Dorchester

Founded in 1630, just a few months before the founding of the city of Boston, Dorchester now covers a geographic area approximately equivalent to nearby Cambridge. When annexed to Boston in 1870, Dorchester was still a primarily rural town and had a population of 12,000. Construction of railroad and commuter streetcar lines brought rapid growth, increasing the population to 150,000 by 1920. In the 2010 United States census, the neighborhood's population was 92,115.

Dorchester has a very diverse population, which includes a large concentration of African Americans and European Americans (particularly those of Irish, German, Italian, and Polish origin, reflecting late 19th and early 20th century immigration). More numerous immigrants and their descendants since the later 20th century have come from the Caribbean, Central and South America, and East and Southeast Asia.