Boundaries:
NORTH END:
North and East: Commercial Street
South and West: Central Artery
WATERFRONT:
North and East: Boston Harbor
South: Fosters Wharf.
West: Commercial Street and Atlantic Avenue

The North End is known primarily for two things- it is Boston's oldest neighborhood and the centre of Italian culture in New England. The Italians are the most recent of a long list of immigrant groups which once occupied the North End, which has sat on its peninsula bulging off of downtown Boston for over 350 years. When John Winthrop and his band of settlers came across the Charles River to found Boston they first put roots down here, a small projection with good access to the harbour and a tall hill to look out from. The settlement eventually split, with some moving to the area of what is now downtown, then called the South End. The old South End was characterized by farms, fields, and a general sense of space. The north end had its crowded alleys and wharves. The rivalry between the two towns was bitter- they held mock naval battles against each other on Pope's Day, an early American holiday. And when the tide came up the narrow neck of the North End would be severed from the mainland by Mill Creek. There was even an economic difference between the two areas: the North End was the rich end of town, and opulent merchants built mansions along North Square to show the power of their fleets. As the old South End used Boston Common as a gathering place, North Lenders gathered on the windswept heights of Copp's Hill, from which they saw the Battle of Bunker Hill developing in nearby Charlestown.

Many of the North End's fortunes changed following the revolution. The Tory aristocracy had fled to Canada and the so-called North Shore bougeoisie became the new rich patrons of Boston. They chose to live in Beacon and Fort Hills rather than the stuffy old North End, whose mansions had suffered an untimely fate, chopped down for British military firewood. They left the neighborhood open as a slum, later inhabited by incoming Irish and Jews. The Kennedy family got their start here, among others. Although the narrow, winding streets remained intact, a rash of changes did scar the North End. 19th century landfill created new wharves, creating an industrial barrier along the waterfront. The remodeling of houses for incoming immigrants destroyed the areas colonial look. The airport tunnels and public plaza saw more homes torn down. Finally, the Central Artery severed the neighborhood from the city once again. In the 1960s only wide opposition delayed the city from bulldozing the area altogether.

Today, the latest group of immigrants to have inhabited the neighborhood, the Italians, struggle to hold on in the midst of gentrification. The North End is popular again, its dark winding alleys actually constituting the safest neighborhood in Boston. Tourists flock to the remaining historic sites and Italian restaurants. The North End has become one of the neighborhoods which epitomize Boston, from its saints' day festivals to the sound of Italian echoing along Prince Street.