Concord, Massachusetts
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Concord is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. It was one of the the sites of the primary battle of the American Revolution, The Battle of Lexington and Concord.
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In the middle of the 19th century Concord developed a rich literary culture, beginning with the arrival of Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1835. Emerson contemporary Nathaniel Hawthorne soon followed, joining Concord native Henry David Thoreau...and, of course, Louisa May Alcott.
New York City, 1860s
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While the New York City of the 1860s was as much the diverse and multicultural melting pot we see today, the skyline we associate with the city today wasn't prominent until later in the 19th century. Apartments for the middle-class and tenement buildings for the working-class were more common.
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A boarding house like the one the sisters lived in were typically run by a very strict landlady. Washing and dining facilities were generally shared among all the boarders. Today, with a few exceptions, a "bed and breakfast" used by vacationers is the most similar facility to a boarding house.
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New York began its rise as the cultural center of the country in the 1860s, with the theatre district finally settling around Times Square by the end of the century. It was during this century that lavish hotels and department stores started permeating the landscape.