Beacon Hill is a historic neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, that along with the neighboring Back Bay is home to about 26,000 people. It is a neighborhood of Federal-style rowhouses and is known for its narrow, gas-lit streets and brick sidewalks. Today, Beacon Hill is regarded as one of the most desirable and expensive neighborhoods in Boston.
The Beacon Hill area is located just north of Boston Common and the Boston Public Garden and is bounded generally by Beacon Street on the south, Somerset Street on the east, Cambridge Street to the north and Storrow Drive along the riverfront of the Charles River Esplanade to the west. The block bounded by Beacon, Tremont and Park Streets is included as well, as is the Boston Common itself. The level section of the neighborhood west of Charles Street, on landfill, is known locally as the "Flat of the Hill."
Because the Massachusetts State House is in a prominent location at the top of the hill, the term "Beacon Hill" is also often used as a metonym in the local news media to refer to the state government or the legislature.
Boston (pronounced /ˈbɒstən/ or locally /ˈbɔstən/ ( listen)) is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper, covering only 48.43 square miles, had a population of 617,594 according to the 2010 U.S. Census. Boston is also the anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area called Greater Boston, home to 4.5 million people and the tenth-largest metropolitan area in the country. Greater Boston as a commuting region is home to 7.6 million people, making it the fifth-largest Combined Statistical Area in the United States.
In 1630, Puritan colonists from England founded the city on the Shawmut Peninsula. During the late 18th century, Boston was the location of several major events during the American Revolution, including the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party. Several early battles of the American Revolution, such as the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Siege of Boston, occurred within the city and surrounding areas. Through land reclamation and municipal annexation, Boston has expanded beyond the peninsula. After American independence was attained Boston became a major shipping port and manufacturing center, and its rich history now helps attract many tourists, with Faneuil Hall alone attracting over 20 million every year. The city was the site of several firsts, including America's first public school, Boston Latin School (1635), and the first subway system in the United States (1897).
Beacon Hill is a name shared by many hills, suburbs, villages and other places around the world. Many are so called because they were historically the site of a warning beacon. Others are named after other places of the same name.
The United Kingdom has many Beacon Hills. Most of them take their name from their use as sites for warning beacons as part of Britain's early warning system in Elizabethan times, when they were lit to warn of the coming of the Spanish Armada.
Here are a few of them:
Look back,
(shout out, shout it)
There's someone close behind
It's a face that I remember
(Come out, come out)
In the air, there's a feeling that I know
Speaks to me of better times
Come out, come out
Never say bust
If you don't start to move
You'll start to rust
Shot down, shot down
I know you'll rise up...again
Just like the phoenix
From the dust
CHORUS:
What ever happened to the bright-eyed one
What ever happened to the dreams we'd hold
What ever happened to the light on beacon hill
I know it's up there burning still
Shout out, shout out
I know you could melt these hearts
And where's the face we all remember
Come out, come out
And put lightening in these veins
Throw away the mask of anger
CHORUS:
What ever happened to the bright-eyed one
What ever happened to the dreams we'd hold
What ever happened to the light on beacon hill
I know it's up there burning still
It's burning still