Page:20th annual meet- League of American Wheelmen, Aug. 14th to 19th '99, Boston, Massachusetts.djvu/21



ITH its hundreds of miles of good roads, its magnificent park system, containing mile after mile of road in the heart of the city, natural woods and landscape, Boston acknowledges no superior as a cycling city in the United States. Add to this the delightful rides into the suburbs, which are among the most beautiful in the country, to points of historic interest in which Eastern Massachusetts and Metropolitan Boston abound, splendid opportunity is afforded to the touring wheelmen to find in this city an occasion for a pleasant vacation.

Founded in 1630, the great metropolis of New England is entering upon its 270th year, and has been incorporated as a city since 1822, and stands to-day second only in importance to New York as a commercial port of our Atlantic shore. Its institutions date back to that period which is rich in the history of the earliest habitations of our country and connected with memories of the days of the Revolution, when the first efforts for Republican Government were made by the men of Boston.

The old landmarks still remain, and the associations of those historic days are still shared and treasured by the citizens of Boston, and the sons and daughters of the great men of those days still retain their active influence in the affairs of Boston and the perpetuation of its higher influence in National affairs.

As a manufacturing city Boston stands high, and many of its industries have established a national reputation; and the great boot and shoe trade, the wool business, and other commercial enterprises are interests which have established themselves within the limits of Greater Boston.

Its great stores and retail establishments, covering every line of business, have all been successful, and distribute to the entire population of New England. With an active board of trade, a merchants' association, Chamber of Commerce, and other associations in the various trades, every effort is being made to establish the commercial supremacy of Boston and to extend its present magnificent business opportunities.

The social and charitable life of Boston is equally assured, and it can be safely said that no city affords a greater degree of enjoyment of the highest and broadest sort and more excellent social influences, and, at the same time, endows its charitable and public institutions with a fund sufficient to enable them to do a deal of excellent work.

This is a general outline of what Boston has been and what she is to-day. With a cosmopolitan population within her greater limits of more than a million, with her magnificent public buildings and those devoted to business purposes, and with the qualifications previously mentioned, the visitor to Boston during the Twentieth National Meet of the League of American Wheelmen will find ample entertainment, and will store up delightful associations of his visit to the Hub.

The Massachusetts Company, headed by Gov. John Winthrop, settled in 1630 on a peninsula which was called by the Indians, Shawmut (the place where boats go), and styled by the English, Trimountain (on account of the three prominent hills upon the peninsula). This settlement was afterwards called Boston, in honor of the Rev. John Cotton, who came from the old town of Boston in Lincolnshire, England.

The original Boston comprised about 700 acres, and the dwellings of the first inhabitants were situated on Washington street and the streets running therefrom, formerly known as lanes, between the district now covered from State to Eliot streets.

In 1634 the first town government was established, and under it many of the persecutions of those early times were conducted. In 1703 the first newspaper published in America