List of addresses in Beacon Hill, Boston facts for kids

The List of notable addresses in Beacon Hill, Boston shares information about important buildings and the people who lived in them. Beacon Hill is a historic neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. Many street names have changed over time. For example, Phillips Street was once called Southack Street.

Old and New Street Names in Beacon Hill

Map of Beacon Hill from 1842

Some streets in Beacon Hill have had different names throughout history. It's interesting to see how they've changed!

Famous Places in Beacon Hill

This section lists many important buildings and homes in Beacon Hill, organized by street.

Beacon Street

Beacon Street in 1887

Beacon Street in 2010

Beacon Street is a main road that runs through Beacon Hill. The Hancock Manor used to be at 30 Beacon Street. Its land is now part of the Massachusetts State House grounds.

• One Beacon Street – This is a tall office building named after the street. It is the 14th-tallest building in Boston.
• 8 Beacon Street – This was the home of the Osgood Family in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
• 10½ Beacon Street – This is the Boston Athenaeum, a famous library.
• 14 Beacon Street – This is the Congregational House. It holds the Congregational Library.
• 16 Beacon Street – The Chester Harding House was home to the famous portrait painter Chester Harding from 1826 to 1830. It now houses the Boston Bar Association.
• 22 Beacon Street – The Amory-Ticknor House was built in 1804. It used to be a studio for Fox 25 News.
• 24 Beacon Street – This is the Massachusetts State House, where the state government works.
• 25 Beacon Street – This was the former main office for the Unitarian Universalist Association.
• 33 Beacon Street – This building was designed by Cornelius Coolidge. George Parkman lived here.
• 34½ Beacon Street – This was the former main office of Family Service of Greater Boston. This group helps families and was started in 1835.
• 39–40 Beacon Street – Here, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow met and married Fanny Appleton.
• 42–43 Beacon Street – The painter John Singleton Copley had a house here. Later, David Sears II lived here. His house is now the Somerset Club.
• 45 Beacon Street – This is the Third Harrison Gray Otis House. It is now home to the American Meteorological Society.
• 57 Beacon Street – This was the town home of George Nixon Black, Jr. He was a big supporter of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
• 54–55 Beacon Street – The writer William H. Prescott lived here. The famous writer William Makepeace Thackeray was a guest in his home. These two buildings are now the Headquarters House.
• 84 Beacon Street – This is Cheers Beacon Hill. It was once called the Bull & Finch Pub. This pub was the inspiration for the TV show, Cheers. It was even shown in the opening credits!

Bowdoin Street

Bowdoin Street in 2010

Bowdoin Street goes from the top of Beacon Street down Beacon Hill to Cambridge Street.

• 35 Bowdoin Street – This is the Church of Saint John the Evangelist.
• 122 Bowdoin Street – This was the registered voting address for John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Brimmer Street

• 30 Brimmer Street – This is the Church of the Advent.
• 44 Brimmer Street – The famous historian Samuel Eliot Morison lived here.

Cambridge Street

View of downtown from Massachusetts General Hospital, Cambridge Street, Beacon Hill

• Massachusetts General Hospital – This hospital has the Bulfinch Pavilion and Ether Dome.
• 100 Cambridge Street, Upper Plaza – This is the Garden of Peace.
• 131 Cambridge Street – This is the Old West Church.
• 141 Cambridge Street – This is the First Harrison Gray Otis House. It was designed by Charles Bulfinch.

Charles Street

Charles Street runs north to south through the middle of Boston.

• 44A Charles Street – Mary Sullivan was murdered here.
• 70 Charles Street – This is the Charles Street Meeting House.

Chestnut Street

Chestnut Street

• 2 Chestnut Street – This building was home to the Garland Junior College from 1872 to 1976.
• 6 Chestnut Street – This is the Beacon Hill Friends House.
• 13, 15, 17 Chestnut Street – The architect Charles Bulfinch designed these row-houses.
• 18 Chestnut Street – This was the birthplace of the poet Robert Lowell.
• 50 Chestnut Street – The historian Francis Parkman lived here. The building was designed by Cornelius Coolidge.
• 57A Chestnut Street – This is the Harvard Musical Association.

Grove Street

• 28 Grove Street – The Reverend Leonard A. Grimes lived here. He was an important Black religious leader. He was connected to the Underground Railroad and the movement to end slavery. He helped buy freedom for Anthony Burns.

