A Timeline of Boston

By Tim Lambert

1630 English Puritans found Boston

1631 The first sailing ship built in America is launched from Boston

1634 Samuel Cole opens an inn in Boston

1659 Two Quakers are hanged in Boston

1636 Harvard College opens

1659 Copp’s Hill Burying Ground opens. It is named after William Copp.

1660 Smallpox strikes Boston

1676 The first coffeehouse opens in Boston

1690 Smallpox strikes Boston again. The first American newspaper is published in Boston.

1706 Benjamin Franklin is born in Boston

1710 Long Wharf is built

1713 Old State House

1717 Boston Light is built

1723 Old North Church is built

1729 The Old south meeting House is built

1730 Boston has a population of 13,000

1735 Boston Poor House opens

1742 Faneuil Hall is built

1756 Central Burying Ground opens

1770 The Boston Massacre takes place

1773 The Boston Tea Party takes place

1776 The British retreat from Boston

1796 Harrison Gray Otis House is built

1798 Massachusetts State House is built

1804 St Stephens Church is built

1806 The African Meeting House is dedicated

1810 Park Street Church is dedicated

1820 The population of Boston is 43,000. St Paul’s Cathedral is dedicated.

1822 Boston officially becomes a city

1826 Quincy market is built

1847 Boston Custom House is built

1852 Boston Public Library is founded

1863 Boston College opens

1872 A great fire devastates Boston

1877 Trinity Church is built

1897 The first subway opens in Boston

1900 Colonial theater opens

1910 Shubert theater opens

1912 Fenway Park opens

1940 A statue of Paul Revere is unveiled in Boston

1964 Prudential Tower is built

1969 New England Aquarium is built

1976 John Hancock Tower is built

1977 Reserve Bank Building is built in Boston

1983 Massachusetts State Transportation Building is erected

1992 Massachusetts General Hospital is built

1993 The John F Kennedy Library and Museum opens in Boston

2001 Millennium Place Building is built

2017 The population of Boston is 641,000