Boston Boston is a pre - War city located in the Commonwealth and is the main setting of " Fallout 4 " . Many of Boston ' s famous monuments such as The Paul Revere Monument , the Massachusetts State House with its unique golden dome , the USS Constitution , Scollay Square , the Bunker Hill memorial and Fenway Park still stand after the Great War . Background . Boston was founded by European colonists in 1630 . Many important historical events of the American Revolution , such as the , the , , the and the occurred in or near Boston . Boston was located within Suffolk County . As the Resource Wars continued , the food supply started to dwindle . Rationing sites were set up around Boston , including the Boston Police rationing site . In October of 2077 , an unknown person smashed the glass of the Roxbury Food Bank . Soldiers opened fire on civilians , with at least four confirmed dead and eight injured . Food riots started over the city , like in Denver . The Institute , previously known as the Commonwealth Institute of Technology , or CIT was a prestigious university located in Boston . Robert House was believed to be an alumnus pre - War . During the Great War , a number of CIT personnel survived by taking refuge in the underground level of the campus . In 2110 , the survivors and their descendants founded the Institute , an organization dedicated to furthering pre - War science . The scientific community inhabiting the university - created technologies vastly superior to anything else seen in the wasteland . Androids or " synth s , " specifically , are one of the creations to come out of the Institute . Boston itself was never hit directly ; instead , an area southwest of the city was targeted , mainly due to the industrial and military significance it held . Despite this , Boston ' s status as a major city would suggest that it was attacked in some form . Only one bomb hit the Greater Boston area during the Great War , and Bonnie ' s holotape , Log - SSG Michael Daly and the Backyard bunker terminal entries imply that most of Boston survived the nuclear exchange . In the following weeks , fighting was reported within the city . At some point , local military forces seized locations like the Mass Bay Medical Center but were soon overwhelmed , causing society to finally collapse . By the 23rd century , the ground zero and outlying areas of the region became known as the Glowing Sea . Even 210 years later , the area remained dangerously irradiated , periodically stirring up radiation storms which would breach the confines of the Glowing Sea and threatened the entire Boston region . Post - War , the Commonwealth has been described by Dr . Zimmer as " a war - ravaged quagmire of violence and despair . " However , the Commonwealth ( which includes Boston ) seems to be one of less devastated areas in the post - War USA , so Zimmer ' s impression seems to be primarily based on the fact that he likely grew up inside the Institute , where the standard of living is much higher . Layout . The city center is composed of several tall skyscrapers though they have been worn with time . As of 2287 , many pre - War buildings , monuments , and landmarks still stand . Some have been renovated with scavenged parts , their ramshackle appearance suggesting that central Boston may have partly tried to defend themselves against a nuclear attack in some way , as Robert House did with Las Vegas . The areas outside the city center are rolling barren plains , wastelands , swamps and what ' s left of suburbs . To the southwest of the map , there is a growing appearance of radiation leading to the Glowing Sea . The terrain is bumpy and is scattered with pockets of high and low radiation levels . Small collectives of irradiated water scatter the area . Information in the game indicates a high - yield nuclear warhead detonated to the southwest of Boston . This is supported by the Pip - Boy map , which shows part of a circle at the bottom left which appears to be the crater the nuclear warhead created . As to if Boston was the intended target or not remains unknown . Notes . The city ' s skyscrapers make Boston viewable from most locations on the map . Appearances . Boston appears only in " Fallout 4 " .