Article / Guide

Four Hundred Years in Forty Entities

The canonical Boston timeline, told the Civic Graph way: forty records from the 1630 founding to the 2030 quadricentennial, every one with sources, dates and relationships — history as infrastructure, not listicle.

Follow the civic story Open in the atlas

Why it matters

Part of the connected record of this place — 3 relationships link it into the wider graph, each one a thread worth pulling.

Open the full civic recordCurrent pulse, routes, recommendations, and memory

Living object

Now, then, future

Every object is temporal: what it feels like now, what it used to mean, and what it can become next.

Now

Then

1591: Midwife and theologian (1591–1643) whose weekly meetings challenged Boston’s ministers; tried for heresy and banished in 1638 — the colony’s founding argument about conscience and authority.

Future

2026: America’s 250th — July 4, 2026.

Current modetoday

Historical echoAnne Hutchinson

Connected eventBoston 400 — The Quadricentennial (2030)

Turn this into a walk

Routes with a point of view

Make it walkableShow me the best 45 minutes from here

Turn the surrounding graph into a short, walkable next move.

Nearby · editorially filtered →

What should I see next?

Chosen moves from here

01The right next stopGranary Burying GroundClose enough to feel spontaneous, different enough to change the texture of the visit.5 min walk 02Hidden in plain sightImprov AsylumA quieter stop nearby that rewards a second look.Museum / Cultural 03The connection you would miss on a mapFounding of Boston (1630)A civic relationship that is easier to understand once you see the graph.Historical event 04The connection you would miss on a mapBoston 400 — The Quadricentennial (2030)A civic relationship that is easier to understand once you see the graph.Recurring event

The editor's hand

Human recommendations

The Civic Graph Editorial DeskEditorial standardLook for the older layer before you move on. This object is connected to more than its facade suggests.Samuel Gridley Howe →

Civic memory

What this meant before

1630Founding of Boston (1630)Puritan settlers under John Winthrop moved from Charlestown to the Shawmut Peninsula in September 1630, renaming it Boston.2030Boston 400 — The Quadricentennial (2030)September 7, 2030 marks 400 years since Winthrop’s settlers named Boston.

In popular culture◷Rizzoli & Isles (2010) — TNT ▣The Verdict (1982) — Sidney Lumet

On the Innovation Trail◆1876 · “Mr. Watson, come here” — Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone.

In the graph 3 relationships — first-class data, not links

Explore Four Hundred Years in Forty Entities in the interactive Graph Explorer — click to expand every connection →

Founding of Boston (1630)Boston 400 — The Quadricentennial (2030)

Located in

Boston

Nearby what sits within a few minutes’ walk

Recurring event · 1 min walk

Boston 400 — The Quadricentennial (2030)

Historical event · 1 min walk

The Inoculation Experiment (1721)

Historical event · 1 min walk

Boston Becomes a City (1822)

Historical context

Founding of Boston (1630)1630 Boston 400 — The Quadricentennial (2030)2030 The Inoculation Experiment (1721)1721 Boston Becomes a City (1822)1822

Keep exploring graph-powered — every path below is a real relationship, not a guess

NearbyA few minutes’ walk away

Boston 400 — The Quadricentennial (2030)Recurring event The Inoculation Experiment (1721)Historical event Boston Becomes a City (1822)Historical event Charles-Edward Amory WinslowPerson Leo ReismanPerson

Visitors also exploreReached through the same connections

Boston CommonPark / Public space John WinthropPerson Anne HutchinsonPerson DorchesterNeighborhood America’s 250th — July 4, 2026Recurring event

One record, 1 framing cross-property publishing — never duplicated

Boston400.com · you are here

How we know graph confidence — we explain our certainty, not just assert it

Verified byThe Civic Graph Editorial Desk

Established

How this is scored →

✓Source qualityBest source is first-party editorial

○Independent corroboration1 source

✓Human-reviewedEditorially verified

○Institutional backingNo primary source yet

○Record completeness40% of canonical fields present

Sources, by tier

Civic Graph editorial First-party editorial

Graph scores — our north star is relationship density, not page count

Relationship density35

3 connections

Record coverage40

metadata completeness

Graph authority18

centrality + reach + trust

Schema.org JSON-LD — what answer engines read

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