Beacon Hill is one of Boston’s most historic neighborhoods and also one of the prettiest, with its cobbled streets, brick sidewalks, and gas streetlights. It’s easy to look at one of Beacon Hill’s narrow streets, like the oft-photographed Acorn Street, and imagine life 100, or even 200 years ago. There are few modern cars to mar the scene, as the neighborhood was built during the era of horse-drawn carriages, and today, street parking is famously scarce. But Beacon Hill does change with the times, albeit in a thoughtful way, of course: The iconic gas streetlights will slowly be phased out in favor of LED versions, and some of the famous Federal-style row houses have gone condo, including a historic rectory. Bostonians often use “Beacon Hill” as shorthand for the state government — a reference to the presence of the Massachusetts State House at the top of the eponymous hill.