The Handy Boston Answer Book. Samuel Willard Crompton

claim to all Bostonians—and to the vast majority of visitors—is the Boston Common. In all the United States, there is nothing quite like this fifty-acre piece of common land.

      There are over twenty islands in Boston Harbor, including Georges Island on which tourists will find Fort Warren, a military installation from the days of the American Civil War.

      As early as the 1640s, sections of downtown Boston were spliced together to create “The Common,” an area where everyone could bring their horses, ponies, cows, and chickens. The idea of a “common” dates to the Middle Ages, when every European town had one. The Puritans who arrived in 1630 were conscious of the need for common space, and their early sectioning of the town has lasted to the present day. Of course one can compare the Boston Common to New York’s Central Park. The big difference, however, is that Central Park was never used in such a functional way.

      What is the best way to enjoy the Charles River?

      The great stream called the Charles River is a magnificent sight. Coursing past downtown Boston on one side and Cambridge on the other, the Charles River is the reason the Puritans first settled in the region: they needed a fast-moving stream of fresh water from which to draw their supplies. To the best of our knowledge none of the Puritans—not even the redoubtable Governor John Winthrop—ever suspected that high-rise buildings would be built in Boston or that the city would be home to 630,000 folk.

      But to the main question: the best way to enjoy the Charles is to stroll along the many sidewalks along its banks. Being Americans, Bostonians have naturally upped the ante, and one sometimes gets run over by people on bicycles or rollerblades, but the essence of the joy remains. There’s nothing like a stroll along the Charles and a crossing of Longfellow Bridge, named for the famous poet of that name.

      Taking advantage of an evening stroll along the Charles River is one of the benefits of living in the city.

How many tourists come to Boston each year?

      If we include the many thousands of parents that bring their eighteen-year-olds to attend college in the fall, Boston may see as many as five million visitors per year. Logan Airport receives many thousands of people each day: many of these, to be sure, are “repeat” customers. The tourists come from every conceivable direction and in addition to Logan, they arrive by bus, train, and even taxicab; and many of them arrive by automobile. Traveling to Boston via car is considered the most complicated because of Boston and Cambridge’s narrow streets.

      Is Cambridge fully independent of Boston? And how about Dorchester, Brookline, and other municipalities?

      Cambridge is truly its own place, and sometimes it seems like its own world. This was especially the case during the 1960s, when a handful of Harvard professors led the way in the use of LSD. But most of the other towns that surround Boston have long since been incorporated into the great municipality. When one speaks of “Boston’s Finest,” one does not mean the police or just the 630,000 people of Boston, but also those residing in the twenty-two surrounding neighborhoods.

      To be sure, there are places in and around Boston that seem independent of the great city. For example, East Boston used to be the home of many shipyards, and Dorchester often seems to possess a mind of its own. But when one looks out from the Skywalk Observatory of the Prudential Building, one realizes that all these areas are many pieces of one grand puzzle, which add up to the modern-day miracle that is the city of Boston.

Given its remarkable history, why is Boston not the largest and greatest of all American cities?

      That’s the question that has bedeviled Bostonians for more than two centuries. Up through about the year 1800, it seemed that Boston would be number one in culture, education, population, and industrial strength. But in the two decades that followed, Philadelphia and New York powered their way right past Boston, and the number of American cities that exceed it in size has only grown since that year. One should not feel sorry for Boston, however; of all American cities, it is the one that combines historic legacy with higher education and public culture to the greatest possible extent.

      A map showing the various defined regions of Boston.

      What does “Puritan” mean?

      In the original sense—the one employed in the seventeenth century—Puritan meant “one who purifies.” The term derived from the ongoing conflict between the Church of England (Anglican) and a group of religious minorities. The minority group most important to the city of Boston, and to us today, are the Puritans. These people—who were classified as religious extremists by many of their countrymen in England—wanted to purify the Church of England, to rid it of anything that even remotely resembled Roman Catholicism. Over time, however, the Puritans became known for other qualities. Not only were they keen on religious purity, but they tended to be excellent merchants and tradesmen. A century later, the stereotype of the fierce New England Puritan evolved into that of the grasping New England Yankee, meaning a man who would not be parted from his money.

      Why did the Puritans come to New England?

      It is difficult for us to comprehend what would persuade people to leave the relative safety of Old England for the great dangers of the open sea, and New England. It may be useful to read the words of Edward Johnson, the author of the first printed history of New England, who wrote about the subject in his 1654 work Wonder-Working Providence of Sions Savior in New England.

      When England began to decline in religion like luke-warm Laodicea, and instead of purging out Popery, a farther compliance was sought not only in vain idolatrous ceremonies, but also in profaning the Sabbath, and by proclamation throughout their parish churches, exasperating lewd and profane persons to celebrate a Sabbath like the heathen to Venus, Bacchus, and Ceres.

      It was in times such as these—the 1620s—that many Puritans in the motherland began to search their hearts, and wonder whether they should immigrate to America.

      The same author expressed it thus:

      Oh yes! Oh yes! Oh yes! All you the people of Christ that are here oppressed, imprisoned and scurrilously derided, gather yourselves together, your wives and little ones, and…be shipped for his service in the Western World.

      How did the Puritans know about the land soon to be called New England?

      Their knowledge came from the maps and charts of a handful of sailors, the most important of whom was Captain John Smith (1580–1631). Smith is better known as one of the founders of the Jamestown colony in Virginia, but after Jamestown was established, Smith made a series of voyages to New England, which, he declared, possessed even greater commercial possibilities than the southern colonies.

      One often hears of the Pilgrims and the Mayflower that brought the first group of English settlers in 1620. Why are the Puritans ships less known?

      Quite likely this is because there were so many of them. The Pilgrims could only afford one ship in 1620 and modern day tourists who visit the Mayflower II, a replica of the original ship, realize just how cramped conditions were for the original Pilgrims. The Puritans, who sailed a decade later, were much better supplied. They had perhaps a dozen ships, and none of them acquired the lasting name recognition of the Mayflower.

      The Puritans that sailed in 1630 also had a big advantage over the Pilgrims of 1620: the latter group possessed a charter, endorsed by King Charles I, allowing them to settle. The charter of 1629 granted sweeping powers to the settlers, allowing them a broad measure of what we would call self-government. To be sure, neither King Charles I nor his son King Charles II saw it that way, and the granting of that charter led to many conflicts between