Irving Street

• 58 Irving Street – This was the birthplace of Charles Sumner. He was an abolitionist and a U.S. Senator.

Joy Street, around the 1800s

Joy Street

• 46 Joy Street – This is the African Meeting House.
• 60 Joy Street – This is the Peter Faneuil School.
• 67 Joy Street – Rebecca Lee Crumpler lived here. She was an important doctor and is thought to be the first Black woman to get a medical degree in the U.S.

Louisburg Square

This square is named after the Siege of Louisbourg, an important battle. The square is a private park, and the area around it is also called Louisburg Square.

• 4 Louisburg Square – William Dean Howells lived here when he was in charge of the Atlantic Monthly magazine.
• 10 Louisburg Square – Amos Bronson Alcott and Louisa May Alcott and their family lived here.
• 19 Louisburg Square – John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry live here.
• 20 Louisburg Square – The singer Jenny Lind married Otto Goldschmidt here.

Mount Vernon Street

Second Harrison Gray Otis House, 85 Mount Vernon Street

A door knocker in Beacon Hill, Boston

• 5 Mount Vernon Street – This was once the location of Dr. Park's "Boston Lyceum for the Education of Young Ladies," a school for young women.
• 8 Mount Vernon Street – This was the home of Fiske Warren and Gretchen Osgood Warren.
• 32 Mount Vernon Street – Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe and his wife Julia Ward Howe lived here.
• 41 Mount Vernon Street – This is the home of Beacon Press. This publisher released important government documents in 1971. It was also the former home of the Watch and Ward Society.
• 45–47 Mount Vernon Street – This was the location of the Portia School of Law, which was started for women in 1908.
• 51–57 Mount Vernon Street – These buildings were designed by the architect Charles Bulfinch.
• 55 Mount Vernon Street – This was the home of Rose Standish Nichols. It is now the Nichols House Museum.
• 57 Mount Vernon Street – Daniel Webster lived here, and later Charles Francis Adams lived here.
• 67 Mount Vernon Street – This was the home of Samuel Dennis and Susan Cornelia Warren. Samuel Dennis Warren made paper and once led the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
• 72 Mount Vernon Street – This is the location of the Boston University School of Theology.
• 76 Mount Vernon Street – This was the home of Margaret Deland.
• 77 Mount Vernon Street – Sarah Wyman Whitman lived here. Later, it became the clubhouse for the Club of Odd Volumes.
• 85 Mount Vernon Street – This is the Second Harrison Gray Otis House, designed by Charles Bulfinch.
• 87 Mount Vernon Street – This is the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. It was also designed by Charles Bulfinch.
• 127 Mount Vernon Street – This was a former Boston Fire Department station. It was also used as a filming location for the TV shows The Real World: Boston and Spenser: For Hire.

Myrtle Street

• 109 Myrtle Street – Lysander Spooner lived here. He was an American who believed in individual freedom and less government.

Park Street

Park Street is a small but important road.

• 8 Park Street – This is the Union Club of Boston.
• Park Street District

Phillips Street

This street was formerly known as Southack Court.

• 2 Phillips Street – John Coburn lived here. He was an abolitionist.
• 18 Phillips Street – This is The Vilna Shul, which is now Boston's Center For Jewish Culture.
• 41 Phillips Street – This was once the location of the Northeast Institute of Industrial Technology.
• 66 Phillips Street – This is the Lewis and Harriet Hayden House. It was connected to the movement to end slavery and the Underground Railroad.
• 83 Phillips Street – John Sweat Rock lived here. He was an important Black dentist, lawyer, and activist who fought against slavery.

Pinckney Street

• 15 Pinckney Street – This was a location for Elizabeth Peabody's Kindergarten (a type of school for young children).
• 86 Pinckney Street – This was the home of John J. Smith, an abolitionist and state legislator.
• 105 Pinckney Street – P.P.F. Degrand lived here.

Smith Court

William C. Nell House

• 3 Smith Court – This was the home of William Cooper Nell. He was an African American abolitionist, author, and historian.

Tremont Street

Tremont Street is a main road. Its name comes from "trimount," which included Beacon Hill, Mount Vernon, and Pemberton Hill. The Beacon Theatre used to be at 47–53 Tremont Street.

Other Notable Residents

• Writers Brad Meltzer and Judd Winick lived in a small apartment in Beacon Hill in 1993. This was before they became famous. While living there, Winick created his first successful comic strip. Meltzer worked at Games Magazine during the day and wrote his first novel at night.