Last updated: February 7, 2023
Place
Foster's Hill
Quick Facts
Location:
South Boston, Massachusetts
Significance:
Location of Foster's Hill, fortification of Continental Army during American War for Independence
MANAGED BY:
Private Building
Known also as Nook's Hill, Newks, or Nuke's Hill, Foster's Hill rose a hundred or so feet into the air over the channel between Dorchester and Boston's Neck.1 While not the highest point of Dorchester Heights, Foster's Hill overlooked the Boston Neck and provided a direct view of the town’s wharves and shoreline. Due to that location, General George Washington ordered the top of the hill fortified on March 9, 1776.
During the effort to fortify the hill, British soldiers in Boston saw light from a campfire set by the Continentals and unleashed their cannons upon the site. According to Sergeant Henry Bedinger, a rifleman from Virginia stationed at Dorchester Heights:
About 2 hours after Dark the Enemy Began to fire on a part of our men who were throwing up a Breastwork on the Nearest point to Boston on Dorchester. They fired from a Small Vessel from Boston Neck, from the wharf, from Fort Hill, &c. Supposed they Fired 1000 Shott as it Lasted the whole Night. Our people Fired in Boston from Roxberry. The Firings Continued all Night. We had 1 Surgeon & Three men Kill'd.2
These four men stationed at the Heights, including the surgeon Dr. Enoch Dole of Lancaster, became the only casualties for General Washington in South Boston.3
It took another seven days for the battery to be completed. By March 17, the British troops began their evacuation, along with many loyalists from the Greater Boston area.4
Though parts of the fortifications remained visible until 1824,5 they were soon demolished and covered. Located in the path of the Old Colony line, Foster’s Hill disappears from area maps after 1807. It was not until 1899 that the Massachusetts Society Sons of the American Revolution marked the site of the hill with a brass plaque. Located on the side of the old Lawrence School building at B and Athens Streets, it commemorated "the seizing of Nooks Hill by a detachment of the forces under Gen. Washington."6 Today, the neighborhood of South Boston has grown up among the former hills of Dorchester Heights.
Footnotes
- There are some arguments over what the proper name for this hill should be. According to a National Park Service document published in October 1993, the actual name of this hill should be Nook’s Hill. "The final hill of importance in an historical context was Nook's Hill on the western edge of the peninsula, opposite the Boston Neck across the water. Because of the unregulated spelling of that era, Nook's Hill was sometimes spelled 'Newks,' or even 'Nukes.' Some cartographers mistakenly applied the name 'Forsters' or 'Fosters' to Nooks Hill.' Child Associates. n.d. “National Register of Historic Places ... - Npshistory.com.” Cultural Landscape Report: Dorchester Heights/Thomas Park, Boston National Historical Park, South Boston, Massachustts, National Park Service, acessed February 7, 2022. http://www.npshistory.com/publications/bost/nr-dorchester-heights.pdf.
- Henry Bedinger, Journal of Major Henry Bedinger, from July 17, 1775 to May 24, 1776 Followed by Journal & Remarks of Henry Bedinger from Berkeley County, VA, 1957.
- “Dr Enoch Dole (1742-1776) - Find a Grave Memorial,” Find A Grave, October 23, 2006. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/16302522/enoch-dole.
- Child Associates, “National Register of Historic Places ... - Npshistory.com.” Cultural Landscape Report: Dorchester Heights/Thomas Park, Boston National Historical Park, South Boston, Massachustts, National Park Service, accessed February 7, 2022. http://www.npshistory.com/publications/bost/nr-dorchester-heights.pdf.
- Cultural Landscape Report: Dorchester Heights/Thomas Park, Boston National Historical Park, South Boston, Massachustts, National Park Service.
- “Not On That Site: School Committee Does Not Want Engine House Next to the High School Building,” Boston Journal, April 26, 1899.