Winter Hill is a neighborhood in Somerville, Massachusetts. The neighborhood gets its name from the 120-foot hill that occupies its landscape, the name of which dates back to the 18th century.[1] The neighborhood of Winter Hill is located roughly north of Medford Street, west of McGrath Highway, and east of Magoun Square.
Winter Hill features a mix of restored homes and aging Triple Deckers, replete with china gnomes and bathtub Virgin Marys. Once known as the home base of Irish gangsters Whitey Bulger, James "Buddy" McLean, Howie Winter and the notorious Winter Hill Gang, Winter Hill is now, like much of the rest of Somerville, experiencing gentrification and a resulting rise in property values and rents. Despite these changes, the area continues to hang onto its neighborhood flavor and is home to a large community of Irish and Italian people.
Winter Hill is home to a variety of eateries, such as The Paddock restaurant on Pearl Street, Mama Lisa's and Leone's pizza establishments, the Winter Hill Bakery, and Maria's Italian Cold Cuts. The Theater Coop, one of the Boston area's few new repertory live theaters, is located between Foss Park and the local supermarket. Near Winter Hill in East Somerville is a community pottery studio, called Mudflat, and a collective of stained glass artists called Daniel Maher Stained Glass.
Foss Park abuts Interstate 93 at the base of Winter Hill. The park has a large, colorful mural painted behind the public swimming pool, and is home to a wide variety of sporting matches, especially soccer.
A planned extension of the Green Line to the Winter Hill area is currently in planning phases, specifically with stations at Medford Street (Gilman Square) and Lowell Street, though estimated completion has been pushed back to 2014. The route of the Green Line Extension has been broadly defined but not finalized.[2]
An apartment in Winter Hill at 365 Broadway Ave was the home of Barack Obama between 1988 and 1991 while he was a student at the Harvard Law School.[3]