What is the history of South Boston, Massachusetts?
Geographically, ‘Dorchester Neck’ was an isthmus, a narrow strip of land that connected the mainland of the colonial settlement of Dorchester, Massachusetts with Dorchester Heights. Landfill has since greatly increased the amount of land on the eastern side of the historical neck, and widened the connection the mainland to the point that South Boston is no longer considered separate from it. South Boston gained an identity separate from Dorchester, but the two were annexed by Boston in pieces, from 1804 to 1870. (See History of Boston, Massachusetts.) It was here on Dorchester Heights, during the American Revolutionary War that George Washington placed his cannon and forced the evacuation of the British troops from Boston on March 17, 1776. The British evacuated Boston and Fort William and Mary for Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova ScotiaHalifax, Nova Scotia. Fort William and Mary was replaced with a brick fortification known as Fort Independence (Massachusetts) Fort Independence. Th
