Named after Dr. John Jeffries, one of the physicians who founded the Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary in 1824, a free clinic whose purpose was to provide a place where Boston's most impoverished people could come to have their eye diseases treated. Earlier, in 1785, he took a balloon trip across the English Channel, and was arguably the first American to fly. In 1819, he died in Boston of “an inflammation in his bowels, originating in a hernia, occasioned by great exertions in his first aërial voyage." The Jeffries Point section just south of Maverick Square has been slowly gentrified over the past 30 years and is a comfortable neighborhood with a working-class feel. This area used to be part of Noddle's Island, along with Maverick Square and Central Square. You'll find some really beautiful architecture here, and some parts will remind you more of South Boston and sometimes even San Francisco. The main difference being that you can see the Boston waterfront from the back terraces, and sometimes the views are quite breathtaking. Piers Park, in particular, is worth a visit for the view alone.