John Hancock House - Beacon Hill

30 Beacon St plot is right here. This was formerly John Handcock’s House and cow pasture, now absorbed into the “new” state house. (For more on John Hancock see John Hancock Counting House near Long Wharf)

This area was originally known for three peaks, called Tre-mount, and became an area for the wealthy to build homes starting in the 1620s. With a Beacon built to warn settlers of danger or outbreak it became known as Beacon Hill. John Handcock lived in a plot that is now part of the expanded “New” State House. It has continued to be an area for affluent housing as well as a lot of African American Regional History. A lot of the dirt making these hills were moved to build up other areas and fill in marshland around Boston.

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When the first European colonists settled in Boston in the 1620s, the area of the city north and west of here that we now know as Beacon Hill comprised of three peaks. The colonists referred to this area as the Tri-mountain, or Tra-mount or Tre-mount. They also called it Sentry Hill. In 1635, these early English settlers erected a tall wooden beacon atop the hill to warn the countryside of any danger, attack, or outbreak. From that day forth, the area became known as Beacon Hill.

Thomas Hancock, a wealthy merchant, built the first home on Beacon Hill in 1737. Following his death, and that of his widow, this mansion became the home of his nephew, the merchant and patriot leader John Hancock. During the Siege of Boston, 1775-1776, the British military took over this house and used it as their headquarters.

At this time, British commander General Gage removed the beacon from Beacon Hill. According to historian William W. Wheildon: “After the discomfiture of the 19th of April, and on account of the gathering of Provincial troops at Cambridge, he found it necessary to increase and, extend his defenses; and among other things a small fort was built on Beacon Hill and the Beacon removed.” Following the British evacuation in March 1776, Bostonians quickly replaced the beacon. It remained there until a storm blew it down in 1789. The Beacon Hill Eagle Memorial, designed by Charles Bulfinch, now stands in its place as a lasting reminder of Boston's revolutionary legacy.

Bulfinch also played a prominent role in the transformation of Beacon Hill into an enclave for wealthy and powerful Bostonians, who became known as the Boston Brahmins. Bulfinch designed the Massachusetts State House, completed in 1798.

The north and western slopes of Beacon Hill, on the other hand, served as the home of a working- and middle-class community, including many free African Americans. This area became a hotbed of abolitionist and Underground Railroad activity in the years leading up to the U.S. Civil War. Today, the Black Heritage Trail®, the Museum of African American History, and Boston African American National Historic Site commemorate this remarkable and often overlooked history of Beacon Hill.

-Source Links-

https://www.nps.gov/places/beacon-hill.htm