This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since November 2006.

Roxbury is a neighborhood within Boston, Massachusetts USA. It was one of the first towns founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 and became a city in 1846 until it was annexed to Boston on January 5, 1868.^[1] The original town of Roxbury once included the current Boston neighborhoods of Jamaica Plain, Roslindale and West Roxbury, the South End and much of Back Bay. Roxbury now generally ends at Columbus Avenue to the north and Melnea Cass Boulevard to the east. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... “Boston” redirects here. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... A map of the Massachusetts Bay Colony Capital Charlestown, Boston History  - Established 1629  - New England Confederation 1643  - Dominion of New England 1686  - Province of Massachusetts Bay 1692  - Disestablished 1692 The Massachusetts Bay Colony (sometimes called the Massachusetts Bay Company, for the institution that founded it) was an English settlement on... Events February 22 - Native American Quadequine introduces Popcorn to English colonists. ... 1846 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Jamaica Plain, commonly known as JP, is a historic neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. ... Roslindale is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, with the ZIP Code 02131. ... Founded in 1630 (contemporaneously with Boston), West Roxbury, Massachusetts was originally part of the town of Roxbury and was mainly used as farmland. ... The South End is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. ... This article is about the neighborhood of Back Bay. ...

History

The First Church of Roxbury

Image File history File links Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1536 × 2048 pixel, file size: 449 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)First Church - Roxbury, Boston, MA File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1536 × 2048 pixel, file size: 449 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)First Church - Roxbury, Boston, MA File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Early history

The early settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony established a series of six villages in 1630.^[1] The village of Roxbury is noted for its hilly geography and the many large outcroppings of Roxbury puddingstone, which was quarried for many years and was used in the foundations of a large number of houses in the area. The town was located where Boston connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus, "Roxbury Neck". This led to Roxbury becoming an important town as all land traffic to Boston had to pass through it. The town was home to a number of early leaders of the colony, including colonial governors Thomas Dudley, William Shirley, and Increase Sumner. The Shirley-Eustis House, located in Roxbury remains as one of only four remaining Royal Colonial Governor's mansions in the United States. Events February 22 - Native American Quadequine introduces Popcorn to English colonists. ... Roxbury Conglomerate in Savin Hill Park, Dorchester, Massachusetts. ... The trajectory of the Boston Neck along todays Washington Street. ... For other uses, see Governor (disambiguation). ... Thomas Dudley (October 12, 1576–July 31, 1653) was a colonial magistrate who served several terms as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. ... William Shirley (1694-1771) William Shirley (1694-1771) was the British governor of Massachusetts from 1741 to 1759. ... Increase Sumner (November 27, 1746 – June 7, 1799) was a U.S. political figure. ...

The settlers of Roxbury originally comprised the congregation of the First Church of Roxbury, established in 1632.^[2] During this time the church served not only as a place of worship but as a meeting place for government. The congregation had no time to raise a meeting house the first winter and so met with the neighboring congregation in Dorchester, Massachusetts. One of the early leaders of this church was Amos Adams. The first meeting house was built in 1632, and the building pictured here is the fifth meeting house, the oldest such wood-frame church in Boston.^[3] The Roxbury congregation, still in existence as a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association, lays claim to several things of note in American history: 1888 German map of Boston Harbor showing Dorchester in the lower left hand corner. ... Amos Adams (1727—5 October 1775), was a diligent preacher, and minister of the first church in Roxbury, Massachusetts. ... See also: 1632 (novel) Events February 22 - Galileos Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published July 23 - 300 colonists for New France depart Dieppe November 8 - Wladyslaw IV Waza elected king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after Zygmunt III Waza death November 16 - Battle of Lützen... Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), in full the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in North America, is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations formed by the consolidation in 1961 of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America. ...

Fort Hill Tower, site of Revolutionary War fortifications

• The founding (along with five other local congregations, i.e. Boston, Cambridge, Watertown, Charlestown and Dorchester) of Harvard College.
• First Church of Roxbury was the starting point for William Dawes' "Midnight Ride", April 18, 1775 (in a different direction than Paul Revere) to warn Lexington and Concord of the British raids.

