Present day Dorchester lays claim to being the biggest part of Boston, in terms of land mass and population. But, big as it is today, Dorchester was once much, much larger.
At its height, the town of Dorchester nearly reached the Rhode Island border. It included parts of present day South Boston, Hyde Park, Roxbury, Foxboro, Dedham, Wrentham, Canton, Sharon, Raynham, Mattapan, Quincy, and the entire towns of Milton and Stoughton.
What if Dorchester had maintained those historical borders? What if Dorchester had, as one resident from the Boston annexation period was recorded saying by William Dana Orcutt in his book, Good Old Dorchester, “a few feet more depth of water along the ten miles of shore which formed her sea boundary?”
Would we be living in the City of Dorchester, with Boston as one of our neighborhoods?
Source: Dot News via Universal Hub
