Louisburg Square
is a street in the
Beacon Hill
neighborhood of
Boston
,
Massachusetts
, bisected by a small private park. The park is maintained by the Louisburg Square Proprietors. While the Proprietors pay taxes to the City of Boston, the city does not own the park or its garden.
Louisburg Square was named for the 1745
Battle of Louisbourg
, in which Massachusetts militiamen led by
William Pepperrell
, who was made the first American baronet for his role, sacked the French
Fortress of Louisbourg
. Louisburg Square has become one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in the United States, with townhouses listing for over $15,000,000.
Description
[
edit
]
The park itself is a small grassy oval surrounded by a wrought-iron fence; there is no public access. There is a
statue
of
Christopher Columbus
at the north end and of
Aristides the Just
at the south end.
[1]
History and residents
[
edit
]
The
Greek Revival
houses around the square reflect the rarefied privilege enjoyed by the 19th-century upper class in Beacon Hill. The square was surveyed in the 1820s, and the houses around it were designed and built between 1834 and 1847.
[2]
One of the last private residences built on Louisburg Square was 2 Louisburg Square, built in 1847 for wealthy merchant and philanthropist Thomas Handasyd Perkins Jr., known as "Short-Arm Tom", who lived at 1 Joy Street. Among the famous people who lived there in the 19th century were
Atlantic Monthly
editor
William Dean Howells
, architect
Charles Bulfinch
, painter
John Singleton Copley
, and teacher
A. Bronson Alcott
and his daughter, author
Louisa May Alcott
(who died there).
[1]
Jenny Lind
was married in the parlor of a house on Louisburg Square.
[1]
As of 2014
[update]
, it is one of the most expensive residential neighborhoods in the USA; townhouses on Louisburg Square sold for $11.5 million in 2011
[3]
and $11 million in 2012,
[4]
for instance. The square is often included in walking tours and guidebooks. Former
U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry
and his wife Theresa Heinz, own the townhouse at 19 Louisburg Square.
[5]
-
c. 1880s
-
c. 1930
-
c. 1930
-
2009
-
2013
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
"Louisburg Square Review"
. Boston Sights. Fodor's Travel
. Retrieved
January 5,
2014
.
- ^
Morgan, Keith N. (2012).
"
"Louisburg Square," Boston, Massachusetts"
.
SAH Archipedia
. University of Virginia Press.
- ^
"20 Louisburg Sq, Boston, MA 02108"
. Zillow
. Retrieved
January 5,
2014
.
- ^
Tom Acitelli (April 17, 2012).
"$11M for 3 Louisburg Square: Boston's 2nd-Biggest Deal of '12"
. Curbed Boston
. Retrieved
January 5,
2014
.
- ^
"Boston's Modern Must-Sees"
.
The Boston Globe
. Boston Visitor's Guide
. Retrieved
January 5,
2014
.
External links
[
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]
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East?west streets
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North?south streets
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Intersections
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42°21′30.35″N
71°04′07.08″W
/
42.3584306°N 71.0686333°W
/
42.3584306; -71.0686333