From Field to City

How a stretch of open land became Boston University

By Mayzie Wusz

Photograph by Emma Almaraz

Commonwealth Avenue is now one of the most recognizable parts of Boston University, but its role as the university’s home is relatively recent. When the institution first formed in the 19th century, it stood in a completely different region of New England. The story of how both Commonwealth Avenue and BU developed offers a reminder that familiar settings to us likely have layered and unexpected histories.

The university’s earliest roots reach back to rural Vermont, where it began in 1839 as the Newbury Biblical Institute, a small Methodist Seminary surrounded by farmland. After a brief period in New Hampshire, the institution was officially chartered in Boston in 1869. Even then, its buildings were scattered across Back Bay and Beacon Hill, with no unified campus in sight.

The transformation into a single large university space began between 1920 and 1928, when BU purchased roughly 15 acres along Commonwealth Avenue and the Charles River. This marked the start of the university’s gradual migration westward to what would become the Charles River Campus.

Commonwealth Avenue itself looked dramatically different before students and faculty. In the late 19th century, the area was described as the least populated part of Allston and Brighton, largely because its rocky soil made development difficult. At that time, the landscape was rural and wide open, known as an excellent sporting ground where hunters regularly returned with rabbits and quail. One of the most unexpected historical details is the presence of a large piggery near what is now the intersection of Sutherland Road and Commonwealth Avenue!

Even after Commonwealth Avenue was laid out between 1885 and 1895, the surrounding area remained slow to develop until streetcar service began in 1909. Only then was the infamous green line established, and did the long boulevard begin to take on the density and activity that are familiar to us now. 

Several current campus landmarks have interesting pasts. The site of Mugar Memorial Library, for example, was a cow pasture known as "Cottage Farm" as late as 1929. This is why the BU Bridge carried the name Cottage Farm Bridge when it first opened! 

BU’s shift from being a commuter campus to a residential one was marked by the 1947 purchases of 4 Charlesgate, which became the first large residence hall for women, along with the acquisition of Myles Standish Hall. The additions laid the groundwork for modern campus housing, leading to the current status where approximately 66% of undergraduate students now live on campus.

Personally, I have always been drawn to The Castle on Bay State Road, contemporarily known as the alumni center. It was originally built in 1915 for businessman William Lindsey, who was also a poet and playwright fascinated by medieval England, as depicted in the architecture. It was donated to BU and served as the official residence for BU presidents until 1967. 

The campus also holds connections to prominent individuals, such as Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone in a BU laboratory after receiving an advance on his salary to fund his experiments. 

Of course, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of the university’s most distinguished alumni, having earned his Ph.D. in systematic theology from the School of Theology in 1955. Following a student sit-in in 1968 related to African-American curriculum, BU agreed to establish a Martin Luther King Chair of Social Ethics, further cementing his legacy on campus. 

Lastly, BU was a pioneer in coeducation, becoming the first American university to open all of its divisions to women as early as 1867. This commitment led to historic achievements, including BU becoming the first university to admit women to its medical school and awarding the nation’s first Ph.D. to a woman, Helen Magill White, in 1877!

These stories reveal how the campus has changed through eras of growth, conflict and student activism. History is present here, and I feel fortunate as a student to be a part of a long and interesting history of BU.