At one time this route was the only way in or out of Boston. Still an isth­mus in the ear­ly 17th cen­tu­ry, the town was almost entire­ly sur­round­ed by water. Here at the cor­ner of Wash­ing­ton and E Berke­ley streets ”Mayflower” era colonists built gat­ed earth­works to keep out natives and unwant­ed ani­mals. A gal­lows stood out­side the gate, where thieves and mur­der­ers would be exe­cut­ed. These defens­es were con­stant­ly being improved, espe­cial­ly dur­ing the colo­nial era. As time went on, how­ev­er, the water was filled in by earth and the gate lost its impor­tance. Today there is no plaque or oth­er sig­ni­fi­er of this impor­tant spot, only a few signs at the near­by bus sta­tion. This noisy street cor­ner could be eas­i­ly skipped, or it could be a heady spot to con­tem­plate the pas­sage of time.