Mission Hill, Boston - Geography

Geography

The neighborhood has two main commercial streets: Tremont Street and Huntington Ave. Both have several small restaurants and shops. Mission Hill is at the far western end of Tremont Street, with Government Center at the far eastern end. Mission Hill has two main ZIP Codes; the southern half is designated 02120 and the northern area is 02115. Additionally, a very small portion of the southeastern edge uses the code 02130 and two streets on the far western edge use 02215.

Parker Hill, Roxbury Crossing, the Triangle District, Back of The Hill and Calumet Square are areas within the Mission Hill, an official designated neighborhood in Boston (as attested by numerous signs prohibiting parking without a sticker which can be received only by residents).

Brigham Circle, located at the corner of Tremont and Huntington is the neighborhood's commercial center, with a grocery store (Stop & Shop), drug stores, bistros, banks and taverns. Additionally, two other smaller commercial areas are in the neighborhood: Roxbury Crossing and the corner of Huntington and South Huntington next to the Brookline line.

One block up the hill from Brigham Circle is Boston's newest park, Kevin W. Fitzgerald Park (formerly Puddingstone Park) created when a new $60-million mixed use building was completed in 2002.

On Tremont Street is Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica (1878, Schickel and Ditmars, 1910 towers addition by Franz Joseph Untersee), an eponymous landmark building that dominates the skyline of the area. The church was chosen as the location for the funeral of Senator Edward M. Kennedy on Saturday, August 29, 2009.

Also nearby is the newly restored Parker Hill Library, the neighborhood branch of the Boston Public Library, and designed by architect Ralph Adams Cram in 1929. The city used eminent domain to acquire the land for both the library and the adjacent Mission Hill playground.

Atop the hill is New England Baptist Hospital and Parker Hill Playground, which extends from the hospital grounds down Parker Hill Avenue. Parker Hill Playground, originally proposed by then Boston Mayor James Curley in 1915, is also one of the highest points in the city where you can observe a panoramic view of downtown Boston, Boston Harbor, and the Blue Hills.

Always considered a part of Roxbury until a generation ago, Mission Hill is now most often regarded as a separate section of the city. However, neighborhood boundaries in Boston are inherently ambiguous and whether or not Mission Hill is adjacent to Roxbury or remains a section thereof is sometimes a subject of debate.