SOUTH END

The South End is the largest intact Victorian row house district in the country and has the unique feel of being it's own small village within the city. Eleven residential parks are scattered around the South End, ensuring that there is plenty of pet-friendly green space for South End residents to enjoy.

The construction of the South End began in 1849 when the neighborhood was built on tidal marshes.  As the South End geographically grew from filling in land north and west of "the Neck" (today's Washington Street) the city of Boston envisioned a large inner city residential neighborhood to relieve the crowded downtown and Beacon Hill neighborhoods. The city also hoped for a large and stable tax base. Architect Charles Bulfinch laid out some of the first filled land. He designed a large residential park called Columbia Square located at the present Franklin and Blackstone Squares. Bulfinch's plan was to route traffic around the square, not through it. Eventually his plan was abandoned and Washington street was allowed to once more divide the square creating today's separate squares.

In 1973, the South End was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.