Photograph of the Fort Hill Tower in Roxbury, Massachusetts. ... Photograph of the Fort Hill Tower in Roxbury, Massachusetts. ... Harvard Yard Harvard College is the undergraduate section and oldest school of Harvard University, founded in 1636. ... William Dawes William Dawes, Jr. ... is the 108th day of the year (109th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1775 (MDCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... For the song by the Beastie Boys, see Paul Revere (song). ... Location in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country United States State Massachusetts County Middlesex County Settled 1642 Incorporated 1713 Government  - Type Representative town meeting Area  - Town  16. ... Location in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country United States State Massachusetts County Middlesex County Settled 1635 Incorporated 1635 Government  - Type Open town meeting Area  - Town  25. ...

Urban and industrial development

As Roxbury developed in the 19th century, the northern part became an industrial town with a large community of English, Irish, and German immigrants and their descendants, while the majority of the town remained agricultural and saw the development of some of the first streetcar suburbs in the United States. This led to the incorporation of the old Roxbury village as one of Massachusetts's first cities, and the rest of the town was established as the town of West Roxbury. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... A streetcar suburb is a community whose growth was mostly shaped by the coming of the electric streetcar or tram. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ...

In the early 20th century, Roxbury became more diverse with the establishment of a Jewish community in the Grove Hall area along Blue Hill Avenue. Following a massive migration from the South to northern cities in the 1940s and 1950s, Roxbury became the center of the African-American community in Boston. Social issues and the resulting urban renewal activities of the 1960s and 1970s contributed to a decline in the neighborhood. In particular, a riot in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. resulted in stores on Blue Hill Avenue being looted and eventually burned down, leaving a desolate and abandoned landscape. Rampant arson in the 1970s along the Dudley Street corridor also added to the neighborhood's decline, leaving a landscape of vacant, trash filled lots and burned out buildings. The arrival of the crack epidemic in the 1980s helped make Roxbury one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Boston. The violent crime would not be significantly reduced until the late 1990s. In early April of 1987, the original Orange Line MBTA route along Washington Street was closed and relocated to the Southwest Corridor (where the Southwest Expressway was supposed to be built a couple decades before). More recently, grassroots efforts by residents have been the force behind revitalizing historic areas and creating Roxbury Heritage State Park. The Boston Transportation Planning Review stimulated relocation of the Orange Line, and development of the Southwest Corridor Park spurred major investment, including Roxbury Community College at Roxbury Crossing and Ruggles Center at Columbus Avenue and Ruggles Street. Commercial development now promises reinvestment in the form of shopping and related consumer services. The Fort Hill and Mission Hill sections experienced significant gentrification when college students (many from Northeastern University and Wentworth Institute of Technology), artists, and young professionals moved into the area in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In the present day, there is much commercial and residential redevelopment, but violent crime (especially gang violence) and drug abuse remain consistent problems. Roxbury is widely-regarded as the most dangerous neighborhood of Boston. The states in blue had the ten largest net gains of African-Americans during the Great Migration, while the states in red had the ten largest net losses[1]. The Great Migration was the movement of over 1 million[1] African Americans out of the rural Southern United States from... Languages Predominantly American English Religions Protestantism (chiefly Baptist and Methodist); Roman Catholicism; Islam Related ethnic groups Sub-Saharan Africans and other African groups, some with Native American groups. ... Martin Luther King, Jr. ... The Crack Epidemic refers to a six year period between 1984 and 1990 in the United States during which there was a huge surge in the use of crack cocaine in major cities. ... The Orange Line is one of the four subway lines of the MBTA. It extends from Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain, Boston in the south to Oak Grove in Malden, Massachusetts in the north. ... The Big Digs Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge over the Charles River. ... Northeastern University, abbreviated as NU or NEU, is a private national research university in Boston, Massachusetts. ... The Wentworth Institute of Technology is a nationally accredited institution located in Boston, Massachusetts. ... Drug abuse has a wide range of definitions related to taking a psychoactive drug or performance enhancing drug for a non-therapeutic or non-medical effect. ...

Notable residents

Among Roxbury's most notable inhabitants was famed clockmaker Simon Willard (1753-1848), whose prolific output included the invention of his patented banjo timepiece, or banjo-shaped wall clock. He is also honored for the tall-case clocks he made in the "Roxbury style," which he produced until about 1815. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The banjo clock, or more properly the banjo timepiece, is an American wall clock with a banjo-shaped case. ... A longcase clock with a pine case, c. ...

