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Boston Common
Fo4 Boston Common
123
Site
Worldmap Loc Img 195
Map MarkerBoston Common
Segments
SectionsBoylston Club
Massachusetts State House
Old Granary Burying Ground
Park Street station
Swan's Pond
Super mutant hotel shell
Prost Bar
People
FactionsSuper mutant
Technical
Cell NameBostonCommonExt
BostonCommonExt02
BostonCommonExt03
BostonCommonExt04
ref id00047071
00000000
00000000
00000000
 
Gametitle-FO4
Gametitle-FO4

Boston Common (also known as "the Common" and sometimes erroneously referred to as the "Boston Commons") is a central public park in downtown Boston, Massachusetts.

Background[]

The following section is transcluded from Boston. To modify, please edit the source page.

Once owned by William Blaxton (the first European settler of Boston), until it was bought from him by the Puritan founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Established in 1634, Boston Common started as a communal grazing ground for their cattle.[1] However this only lasted for a few years, as affluent families bought additional cows, which led to overgrazing. A perfect example of the Tragedy of the commons, after which grazing was limited in 1646 to 70 cows at a time. Boston Common continued to host cattle until they were formally banned from it in 1830 by Mayor Harrison Gray Otis.[2]

The Common was used as a camp by the British before the American Revolutionary War, from which they left for the Battles of Lexington and Concord.[1] It was used for public hangings up until 1817, most of which were from a large oak tree which was replaced with gallows in 1769. Including the four executed Quakers known as the Boston martyrs. On May 19, 1713, two hundred citizens rioted on the Common in reaction to a food shortage in the city. They later attacked the ships and warehouses of wealthy merchant Andrew Belcher, also the lieutenant governor was shot during the riot.[2]

Its true park status seems to have emerged no later than 1830, when the grazing of cows was ended and renaming the Common as "Washington Park" was proposed. Renaming the bordering Sentry Street to Park Place (later to be called Park Street) in 1804 acknowledged the reality. By 1836 an ornamental iron fence fully enclosed the Common and its five perimeter malls or recreational promenades, the first of which, Tremont Mall, had been in place since 1728, in imitation of St. James's Park in London.[2]

As time marched on and the city grew, the Common became the nexus of the city south of the river. An idyllic park surrounded by historic mansions and the State House, latter becoming the beginning of the Freedom Trail. Where tourists could follow to visit the most famous and historic sits around the city.[3] As technology developed, they constructed a metro station to service the area.[1] Which it did well into the 2070s. This however was not the end of its service life. It was purchased by the Vault-Tec Corporation to serve as a pre-excavated site to construct one of their Vaults. However with their purchase of a functional station from a corrupt bureaucracy they contracted the work out as well. They were just as corrupt. The scam continued until the day nuclear fire halted society above. In an ironic twist 114 would've been a place where the wealthiest would've been led by an insane fool in the most abject squalor.

Despite this the vault would be used in the time following the Great War: its inhabitants overthrowing their Overseer. After some time, the vault would become abandoned, later being discovered by a weaker band of Triggermen - led by Skinny Malone - who were muscled out of their old territory of Goodneighbor.

For some time after the war the Common was left to decay just as the rest of the city's parks. This was the state of things until Edgar Swann arrived. After his expulsion and abandonment, Swann eventually made his way to Boston Common where he made his home in the groundskeeper shack. It was here he finally lost his mind to his mutation,[4] eventually creating armor from the swanboats of the pond and developed into a behemoth.

As for the Park itself, it was only after his arrival that the Common became a place not only to be avoided at all costs, but to be fundamentally feared.[5] So feared in fact that even raiders won't follow their prey into the area.[6] Early on however a group of (raiders?) constructed fortifications around the locale, in an attempt to kill the creature.

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Section needed (References! for what's here, The environment of the Common itself, and the co-option and fate of the Freedom Trail // see notes)
This section is needed but has not been written yet. You can help The Vault by writing it.

Layout[]

Boston Common is a small park that serves as part of the Freedom Trail; the park contains Swan's Pond and Park Street station. It also contains a gazebo filled with barrels of nuclear waste, peaking at 62 rads per second.

Notable loot[]

Mbox stub
Section needed (cleanup with Swan's Pond)
This section is needed but has not been written yet. You can help The Vault by writing it.

Appearances[]

Boston Common appears only in Fallout 4.


References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Fallout 4 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide Collector's Edition p.472: "[14.04] BOSTON COMMON
    Established in 1634, Boston Common started as a communal grazing ground for cattle before it was made a public park (the oldest in the country). In the year before the Revolutionary War, a thousand Redcoats camped on the Common. The Redcoat brigades that marched on Lexington and Concord departed from this very ground.
    Park Street Station is accessed to the northeast of this common. This is also the start of the Freedom Trail. On the east side, at the Protectron tour bot and fountain, the number “7” is daubed on the circular ground plaque pointing at the letter “A.” Follow the red stripe along the ground from here to continue the specified quest."
    (Fallout 4 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide Map)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Boston Common on Wikipedia
  3. Fallout 4 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide Collector's Edition p.470-471: "ZONE 14: NEIGHBORHOOD: BOSTON COMMON
    The Freedom Trail starts here! Visit this once-idyllic park surrounded by ancient architectural prewar mansions and the remains of the State House, but be warned; there are numerous signs recommending you stay away from the pond at the park’s west end. Perhaps it’s better to start investigating the thin red line still visible along much of the sidewalks, a trail leading you through some of the most famous historical structures still (partly) standing. Surrounded by five other neighborhoods, Boston Common is at the nexus of the city south of the river."
    (Fallout 4 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide Map)
  4. Swan's note
  5. Cait: "We're takin' a big chance walkin' though the Common. Just sayin'."
    (Cait's dialogue)
    Deacon: "The Common looks peaceful, but no one sane goes inside."
    (Deacon's dialogue)
    Hancock: "Hey. This is the Common. You sure you don't just wanna go around?" (Hancock's dialogue)
    Robert MacCready: "Wait, this the Common. We need to get the hell out of here... unless you like being killed."
    (Robert MacCready's dialogue (Fallout 4))
    Nick Valentine: "Lot of my cases dead end in Boston Common. I'd prefer not to join them." (Nick Valentine's dialogue)
    Piper Wright: "Blue, we're walking right into Boston Common. People don't come back from here."
    (Piper Wright's dialogue)
    Preston Garvey: "General, Boston Common has a bad reputation. People just don't come back from here, and nobody knows why."
    (Preston Garvey's dialogue)
  6. Raider dialogue // Raiders will not follow the Sole Survivor into the Common. Cursing their luck and falling back or exclaiming that they'll let Swan take care of you. Dialogue File needed //
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