West End

The West End is bordered by Massachusetts General Hospital, Charles River Park residences, Government Center, and the North Station area. Historically, the West End extended across Cambridge Street and partway up the North Slope of Beacon Hill, long an African American community. The West End of Boston was a thriving community of immigrants from across the world during the late 19th century into the 1950s. Italians, Jews, Irish, Greeks, Ukrainians, Yankees and other groups lived in a crazy quilt of tenement houses interspersed with bakeries, butcher shops, settlement houses, churches and synagogues. Actor Leonard Nimoy who grew up in the West End characterized his hometown as a “village.” The Housing Act of 1949 and the development of highways in the mid-20th century targeted this community. Hundreds of homes were torn down without promised relocation aid to its residents. It is frequently cited as the way “urban renewal” should not proceed.

Today several buildings remain including the West End House, the Old West Church, the Puffers Building, African Meeting House, Museum of African American History, and Vilna Shul. The community continues to connect to this history as well as building bridges to a new configuration of people, culture, and commerce.