Louisburg Square

Completed in 1847, this privately-owned residential square in Beacon Hill is named for the Battle of Louisburg (1745) that took place during the French & Indian War: a ground force of Massachusetts militiamen led by William Pepperrell, in conjunction with a British Naval fleet led by Peter Warren, captured the French Fortress at Louisbourg which was then the strongest coastal fortification in North America. It has been home to a number of influential Americans, among them: Louisa May Alcott, author of the American classic Little Women (1868), who bought No. 10 (seen on the far left in the picture above) in 1885 and died there in 1888.