Tell me about the 200,000 Portuguese speakers in Boston (Lowell, Cambridge: neighborhoods, school)

[PDX_LAX]

I was recently reading on City-Data that there are 200,000 people who speak Portuguese living in the Boston area. That is a huge number, very few cities have numbers of foreign language speakers (English and Spanish aside) like that and I am very curious about it.

What is the history of this group and how did they come to Boston? Am I the only person who didn't know about this or is it relatively unknown outside of Boston? I'm also interested to know about any distinct neighborhoods where they concentrate and interesting community tidbits in general.

[TAM88]

Originally Posted by PDX_LAX

I was recently reading on City-Data that there are 200,000 people who speak Portuguese living in the Boston area. That is a huge number, very few cities have numbers of foreign language speakers (English and Spanish aside) like that and I am very curious about it.

What is the history of this group and how did they come to Boston? Am I the only person who didn't know about this or is it relatively unknown outside of Boston? I'm also interested to know about any distinct neighborhoods where they concentrate and interesting community tidbits in general.

There are large swaths of Brazilians and Portuguese people in various parts of Eastern Mass. Anthony Bourdain actually came to visit Fall River during his No Reservations episode on the Azores.

The Fall River area, the Hudson/Milford area and Framingham all have populations of Portuguese speakers.

[xS☺B☺s]

Originally Posted by PDX_LAX

I was recently reading on City-Data that there are 200,000 people who speak Portuguese living in the Boston area. That is a huge number, very few cities have numbers of foreign language speakers (English and Spanish aside) like that and I am very curious about it.

What is the history of this group and how did they come to Boston? Am I the only person who didn't know about this or is it relatively unknown outside of Boston? I'm also interested to know about any distinct neighborhoods where they concentrate and interesting community tidbits in general.

Two groups of obvious origin - Portuguese from Portugal and Brazilians. P's are the larger group having been in New England for much longer. The are fully Euro - not underclass in any way shape or form. But of course like any group who doesn't have English as their primary language, they face some career challenges just like we would if we went to Portugal. Aware of this, you won't find large groups of Portuguese in high priced areas. They tend to be frugal, practical, and non-pretentious - no $30K millionaires sporting rent-a-beamers. You will however see them growing grapes, making their own wine, and the young men keeping a hobby of rebuilding big block Camaros. They are a bit clanish and tend to group together. Given the history of Europe I would guess due to their geographical location in Europe they may have found they fared well taking advantage of their relative isolation and staying out of Europe's historical tribal wars. Skillful and creative, they played a large role in discovering the New World as is evidenced with their footprints in Brazil and other places. You find them largely in New Bedford, Fall River, and Taunton - mid-sized suburban satellite cities.

The Brazilians are a little different and I know less about them. There's a significant Brazilian population in Somerville. They may also populate the Portuguese cities as well, not sure though. Obviously living in Somerville, they prefer to be closer to the action. And that's not surprising given the lucid culture Brazil is know for. I'm not sure if these Brazilians are Brazilianaires or the unwashed masses or both. I'm also curious how they get on (or don't) with the Portuguese. Brazilians are known to be wild while Port are definitely modest. Anyways they have a modest representation in Somerville and sport big Brazilian Barbecue buffets. I knew a couple families. Both were pretty modest - surprisingly good fits in cerebral Bostonia - not exactly the Carnival types and definitely very blanco both. I often wondered why the hell Brazilians would ever come to someplace as uptight as Bostonia. One came from Sao Paulo and she described it as 10x as dangerous as the worst part of New York. I guess that could be the reason.

[izzy508]

New Bedford and some other towns along the south coast have many Portuguese and Cape Verdean folks. Really nice people, great food and music, very interesting, rich history and culture. There are Portuguese and Cape Verdean festivals during the summer on the south coast and in RI, definitely worth checking out.

Portuguese American - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cape Verdean American - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by PDX_LAX

What is the history of this group and how did they come to Boston?

Not Boston so much, but more the South Coast. The Portuguese are renowned as sailors and fishermen and the South Coast of Massachusetts was once the center of a wealth from whaling. Once the foothold was established, continued immigration followed.

An Immigration Phenomenon - Boston.com

[konfetka]

On the North Shore you will find them concentrated in Peabody (more Portuguese) and Everett, Malden (Brazilian)

[Boston_Burbs]

Most Portuguese in Massachusetts are from the Azores. There are a few groupings of Portuguese from the continent (Ludlow, Lowell, and Cambridge) but most are from the Azores.

[Hemlock140]

Toronto also has a big Portuguese population with almost 300,000 in Ontario. Very few of us here in Seattle. I don't speak it any more and didn't that much anyway but my parents did.

[Jimrob1]

I was raised in Southeast Massachusetts in the Attleboro Taunton area which is Bristol County. Very high percentage of Portuguese residents in these communites. The highest concentration was and still is in nearby New Bedford and Fall River. As well as next door neighbor Rhode Island. Most are as mentioned from the Azores, or are descendents of those that came from there. Most of my friends in school were Portuguese, French Canadian or Irish when I was growing up. Seemed like most everyone's parent were either fisherman, factory workers/textile, jewelry workers. Bakers, Carpenters. The Portuguese have always been known as fisherman even to this day in New Bedford.

We have started to see just how dominant the Portuguese nationality has become in the state. The previous Portuguese immigrants were from Portugal/Azores. Now they come from Brazil and many have settled in the Natick Framingham area. My own family which is Irish now consist of Brazilian relatives. With my younger relatives marrying Brazilians. My parents that are deceased now, would probably flip to hear thier great grandchildren speaking portuguese.

[PantsB]

There's also a traditional Portugese population on Cape Cod in the Outer/Lower Cape, especially in P-town.

There's a good number of Brazilians increasingly on the northern parts of the South Shore as well. A good portion of the community are starting small businesses and there are a number of small churches that are holding services for them.