a city in the northeastern USA, located in the state of Massachusetts on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. The principal economic center of New England and one of the leading industrial, financial, and cultural centers in the USA. Population, about 630,000 (1969); with the surrounding suburban area, 2.7 million (seventh largest in the USA). Number of employed, 1.2 million (1969), including 25 percent in industry (of these 8 percent work in the city itself), approximately 50 percent in commercial and service activities, 4.6 percent in construction, and 5.8 percent in transportation and public service.
Historical sketch Boston was founded in 1630. During the 1760’s and 1770’s it was in the vanguard of the struggle against British domination. The Bostonians’ revolt against the stamp tax in 1765, their armed conflict with British troops in 1770, and the so-called Boston Tea Party in 1773 constituted a prologue to the War for Independence in North America (American Revolution) (1775–83). In the middle of the 19th century Boston was one of the centers of abolitionism. From 1921 to 1927 there were mass demonstrations in Boston in defense of Sacco and Vanzetti; from 1929 to 1933 there were strikes and hunger marches by the unemployed; and after World War II there were strikes by the dockworkers.
Economy Boston is the principal port of New England. Its cargo turnover is approximately 20 million tons. Imports are four times as high as exports, and the most important import is petroleum. It is the base for a fishing fleet. Boston is a major rail and highway terminal. It employs about 300,000 people in manufacturing industries. There is a predominance of various types of machine-tool industry—for the most part, complex and labor-consuming branches such as radio electronics and instrument making, the production of aviation engines, the production of parts for airplanes and rockets, electrical machine building, machine-tool construction, the production of industrial equipment (especially for the textile and shoe industries), and the manufacture of household appliances. There is also shipbuilding on a major scale, including a naval shipyard. Also well-developed are the chemical industry, the rubber industry (which produces rubber footwear and other industrial products), printing, and the food industry. Light industry (especially the production of shoes and woolen fabrics) has lost its former importance; most companies involved in it have transferred to the surrounding towns.
Architecture The following landmarks have been preserved in Boston: buildings dating from the colonial period (the Meeting House 1729–30; the Old State House, 1713, rebuilt in 1748; and Faneuil Hall, 1742, rebuilt in 1762–63), which are connected with the events of the American Revolution; C. Bulfinch’s buildings in the style of classicism, including the State House (1795–98) and a hospital (1818–20); the Public Library (1888–95, architects C. F. McKim, W. Mead, and S. White); the buildings of H. H. Richardson in the spirit of Romanesque architecture, including Trinity Church (1873–77). Since 1960 a number of sections in Boston have been renewed, and the following structures have been built: the Government Center (architect I. M. Pei) with a city hall (1969), large office buildings such as the State Bank (1966, architect F. Stahl), and the complex of Boston University.
Learned institutions and culture The American Academy of Arts and Sciences was founded in Boston in 1780, Boston University in 1869, Northeastern University in 1898, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1881. The city also contains the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (specializing in the classical art of Europe and East Asia), and the Institute of Modern Art.