SOUTH BOSTON ONLINE
THURSDAY MARCH 5, 2026
VOLUME XIX- ISSUE 74
South Boston’s 250th Evacuation Day Observance
John Mitchell
by Rick Winterson
T
he South Boston Citizens’ Association (the SBCA) is planning a truly memorable Evacuation Day observance on March 17 – the 250th Anniversary of that historic Day. In this year of 2026, March 17 occurs on a Tuesday, two days after our annual St. Patrick’s/ Evacuation Day Parade here in South Boston on Sunday, the15th. March 17 could well be the most important single day of the entire year. Please recall that South Boston played a key part – a truly
heroic part – on the first Evacuation Day, all the way back in 1776! This South Boston Online article has only one purpose: To recommend – strongly recommend (!) – that on Tuesday, March 17, you attend the Evacuation Day ceremonies taking place from 10:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. at the Monument on Dorchester Heights. Bring yourself, your family, and your friends. It will be an unforgettable celebration, just like the 200th was back in 1976. Since Tuesday the 17th is a school day, perhaps our local history teachers should arrange an outing to this event for their students, As we all know, St. Patrick’s Day is the same day as Evacuation Day, so you are entitled to ask why Evacuation Day by itself is so important to South Boston. On March 17, 1776, (the original Evacuation Day), the entire British army and naval contingent voluntarily left Boston, which they had occupied for eight years. The Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party had taken place during those years. The most important reasons
the British military evacuated were the colonial cannons emplaced on Dorchester Heights, which could have destroyed the British Navy’s ships below in Boston Harbor. Those cannons were secretly (and heroically) brought here from Fort Ticonderoga by Boston’s Henry Knox. The British departure was General George Washington’s first victory, earning him a gold medal! And the Evacuation of Boston was a major step towards our Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, because it clearly showed that colonial American militias could beat the British. On Tuesday the 17th, a formal procession to the Heights (in which all can take part) will begin at approximately 10:30 a.m. It will start immediately after the 9 a.m. Mass to be said by Fr. Joe White in St. Augustine Chapel and followed by a brief rededication of key graves in St. Augustine Cemetery. For your information, the historic Chapel is now the oldest active church in America.
A procession will then form up and step off from Dorchester Street and West Sixth, proceed along Mercer to Telegraph Street, and turn up to the Heights where the Monument sits. A diverse and memorable 250th Evacuation Day program is planned, which will conclude around 1:30 p.m. Also, we’ve heard that the U.S. National Park Service will open the newly renovated Monument for guided tours afterward which, if nothing else, will give you and your kids unmatched views of Boston and its Harbor. Once again for your information, Dorchester Heights is the highest natural point in Boston. The SBCA deserves much credit for all this. Led by its President Thomas McGrath, the SBCA has annually celebrated Evacuation Day with many kinds of activities leading up to the Day itself, including banquets, breakfasts, and “Unsung Hero” awards to worthy South Boston residents. These end with yearly patriotic observances on Dorchester Heights where the towering Continued on Page 2