Boston, Massachusetts

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Boston, Massachusetts

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Location in Massachusetts, USA

- City

232.1 km² (89.6 sq mi)

- Land

125.4 km² (48.4 sq mi)

- Water

106.7 km² (41.2 sq mi)

- Metro

11,684.7 km² (4,511.5 sq mi)

43 m (141 ft)

- City (2005)

596,638

4,313,000

5,804,816

For the city in England, see Boston, Lincolnshire.

Boston is the capital city of Massachusetts in the United States. It was founded in 1630. Boston is one of the oldest, wealthiest and most culturally important cities in the United States.

History

Boston was founded on November 17, 1630, by Puritan colonists from England Boston's early European settlers called the area Trimountaine (Three Mountains). They renamed the town for Boston, England, in Lincolnshire because many important "Pilgrim" colonists came from there. Most of Boston's early citizens were Puritans. Shortly after Boston's settlement, Puritans created America's first public school and America's first university, Harvard University (1636). Until the 1760s, Boston was America's largest city.

During the early 1770s, The British tried to control the thirteen colonies with taxes. This made people from Boston start the American Revolution. The Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and several early battles happened in or near the city.

50 largest cities of the United States by population

This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.