Brighton, Boston

Brighton
The Chestnut Hill Reservoir is located in the Brighton neighborhood. (Boston College can be seen in the background).
The Chestnut Hill Reservoir is located in the Brighton neighborhood. (Boston College can be seen in the background).
Official seal of Brighton
Nicknames: 
Little Cambridge, South Cambridge, Third Parish (all archaic)
Map
CountryUnited States
StateMassachusetts
CountySuffolk
Neighborhood ofBoston
Settled1630
IncorporatedFebruary 24, 1807
Annexed by BostonJanuary 5, 1874
Area
 • Land2.78 sq mi (7.2 km2)
Population
 • Total43,880
 • Density15,784/sq mi (6,095/km2)
Time zoneEastern
 • Summer (DST)Eastern
Zip Code
02135
Area code617 / 857
WebsiteOfficial website

Brighton is a former town and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States,[1] located in the northwestern corner of the city. It is named after the English city of Brighton. Initially Brighton was part of Cambridge, and known as "Little Cambridge". Brighton separated from Cambridge in 1807 after a bridge dispute, and was annexed to Boston in 1874.[2] For much of its early history, it was a rural town with a significant commercial center at its eastern end.

The neighborhood of Allston was also formerly part of the town of Brighton, but is now often considered to be separate, leading to the name Allston–Brighton for the combined area. This historic center of Brighton is the Brighton Center Historic District. The Aberdeen section of Brighton was designated as a local architectural conservation district by the Boston Landmarks Commission in 2001.[3]

  1. ^ "Boston's Neighborhoods: Allston/Brighton". Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA). 2010. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
  2. ^ "History of Brighton-Allston". Bahistory.org. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
  3. ^ "Aberdeen Architectural Conservation District". July 13, 2016.