Mission Hill Real Estate
Mission Hill is a small, centrally located neighborhood in Boston popular with students and families because of its close proximity to the Longwood Medical area as well as several universities. Its two main drags, Huntington Avenue and Tremont Street are always bustling but are located close to residential areas lined with beautiful brownstones on quiet, leafy streets such as Wigglesworth and Worthington. Many of these freestanding homes were built by early wealthy landowners in the 1800s and continue to sell for a premium. Other properties include brick rowhouses, triple-deckers and newly renovated condos. The “Back of the Hill” where Parker Street and Heath Street meet, is generally considered the more affordable part of the neighborhood. The Boston Globe named Mission Hill one of the “Best Zip Codes in MA” in 2008, citing the community’s diversity, increasing value in single-family homes and plentiful restaurants and shopping. Some 65% of Mission Hill’s 16,000 residents walk, bike or take public transit to work. Read more about Mission Hill real estate.
MIssion Hill Homes & Condos For Sale
More About Mission Hill Real Estate
Mission Hill Location
Mission Hill overlaps with approximately half of the Longwood Medical and Academic Area -- which with its 21 healthcare, research and educational institutions -- provides the largest employment in the City of Boston outside of downtown. New England Baptist Hospital sits at the top of Mission Hill’s peak and the Museum of Fine Arts and the Gardner Museum are both within walking distance. Mission Hill borders Ruggles Street to the northeast; Columbus Avenue and the Roxbury neighborhood to the east; and the Riverway/Jamaicaway and the town of Brookline to the west. The neighborhood is conveniently located near five stops on the Green Line and the Roxbury Crossing stop on the Orange line of the MBTA.
Mission Hill History
Mission Hill was originally part of the colonial town of Roxbury – originally written as “Rocksberry” because of the abundance of Roxbury Puddingstone found throughout the area. Remnants of the quarries that mined the rock still exist. Before the American Revolution, Mission Hill was home to the country estates of many wealthy Boston families while much of the surroundings constituted an orchard farm. By the mid-nineteenth century, Mission Hill had drawn its name from the Mission Church (the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Hope) which was built in 1870 on the former cider farm. The church has since been rebuilt but was designed as a “mission house” or home base for priests traveling to distant parts of Massachusetts, Canada and other northern areas.