843 of the wedding of his daughter Frances and poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The house is an excellent early 19th century design of Alexander Parris.

Parkman Plaza is a plaza in Boston Common, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

The Parkman Bandstand is a landmark bandstand located on the eastern side of the Boston Common in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was built in 1912 from a design by Derby, Robinson & Shephard at a cost of $1 million on the site of the Cow Pond (also known as the Horse Pond), which had been filled in 1838 after cattle-grazing had been outlawed on the Common. Named for George F. Parkman, the bandstand was constructed following his death in 1908, in honor of a $5 million donation he had willed for the care of the Boston Common and other city parks. Parkman was the son of George Parkman, a doctor who had donated land for Harvard Medical School's first campus. The site quickly became noted for the autumnal colonial-themed puppet shows that occurred there starting in 1922. Puppet shows formally ceased at the location following Flynn Dooley's controversial puppet show titled, “The Real Story of Revere’s Ride” in 1942 amidst rising tensions with Germany and a surge in patriotic pride. In 1996, the bandstand was restored and is used today for concerts, rallies, and speeches. Recent notable gatherings include the Boston Freedom Rally and a 2007 Presidential Primary rally in which both Barack Obama and Deval Patrick gave speeches from the bandstand.

B.F. Keith's Theatre (1894–1928) in Boston, Massachusetts, was a vaudeville playhouse run by B.F. Keith. It sat across from Boston Common in the city's theatre district, with an entrance on Tremont Street and another on Washington Street. Personnel included Keith, E.F. Albee and H.E. Gustin. Virgilio Tojetti painted some of the interior decorations. In 1939, the theater was converted to a movie theater named the Normandie.