East of Kenmore Square, the Commonwealth's namesake boulevard runs through a surprising variety of neighborhoods, from the nearly resident-free Newmarket area, along the dividing line of the South End and Roxbury, to the western fringe of Back Bay before crossing over to Cambridge.

But in 1775, Paul Revere used what is now simply "Mass. Ave." to locals to warn colonists of the pending British attack.

At left, Massachusetts Avenue looking north from Symphony Hall in 1963.