Bay Village is a small residential neighborhood of 19th-century brick rowhouses in central Boston, set between Park Square, the Theater District, and the Massachusetts Turnpike, about two blocks south of the Public Garden. Its narrow one-way streets, brick sidewalks, and gas lamps sit inside the Bay Village Historic District, which protects the neighborhood's exteriors.
Before 1825 the area was a mudflat at the edge of the tidal Back Bay. After a dam was built and the land drained, developer Ephraim Marsh filled the area in the 1820s, ahead of the larger fills of Back Bay and the South End. Many of the craftspeople who built the townhouses of Beacon Hill settled here and built homes for their own use, which is why many Bay Village houses look like smaller versions of Beacon Hill rowhouses. Early deeds limited height and building materials, so red brick on granite foundations became the norm, and most of the neighborhood was built between 1825 and 1899.
Over the years the area has been known as the Church Street District, South Cove, and Kerry Village. In 1868 much of the neighborhood was raised to fix drainage problems, and some houses on Fayette Street still show basement windows and arched passages from before the raising. Edgar Allan Poe was born in 1809 on Carver Street, now Charles Street South, and a statue of Poe stands nearby at Boylston and Charles Streets. A plaque on Piedmont Street marks the site of the 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire, which led to major changes in fire codes across the country.
Bay Village borders Back Bay and Park Square to the north and west, the Theater District across Charles Street South, Chinatown to the east, and the South End across the Massachusetts Turnpike.
Arlington station on the Green Line is a short walk north, and Boylston station on the Green Line and Tufts Medical Center station on the Orange Line are a few blocks east. Back Bay station, with the Orange Line and the commuter rail, is a short walk west, and the Massachusetts Turnpike and Interstate 93 are minutes away by car.
Housing in Bay Village is mostly three- and four-story brick rowhouses, many divided into condominiums, ranging in style from Federal to Greek Revival to Victorian. Fayette Street has some of the oldest Federal-era houses, Melrose Street has larger Greek Revival townhouses, and Cortes and Isabella Streets hold later Victorian buildings. Newer high-rise buildings stand along Stuart Street and Charles Street South at the neighborhood's northern edge.
Bay Village buildings on our site include:
Bay Village is quiet for its location. The Public Garden and Boston Common are two blocks away, Eliot Norton Park sits just across Charles Street South, and the restaurants of Park Square, the South End, and Chinatown are close by. The theaters of Tremont and Washington Streets are within a few minutes' walk.
To see homes for sale in Bay Village, browse the listings below or contact Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Warren Residential.
1,276 people live in Bay Village, where the median age is 44 and the average individual income is $130,043. Data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
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There's plenty to do around Bay Village, including shopping, dining, nightlife, parks, and more. Data provided by Walk Score and Yelp.
Explore popular things to do in the area, including Vocal Impact.
Bay Village has 758 households, with an average household size of 2. Data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. Here’s what the people living in Bay Village do for work — and how long it takes them to get there. Data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. 1,276 people call Bay Village home. The population density is 33,851 and the largest age group is Data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
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