Marketplace

Before the dawn of the Industrial Revolution and the nineteenth century's cultural renaissance, a serious rebellion was brewing in the taverns of Boston. Look back to a time when riots raged through the streets of Boston, when Beacon Hill was a neighborhood of beggars and vagabonds, and papal effigies burned on the Boston Common. Meet William Blackstone, the first Bostonian, and John Singleton Copley, portrait artist of the elite. In this compilation by historian William Marchione, discover Boston as it once was—when customs officials were dragged through the sewers and drinking tea was a highly political act. Even the city's largest and most controversial funeral, held for the infamous Sacco and Vanzetti, ended in a street brawl with police. And yet, with the sprawl of the first American railroads, the dawning of the abolitionist movement and the cultural flourishing in art and architecture, Boston emerged as the nation's first cultural, economic, and political hub.

Peabody was settled in 1626 as Brooksby Village and was originally a part of the town of Salem. In 1752, citizens joined in the area of town known as Salem Village to form the town of Danvers. The separation of the two towns into Danvers and South Danvers took place in 1855. In 1868, the name of South Danvers was changed to Peabody to honor its native son George Peabody.

In Peabody, vivid postcards offer a contrasting view of what it was like to live and work in a community having two distinct characters: the town center, with its bustling tanning industries, which soon earned Peabody the sobriquet of "Leather Capital of the World," and the pastoral farming villages of Brookdale, Locustdale, Brooksby, and West Peabody, which portray a sense of life in rural America during this same era.

Despite the relentless development of the past two centuries, Boston's coastal geography is still defined by its Harbor Islands. Carved and sculpted by massive glaciers from millennia past, this constellation of thirty-odd isles--notorious for swirling currents, surging tides, and treacherous submerged hazards--has played an outsized role in the city's history and growth.

In The Boston Harbor Islands: The History of An Urban Wilderness, David Kales examines the astonishing range of uses Bostonians have found for their neighboring archipelago. From pirates' havens to military fortifications, the Harbor Islands have undergone innumerable transformations. Now, as Kales describes, conservation agencies hope to revitalize the oft-neglected islands, which were recently designated as a National Park Area. Filled with fascinating stories, The Boston Harbor Islands is the perfect primer for readers seeking to learn more about a unique maritime landscape located just a ferry ride away from Boston.