Boston - More Than Just An Accent

Raise your hand if you thought that Fig Newtons were named after Sir Isaac Newton?

I’m here to set the record straight. That delicious little sweet treat actually gets its name from Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb just outside of Boston.

I lived most of my life in-and-around the Boston area and I absolutely loved it. I now live in Perth, Australia and I’d be lying if I said I don’t find myself a bit homesick from time to time.

Having grown up there, and with so much pride for my city, I learned a lot about the place I came from. Eventually I realized that some of my favorite random facts about Boston, even other Bostonians weren’t privy to.

So rather than share one piece of uncommon knowledge, I’m going to share just a few of my favorite Boston-themed random facts for your reading pleasure. Starting with my absolute favorite - it’s Christmas related and man do I love a snowy Boston Christmas!

1. Oh, Christmas Tree!

Every year there’s a ceremonial “lighting of the Christmas tree” in Boston Common. But I bet you didn’t know there was a story behind where we get our tree from each year.

In 1917 there was a massive explosion in Halifax, Nova Scotia on the 6th of December. Two ships collided and unfortunately the one that happened to be carrying high explosives caught on fire. That fire raged out of control and about 20 minutes after the collision the ship exploded. The subsequent blast decimated everything within a half mile radius, killing 2,000 people and injuring 9,000 others.

Boston authorities heard about the explosion via telegraph and immediately organized a relief train with food, water, medical supplies, and volunteers. A blizzard delayed the train which arrived on scene December 8th and got to work, providing relief to medical staff who had been working round the clock since the explosion.

Nova Scotia donated a Christmas tree to Boston immediately after the explosion as a thank you. Then, in 1971 they decided to make that a tradition and ever since Nova Scotia has donated our Christmas tree to us as a continued “thank you” for being one of the first responders to that tragedy.

Here's a great short read about how so many years later, both places are adamant about keeping up the tradition. And for some very warm and fuzzy reasons. Each year when they select the tree there's a big "send-off" celebration in Nova Scotia; it's apparently a big deal to them!

2. The Grasshopper

I remember learning about this on a school field trip into the city. And I was clearly the only one paying attention because later in life I discovered that none of my friends remembered it.

On top of Faneuil Hall Marketplace there is a golden grasshopper weathervane that’s been there since 1742 (except for when it was briefly stolen in 1974, but don’t worry we got it back).

It was created and mounted there as a statement that Boston was now also a center of commerce (mimicking the grasshopper atop the Royal Exchange in London).

What I love about this, is that during the War of 1812, one of the ways they determined if someone was a British spy was by asking “What is on top of Faneuil Hall?” It had already become such a prominent figure in Boston that if you didn’t know, you surely weren’t from around there.

Now, when I had this conversation with my friends and none of them knew, I wondered how accurate this method of discerning “friend or foe” really was, but nonetheless that’s how it was done.

Since 1760 that grasshopper has been used as one of four time capsules scattered throughout the city. It contains coins, newspaper articles, and notes from various mayors.

Part of me hopes I’m around when they open the time capsule, and part of me never wants to see it get moved, not even temporarily.

3. The Flood

In 1919 Boston was struck by a flood that killed 21 people and injured 150 more. Being a harbor town it probably doesn’t seem strange to hear that there was a flood. However, it was not water that devastated Boston’s North End. It was molasses.

A large storage tank filled with more than 2million gallons of molasses burst on a lukewarm January day, unleashing a wave of molasses that annihilated everything for at least a two block radius. There are some who believe the unprecedented warmth of the day may have contributed to what happened, with the molasses wave reaching speeds of up to 35mph.

The cleanup efforts took weeks and the North End was brown with molasses right through to that summer.

Some people say that on a hot summer’s day you can still smell the molasses if you’re walking through the North End. What's interesting is that they're not joking - the smell lingered for decades.

Here's a great write-up about it from History.com. As recently as 2014 people have been investigating how it happened and what contributed to it being so deadly.

4. This One’s Just For Fun

I recently learned that Boston built the first subway in the United States, and I can’t begin to tell you how ironic that is.

In all my travels, I can safely say that Boston has, without question, the worst subway system in the world. Constantly breaking down and delayed, it’s laughable at best.

So when I learned that we were the first city to build one my immediate first thought was “Ha! And we clearly haven’t updated it since.”

I used to say that our subway system was older than dirt, and I now I wonder if that’s truer than I realized at the time. ;)

There's plenty more I could say about Boston but I'll spare you the monologue and leave it here. Hopefully you've enjoyed my random facts about the city I still call home - even though I haven't lived there for four years.