DISCOVER ROXBURY

A non-profit organization connecting you to Roxbury's culture and history.

A non-profit organization connecting you to Roxbury's culture and history.

Roxbury is the historic center of the Black community in New England. The neighborhood has nurtured several generations of young people who became politicians, judges, educators, journalists, artists, filmmakers and musicians.

Social activism is a vital part of Roxbury’s history. Local organizations halted a major highway from bisecting the community, struggled with issues of school equity and integration over a period of 50 years, and transformed areas almost destroyed by arson and disinvestment. Roxbury is the only place in Boston where you can see the homes of William Lloyd Garrison and Malcolm X, worship where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached, and pass by the hall where WEB DuBois spoke to supporters.

Roxbury’s rich history stretches back to the native Massachuset tribe, who passed through the area on the way to hunting and fishing grounds and to summer camps on the Boston Harbor Islands. In 1630, Puritans from the Massachusetts Bay Colony founded Roxbury only weeks after landing in Boston. During the siege of Boston (1775-1776) over 4000 patriot troops camped in Roxbury, guarding the only land route out of Boston. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Roxbury transformed from a farming community to estate mansions to a street car suburb and then to an urban community. Yankees, Germans, Irish, Scandanavians, and Jews from Russia and Eastern Europe (to name only a few) have all made Roxbury home.

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By the middle of the 20th century, the Black community from Boston's South End, along with Black migrants from Southern states and the Caribbean, all settled in Roxbury. It is now a vibrant and talented community offering history, art, food, beautiful parks, entertainment, recreation, and street festivals throughout the year.

See and hear the diversity of the neighborhood's cultural mosaic. Experience Roxbury’s rich history and African-American legacy on a tour led by Roxbury resident historians or on one of Discover Roxbury’s self-guided heritage walks.

Even if you've lived here your whole life, you'll experience Roxbury in a new way.

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