Excerpt from Boston Maine Railroad: Lowest Rates, Short Line Between Boston and Buffalo, Chicago, St. Louis, St. Paul and Minneapolis, The Vacation Resorts of New England

Gov. John Winthrop and his party, called the Massachusetts Company, arrived in several small vessels and settled in Salem and Charlestown, but not liking the location, part of his company came to the peninsula called by the Indians, Shawmut, "The Place Where Boats Go, " and by the English, "Trimountain, " from the three prominent hills on the peninsula. On the 7th of September (old style) at the court held at Charlestown Trimountain was ordered to be called Boston, in honor of Rev. John Cotton who came from the old town of Boston in Lincolnshire, England. The original limits of Boston, which were really surrounded by water (the harbor on one side and the Charles River on the other) comprised about seven hundred acres of land. The tide ran up to where Dock Square now is and Charles River made a good sized bay (afterwards known as "Back Bay") also another bay at a few rods northwest of Hanover Street, leaving a narrow neck of land connecting the North End with the rest of the peninsula. The dwellings of the settlers were situated on Washington Street between Stale and Eliot Streets, Elm Street, upper part of Hanover Street, and north side of Sudbury Street. The settlers were in constant fear of the Indians who lived in the wilderness around the town. On the first day of September, 1634, a Town Government was organized for Boston, and from about this time to the year 1700 many harsh and cruel acts were done by the town authorities and a majority of the inhabitants. Persons were whipped, put in the stocks and banished for trivial offences, many were hung for witchcraft and for being Quakers, and in 1659 two men were hung on Boston Common for being heretics. In 1686, Sir Edmund Andros was appointed by the King, Governor of the colony, and took away the charter, but in 1692 Gov. Phipps was appointed by the King, and arrived in Boston with a new charter. In 1703 the first newspaper was published in America by John Campbell, the postmaster of the town. In 1711 The Old Town House, which was one of the first buildings erected, the first meeting house, and about one hundred other buildings were destroyed by fire. In 1722 Boston had a population of 10, 670 and in 1742 had increased to 16, 382.

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