Welcome to East Boston

East Boston is the Boston neighborhood across the harbor from downtown and the North End, bordered by Boston Harbor, Chelsea Creek, and the city of Revere, with Logan Airport filling its southeastern side. Known locally as Eastie, it combines wood-frame Victorian homes and triple-deckers on its hills with new condominium buildings on a waterfront that faces the downtown skyline.

About East Boston

East Boston began as five islands in Boston Harbor, used for farming and grazing for two centuries after Samuel Maverick settled on Noddle's Island in 1633. In 1833 General William H. Sumner formed the East Boston Company, which filled the marshes, built wharves, started a ferry to the city, and laid out a grid of streets named in groups for the company's directors, Revolutionary War generals and battles, European ports, and poets. Industry followed quickly, from a sugar refinery to the shipyards of Donald McKay, whose clipper ships were built on Border Street. Cunard's transatlantic steamships also docked here for a time.

Tunnels later tied the island to downtown: a streetcar tunnel under the harbor opened in 1904, followed by the Sumner, Callahan, and Ted Williams tunnels. The airport opened in 1923 and grew over three of the original islands and filled land. East Boston borders Winthrop to the east and looks across the harbor to the North End, Charlestown, and the Waterfront.

Getting Around

The Blue Line stops at Maverick, Airport, Wood Island, Orient Heights, and Suffolk Downs, with Maverick one stop from Aquarium station downtown. The Silver Line SL3 connects Airport station with South Station and Chelsea, and there is an MBTA ferry stop at Lewis Mall near Maverick Square. Route 1A and the harbor tunnels link the neighborhood to downtown and the North Shore.

East Boston Real Estate

Housing ranges from 19th-century detached and multi-unit wood-frame houses to triple-deckers built from the 1880s onward, many now condominiums. Eagle Hill, centered on Prescott Square where Meridian, Lexington, and White Streets meet, is a historic district on the National Register with Italianate, Second Empire, Greek Revival, and Queen Anne houses, including Donald McKay's own home on White Street. Along the Jeffries Point and Maverick waterfront, former shipyards and industrial sites now hold mid-rise condominium and apartment buildings with harbor views.

East Boston buildings on our site include:

• Slip65, the first condominium phase of Clippership Wharf on the Jeffries Point waterfront
• Slip45, a six-story condominium at Clippership Wharf, completed in 2020
• The Mark, a waterfront condominium at 99 Sumner Street on the site of the Hodge Boiler Works
• Porter 156, lofts in a converted early-1900s industrial building at 156 Porter Street
• The Paris Flats, a 13-unit loft condominium near Maverick Square
• Portside at East Pier, a waterfront rental community on Jeffries Point

Living in East Boston

The waterfront offers some of the best skyline views in the city, from Piers Park and LoPresti Park along the Harborwalk. The East Boston Greenway, a linear park on a former rail line, links Piers Park with Bremen Street Park, Memorial Stadium, and the marshes at Wood Island Bay and Belle Isle, and Constitution Beach faces the harbor near Orient Heights. Maverick Square and Central Square, joined by Meridian Street, are the main commercial streets, and East Boston was home to the nation's first branch library, opened in 1870.

Questions About East Boston

What kinds of homes are in East Boston?

Housing ranges from 19th-century detached and multi-unit wood-frame houses to triple-deckers built from the 1880s onward, many now condominiums. Along the Jeffries Point and Maverick waterfront, former shipyards and industrial sites now hold mid-rise condominium and apartment buildings with harbor views.

How do you get around from East Boston?

The Blue Line stops at Maverick, Airport, Wood Island, Orient Heights and Suffolk Downs, with Maverick one stop from Aquarium station downtown. The Silver Line SL3 connects Airport station with South Station, and an MBTA ferry stops at Lewis Mall near Maverick Square.

What is Eagle Hill?

Eagle Hill is a historic district on the National Register, centered on Prescott Square where Meridian, Lexington and White Streets meet. It has Italianate, Second Empire, Greek Revival and Queen Anne houses, including Donald McKay's own home on White Street.

To see homes for sale in East Boston, browse the listings below. Thinking of buying or selling in East Boston? Call (617) 848-9616 or get a free home valuation. East Boston is part of our Boston neighborhood guide.