City PlanningModernReports & Analysis Heat map showing Massachusetts population by town, with most concentration around greater Boston and Worcester.

Population Predictions for Boston and Massachusetts, 2020–2050

Boston, like its West End, is no stranger to marked population changes. Recent studies have predicted further transformations for Boston’s and Massachusetts’ populations that could have meaningful economic and political impacts. Such changes, current and future, are influenced by various interrelated factors: immigration patterns, cost of living, major disruptors, anchor institutions, and global population growth rate.

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BusinessMedicineModernPolitics & Law Photograph of the front of a four story brick building at an intersection with cars parked on the right side. Other

Thomas L. Jenks and the Jenks Building

Thomas L. Banks left New Hampshire for Boston in 1845 to pursue a degree in medicine from Harvard University. He settled in the West End where he built a successful medical practice and forged a career in local and state politics. The site of his successful apothecary business, formerly known as the Jenks Building, still stands today at 132 Portland Street and is noted as one of the more architecturally unique historic buildings in the Bulfinch Triangle.

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City PlanningModernNeighborhood LifeNew BostonNew FieldsUrban RenewalWest Boston

The Secrets of Ridgeway Lane

Easily missed as one trundles down Cambridge Street or behind the golden dome of the Massachusetts State House, Ridgeway Lane in the historic West End is one of Boston’s longest and narrowest streets. Often mistaken for a simple alley, it has served ropewalk workers, residents, Suffolk University students, and the occasional criminal on the run for over 250 years. As one walks the length of this dark road, surrounded by brick on both sides and heavy paving stones below, it is hard to imagine much life here. Yet, hidden, urban pathways like Ridgeway Lane hold many stories worth telling.

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AbolitionAfrican AmericansImmigrant NeighborhoodNeighborhood LifeSchools & EducationSocial & Religious InstitutionsWest BostonWomen photograph of the title page of The Memoir of James Jackson by Susan Paul, published by James Loring of Boston in 1835

Susan Paul: Abolitionist, Educator and Author

Susan Paul (1809 -1841) worked as an abolitionist, educator, and author from the north slope of Beacon Hill in the West End. She fought against slavery in every aspect of her professional life through her education of African American students, the inspirational music performed by her choir, and her landmark work, The Memoir of James Jackson, the earliest known prose narrative and biography by an African American woman in the United States.

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