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Mission Hill

Historic breweries and churches make Mission Hill one of Boston’s most interesting heritage neighborhoods. Built atop Parker Hill with views of the city, Mission Hill has transitioned from orchards and country estates to a neighborhood of heritage homes and urban facilities.

History

Set atop Parker Hill, Mission Hill was once part of the independent community Roxbury. Large country estates and orchards filled the area before the Boston and Providence Railroad first stopped at Roxbury Crossing in the 1840s. When Roxbury became part of Boston in 1868, so did Mission Hill and its predominantly farming population and the country estates owned by well-off Boston families.

A waterway through the community, the Stony Brook, ran water-powered mills and provided hydro electricity. By the 1870s brewing had become the main industry in Mission Hill, and brew masters of German descent ran many brick breweries along the Stony Brook. But lengthy prohibitions halted much of the beer production, and most brew houses are now renovated for other uses.

Built between 1876 and 1878, Mission Church is officially called Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. But the two-spire religious house is far better known simply as Mission Church for the neighborhood it marks. The church’s two spires were not added with the original structure, but rather designed by architect Frank Joseph Untersee, of Swiss-German descent, and built in 1910.

The neighborhood’s wooden Queen-Anne style houses are still predominant. Mission Hill is home to large African American and Latin populations and is the location of Harvard Medical School.

Major Attractions

Tremont Street and Huntington Avenue, the neighborhood’s main arteries, offer appealing cafes and artist studios. In the eastern end of Mission Hill, visitors can walk through the galleries at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts to see contemporary, international, and historic artwork as well as collections of textiles, jewelry, and musical instruments. The museum opened in 1909, having moved from its space in downtown Copley Square. The museum backs onto Back Bay Fens Park and the Muddy River and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts lies across the street.

The puddingstone for Mission Church was quarried from nearby Parker Hill. Officially called the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the church is a landmark for its two spires. The church organ is well known for its quality. Visitors can walk the grounds to see the other heritage buildings in the complex. A convent, parish school, and the rectory were all built around the same time as Mission Church. The parish school is particularly notable, and featured a five-lane bowling alley and a 1,000-seat theater when it was built in 1888-9.

For architecture and heritage buffs, the Triangle Architectural Conservation Project features fine examples of homes built from 1872 on. Houses on Huntington Avenue as well as Tremont and Worthington streets include brick row houses and wooden, three-story Queen-Anne-style homes. Also, visitors can walk along Heath Street to see some of the neighborhood’s former breweries, such as the old Eblana Brewery, American Brewing Company, and Roxbury Brewing Company. These large brick buildings once housed the town’s strongest industry—beer brewing.

Although most Harvard University buildings are located across the Charles River in Cambridge, Harvard Medical School was built in Mission Hill in 1906. Five, white buildings look onto a central quad, offering a dramatic setting for the school.

Parks in Mission Hill offer excellent views of the city. Visitors can look out over the skyline from Sheehy Park near Mission Church, or from the top of Parker Hill.

Getting There

Mission Hill sits on the subway Green Line. Stations, north to south, include Longwood, Bringham Circle, Fenwood Road, Mission Park, and Riverway. The main driving routes to Mission Hill are via Huntington Avenue, also labeled as route 9, and Tremont Street.

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