Other notable residents include:

• Joseph Alexander Ames, portraitist and artist
• Bobby Brown, musician and TV performer
• Melnea Cass, Civil Rights activist
• Cid Corman, poet
• Frederick Douglass, abolitionist, orator, and author
• Louis Farrakhan, head of the Nation of Islam
• Charles Dana Gibson, graphic artist (of Gibson Girl fame)
• Edward Everett Hale, editor, author, clergyman
• Roy Haynes, jazz drummer
• Jonathan Kozol, author, educator, and activist
• Malcolm X, minister, Black nationalist
• Karl Hobbs, basketball coach
• New Edition, R&B/Pop music group
• Samuel Pierpont Langley, astronomer, physicist, aviation pioneer
• John L. Sullivan, boxer
• Martha Tucker, great-grandmother of Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Simon Willard, renowned clockmaker
• Joseph Warren, doctor, soldier, and patriot
• John Wilson, artist
• Rev. Dr. Soliny Védrine, Founder of Haitian Ministries International
• Ed O.G, Legendary hip hop artist
• Guru, Legendary hip hop artist and 1/2 of legendary hip hop group Gang Starr

Joseph Alexander Ames (1816–1872), was an American artist originally named Joseph Emes born in Roxbury, New Hampshire. ... This article is about the R&B singer. ... Melnea Agnes Cass (née Jones [1])(1896-1978) was an American community and civil rights activist born June 16, 1896. ... Cid Corman (1924 - March 12, 2004) was an American poet, translator and editor who was a key figure in the history of American poetry in the second half of the 20th century. ... Frederick Douglass, ca. ... Louis Farrakhan (born Louis Eugene Walcott, May 11, 1933), is the head of the Nation of Islam. ... The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and social/political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930 with the self-proclaimed goal of resurrecting the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of the black men and women of America and the rest of the... Charles Dana Gibson (September 14, 1867 _ December 23, 1944) was an American graphic artist, noted for his creation of one of the first pin-up girls, the Gibson Girl. Woman Jurors by Charles Dana Gibson, 1902 He was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts. ... A USPS stamp depicting a Gibson girl. ... Statue of Edward Everett Hale in Boston Public Garden, by Bela Pratt. ... He is equally adept at gracefully backing a singer like Sarah Vaughan or in explosive interactions with the likes of John Coltrane, Chick Corea, Eric Dolphy, or Andrew Hill. ... Jonathan Kozol at Pomona College April 17, 2003 Jonathan Kozol (born 1936 in Boston, Massachusetts) is a non-fiction writer, educator, and activist, best known for his books on public education in the United States. ... Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little, also known as Detroit Red and Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Omaha, Nebraska, May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965 in New York City) was a Muslim Minister and National Spokesman for the Nation of Islam. ... Karl Hobbs is the head coach of the George Washington University Colonials mens basketball team. ... New Edition is an American R&B/Pop group formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1980, that was most popular during the 1980s. ... Samuel Pierpont Langley. ... John Lawrence Sullivan in his prime. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... John Wilson may refer to: // John Wilson (Scottish politician), member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) John Wilson (British politician), leader, Greater London Council, 1984 John Wilson (British Columbia politician) (born 1944), member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada John Wilson (Massachusetts), member of the U.S. House of... Rev. ... A Guru (Sanskrit: ), is a teacher in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, as well as in many new religious movements. ...

Points of interest

• Fort Hill
• Franklin Park Zoo
• Roxbury Heritage State Park
• Shirley-Eustis House
• John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics & Science
• Long Crouch Woods

Zoo New Englands Logo The Franklin Park Zoo, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the oldest zoos in the U.S. It is operated by Zoo New England, which also operates the Stone Zoo in Stoneham, Massachusetts. ... Shirley-Eustis House, exterior before restoration (1939). ... The John D. OBryant School of Mathematics and Science (officially abbreviated as OB) is a public examination school in Boston Massachusetts. ... Franklin Park, a partially-wooded 527-acre parkland in the Jamaica Plain and Roxbury neighborhoods of Boston, Massachusetts, is maintained by the Department of Conservation and Recreation. ...

See also

• Dudley Square
• Roxbury Film Festival
• West Roxbury

Dudley Square is the primary commercial center of the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. ... The Roxbury Film Festival (also known as RFF) is an annual event held in the historic Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. ... Founded in 1630 (contemporaneously with Boston), West Roxbury, Massachusetts was originally part of the town of Roxbury and was mainly used as farmland. ...

References

External links

• Bailey Co. Map -- bird's eye view map of Roxbury area, 1888
• History of Roxbury
• Discover Roxbury -- tours and information
• Shirley-Eustis House -- Massachusetts' Royal Governor's Mansion website
• Roxbury Crossing Historical Trust -- historical society

Coordinates: 42°19′30″N, 71°05′43″W Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...