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Tracing Boston's Original Shoreline: Walking Tour

Shawmut Peninsula is the promontory of land on which Boston, Massachusetts was built. In other words, downtown Boston was originally a hilly little peninsula almost surrounded by water. Over the past 400 years, a series of landfills terraformed this tiny outpost into the bustling metropolis it is today. Come trace Boston's original shoreline and see how cutting down a series of hills and hauling in earth from the suburbs allowed the creation of Back Bay, Beacon Hill, West End, Mill Pond, and Haymarket and complicated the construction of the Big Dig. Meet on the steps of the Arlington Church just outside the Arlington MBTA Green Line Station which is downtown, across from the Public Garden.

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