Welcome to the Back Bay

Known for its Parisian-inspired boulevards, stately brownstone homes, world class shopping and dining, and numerous cultural institutions, the Back Bay has become synonymous with the City of Boston. And yet when this neighborhood was first developed, it would be like nothing the colonial city of Boston had ever seen before.

Take a quick look at any map of Boston, and you will immediately notice something different about the Back Bay. In contrast to the winding streets of the North End and the narrow cobblestone alleyways of Beacon Hill, the Back Bay was carefully planned and laid out in a grid pattern, lending it a look more similar to Manhattan than Boston. In fact, the plan of Back Bay was greatly influenced by Georges-Eugène Haussmann’s renovation of Paris. But take a walk in person down any of the Back Bay’s wide tree lined avenues and you will quickly realize you could be nowhere else in the world but Boston.

Prior to the mid 1800’s, the Back Bay was literally just that, a bay! But as Boston’s shipping and manufacturing industries grew, city developers realized that they would need to expand the footprint of the city to address the growing problem of overcrowding. In the 1820’s, the Back Bay would be separated from the rest of the bay by the Mill Dam, which would later become Beacon Street. And in 1857, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts would decide to fill in the Back Bay, beginning a 25 year process that would lead to the more recognizable neighborhood of today.

Looking to flee the overcrowding of the older neighborhoods of colonial Boston, many of the city’s wealthiest residents would come to make Back bay their home, helping build some of the finest examples of Victorian and Edwardian architecture in the country and transforming the neighborhood into Boston’s preeminent Arts and Cultural district. Copley Square, known as Art Square prior to 1883, was the original home of the Museum of Fine Arts and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is still home the original branch of the Boston Public Library today. The Back Bay Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is considered one of the best-preserved examples of 19th century urban architecture in the United States.

By the Numbers

* sales data based on sold Q1+Q2 2022 condo listings
** North End only, please see Waterfront for Waterfront specific data