Boston's first resident, Reverend William Blaxton, lived alone on Beacon Hill for 5 years before settlers arrived in 1622. Now this neighborhood is home to over 10,000 people.
Over the last 350 years Boston has been growing - literally! Its central landmass has more than tripled over the course of the centuries, a feat that cannot be attributed solely to the annexation of nearby towns. Boston's growth was the result of an ingenious landfill project that created Back Bay, a portion of the Financial District and the new face of Boston's waterfront.