Orient Heights

Orient Heights is an historic section of Boston, and is commonly considered part of East Boston; it is Boston's northernmost and northeasternmost neighborhood.

The neighborhood sits on a hill, which measures 152 feet in elevation at its highest point. Boston's very first Italian immigrants settled on the hill in the 1860s and 1870s, and the neighborhood has remained Italian-dominated since. The main thoroughfare through Orient Heights is Bennington Street, and the principal intersection, Orient Heights Square, is that of Bennington Street and Saratoga Street.

The hill of Orient Heights was once called Hog's Island, but was later renamed Breed's Island, not to be confused with Breed's Hill, the location of the Battle of Bunker Hill. The hill was one of the five islands that comprised East Boston prior to its annexation by Boston in 1836.

Well into the 20th century, Italian and English were still spoken in roughly equal amounts in Orient Heights. It is documented that, as recently as the 1950s, masses at St. Lazarus Church (renamed to St. Joseph - St. Lazarus after a merger of parishes) in Orient Heights were delivered by Pastor Luigi Toma in English, Italian and Latin.

In more recent years, an increasing Portuguese-speaking population has appeared, and nearly a third of the residents have South American ancestry.

Two public elementary schools are in the neighborhood; Curtis Guild Elementary on Leyden Street, and Manassah E. Bradley Elementary on Beachmont Road.

In 1912, the Boston Public Library opened a second library branch in East Boston, the Orient Heights branch. The branch was closed in the fall of 2013, and the remaining East Boston branch on Bremen Street is the nearest to the neighborhood.

One of Boston's more popular public beaches, Constitution Beach, is located in the Orient Heights. It is known to locals as "Shay's Beach." The beach underwent renovations in the late 1990s as a new public bathhouse and refreshment stand was added, as well as a new pedestrian walkway over the tracks of the Blue Line onto Bennington Street.

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